A Desperate Last Gamble

Across the vast icy plains of the Far North, a massive black figure raced onward.

Er Ming held Xiao Wu close against his chest and fled desperately, but the wounds in his limbs and chest slowed him down.

"Er Ming, Da Ming..." Before Xiao Wu's tears could fall in the frigid cold of the Far North, they froze into ice crystals, stinging her eyes painfully.

"This was what Big Brother and I discussed. We'll use the sacrifice to make him burst apart. This is our only chance," Er Ming said softly. Yet he stumbled again. His previously shattered limbs had only been forcibly aligned and had not healed; under such intense running, they had split open once more.

But Er Ming endured it silently, not allowing Xiao Wu to notice anything.

The terrain of the Far North was not complicated, but the identical scenery stretched endlessly to the horizon, making it easy to lose one's bearings. Er Ming could only grit his teeth and charge straight ahead in one direction.

Just then, a massive wall of ice rose before him. Unable to stop in time, Er Ming could only twist sideways and use his own body to shield Xiao Wu from the violent impact.

Boom—

Crack—

The thunderous collision and the crisp sound of bones breaking rang beside Xiao Wu's ears. As the ice shards and dust dispersed, Xiao Wu was completely unharmed, while Er Ming had utterly lost consciousness.

"Er Ming!" Xiao Wu cried anxiously, but Er Ming gave no response. Only then did Xiao Wu begin to hate herself—hate that she had chosen to cultivate as a human, hate that she had neglected cultivation in order to grow up alongside Tang San. If she had been strong enough, would something like this never have happened?

With tears in her eyes, Xiao Wu turned to look at the sky. An incomparably beautiful woman floated there, her silver hair dancing in the wind. Her pure white dress blended into the ice and snow of the Far North, breathtakingly beautiful yet immensely dangerous.

"Why can't you just let us go?! You're a soul beast too, so why are you helping humans kill us?!" Xiao Wu shouted the question once more.

What answered her was a blizzard with no visible end.

The enormous blizzard swept Xiao Wu and Da Ming away. When the snowstorm finally subsided, Xiao Wu found herself within a palace made entirely of ice.

Two people lay side by side at the center of the palace. One was the demon who had captured them, while the other looked like a young girl. Yet Xiao Wu could sense that she was also a hundred-thousand-year soul beast.

The Zombie Ice Bear that had injured Da Ming and Er Ming, whose strength was unfathomably deep, stood guard over the two. Several other powerful soul beasts held positions around them as well. But what made Xiao Wu's soul tremble most was the orb of light floating above the young man's head. A tiny Azure Bull Python was sealed within it, while Da Ming's body had been frozen inside an enormous icicle and tossed into a corner of the hall.

"Da Ming! What is going on? What did you do to Da Ming?!" Xiao Wu cried out.

Yet no one present paid her any attention. Even the Snow Emperor, who had brought them here, ignored them. With a casual lift of her hand, she sealed the two inside a barrier of ultimate ice, ensuring that not even the slightest sound could pass through.

"Er Bai, tell us what happened," the Snow Emperor said to Er Bai. After all, Er Bai was the strongest person present. Although Little White possessed the same memories as him, his way of thinking had not yet transformed to the same extent.

"Yuhao has exhausted himself. He'll be fine after resting for a while. Sister Liya is the troublesome one. Intense emotional fluctuations can damage the source of life. Sister Liya is in that state now. It would be manageable if she were awake, but she's unconscious and can't control the loss of her source," Er Bai said, pointing at Liya, who remained unconscious even as golden pearls continued to fall from her eyes from time to time.

"I have a way to replenish the lost spiritual source and vitality. I've already had Lijing return to retrieve the Sea Dragon Marrow. But first, we need to stop the loss from continuing." Eve was frantic with worry as she looked at her daughter.

"Ice Empress, go find a snow lotus that is at least ten thousand years old," the Snow Emperor said. Looking at the two lying side by side, she suppressed a trace of displeasure in her heart.

Snow lotuses found it difficult to develop intelligence, but they contained the purest essence of heaven and earth, making them highly suitable for a secret technique that sealed one's source.

"Alright, I'll go right away." The Ice Empress nodded. She knew where to find snow lotuses.

"Wait. Take these two things with you." Er Bai rummaged around on his person and took out a round red disk that looked as though it had been carved from pure crystal. He had his own exclusive storage soul tool. Afraid that the three of them might truly self-destruct, he had prepared the soul ring storage device long ago. Then, he drew the White Tiger Dagger from Huo Yuhao's waist.

"Use this to cut through the snow lotus's roots. Don't use soul power. Once the snow lotus falls and the soul ring forms, press here. This will store the soul ring inside. A soul ring stored here can last for at least a week without dissipating." Er Bai pointed at a raised section of the disk as he explained.

"He made this too?" The Ice Empress accepted the items with a mixture of alarm and curiosity. A ten-thousand-year soul ring could remain intact for a week without dissipating, and from what Er Bai said, this device could even allow the soul ring to be absorbed by someone other than the person who killed it. If such a thing became widespread, it would be an exceedingly terrifying disaster for soul beasts.

"No. But Yuhao is the only one who knows how to make it now, and this is the only finished one." Er Bai shook his head.

Only then did the Ice Empress breathe a sigh of relief. Carrying the items, she left to search for the snow lotus.

For a time, the hall fell silent. The Snow Emperor looked at the young man lying on the bed in deep slumber, then suddenly asked, "His name is Yuhao, correct?"

"Dad... mm... his name is Huo Yuhao." Er Bai was about to call him Dad, but the Snow Emperor's gaze stopped him cold, and he immediately corrected himself.

"Is this a soul spirit?" The Ice Empress pointed at the orb of light hanging in the air.

"Yes." Er Bai nodded.

"But he seems to have no consciousness at all." Eve had been watching the thing for quite some time. If a soul spirit had no awareness, how was it any different from being dead? Fortunately, she had apparently won her gamble just now. A hundred-thousand-year first soul ring—how could the Sea God possibly look down on that? It was only because her relationship with the young man did not seem especially close here that she had not brought it up.

"It should be because he was struck by Yuhao's Asura Three-Eyed God-Sealing Spell. He should recover after some time." Er Bai once again served as an encyclopedia.

Er Bai's explanation was far too brief, leaving Eve increasingly anxious. What was wrong with this Er Bai? Why didn't he explain more? Wasn't Yuhao coming to find her for the sake of this soul spirit contract?

Fortunately, the Ice Empress did not keep everyone waiting long. Before long, she returned carrying a palm-sized snow lotus.

The Snow Emperor accepted the snow lotus without hesitation. With a tremor of her ultimate ice-and-snow soul power, the palm-sized snow lotus instantly turned into a cluster of ice crystals.