The Symbiotic Soul Pact: Contracting the Ice Empress

"Tian Meng!!"

At the entrance to the Ice Valley, where the blizzard howled, a streak of emerald green tore through the snow like a flowing gemstone.

Huo Yuhao focused his gaze and could not help but marvel.

The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion was magnificent. Her emerald shell gleamed like the finest imperial jade, dark-gold patterns traced her joints, and her vertical pupils were pure dark gold. Her tail arched high as the overwhelming pressure of a Ferocious Beast more than three hundred thousand years old bore down on them.

"Tian Meng, you actually dared to come back!" The Ice Empress's voice was cool, though she could barely contain her excitement. Her feet clicked sharply against the snow. "Since you delivered yourself to me, you can be my nourishment! Once I eat you, I might even break through the four-hundred-thousand-year mark!"

The coming four-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation had her at her wits' end. She had never expected this "walking power bank" to deliver himself to her.

If she devoured the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, her Soul Power would surge, and she would stand a better chance against the Heavenly Tribulation.

Then she might even be able to challenge the Snow Empress for the title of Lord of the Far North!

Watching the Ice Empress lose herself in fantasy, the tip of her tail swaying without her noticing, Huo Yuhao sighed and took a gleaming white shed cocoon from his Storage Soul Tool.

"Little Bingbing, want to eat me? Not a chance." The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm floated beside the cocoon, grinning shamelessly.

Only then did the Ice Empress sense something wrong. Her dark-gold pupils contracted as her gaze landed on the cocoon. "All you have left is a spiritual projection? You... sacrificed yourself?"

She glanced at Huo Yuhao beside him, contempt nearly spilling from her eyes.

A mighty Million-Year Soul Beast had sacrificed himself to a one-ring Soul Grandmaster? Had the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm slept himself stupid?

"Hmph. Even if you sacrificed yourself, eating him will make up for it!" The Ice Empress snorted. With a sweep of her tail, the chill of Ultimate Ice condensed into spikes that shot straight at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao pressed a hand to his forehead.

Of course. There was no reasoning with a Ferocious Beast. He would have to beat her into submission first.

"Tian Meng, do it," he said calmly.

"Huh? We're really doing this?" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hesitated, but when he saw the resolve in Huo Yuhao's eyes, he gritted his teeth. "All right... Sorry, little Bingbing!"

The gleaming white cocoon in Huo Yuhao's hand suddenly expanded into a tightly woven net and swept toward the ice spikes.

"What is that?! A shed cocoon?!" Caught off guard, the Ice Empress was wrapped tight. The chill of Ultimate Ice struck the cocoon without leaving so much as a mark.

She struggled desperately, but this was the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's million-year-old shell of origin. Its toughness was absurd, and the more she fought, the tighter it bound her.

"Correct! That's my little Bingbing!" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm floated nearby, unable to resist teasing her.

Huo Yuhao: "..."

He pressed a hand to his forehead, speechless.

Simps really were beyond saving!!

Even now, Tian Meng could not stop Slash.

"Tian Meng! Didn't you say you loved me?" When struggling failed, the Ice Empress changed tactics. Her voice softened as she appealed to his feelings. "Can you bear to watch me fail my Heavenly Tribulation and turn to ash?"

"Bingbing, that's exactly why I came." The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm finally grew serious and pointed at Huo Yuhao. "Following Yuhao is ten thousand times better than facing the Heavenly Tribulation alone. He's the successor chosen by a God, blessed with Fortune and stronger than those figures from ten thousand years ago! Follow him, and you won't just survive. You'll keep growing stronger."

"A God? A successor?" the Ice Empress murmured. Her dark-gold eyes swept over Huo Yuhao, full of disbelief. "Him? A one-ring Soul Grandmaster? Does this God have such poor judgment?"

Huo Yuhao: "..."

Fine. You're a Ferocious Beast. Have it your way.

"You don't believe me? Then I'll prove it."

Huo Yuhao did not argue. Golden light suddenly burst from his body.

His Perfected Lord of Clear Origin and Wonderful Dao Martial Soul possessed him—

Handsome and dignified, with earlobes that brushed his shoulders and eyes that shone. He wore the Three-Mountain Flying Phoenix Hat and a pale goose-yellow robe. Gold-threaded boots complemented his dragon-patterned socks, while an eight-treasure belt adorned with floral medallions circled his waist. A crescent-shaped Slingshot hung at his side, and he held the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear in his hand.

A silver-gold Deity Projection flickered behind him. Majestic Divine Power pressed outward as though it had taken physical form, and even the snowstorm froze in that instant.

The Ice Empress stiffened, the patterns on her shell drawn taut.

She stared, her dark-gold pupils contracting slightly. For a long time, she could not speak.

At last, her rigid body slowly relaxed. "...I believe you," she said quietly.

No ordinary Soul Master could possess pressure like a Deity descending into the world.

Following someone like him might truly be better than waiting to die in the Far North.

"Tell me what I need to do. Sacrifice myself?" the Ice Empress asked.

