Are You Planning to Lock Me Up?

Ice Empress felt that when Yao Shi had volunteered to accompany her to watch the Snow Empress undergo her tribulation, her impression of him had been that the kid had a bit of a death wish. When Yao Shi suggested that she draw away the enemies while he rescued the Snow Empress, she had thought more highly of him and even felt a little moved. A mere Soul Elder had faced so many powerful enemies without the slightest fear, and had even entered this battle because of her.

When Ice Empress witnessed Yao Shi being blown apart by artillery fire while trying to help her rescue the Snow Empress, leaving only half his body behind, she had been devastated. Not only might the Snow Empress not survive, but she, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion and one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, had actually caused a human Soul Elder to die because of her. Then, the instant she saw Yao Shi come back to life, her despair had immediately turned to joy.

But when the revived Yao Shi saw that she was in danger and actually dared to rush over to help her with the strength of only three rings, she thought this human was truly stupid—he simply did not know when to quit. Yet she still felt a little delighted and touched inside.

She had assumed that Yao Shi could not have many chances to revive like that. If he continued involving himself in this battle, he would surely die. So the moment she saw him coming over, she immediately berated him, hoping to drive him away...

Seeing Ice Empress question him so fiercely, Yao Shi could barely keep a straight face.

Could Ice Empress be worried about me?

Suppressing the urge to laugh, he cleared his throat and asked Ice Empress, "Why are you so angry, Ice Empress? Don't tell me you're worried I'll die?"

Ice Empress turned her head away, sounding somewhat irritated. "That's right. I am worried you'll get blown to death. If you die, what will happen to the Snow Empress? What will happen to my great tribulation? What will happen to our cooperation?"

Then she turned back to look at Yao Shi. "And you said you would help me become a god. If you die, what happens to my divine position?"

"And another thing," Ice Empress continued. "Didn't you say you wanted me to protect you until you became a god? If you die, what am I supposed to protect?"

As she spoke, Ice Empress leaned closer to Yao Shi and glared at him. "Could it be that everything you said before was just to fool me? You only wanted me to be your free bodyguard?"

Faced with Ice Empress's barrage of questions, Yao Shi scratched his head in embarrassment. It seemed he really had never told Ice Empress about any of his other abilities besides the Glazed Pure Land, so he hurriedly explained, "How could that be? Everything I said was true. Since I said Future would help you become a god, then I can definitely make it happen."

"And you don't need to worry about me dying. As long as I'm not killed in a single blow, I can survive even if only my head is left. Still, it was fortunate that those people saw I was only a Soul Elder and didn't use higher-grade shells. Otherwise, I really might have died."

"This time, I was lucky too."

Ice Empress was utterly shocked. "How is that possible? Even soul beasts might not survive something like that. How could a human possibly possess such a method?"

Yao Shi said with a grin, "Hehe, it's a trait that comes with my first soul skill: immortality. As long as I don't die outright, no matter how severe the injury is, it can automatically heal. Pretty awesome, right?"

"Then your martial soul is far too heaven-defying. Self-healing, entering a strange space to evade attacks... with so many life-saving methods, don't tell me you also have an active healing-type soul skill?"

"Hey, you got that right. And it's pretty powerful too. Even if you started your heavenly tribulation now and let it strike you a few times first, as long as you didn't die, I could instantly restore you to perfect condition. So, how about it? Want to try it now?"

Ice Empress's face darkened. "That won't be necessary."

Is a great tribulation really something I can undergo whenever I feel like it? If it were that easy, why would I have come looking for you?

Ice Empress was speechless inside. And here I thought this kid was so fearless. Turns out he's covered from head to toe in life-saving skills.

Give back my worry and gratitude, you bastard!

Then Ice Empress suddenly asked, "By the way, was that the Snow Empress's Snow Empress's Three Absolutes that you used during the battle? That's her exclusive ability, so why can you use it too? And the strength you unleashed just now didn't seem like that of a Soul Elder either. It was even stronger than an ordinary Titled Douluo."

Hearing Ice Empress's question, Yao Shi explained, "Oh, that? It's actually one of the abilities of my third soul skill. As long as a living being stays inside that space of mine, I can use the abilities they possess, and my strength will increase somewhat as well."

"So because you put the Snow Empress inside, you were able to use her abilities?"

"Right."

Ice Empress fell into thought. "Then does that mean that as long as any person or soul beast familiar with any ability enters, you can directly use their abilities?"

"That's right," Yao Shi answered seriously.

"Does using this ability have any side effects? I saw that after using the Snow Empress's abilities, your soul power briefly became stronger too. But this is external power, after all. You're a Soul Elder suddenly unleashing the strength of a Titled Douluo. Your body definitely can't withstand that, can it?" Ice Empress asked worriedly.

Yao Shi nodded after hearing this. "There are indeed some side effects. When I first used the Snow Empress's abilities, the sudden surge of power nearly made my body burst apart from the inside..."

At that point, he paused and spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of organs before continuing, "But fortunately, I didn't die on the spot. My self-healing ability directly healed the injuries caused by that energy forcing its way through my body."

"You could say that the side effects of using this ability are perfectly canceled out. The two complement each other, so it's like ascending to the heavens without using soul power—stepping on my own left foot with my right foot."

Ice Empress rolled her eyes. Then, as if she had thought of something, her expression changed.

"No!"

After saying that, she turned back and glared at Yao Shi again.

"Tell me. When you pulled me into that space earlier, if I hadn't agreed to cooperate with you, were you planning to keep me locked in there and use my strength and abilities?"

"Uh, well... that..." Yao Shi became incoherent, his eyes darting everywhere in embarrassment. "The weather is really nice today! And those white clouds really are clouds!"

Seeing his hesitant manner, Ice Empress immediately became furious.

"Fine, Yao Shi! You actually dared to scheme against me! If I hadn't agreed, I bet you were planning to keep me trapped in that space forever!"

Hmph, he actually dared to scheme against me. As long as I hold back, no matter how I hit him, he won't die.

With that, she lashed Yao Shi with the jade-green scorpion tail behind her. Even though she had held back, it still hurt quite a bit when it struck him.

After being lashed a few times, Yao Shi cried out in pain and repeatedly begged for mercy. "Don't hit me anymore! I was wrong! Besides, didn't you agree in the end? I didn't really imprison you!"