VI. The Predestined Fate

Huo Yuhao spent his first year in Spirit City in silence.

Every morning, when the first ray of sunlight shone into the little courtyard, he woke up. He dressed, washed up, ate the breakfast delivered to him, then followed the steward who came to fetch him through the long corridors to that great hall to see Qian Daoliu.

What Qian Daoliu taught him was simple—meditation, circulating soul power, and sensing the primordial energy of heaven and earth.

"Your foundation is very good," the old man said, "but a good foundation does not mean you can go far. If the foundation is unstable, no matter how high the building is, it will collapse."

Huo Yuhao understood.

He meditated for six hours every day, leaving the other two hours for eating and sleeping. When he was not meditating, he sat in the courtyard and stared blankly at the old tree. No one knew what he was thinking about when he sat there, and neither did he.

Sometimes, while staring blankly, he suddenly thought of his mother.

He remembered how she looked when she smiled, how she looked when she cooked for him, how she looked when she held him, and that final look in her eyes—those eyes watched him, her lips moved without making a sound, but he knew what she was saying.

Live.

Live.

He had survived.

But what about her?

Whenever he thought of this, he stopped himself from thinking any further. Then he closed his eyes and continued meditating.

The days passed like this, one after another.

The people of Spirit Hall gradually learned of the child's existence. The stewards discussed him in private, saying that the Grand Worshipper had taken in a disciple. His talent was not bad, but he did not like to speak. Guards occasionally saw him passing by and gave him a few extra glances, but that was all.

No one knew where he came from.

Qian Daoliu only said one thing to the outside world: "This child is a survivor sent from one of the lower branch halls. His talent is passable. This old man has nothing better to do, so I am giving him a little guidance."

Those below did not dare ask further.

Three years passed like this.

In the spring of Huo Yuhao's ninth year, the old tree in the courtyard sprouted new buds.

That morning, he woke from meditation as usual, yet suddenly felt that something was different. The soul power circulating within his body had somehow become more abundant and more active than it had been yesterday, like a spring river breaking through its icy cover and rushing forth.

Level twenty.

He froze for a moment, then understood.

Three years ago, when he awakened his martial soul, he had possessed innately full soul power. After three years of arduous cultivation, he had finally broken through to level twenty.

He stood up, intending to tell Qian Daoliu.

But the instant he rose to his feet, his body suddenly stiffened.

His Spirit Eyes martial soul activated on its own.

It was a force beyond his control, surging from deep within his body, breaking through every obstruction and circulating by itself. His eyes turned a profound black, while strange light glowed within his pupils like two lamps lit in an eternal night.

Then, a soul ring rose beneath his feet.

Purple.

Deep purple, so rich it seemed almost ready to drip like ink. Rings of light patterns flowed across the soul ring's surface, radiating an ancient, mysterious aura.

A thousand-year soul ring.

Huo Yuhao was stunned.

He had not hunted a soul beast, absorbed a soul ring, or even done anything at all—yet this soul ring had appeared by itself, just like that million-year one.

Before Huo Yuhao could react, his body trembled again.

This time, the force came from his back.

The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion tattoo seemed to come alive, writhing across his back and emitting bone-piercing cold. The chill was so intense that even Huo Yuhao's current physique could not withstand it. His lips instantly turned bluish-purple, and fine frost formed over his eyebrows.

At that moment, the vertical eye moved.

For two years, it had hung high above the vault of the Sea of Spirit, utterly motionless like a statue. Huo Yuhao had nearly forgotten it existed.

But at that moment, it moved.

It opened first, spitting out an emerald-green blade. Incomparably pure life energy flowed across it, pouring into every limb and bone of Huo Yuhao's body.

Rose-gold light shot out from the vertical eye, illuminating the entire Sea of Spirit. The light was so dazzling that both Skydream Iceworm and the Ice Empress had no choice but to close their eyes.

The light pierced through the Sea of Spirit, through Huo Yuhao's body, through the layers of halls in Spirit City, and shot toward some distant, unknowable direction.

Beneath his feet, a ring of golden light rippled outward. It was a golden circle, and within it, golden runes flowed and flickered. The rose-gold light wrapped around a white figure, which appeared before plunging into his Sea of Spirit.

Then, a second soul ring rose beneath his feet.

