Absorbing a Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring

"Ah! Ah! Ahhh!"

Huo Yuhao felt as though every limb and bone in his body were about to burst. His meridians had undergone two rounds of cleansing by Jiang Ziya and Tian Meng, making them far wider than an ordinary person's.

But the Spirit Ring he was absorbing came from an Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion nearly four hundred thousand years old. Worse, the Ice Empress possessed Ultimate Ice. As if the pressure on his meridians were not enough, her Ultimate Ice Soul Power felt like countless tiny ice crystals, tearing through his body from within.

Beside them, Brother Sky Dream focused every ounce of his attention on guiding the Ice Empress's power into Huo Yuhao.

"Yuhao, hang on. And stop screaming. That noise of yours is downright foul."

After the first wave of pain, Huo Yuhao's body gradually adjusted to the agony. He could still feel it being destroyed again and again, only to be repaired each time by the power of the Ice Empress and Tian Meng.

Drip. Drip.

Beads of sweat welled up on Huo Yuhao's forehead, then swiftly froze in the bitter cold of the Extreme North and fell as tiny pellets of ice before him. Once he had grown used to the pain of being torn apart, he gritted his teeth and fought to stay conscious.

Before the ritual began, Tian Meng had warned him that he must not pass out if he wanted the best possible result. So he could only shout to keep himself awake.

"Brother Sky Dream, keep going! Don't worry about me! I can take it."

"You'd better hold on, kid! If you pass out, I won't be able to help you."

Despite what he said, Tian Meng spared some of his attention for Huo Yuhao. If the boy lost consciousness, he was ready to divert part of his power to help him absorb the energy.

The Ice Empress watched Huo Yuhao persevere even as her immense Soul Power threatened to burst his body. A glimmer of approval flashed through her jade-green eyes.

She was quietly impressed. Tian Meng wasn't boasting this time. The little fellow he chose really is a good fit. His talent and willpower are both exceptional.

While the three of them carried out the fusion ritual, Jiang Ziya and the Snow Empress, who were standing guard nearby, had a conversation of their own.

One was a remnant soul from another world; the other was the undisputed ruler of the Extreme North. Neither feared the cold, so they sat down on the ground and began to talk.

"Senior, was it true what you said earlier about appointing gods?"

Hearing the Snow Empress bring up a deed he had once taken great pride in, Jiang Ziya stroked his beard with a smile.

"Of course. I never lie!"

"Then why did you say you never became a god?"

With that answer, the Snow Empress voiced the question that troubled her most.

Jiang Ziya gazed into the distance, his eyes deep and unreadable.

"Because there was no place for me among the three hundred and sixty gods I appointed. My master and my two martial uncles decided who would fill those positions. My part was to kill those people in the war, or find someone else to do it, then appoint them as gods afterward."

The Snow Empress stared at him, dumbfounded. Never before had she heard of the losers of a war becoming gods.

"Hard to believe?"

She nodded.

"Then tell me, young friend, what do you think a god represents?"

The Snow Empress's brows drew together. What is a god? The question stumped her. Becoming a god had been her ultimate goal for hundreds of thousands of years, yet what a god truly was remained hazy to her.

"A god has eternal life and absolute power."

She offered her answer tentatively. To her surprise, Jiang Ziya merely smiled and shook his head.

"A god bears responsibility!"

"Responsibility?"

"Yes. In my world, gods have duties. If you are a Water God, for instance, you must ensure favorable weather for the mortal world. If you are an Agriculture God, you must bless its crops with bountiful harvests. Every god must fulfill their duty, or face punishment!"

"What?"

This was the first time the Snow Empress had heard anything of the sort. She had always imagined the gods of the Divine Realm as lofty beings far above everyone else. Gods attending to their own duties and protecting mortals below, as Jiang Ziya described? She would have been grateful enough if the gods she knew simply refrained from meddling.

"What's more, in my world, some powerful people can also enjoy long lives and great strength. They are called Immortals, and they roam freely, beyond the jurisdiction of heaven."

No wonder they had to choose those three hundred or so gods through a war, the Snow Empress thought.

She envied Jiang Ziya's world. From his description, she was certain it existed on a higher plane than the Douluo Continent.

Yet alongside that envy came relief. She was glad she had joined Tian Meng's God-Making Plan. Otherwise, she would have had to face her seven-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation alone.

Truthfully, even with a hundred-thousand-year Snow Lotus, her chances of surviving it were slim. The Ice Empress was not the only one whose Origin had been damaged during a tribulation.

Across the Douluo Continent, nearly every soul beast suffered some damage to its Origin when undergoing a tribulation. Most of the continent's Ferocious Beasts died in later Heavenly Tribulations because of that accumulated damage.

"Then how did you come to the Douluo Continent, Senior?"

"Ah, that's another story!"

Jiang Ziya said no more. He simply gazed in silence at the sky above.

Hum! A burst of golden light suddenly flared from Tian Meng and the others. A gleaming golden bone emerged from the Ice Empress's body as its aura steadily weakened.

"Yuhao, that's Bingbing's torso bone! Hold on. Once you absorb this Spirit Bone, we'll be done."

"Okay!"

Huo Yuhao clenched his teeth and forced the single word out.

The radiant Spirit Bone descended from midair and fused directly into Huo Yuhao's frost-covered torso.

"Ah!"

The searing pain tore a cry from Huo Yuhao's throat. Fusing with the Spirit Bone was sheer torture, as though someone were smashing the bones of his torso apart inch by inch with a small hammer, then gluing them back together.

He came close to losing consciousness, but each time he did, scenes flashed before his eyes: the abuse he and his mother had suffered at the Duke's Estate, the time they had been hunted, the warm years they had spent together in their little courtyard. He even saw moments he had shared with Xu Jiujiu.

I can't fall asleep. I have to get revenge! I have to give Mom a better life! And I... I still have to repay Sister Jiujiu's kindness!

A fierce surge of determination sustained Huo Yuhao once more, carrying him through the piercing pain.

Gradually, the pain faded, and the ritual Tian Meng had overseen came to an end. Huo Yuhao remained where he sat, holding himself upright through sheer effort, while the lifeless body of the Ice Empress was slowly buried beneath the snow.

After an unknown stretch of time, a pale, delicate hand reached up through the deep snow.