"Y-you not being confident you can persuade the Snow Empress doesn't mean I'm not. As long as you can guarantee I won't be killed in an instant, I have some confidence I can change her mind."
Huo Yuhao spoke confidently to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. Though the latter did not understand exactly what Huo Yuhao intended, he eventually said,
"All right. In that case, I trust you."
After speaking, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm sighed regretfully again and muttered with obvious reluctance,
"It's just a shame we can't bring Bingbing along on such a wonderful opportunity."
Huo Yuhao smiled faintly and dangled a tempting promise before the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
"Don't worry. If I absorb the Snow Empress as my second martial soul, given the relationship between the two empresses, do you think we'll lack opportunities to interact with the Ice Empress?"
At those words, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm seemed to bloom with a second spring inside Huo Yuhao's mind. His earlier enthusiasm returned, and he rubbed his hands together eagerly as he spoke.
"You have a point! As long as we win over the Snow Empress, Bingbing will naturally follow! Y-Yuhao, you really are worthy of being the person I chose. You practically know more about the Far North than I do!"
Huo Yuhao gave two dry chuckles without responding, merely quickening his pace.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm did not pursue the subject either. Instead, he spoke to Huo Yuhao with great seriousness.
"But the Snow Empress isn't nearly as easy to find as the Ice Empress. I've only heard her name myself; I've never seen her true appearance."
Huo Yuhao nodded. After several days of travel, the human and the soul finally reached the edge of the Far North.
A frigid wind swept past, but with his Qiongqi Martial Soul protecting him, Huo Yuhao's body naturally warmed as the cold wind blew against it. He did not feel cold and strode onward.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm manifested beside Huo Yuhao in his spiritual form. Raising a hand, he coated Huo Yuhao in a silvery-white film of light and said,
"Your martial soul may be quite resistant to the cold, but the cold here is relentless. My shed skin can protect you and save you some soul power. After all, you may need to show what you're capable of later."
Huo Yuhao flexed his hand, then said to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm,
"Thanks. I suppose I carry something evil within me too. That never-ending flame burns through my martial soul, so the cold of the Far North isn't too bad for me. It's not pain that's terribly difficult to endure."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm shook his head and said to Huo Yuhao,
"Stop putting on a brave face. Just use my shed skin properly. We have a long way to go. If we were looking for the Ice Empress, we could more or less start trying to call her from here.
"But since we're looking for the Snow Empress, we'll probably have to go deeper."
Huo Yuhao nodded, having no objection to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's words, and simply trudged onward with his head down.
Throughout the journey, Huo Yuhao could barely sense any changes. It was simply too cold, severely hindering the spread of his spiritual power.
At the same time, the entire Far North was a vast expanse of white. It was difficult to find a fixed reference point to determine how far he had traveled.
Huo Yuhao could only spread his spiritual power as far as possible to observe his surroundings.
They still encountered the Titan Snow Demon King and avoided his notice using the same method as in the original story.
Although Huo Yuhao knew little about their surroundings, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was somewhat familiar with them.
After confirming that they would not seek out the Ice Empress, he led Huo Yuhao around the densely occupied territory of the Ice Jade Scorpion Clan and deeper into the Far North.
After crossing a snowfield, Huo Yuhao pushed aside a thicket and discovered a lake in the heart of the Far North.
"How strange. It hasn't frozen solid at these temperatures. Could there be some secret beneath this lake?"
As Huo Yuhao voiced his curiosity to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, he reached out to test the temperature of the lake water.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm replied,
"I don't know either. This is actually my first time here too."
Huo Yuhao had already dipped his hand into the lake. After briefly testing its temperature, he said to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm,
"I don't know if the cold has thrown off my senses, but this water actually feels a little warm."
Just then, a cool, clear voice sounded from behind Huo Yuhao.
"The water of Ice God Lake is a miracle of the Far North, and one of the vital sources that nourish its countless soul beasts. For an ice-attribute soul beast, a single mouthful of this water is worth a year of arduous cultivation."
Huo Yuhao abruptly turned and saw a graceful, ice-blue figure standing behind him.
What was rather frightening was that she stood on the path Huo Yuhao had taken to get here. Yet before this, even with his spiritual power spread out, he had not detected her at all.
Though the young woman before him looked only about twenty, Huo Yuhao already sensed the threat she posed.
Almost instantly, his soul power began circulating rapidly beneath the protection of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's shed skin.
A powerful gust surged, bringing the phantom of his Qiongqi Martial Soul into view before the Snow Empress.
The instant the Qiongqi Martial Soul appeared, the fully manifested Snow Empress instead curled her lips into a smile.
"How interesting. With a martial soul bearing such imposing pressure at your side, it's no wonder you're young and reckless enough to venture deep into my Far North with such a level of cultivation."
The Snow Empress chuckled softly, then raised her hand in an instant. Huo Yuhao immediately felt a powerful force of soul power clamp tightly around his neck.
Before the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could act, he snapped his fingers.
Before the Snow Empress's ice-element soul power could completely freeze all his soul power, he unleashed his third soul skill, Mist Arena.
This time, mist rose from beneath Huo Yuhao's feet. It did not envelop the Snow Empress, enclosing only Huo Yuhao himself.
The Snow Empress gave a soft sound of surprise, then looked at her palm. She engulfed the trace of gray-black mist clinging to her hand within her palm and said to Huo Yuhao,
"An interesting soul skill. It allowed you to escape my grasp with merely four-ring cultivation. Remarkable.
"In consideration of that soul skill, and the fact that you have harmed no living creature in the Far North, I will give you a chance today. Disappear from my sight now, and I will no longer pursue your offense of recklessly disturbing the waters of Ice God Lake."
Huo Yuhao emerged from the mist, cupped his hands toward the Snow Empress, and said,
"Thank you for showing mercy, Snow Empress. But since you no longer intend to kill me, would you be willing to hear me out?"
The Snow Empress arched an eyebrow, then said to Huo Yuhao,
"You are the first human to test my patience like this. You should know that here in the Far North, even Di Tian would not dare defy my wishes."
That's mostly because Di Tian can't be bothered to come looking for you, Huo Yuhao thought. Outwardly, however, he cupped his hands toward the Snow Empress and said with a smile,
"With strength like yours, Snow Empress, a few minutes are no more than the very tip of a single hair on nine oxen. Why quibble over them?"
The Snow Empress looked at Huo Yuhao and slowly began to speak...
Before you continue