"No need for that." Huo Yuhao's eyes glinted. "I have a better way."

In the original story, Electrolux and Huo Yuhao had founded the Soul Spirit System together. "Soul Spirits endure forever, their legacy flowing through ten thousand generations" had been no empty boast.

Now he had Electrolux in his entirety, along with a Deity follower like Xiaotian the Howling Celestial Dog. Naturally, he could try something more advanced.

Electrolux's proposal resembled the original Soul Spirit Method, but Xiaotian the Howling Celestial Dog had suggested a genuinely equal arrangement: the Symbiotic Contract.

A Soul Master would form a contract with an intelligent Soul Beast and open a dedicated space within his body as the Soul Beast's second home.

The Soul Beast would merge all its blood essence and physical body into the Soul Master, but its origin would not perish. The laws of the world would conceal a Soul Beast dwelling within a Soul Master from the Heavenly Tribulation, sparing it from having to face one again.

More importantly, where one Soul Ring normally granted one Soul Skill, the Symbiotic Soul Pact allowed a single Soul Ring to unlock two: an innate Soul Skill and a summoning Soul Skill.

It was no watered-down version of the Soul Spirits from ten thousand years later, with a Soul Ring dyed a different color and a phantom to summon. This system truly let Soul Beasts fight at full strength and grow alongside their partners.

When the Soul Beast cultivated, the Soul Master benefited too. When the Soul Master broke through, the Soul Beast gained strength as well. Each supported the other as they advanced together.

Even low-level Soul Beasts without intelligence could use it. If the Soul Master died, the Soul Beast would not perish with him. It would fall asleep and merge with the earth's Leyline, then awaken when it encountered another compatible Contractor.

Of course, the Soul Master held the deciding power.

When Huo Yuhao first heard Xiaotian the Howling Celestial Dog explain it, he was dumbstruck.

Why did this sound so much like an evil cultivator's ghost-raising art? Would a disciple of the Chan School bring heavenly punishment down on himself by learning it?

He had given the method a name: the "Symbiotic Soul Pact."

Well, that settled it. He was hopeless at naming things.

Now the Ice Empress would be its first test subject. Even if it failed, Electrolux's Soul Spirit Method was there to fall back on. He had nothing to lose.

He laid out every benefit and drawback of the Symbiotic Soul Pact for the Ice Empress. He also told her plainly that the method was newly created and carried risks. If she was unwilling, he would not force her.

The Ice Empress remained silent for a long time, light shifting in her dark-gold pupils.

Compared with a Heavenly Tribulation that could reduce her to ash, even an untested contract was worth the gamble. Besides, he was a God's successor. Surely he would not cheat a Soul Beast more than three hundred thousand years old.

"I choose the Symbiotic Soul Pact." She raised her head, her tone solemn. "Lord God, I'm willing to sign."

"Just call me Yuhao." Huo Yuhao smiled. "Don't you want to think it over?"

"No." The Ice Empress's answer was firm.

"All right."

The instant Huo Yuhao nodded, his eyes turned a fathomless black. His aura changed, becoming majestic and bitterly cold, like a Deity who governed Order.

Xiaotian the Howling Celestial Dog had temporarily taken control of his body to preside over the contract.

An ancient, solemn voice echoed across the frozen land:

"Your body, my abode!

"Your life, bound to mine!

"Together we prosper, together we suffer!

"Never to be parted, never to be betrayed!

"Only death shall set us free.

"Contractors—Huo Yuhao and the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion!"

Golden threads appeared from nowhere like chains of Order. One end wrapped around Huo Yuhao's wrist, the other settling on the Ice Empress's shell.

A blood-red glow rose around the Ice Empress and grew brighter and brighter. At last, she became a streak of jade and crimson light that flowed into Huo Yuhao's Dantian like a meteor.

"The contract is sealed. Whoever breaks their word shall suffer the Punishment of Eating Rocks."

Huo Yuhao's eyes had cleared by the time Xiaotian the Howling Celestial Dog finished naming the contractors. He had added the final line himself.

The air fell silent for three seconds.

"Yuhao, that was so embarrassing!" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was the first to lose control, bursting into laughter.

"What's embarrassing about it? It's called a sense of ceremony!" Huo Yuhao's face reddened as he forced out a defense and looked down at his feet.

A dazzling ice-jade Soul Ring hovered quietly there. The gentle aura of Ultimate Ice coursed through his meridians, and his body, Spiritual Power, and mental strength were all growing at a visible rate.

His Perfected Lord of Clear Origin and Wonderful Dao Martial Soul now officially had its First Soul Ring.

"Not bad." Huo Yuhao clenched his fist, feeling the power surging within him. Smiling, he asked within the Sea of Consciousness, "Ice Empress, can you hear me?"

"...Yes." The Ice Empress's cool voice held a trace of discomfort. "It feels... strange."

Huo Yuhao smiled.

He could clearly feel that he could now take on ten of his former self with strength to spare.

His first step in the Far North was complete.