The Disdained Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring

Huo Yuhao stood at the center of the red light, his gaze cold as he looked at the Azure Bull Python, whose eyes were filled with resolve.

"I'll still call you Niu Tian. After all, that was the name you used when we first met," Huo Yuhao said coldly.

"Die!" Da Ming did not ask why the youth called him Niu Tian. He merely intensified the burning of his own power.

Soul masters needed no reason to hunt soul rings. He had lost, been captured—this was his fate. But Xiao Wu was his life. The memories of those hundred thousand years remained vivid in his mind. Even after she had rebuilt herself into a human, he had never let go of those feelings.

So, after being injured by Er Bai and left only able to lie there, he had been thinking about how to escape and how to save Xiao Wu.

Then he thought of the only possible method: sacrifice, the most ordinary kind of soul ring sacrifice.

The youth's methods were unfathomable, but that could not conceal the fact that he was only a tenth-rank soul master. As long as Da Ming recklessly poured all his soul power into the youth's body, how strong could the body of a twelve-year-old tenth-rank soul master possibly be? Exploding to death was inevitable.

So he had been waiting for an opportunity—an opportunity for the youth to release all of them.

And now, he had finally gotten it!

"You want to use a sacrifice to make me explode? What a wonderful idea." A smile curled at Huo Yuhao's lips as the Ghost Sculpture appeared in his hand once more.

Da Ming's pupils contracted. The youth was far too calm, and unease rose in his heart. But he quickly reassured himself. Once a sacrifice had begun, it could not be interrupted. This was a law granted by the true god of soul beasts, the Dragon God. Even if the youth killed him with that little knife now, it would be useless.

"..." Huo Yuhao glanced at Da Ming, who seemed prepared to face death calmly, then closed his eyes. The Eye of Destiny opened on his forehead, and streams of pure spiritual power flowed from it. Guided by Huo Yuhao, they slowly entered the blade of the Ghost Sculpture.

Golden runes leaped from the Ghost Sculpture's tip one after another, lining up as they headed toward the gradually forming blood-red soul ring.

This was the formation Brother Tianmeng had once used to seal his million-year spiritual essence. It was exceptionally suited for sealing the power of a soul ring. Then, as if Huo Yuhao had thought of something, several strings of runes abruptly changed direction.

Er Bai had remained at Huo Yuhao's side the entire time. His eyes widened at once. Why did the formation formed by those runes look so much like the tattoo left by the Asura Demon Sword branded onto Father's body?

Huo Yuhao continued producing runes, and at that moment, a familiar aura of ice and snow arrived beside him.

Huo Yuhao turned his head and saw the Snow Emperor holding the golden pearls, standing quietly and looking down at him.

Her eyes held struggle, confusion, incomprehension, and so much more...

Huo Yuhao smiled calmly. "Thank you for bringing these. Now there's much more I can do." Then, with a point of his left hand, the pearls naturally flew into the Eye of Destiny and became fuel for his spiritual power.

Then Huo Yuhao's face turned completely cold, and he shifted his gaze onto Da Ming. As more and more runes were carved out by the Ghost Sculpture, the expression in Da Ming's soul eyes grew increasingly panicked.

"How do you know this?!" The violent energy of the hundred-thousand-year soul ring had actually been restrained, and was even gradually weakening.

"You can't endure even this much?"

He made a grasping motion with his left hand, and the Necromantic Disaster Staff appeared in it. The black and white colors faded from it, forming a pure golden staff.

An obscure, lengthy incantation emerged from Huo Yuhao's lips. A golden hexagram formed in the air, completely enveloping Da Ming's soul.

The Snow Emperor tried her best to listen. The cadence of the incantation was clear, yet the voice seemed to possess some kind of magic. It passed by her ears without leaving anything behind.

But as the incantation rang out, the entire world seemed to tremble.

"What are you doing?!" Da Ming's soul cried out in terror.

"The Asura Three-Eyed God-Sealing Spell." All three of Huo Yuhao's eyes instantly turned golden, and three beams of golden light shone upon Da Ming's soul at the same time.

Though his strength was no longer what it had once been, Da Ming was not the Sea Princess from ten thousand years later, much less the divine official Niu Tian from ten thousand years later.

The instant the three beams struck him, Da Ming's entire soul froze in place.

What followed was simple. The Snow Emperor stood to one side and watched helplessly as the massive Azure Bull Python soul began to shrink. It shrank until it was only a foot long, trapped inside the hexagram and unable to move.

Then a sword appeared in the youth's other hand—a sword that made even her instinctively tremble.

The blood-red soul ring that had been floating in the air also slowly descended toward the youth's body. Yet the ring seemed unstable, hovering above his head, while the sword in his hand shook for no apparent reason, as if resisting something.

"Still not enough?" The Snow Emperor could not help feeling disappointed and worried.

Then she heard the youth casually utter a sentence.

"My Spirit Eyes' first soul ring will only ever be the million-year Tianmeng Iceworm. Since you don't want the hundred-thousand-year Azure Bull Python, then what do you think of a hundred-thousand-year Soft-Boned Rabbit...?"

Before the youth could finish, the sword stopped shaking. The hundred-thousand-year Azure Bull Python soul ring then slipped smoothly around the youth's waist.

The soul ring stabilized, and the sword in the youth's hand dissipated with it.

Just as the Snow Emperor was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she saw the youth fall straight backward. Her body moved faster than her thoughts, and by the time she came back to herself, the youth was already in her arms.

That strange sense of closeness surged up again. The Snow Emperor instinctively wanted to throw the youth away, but seeing his pale face, she could not bring herself to simply toss him into the snow.

Then, from the corner of her eye, the Snow Emperor caught sight of snow-white fur tinged with gray. Looking up, she saw Er Bai standing there like a wooden post, blankly staring ahead, though the ghostfire in his eye sockets flickered with unusual liveliness.

He was clearly playing dumb. No longer bothering to dwell on it, she simply let go. The youth in her arms fell to the ground, scattering a few flecks of snow.

Seeing this, Er Bai could only lower his head and say in a deliberately aggrieved tone, "Mom, please help carry Yuhao. I need to take this back. It'll be useful to Yuhao." Little White raised a hand and released a stream of ultimate ice soul power, freezing the entire Azure Bull Python into a block of ice. Er Bai hoisted it onto his shoulder, then grabbed the hexagram formation imprisoning the Azure Bull Python's soul with his other claw.

"..." The Snow Emperor stared at Er Bai for a long while before waving her hand and lifting the youth into a princess carry. She then flew toward where the Ice Empress and the others were waiting.

The Ice Empress spotted the Snow Emperor and the others approaching from afar and immediately went forward to meet them. Liya was held in Little White's claw, while Lijing supported the Sea Princess, walking somewhat more slowly.

Looking at their condition, the Snow Emperor said calmly, "It should have succeeded. Ice Empress, take them to recuperate in my ice palace first. I'll go capture the two that escaped."

With that, she directly tossed Huo Yuhao toward Little White and flew away.