Sneaking In: Would the Ice Empress Turn the Tables on Tian Meng?

A bitter wind howled past.

Chi Hong and Greninja made their way through the snow.

Beyond the harsh conditions, dangerous Soul Beasts were far more numerous here. They also had more ways to hide and hunt than Soul Beasts elsewhere.

But Chi Hong had an innate ability to sense a Soul Beast's aura and approximate location. Without it, he would never have dared cross the Far North with only two thousand-year Soul Beasts.

The closer he drew to the heart of the Far North, the stronger his sense of the Ice Pillar Plate became.

The problem was the powerful aura of a Ferocious Beast lingering near the Ice Pillar Plate.

That aura was impossible to miss.

Unlike with Mu En, Chi Hong could not gauge this Ferocious Beast's strength or cultivation. But to his senses, its aura shone like a beacon.

The Titan Demonblood King's aura, meanwhile, was far from here.

If I want the Ice Pillar Plate, I'll have to take it while they're away.

They pressed on for a while longer.

Greninja called out and pointed into the distance.

Chi Hong narrowed his eyes and looked. Through the white haze of wind and snow, he could just make out an enormous pillar of ice stretching between earth and sky.

"No way. The Ice Pillar Plate is inside that pillar?"

Chi Hong was surprised. He had planned to have Charizard cause a commotion, then hide in a Poké Ball while Charizard drew the Ice Empress away. That would save him a Legendary Pokémon Poké Ball.

Now, that seemed like a stupid idea.

Unless he was mistaken, the glittering gems surrounding the pillar were probably a colony of Ice Jade Scorpions.

Should I just use Ho-Oh?

It felt wasteful. He had meant to save it for when his life was in danger.

Chi Hong watched and thought for a while, then decided to wait for the perfect opportunity.

With the Flame Plate, neither he nor Greninja was affected by the cold.

A few more days passed.

Not far from Chi Hong, an incredibly powerful Soul Beast aura appeared.

"Finally."

Chi Hong sensed a million years of cultivation in that Soul Beast's aura. It belonged to Tian Meng, who had brought Huo Yuhao here in search of a second Martial Soul.

To the other Ferocious Beasts, though, he was nothing but an irresistible meal.

Suddenly,

An emerald beam erupted beside the ice pillar, staining the already dim sky green.

Its terrifying pressure drove every Soul Beast within a hundred li to the ground. They fled trembling.

"Tian Meng, you're still alive? And you dared come back?"

A clear voice rang across heaven and earth. An emerald streak shot through the sky toward a spot nearby.

"Ice Empress, I've missed you for so long. Every day, I could hardly wait to see you again."

On the other side, Tian Meng had taken the form of a golden apparition of Huo Yuhao. His spiritual power washed over the world behind him, turning it gold.

The Ice Empress appeared. She was a scorpion of breathtaking beauty.

Her body held only the colors of ice and emerald green. She looked as though she were made entirely of finely cut diamonds, and the light reflecting off the snow gave her an incomparable brilliance.

The Ice Empress gave a cold snort:

"So you came back to offer yourself up as my food?"

Tian Meng smiled:

"No. I know you have less than a hundred years before your final tribulation. I came to help you gain eternal life."

Then Tian Meng unleashed all his spiritual power. Using his Remains, he wove a pale, translucent membrane that trapped the Ice Empress.

The Ice Empress stared in shock:

"Tian Meng, you miserable bug! Since when could you do that? How can you wield spiritual power this way? Aren't you afraid you'll never return to your body?"

Tian Meng smiled:

"I've already lost my body. This is the new master I chose."

Huo Yuhao emerged from his hiding place below. He was a little frightened. Tian Meng was powerful enough to trap even the Ice Empress.

The Ice Empress focused her aura on Huo Yuhao and said with disdain:

"How far you've fallen. You've become a human's pet."

While the two talked, Chi Hong had quietly slipped close to the ice pillar.

The Ice Empress is finally gone. She probably won't be coming back anyway. Now the only problem is this colony of Ice Jade Scorpions.

Chi Hong stayed hidden and observed them. The colony had quite a few ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts. As creatures at the top of the Far North's food chain, the Ice Jade Scorpions had almost no natural predators, and their numbers were considerable.

Packed together, they looked like a field of diamonds.

"No choice. Charizard, you know you're the only one here who can fly. You're Greninja's big brother, too. For our future, I'm counting on you to lure those scorpions away."

Chi Hong summoned Charizard and gave him the order solemnly.

Charizard glanced at the Ice Jade Scorpions below and beat his wings with confidence, signaling that those crawling scorpions would never catch him.

"All right. Greninja, you and I will get the Plate."

Chi Hong had made up his mind.

He had pinpointed the Plate's location: it was at the center of the ice pillar's base.

Charizard fired a Flamethrower at the Ice Jade Scorpions. Afterward, he waggled his rear at them in provocation.

That enraged the entire colony. They were overlords of the Far North. When had any soul beast dared provoke them?

And a fire-type one, no less—the kind they hated most.

Rumble!

The furious Ice Jade Scorpions immediately gave chase.

Charizard waggled his rear once more and flew off, breathing fire down at them along the way to keep them angry.

Beautifully done.

Chi Hong silently praised Charizard.

Then he and Greninja headed for the base of the pillar.

Only when he stood before the towering pillar did Chi Hong realize it was formed entirely of Ultimate Ice. It was so vast that he could not see where it ended.

"At this diameter, just reaching the center on foot will take some time."

Chi Hong sighed.

Greninja struck the pillar with his sword. He left no mark at all; only a few flecks of ice drifted down.

For any other Soul Master who came here, breaking through the pillar to reach its center would be next to impossible.

Unless they were a Super Douluo who possessed Ultimate Fire, they would have almost no chance of breaking through it.

Fortunately, he had the Flame Plate.

Chi Hong drew on the Flame Plate's power. Firelight radiated from his body, forming a thin crimson veil around him.

He stepped toward the pillar. The moment the firelight touched it, the Ultimate Ice melted.

As Chi Hong walked forward, a small tunnel gradually formed beneath the pillar.

Meanwhile, the Ice Empress's voice turned cold:

"What nonsense about a human becoming a God. Why should I trust you, a mere meal, and some weak human? You just want me to sacrifice myself. Wouldn't I be better off refining you, surviving my tribulation, and then pursuing godhood on my own? Now die quietly."

With those words, blue-white light erupted from the Ice Empress's body, and a terrifying chill spread across the world.