Orange-gold.

The color was far too strange, unlike any color an ordinary soul ring should possess. Orange formed its base and gold its patterns, the two colors intertwining as though a sunset had been melted into metal, brilliant and dazzling.

Seven hundred thousand years.

That was the first thought to emerge in Huo Yuhao's mind. He did not know where it came from, but he knew it was true.

Intense pain erupted from his left arm.

It felt as if something had bitten down on his left arm. From shoulder to fingertips, every inch of bone and every piece of muscle trembled in agonizing pain. The agony was so intense that even his consciousness began to blur, and his vision repeatedly darkened.

He clenched his teeth and lowered his head to look at his left arm.

There, a soul bone was taking shape.

Emerald-green bone grew out from flesh and blood, bit by bit, layer by layer, as if something within him had awakened and was about to burst from his body. That green was too pure, as pure as the ice of the Far North that had not melted for ten thousand years—crystal-clear and radiating bone-piercing cold.

The seventy-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone granted the Ice Blast Art, a soul skill that even the Ice Empress had long dreamed of obtaining.

Huo Yuhao's knees gave out, and he dropped to the ground.

He braced himself with both hands and gasped in great mouthfuls. Sweat dripped from his forehead, landing on the ground and instantly freezing into icy beads. His body trembled, shivered, and struggled amid the unbearable pain.

But he did not cry out.

He gritted his teeth and did not make a sound.

Within the Sea of Spirit, Skydream Iceworm and the Ice Empress both fell silent. They watched him, watched this nine-year-old child, watched him clench his teeth through excruciating pain, and did not know what to say.

Just moments earlier.

The Far North.

It was a bitterly cold land frozen for thousands of miles, a forbidden ground for soul beasts and a restricted zone for humans. Piercing cold winds blew there year-round, and heavy snow filled the skies. There was no trace of life to be seen.

Yet deep within the Far North stood an iceberg.

Inside the iceberg, a humanoid creature slept.

Snow Empress.

The foremost of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North, a seven-hundred-thousand-year Ice and Snow Maiden, an existence just one step away from taking human form. She had slept here for a very, very long time, so long that even she no longer remembered how many years it had been.

She was waiting.

Waiting for an opportunity, waiting for a chance, waiting for the moment when she could take that final step.

But what she received was a beam of light.

Rose-gold light pierced through the ice that had not melted for ten thousand years, through her body, and through her consciousness. She did not even have a chance to resist before the light swept her away toward some unknowable direction.

When she opened her eyes again, she was no longer in the Far North.

She was in an unfamiliar place.

There was no ice, no snow, no cold wind here—only an endless golden ocean. Pale mist drifted across the surface, and within the mist, something could vaguely be seen swimming.

"Where is this?"

Her voice echoed through the empty space, but no one answered.

Then she saw them.

A plump white worm was staring at her with wide eyes.

An emerald-colored scorpion was studying her with a complicated gaze.

And far away, above the vault, a rose-gold vertical eye silently looked down upon everything.

"Snow Empress."

The scorpion spoke, her voice carrying a trace of bitter familiarity.

Snow Empress stared at her for a long time before finally recognizing her.

"Ice?"

"It's me."

"...Where is this?"

The Ice Empress fell silent for a moment.

"That kid's Sea of Spirit."

"What?"

Snow Empress's voice suddenly rose. Instinctively, she tried to unleash her power, to break free of this damned place, to return to her Far North—but she discovered that she could not.

Her power remained, but her body was gone.

She had become something.

Something between a soul beast and a soul ring, something indescribable.

"What is going on?!" Anger entered her voice. "Ice Empress, explain this to me!"

The Ice Empress opened her mouth, but did not know where to begin.

Skydream Iceworm moved closer with an awkward smile. "Um... Snow Empress, don't get worked up. Listen to my explanation..."

"Get lost!"

Snow Empress waved her hand, and a violent surge of icy power directly blasted Skydream Iceworm away. He rolled through the air several times before crashing heavily into the golden sea, splashing up waves.

But she did not stop.

She charged toward the vault, toward the vertical eye, toward the thing that had dragged her into this place.

Then she struck a wall.

An invisible wall, yet one that was unbreakable.

