Seeing Ice Empress looking so pitiful, Xiao Jinchen lost all interest in teasing her.
"Ice Empress, I want to ask you something." Xiao Jinchen slowly put away Emperor Flame and said.
"W-what?" Ice Empress asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"Do you remember what Sky Dream Ice Silkworm told you a few days ago in the Far North Lands?" Xiao Jinchen said with a grin.
"Are you talking about the God-Making Project?" Ice Empress replied.
"Then what do you think of me compared to the person Sky Dream Ice Silkworm chose?" Xiao Jinchen gave a soft laugh. Then he took a step forward, his eyes turning red as Soul Power suddenly surged from his body.
Five Spirit Rings—yellow, purple, black, black, and black—rose from beneath Xiao Jinchen's feet and circled around his waist.
"Twelve years old! Sixty levels!" Ice Empress felt the aura emanating from Xiao Jinchen. Her lips parted, and shock welled in her amber eyes.
"Ice Empress, rather than go with Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and gamble on a fifty percent chance of becoming a god, you might as well choose me." A confident smile appeared on Xiao Jinchen's handsome face. "If even I can't become a god, who else on this continent could?"
"Are you asking me to sacrifice myself to you? To become your Spirit Ring?" Ice Empress asked. "Aren't you a fire-attribute Soul Master? Wouldn't my sacrifice cause an attribute conflict? Besides, I don't even have a body right now. How could I sacrifice myself to you?"
"I'll handle the attribute conflict and the sacrifice." Xiao Jinchen chuckled. "For now, just be my bodyguard. When the time comes, I'll tell you."
Xiao Jinchen had no intention of having Ice Empress sacrifice herself. He simply wanted a bodyguard. With Flame Emperor's inheritance, he had no interest in taking some so-called path to godhood.
Ice Empress stared silently at Xiao Jinchen. Only after a long while did she speak. "You're right. If I chose you, I really might have a chance to reach that realm."
"I'm only a soul now, without even a body. I'm afraid I can't give you what you want," Ice Empress said softly.
"You don't need to worry about that." Xiao Jinchen tapped his Storage Ring, and Ice Empress's original body appeared on the ground.
"This is... My body! You were carrying it with you?" Ice Empress looked at the body on the ground and asked.
Xiao Jinchen drew a wisp of Child Flame from Emperor Flame, then took a pill from his Storage Ring and tossed it to Ice Empress's soul. "Take this, and you'll be able to return to your original body."
Ice Empress stared at the pill, then glanced at her perfectly intact body on the ground.
"Fine!"
Ice Empress stopped hesitating, grabbed the pill, and swallowed it whole.
The medicinal power dissolved as soon as it entered her stomach, turning into a pure torrent that washed over her soul. Ice Empress shot straight into her original body.
Then the wisp of Emperor Flame's Child Flame at Xiao Jinchen's fingertip followed right after, drilling inside.
"Mmm..."
Ice Empress couldn't help letting out a soft moan. It was the strange sensation of her soul filling her body again.
A flash of light passed, and the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion on the ground shuddered violently.
The dim ice-crystal shell erupted with dazzling emerald light. A blast of cold swept out, freezing the surrounding ground beneath a layer of frost.
Within seconds, the one-and-a-half-meter-long scorpion came back to life.
Its enormous tail swayed, stirring up a gust of cold wind. As light and shadow twisted, Ice Empress's green-haired, little-girl form appeared once more.
Having regained her body, Ice Empress shot Xiao Jinchen a glare, clearly still unhappy that he'd burned her earlier.
"Do you believe I'll kill you right now?" Ice Empress suddenly pressed a hand to Xiao Jinchen's neck and said coldly.
"Oh? Looks like you've forgotten the pain as soon as your wounds healed." Xiao Jinchen gave Ice Empress a half-smile. At a thought, a Fire Lotus mark appeared on her forehead and immediately began to burn.
A point of red light flared in the Fire Lotus pattern between Ice Empress's brows.
In an instant, the familiar sensation of being burned exploded through Ice Empress.
"Mmgh!"
Ice Empress grunted, her pretty face instantly turning bright red.
The fine beads of sweat that had just formed at her temples were vaporized by the intense heat, turning into wisps of white steam.
"Stop! Hurry and stop!" Ice Empress's voice quavered on the verge of tears.
Xiao Jinchen remained calm and lightly pointed a finger.
The light of the Fire Lotus on Ice Empress's forehead blazed even brighter.
"Ah!"
The burning sensation engulfed her soul. Ice Empress's legs buckled, and she nearly collapsed to her knees.
"Don't burn me anymore." Ice Empress hurriedly surrendered. "I was wrong."
Looking at Ice Empress, who had completely given in, a faint smile flickered in Xiao Jinchen's eyes. With a thought, the terrifying flame that scorched her soul vanished in an instant.
The scorching pressure disappeared completely.
Ice Empress gasped for breath, utterly drained. Her clothes were already soaked with cold sweat.
"You win," Ice Empress gritted out, her tone no longer cold and defiant, but softened considerably.
"Still talking tough?" Xiao Jinchen raised an eyebrow and flashed behind Ice Empress. With a mischievous grin, he raised his hand and smacked her pert bottom.
"Smack!"
The sharp crack echoed through the dead-silent room, like a thunderbolt striking Ice Empress's heart.
Ice Empress froze, her mind going blank. Then an overwhelming wave of shame washed over her.
Her face flushed bright red in an instant. The crimson spread from her cheeks down her neck and to her ears, staining her snowy skin a vivid red and lending her an irresistible, delicate charm.
"Y-you... What are you doing?!"
Ice Empress spun around and hurriedly covered her bottom. Her beautiful eyes were wide as she glared at Xiao Jinchen.
"Hmm?"
Xiao Jinchen raised an eyebrow and lifted his hand as if to strike again.
"You... You only know how to pick on me!" Looking at Xiao Jinchen, Ice Empress felt helplessness well up inside her. Her beautiful eyes were already brimming with tears.
"Look, what's this?" Xiao Jinchen swiped his hand across his Storage Ring, and an ice-blue object fell into his palm.
"This is..." Ice Empress followed his gaze, and her amber pupils suddenly contracted.
"Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow!" Ice Empress cried out. "You detestable human, how could you have Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow?!"
"Well?" Xiao Jinchen held up the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow and waved it at Ice Empress. "Do you want it?"
Ice Empress stared fixedly at the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow in Xiao Jinchen's hand. Her beautiful eyes were filled with longing.
If Ice Empress weren't wary of Xiao Jinchen's flame, which could directly scorch her soul, she would probably have already tried to snatch it.
"I do." Ice Empress nodded honestly.
"Good, then it's yours." A mischievous smile curled Xiao Jinchen's lips.
Ice Empress's eyes immediately lit up. Then Xiao Jinchen put the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow back into his Storage Ring.
"How dare you toy with me!" Ice Empress cried out angrily, about to lash out, when Xiao Jinchen suddenly turned his wrist.
A translucent blue crystal appeared in his palm once more, faintly radiating cold.
Ice Empress's scolding caught in her throat. Her eyes went wide, and she couldn't help exclaiming, "Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow?!"
"What's the rush?" Xiao Jinchen looked at Ice Empress's adorable mood swings, changing faster than the pages of a book, and couldn't help laughing. "I said I'd give it to you, and I will. But—"
Xiao Jinchen tossed the clump of ice marrow into the air and caught it steadily, then said slowly, "This thing is too precious. I don't have much of it."
"What do you want?" Ice Empress asked, suppressing her longing for the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow.