"You sound so certain, but all those things are in the future. How am I supposed to verify them? Or do you dare swear on your martial soul that if anything you said is false, you'll never advance another inch?"
The Snow Empress raised her head and scrutinized Huo Yuhao as she asked.
Huo Yuhao smiled at that, then said to the Snow Empress,
"As for how to verify whether I'm telling the truth, it's actually very simple. You can watch for a while and see whether a Titled Douluo barges into the Far North. As for swearing on my martial soul that I haven't lied to you, I can do that right now."
As though she had finally caught a flaw in Huo Yuhao's words, the Snow Empress stepped forward and said,
"Don't just talk the talk. Swear right now!"
Huo Yuhao smiled at her words, then nodded and said to the Snow Empress,
"Of course. I'll swear right now."
With that, Huo Yuhao solemnly swore an oath on his martial soul.
The Snow Empress immediately sensed a thread of unseen power connecting to Huo Yuhao.
As the leader of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North, the Snow Empress had seen Soul Masters swear oaths before. She knew what happened when they did. The oath Huo Yuhao had sworn was the standard oath humans on the Douluo Continent used to demonstrate their sincerity.
It was nothing like the baseless oaths people casually tossed out in everyday life.
A trace of resolve entered the Snow Empress's eyes, and she said to Huo Yuhao,
"All right. Since you've sworn an oath, I can trust you for now. However, I'll leave myself a safeguard and have Bing'er monitor the surroundings in the Far North for me. If what you said turns out to be untrue, I'll immediately separate from you."
For the powerful, mastering one principle opened the way to a hundred others. After seeing how the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was attached to Huo Yuhao, the Snow Empress had already formed some conjectures about their relationship.
Even if, according to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, her merger with Huo Yuhao would be somewhat closer, she would still be able to separate from him. Moreover, Huo Yuhao himself would suffer the greater damage when that happened.
Huo Yuhao nodded, then said to the Snow Empress,
"No problem. I believe that someone of your stature won't separate from me on a whim, so long as nothing goes wrong on my end."
The Snow Empress smiled and stroked Huo Yuhao's face as she said,
"To be honest, your talent is unmatched among all the humans I've seen. If anyone in this world has a chance of becoming a god, it's you, Huo Yuhao. For that reason alone, I don't mind investing in you."
As she spoke, the Snow Empress extended a slender, graceful finger and gently touched Huo Yuhao's forehead.
Huo Yuhao immediately felt an extreme, bone-piercing chill surge into his body, while the Snow Empress said to him,
"I'm a snow spirit born of heaven and earth. The elements of ice and snow encompass my entire existence, so my soul bone will inevitably merge into your body along with my soul ring. What you possess now, however, is that kind of savage, fiery energy. This is like forcibly stuffing a watermelon up your asshole. Pain is normal. Bear with it."
"That analogy is way too crude."
Huo Yuhao's face had twisted somewhat, yet he still joked with the Snow Empress in his Sea of Consciousness.
Seeing him like this, the Snow Empress was not angry at all. Instead, a little more admiration entered her eyes, and she said with mild exasperation,
"Relax your mind. I'll also give you a minute to think about which part of your body you want the soul bone for."
At her words, Huo Yuhao's thoughts raced like lightning. Based on his knowledge of the Douluo Continent, choosing a torso bone would definitely be a loss.
After all, it was one of the two most important bones among the six major soul bones, so he had to use the best. There were two options better than the Snow Empress's: one was Di Tian's future torso bone, while the other, safer option was the torso bone of the Mountain Dragon King among the dragon species.
Although neither soul bone would be easy to obtain, both had far greater potential than the Snow Empress's torso bone.
As for his right arm bone, he still had to reserve it to match the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's external soul bone in the future. After all, whatever else happened, he couldn't end up with things inferior to what the original Huo Yuhao had obtained... That would utterly ruin his reputation.
For his skull bone, there was the Evil Eye Tyrant Ruler's more specialized skull bone, so naturally, he couldn't choose that either.
After turning it over in his mind, Huo Yuhao finally said to the Snow Empress, "The left arm bone."
As soon as he finished speaking, Huo Yuhao felt the energy at the Snow Empress's fingertip gradually gather toward his left arm. At the same time, the Snow Empress voiced her doubts.
"Why not choose a torso bone or a skull bone? My age is hardly low."
By now, Huo Yuhao had largely adapted to the pain. He smiled calmly at the Snow Empress, then said to her,
"Although your age is indeed considerable, ice and snow aren't particularly suitable for a torso bone or skull bone. I have better options for those two bones."
The Snow Empress shrugged at his words, then said to Huo Yuhao,
"All right. Since you insist, I won't say any more. You seem to have adapted to this pain, so next, I'll properly merge into your body. The pain is going to increase."
Huo Yuhao smiled, showing the Snow Empress a somewhat fierce grin, then said in an even tone,
"Bring it on."
After the Snow Empress answered with an equally meaningful smile, searing pain spread throughout Huo Yuhao's body.
Yet Huo Yuhao seemed prepared. He bit down hard on his own arm, his eyes widening as blood flooded his mouth.
Just like that, throughout a full two hours of merging, Huo Yuhao never uttered a sound.
The wound he had bitten into his arm quickly froze in the frigid air of the Far North, without losing much blood.
Only the Qiongqi tattoo on his upper body, growing increasingly distinct as his body overheated, proved that Huo Yuhao was indeed enduring a trial as punishing as a raging storm.
The Snow Empress said to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm,
"You big worm may be weak in combat, but you have a good eye. You actually managed to find such a resolute human."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm chuckled, putting on the air of a veteran elder before the Snow Empress as he said smugly,
"Of course. Back then, I had a uniquely discerning eye and specifically chose this once-in-an-age genius."
Somewhat speechless, Huo Yuhao said to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm,
"I was already a Soul Ancestor when I went looking for you. Did I need you to pick me out as a once-in-an-age genius? The only reason I hadn't appeared in the world was that my outrageous so-called father had thrown me into a military camp for training."
Exposed, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm gave an awkward smile. What greeted him next was a rain of fists and the fierce whistle of the Snow Empress's long legs whipping into his body.
Huo Yuhao had no time to pay attention to their sparring. Instead, he raised his hand and looked at his palm...
Before you continue