She attacked again and again, only to be thrown back each time. Her power erupted wildly, but she could not shake that wall in the slightest. The vertical eye continued to gaze silently upon her, its rose-gold light calmly illuminating everything, as though her struggle were nothing more than an insignificant farce.

No one knew how long passed.

At last, Snow Empress stopped.

She floated in midair, gasping heavily. More than half her power had been spent, but the wall remained utterly unmoved. Her gaze shifted from fury to despair, then from despair to emptiness.

"Why..." Her voice was hoarse, as if she had exhausted the last of her strength. "Why me..."

No one answered.

Over the golden sea, the Ice Empress slowly flew to her side.

"Snow Empress," she said softly.

Snow Empress did not look at her.

"I know you are unwilling to accept this," the Ice Empress said. "So was I. That day, I was sleeping in the Frozen Forest when a beam of light fell upon me. By the time I woke up, I was here."

She paused.

"I was angry, struggled, and despaired. But eventually, I understood."

Snow Empress still said nothing.

"We cannot go back." The Ice Empress's voice was soft, yet clear. "This is our fate. Since we cannot resist it, we can only accept it."

"Accept it?" Snow Empress finally turned to look at her, her eyes filled with mockery. "You want me to accept it? I am the foremost of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North. I am a seven-hundred-thousand-year soul beast. I am the soul beast closest to the Ice God. And you want me to accept becoming a human's dependent?"

"Then what else can you do?" The Ice Empress's voice suddenly became sharp. "Can you break through that light? Can you leave this place? Can you return to the Far North?"

Snow Empress opened her mouth, but could not say a word.

"You can't." The Ice Empress's voice lowered again, carrying a trace of exhaustion. "Neither can I. Neither of us can. Since we cannot..."

She did not finish.

But Snow Empress understood.

Since they could not, they could only accept it.

Accept this damned reality.

Accept this absurd fate.

Accept that she had gone from being the ruler of the Far North to becoming... becoming a human child's...

She did not even know what to call herself.

A soul ring? No.

A soul bone? No.

She was something between the two, something that had never existed before.

"What is that?" she suddenly asked, pointing toward the vertical eye above the vault.

The Ice Empress followed her gaze and shook her head.

"I don't know. It was here before either of us arrived. When Skydream and I came, it was already there."

"It brought us here?"

"Probably."

Snow Empress stared at the eye for a long time.

The eye stared back at her, utterly motionless.

That gaze reminded Snow Empress of many things—when she first opened her eyes to see the world, when she first hunted prey, when she first felt the threat of death.

It was a feeling that came from the depths of instinct, impossible to put into words.

That eye was older than all of them combined.

And more powerful.

"Snow Empress."

A voice suddenly rang out. It was not the Ice Empress's voice, nor Skydream's, but one she had never heard before.

Snow Empress shuddered and looked toward the source of the voice.

It came from the direction of that eye.

Had that voice come from within the eye?

"Accept it," the voice said, soft and faint, as though merely stating a fact. "This is your fate, and his as well."

"Who is he?"

The voice fell silent for a moment.

"A child."

Snow Empress froze.

A child?

The one who had dragged her from the Far North into this place was a child?

The voice did not sound again.

The eye on the dome slowly closed, its light gradually dimming. It was as if it had completed some task and fallen back into slumber.

The Sea of Spirit returned to silence.

Snow Empress floated in midair without moving.

Ice Empress stood beside her and said nothing either.

On the golden sea, Skydream Iceworm crawled out of the water, shook the droplets from his body, and watched them cautiously, not daring to approach.

A very, very long time passed.

At last, Snow Empress moved.

She raised her head, looking at the dome of the Sea of Spirit, at the vertical eye that had already closed, at this strange world that had trapped her.

"A child," she murmured. "A child..."

She suddenly laughed.

Her smile was bitter and astringent, yet carried an indescribable complexity.

"Ice Empress."

"Mm?"

"What kind of person is that child...?"

Ice Empress froze for a moment, then thought about it.

"A very stubborn kid," she said. "Nine years old. His mother had just died. There was hatred in his heart, a raging fire burning within him. Every day, he either cultivated or sat around in a daze. He did not like talking, but he could endure a lot."

She paused.

"When he broke through Rank 20 just now, his left arm bone grew out on its own. The pain brought him to his knees, yet he did not make a sound."

Snow Empress fell silent for a moment.

