Sacred Fire, the Ice Empress's Humiliation

Ho-Oh's body was not large, measuring about four meters long. It circled overhead, beating wings that shimmered like flowing light.

Chi Hong was so awestruck by Ho-Oh's appearance that he stood there staring.

Charizard quickly flew back from nearby. Its eyes and Greninja's were filled with admiration and longing for such power.

But the sight Chi Hong found sacred was terrifying to the Ice Empress.

To the Ice Empress's senses, Ho-Oh's aura belonged to a million-year Soul Beast—one that had even reached the realm of a god!

The Ultimate Ice she took such pride in seemed pitifully small beneath Ho-Oh's holy radiance.

"A divine beast? No, how could a divine beast exist in this world? Not even the Snow Empress or Di Tian has an aura like that!"

The Ice Empress's cool voice trembled. In the world of Soul Beasts, humans could not sense the suppression that came from a superior bloodline.

Faced with a Soul Beast whose bloodline far surpassed her own, she could hardly even muster the will to resist.

Chi Hong looked at the Ice Empress and sighed.

"Why did you have to push me? I told you not to. Do you understand your mistake now?"

The moment he summoned Ho-Oh, Chi Hong formed a faint connection with it, similar to the one he had with Charizard. But he could only command it briefly to use moves in battle, and he could only designate the Ice Empress as its target.

The Ice Empress watched Chi Hong warily.

"I've never seen a Soul Beast like that on this continent, much less one controlled by a human like you. Who are you? And what does that Plate have to do with you?"

You cost me a divine beast Poké Ball, and you still have the nerve to ask questions.

The Ice Empress still clearly had no grasp of her situation.

Chi Hong gave a cold snort.

"I can't be bothered to explain. You don't deserve to know. Ho-Oh, use Sacred Fire."

Ho-Oh let out a long cry that shook the world. Then it opened its beak, and every rainbow-colored stream of light around it converged before it like an enormous, swirling vortex.

The next instant,

Ho-Oh unleashed a stream of golden-rose flames from its beak. Like a living, sacred torrent, it surged straight toward the Ice Empress.

For a moment, the sacred radiance made the Ice Empress feel as though she were seeing a god. Then she snapped out of her daze and realized it was death itself, coming to claim her!

The Ice Empress swiftly drew on every last bit of her core power, using Ultimate Ice to raise layer upon layer of shields around herself.

It was her strongest defensive skill.

Ice Empress Protection!

The torrent of fire struck the shields of Ultimate Ice. In less than a second, every layer had melted away.

Sacred Fire scorched the Ice Empress's body without mercy.

"Mm—"

A pained groan escaped the Ice Empress amid the flames.

Only when her voice had grown so weak it was nearly inaudible did Chi Hong have Ho-Oh withdraw its Sacred Fire.

When the flames died down, the Ice Empress lay where she had fallen, barely alive. Her diamond-like shell had been burned red-hot, and she had no strength left to resist.

Yet she still let out faint, broken whimpers. Sacred Fire's burning power lingered inside her, consuming what little life she had left.

"Human, what will it take for you to spare me?"

The Ice Empress begged through the pain.

Chi Hong looked down at her.

"Oh? Why do you think I'd spare you? When I tried to explain myself earlier, were you planning to spare me? Besides, do you have any idea how valuable the Soul Bone and Soul Ring of a four-hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast are?"

The Ice Empress fell silent.

She understood that humans and Soul Beasts were mortal enemies. There was no chance this human would spare her.

But she didn't want to die. The longer a Soul Beast lived, the more it feared death.

Otherwise, she would never have tried everything she could to survive the approaching tribulation that marked her four-hundred-thousand-year limit.

Even the Snow Empress, with seven hundred thousand years of cultivation, had been forced to take human form and start cultivating anew to stay alive. Whether she lived or died now was unknown.

At that thought, despair gripped the Ice Empress. Why did Soul Beasts have to suffer so much?

The heavens would not tolerate their growing stronger. They had to face tribulations, yet could not become gods.

Generation after generation, they remained trapped in this world.

With death drawing near, the Ice Empress silently closed her eyes. Her body began to tremble.

Seeing that her resolve had completely crumbled, Chi Hong smiled. "Ice Empress, if you want to live, you have one last chance."

The Ice Empress opened her eyes. "Human? What trick are you trying to pull now?"

Chi Hong pointed at Charizard and Greninja.

"Don't make me out to be so terrible. I just want you to become my partner, like these two."

The Ice Empress looked at the proud Charizard and Greninja striking a cool pose, then snorted. "Dream on, human. I may be afraid of dying, but even if it kills me, I will never submit to a human and become your servant!"

Chi Hong shook his head.

"Who said anything about servitude? They're my companions through life and death. My Martial Soul doesn't need to kill Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings. Instead, I form contracts with them. From then on, we grow together, sharing both triumph and loss."

The Ice Empress carefully sensed the states of Charizard and Greninja. With her powerful mental strength, she could tell neither Soul Beast showed signs of being controlled. On the contrary, both were bursting with vitality.

What shocked her more was that the fire dragon was only six years old, yet possessed the strength of a six-thousand-year Soul Beast. The other was even more absurd: less than a year old, with the strength of a four-thousand-year Soul Beast at its peak.

"Bah! So what? I don't want to be partners with a human like you. I won't believe you."

The Ice Empress gave another cold snort.

But her tone had softened slightly.

Chi Hong pointed toward the sky and said calmly,

"Even if you don't believe me, surely you believe Ho-Oh, a divine beast? Don't you want to become a divine beast yourself? Don't you want eternal life?"

The Ice Empress looked up at Ho-Oh flying overhead. Setting aside the fact that it had nearly killed her in a single move, its aura and power were indeed everything she dreamed of attaining.

"So... so what? Can you make me a god? This phoenix is clearly only a demigod. It still hasn't ascended to the Divine Realm, or it wouldn't be here."

The Ice Empress's voice had softened considerably.

Chi Hong pressed on,

“You're forgetting that you'd be forming a contract with me. Once I become a God, you'll naturally ascend to the Divine Realm and become a divine beast.”

With that, Chi Hong released the power of his Ice Pillar Plate.

The familiar aura made the Ice Empress shudder. Even some of the lingering Sacred Fire inside her dissipated.

At the sight of this, the Ice Empress finally believed most of what Chi Hong had said.

The plate contained the Ice Law she craved so desperately. That power belonged to the realm of gods.

And as the plate's owner, Chi Hong was destined to become a god.