"Nine years old," she softly repeated.

Ice Empress nodded.

Snow Empress fell silent again.

After a long while, she suddenly spoke.

"Take me to see him."

Ice Empress froze for a moment, then nodded.

The golden sea parted, revealing a path leading into the depths. Snow Empress followed behind Ice Empress and walked in that direction.

At the end of the path stood a door.

After passing through it, she saw him.

A thin, small child knelt on the ground, both hands braced against the earth as he panted heavily. His clothes were soaked through with sweat and clung to his body. His face was frighteningly pale, and there were still traces of blood on his lips that he had not wiped away.

Yet when he raised his head, his eyes were bright.

Very bright.

Bright as though they were burning with fire.

As Snow Empress looked into those eyes, she suddenly recalled that many years ago, she had once possessed eyes like those as well.

That had happened a very, very long time ago.

So long ago that she had nearly forgotten it.

It was when she had broken through to one hundred thousand years.

She stood at the edge of the Sea of Spirit, watching that child struggle to his feet, watching him limp into the courtyard, watching him stand beneath the sunlight, raise his head, close his eyes, and take a deep breath.

Sunlight fell across his face, bringing a little color to those pale childish features.

He opened his eyes and looked at the green-glowing left arm bone.

Then he smiled.

That smile was faint, so faint it was almost imperceptible, but Snow Empress saw it.

It was not a happy smile.

It was the smile of someone who had... finally come back to life.

Snow Empress suddenly understood something.

She turned around and looked at Ice Empress.

"What is his name?"

"Huo Yuhao."

Snow Empress repeated the name once.

Huo Yuhao.

She turned back and gave that child one last look.

"Fine," she said softly, not knowing whether she was speaking to Ice Empress, to that child, or to herself.

"Then let it be this way."

Golden light slowly dispersed, and her figure vanished into the depths of the Sea of Spirit.

In the courtyard, Huo Yuhao suddenly raised his head and looked toward the sky.

He saw nothing.

Yet he suddenly felt that something had changed.

Skydream Iceworm's voice rang out in the Sea of Spirit. "Kid, congratulations."

"Congratulations for what?"

"Congratulations on gaining another resident." Skydream Iceworm's tone carried a complicated hint of amusement. "The foremost of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North, the seven-hundred-thousand-year Snow Empress—from today onward, she is yours too."

Huo Yuhao froze.

Instinctively, he wanted to look inward into the Sea of Spirit and see what the legendary Snow Empress looked like.

But at that moment, footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate.

He steadied his mind and looked toward the entrance.

Qian Daoliu stood outside the courtyard, watching him.

A complicated glimmer flickered in those cloudy eyes.

"You broke through?" the old man asked.

Huo Yuhao nodded.

Qian Daoliu walked into the courtyard and stopped in front of him. He looked Huo Yuhao up and down, his gaze lingering on him for a long while before finally settling on his left arm.

"A soul bone?"

Huo Yuhao nodded again.

Qian Daoliu fell silent for a moment.

"How many years?"

"Seventy thousand."

Qian Daoliu's eyes narrowed slightly before returning to calm. It was as though he had anticipated something long ago; there was not much surprise on his face.

"Show me your soul rings."

Huo Yuhao raised his hand, and two soul rings rose from beneath his feet.

One was purple, a thousand years old.

The other was orange-gold, seven hundred thousand years old.

Qian Daoliu stared at that orange-gold soul ring for a long time.

"Orange-gold..." he murmured. "And it appeared on its own... truly unheard of."

At last, he smiled.

The smile was faint, yet carried an indescribable meaning.

"Good," he said. "Very good."

He turned and walked out of the courtyard.

When he reached the gate, he suddenly stopped without looking back.

"Cultivate well," he said. "You are even more extraordinary than I imagined."

Then he left.

Huo Yuhao stood in the courtyard, watching his back disappear at the end of the corridor.

Sunlight poured down from overhead, falling onto him with a warm glow.

He knew that he was no longer the child from two years ago who could only sit around in a daze.

He raised his head and looked toward the sky. The sunlight made him squint.

There was nothing there.

Yet he suddenly remembered that voice.

Accept it. This is your destiny. And his destiny.

He clenched his fists.

"An ordained destiny...?" he murmured.