"Pfft!"
The Ice Empress spat out a mouthful of blood.
She hurriedly regulated her breathing.
Chen Mo jumped at the sight. He had finally gotten himself a Ferocious Beast bodyguard.
Nothing's going to happen to her, is it?
He hurriedly asked, "Are you all right?"
"Just a little problem. It won't kill me," the Ice Empress said stubbornly.
After examining her closely, Electrolux concluded, "The little scorpion's essence is severely damaged."
"Her essence?" Chen Mo was puzzled.
"If I'm not mistaken, her essence was already damaged before she faced the tribulation, and it never recovered. This tribulation only piled injury upon injury," Electrolux offered his conjecture.
A little while later.
After the Ice Empress used her vast Soul Power to stabilize her injuries.
She glanced toward Chen Mo.
Then she hooked him over with her Jade Green Scorpion Tail.
"Little scorpion, what are you trying to do?"
To prevent any accidents.
Electrolux hurriedly took over.
"Do you think I'm like you humans?"
"Relax."
"I take my wagers seriously."
"Since this brat helped me survive the Four Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation, I'll spare the time to protect him for ten years."
The Ice Empress kept her promise.
Chen Mo asked, "But your injuries..."
"They're only minor injuries. They won't stop me from being a bodyguard," the Ice Empress insisted stubbornly.
"Then can you turn into a human?" Chen Mo asked again.
Having a four-hundred-thousand-year Ferocious Beast as a bodyguard was wonderful.
But he couldn't exactly take a scorpion into a city.
"Ahem... well..." Faced with the question of whether she could assume human form, the Ice Empress grew embarrassed.
With her essence so severely damaged.
Turning into a human now would be just a teeny, hundred-million-bit difficult.
Seeing the Ice Empress hesitate.
Chen Mo more or less guessed the answer.
He turned to Electrolux and asked, "Master, do you have any way to restore the Ice Empress's human form?"
"No."
Electrolux answered bluntly.
For one thing, he wasn't even from this world.
He still knew little about the rules governing this realm.
And even if he did have a way.
In his current state, where he couldn't even remember his own name, he probably wouldn't remember it anyway.
Seeing Chen Mo care so much about her appearance.
The Ice Empress couldn't help snapping, "It's just a Soul Beast's form. Is it really such a big deal?"
"It's not your Soul Beast form that bothers me. It's mainly that everyone in the city where I live is human. I can't take a scorpion everywhere I go, can I? And a Ferocious Beast-level scorpion at that. It would most likely cause unnecessary trouble," Chen Mo hurriedly explained.
After hearing him out, the Ice Empress thought he had a point. "Then what do we do?"
For a moment.
The human, the beast, and the remnant soul all fell silent.
As Chen Mo pondered, he couldn't help feeling puzzled.
Haven't I already helped the Ice Empress survive her heavenly tribulation? She's also agreed to protect me for ten years.
That should count as successfully beating someone else to the prize, right?
So why hasn't the system marked this mission complete?
The system... rewards.
Chen Mo suddenly remembered.
The system seemed to have rewarded him with two Gulou Balls earlier.
One Prism Ball and one King Ball.
At that thought.
He clapped his hands and looked at the Ice Empress with a mysterious smile. "Ice Empress, do you want to restore your essence power?"
"Obviously! Of course I do! What, do you have a way?" The Ice Empress looked at Chen Mo with intense curiosity.
Had this been two hours earlier.
She wouldn't have believed a word Chen Mo said.
But now.
Her trust in Chen Mo had risen considerably.
Electrolux was also curious about what method his young disciple might have.
Chen Mo immediately took the King Ball and Prism Ball out of his Storage Soul Tool.
Then he explained the effects of the two Gulou Balls to the Ice Empress.
"Well? Pick one."
"Hmm... I'll take this King Ball. It feels rather suited to my imperial bearing."
The Ice Empress examined them carefully for a while.
In the end, she chose the King Pet Ball bearing a crown emblem.
"In that case!"
"I choose you! Come on in, Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion!"
After putting away the Prism Ball, Chen Mo aimed at the Ice Empress and threw the King Ball.
The gilded, diamond-studded King Pet Ball, engraved with a crown pattern, traced an elegant arc through the air.
The instant it touched the Ice Empress.
It erupted with golden radiance that stretched ten thousand feet.
A Hexagram Formation appeared beneath Chen Mo and the Ice Empress at the same time.
A strange magical energy established a connection between them.
A crown mark slowly emerged on the Ice Empress's forehead, then quickly vanished.
The Ice Empress was enveloped in golden energy.
And the King Ball's innate injury-repairing ability.
Was rapidly healing the severe damage to the Ice Empress's essence power.
A short while later.
The light gathered back into the King Ball, which flew into Chen Mo's hand.
"That's it?"
"I wonder how it went?"
Having used a King Ball to capture a Soul Beast for the first time, Chen Mo was curious.
He shook the King Ball vigorously and asked, "Ice Empress, are you all right?"
"Idiot! Stop shaking it!" the Ice Empress hurriedly shouted.
The next second.
The King Ball floated in the air.
A brilliant light flashed.
A young girl with jade-green twin tails, a crown on her head, delicate features, and a white-and-green dress appeared in midair.
Having assumed human form, the Ice Empress flew down in front of Chen Mo without a word and slapped him.
"What were you shaking it for? You nearly made me throw up."
"Are all your injuries healed?"
Chen Mo asked curiously.
The Ice Empress replied, "That tool of yours really is miraculous. Not only did it restore my essence power, it even healed all the hidden injuries I've accumulated over the years."
"And I certainly am not the sort of Soul Beast who leaves kindness unrepaid."
"Consider me in your debt."
Afterward, Chen Mo also learned.
The Ice Empress could not only move around outside in human form, but also live inside the Pet Ball when she was tired.
And because of their contract.
The Ice Empress couldn't stray too far from Chen Mo.
Once she exceeded that distance, the King Ball would recall her and automatically fly back into Chen Mo's hand.
With his objective for this trip to the Far North achieved.
Chen Mo didn't linger in the Far North.
Because it really was cold here.
But the navigation provided by the system had automatically disappeared when he found the Ice Empress.
Fortunately, he had anticipated this.
He had used the Soul Tool Token beforehand to record most of the route he had taken.
Of course, even if he hadn't remembered it, he still had the Ice Empress, a local guide, to lead the way.
Soon, Chen Mo retraced his route and left the Far North.
On the return journey.
The system's cold voice, unchanging through the ages, rang out.
[Mission: Beat Others to the Far North Sisters (I), completed!] [Mission requirement: Help the Ice Empress survive the Four Hundred Thousand Year Heavenly Tribulation, fulfilled!] [In addition, the host used the King Ball to "capture" the Ice Empress, achieving "First Capture MVP" and "Best Interception MVP."] [Calculating mission results...] [Distributing rewards...] [Congratulations! The host has received: Physique +20%, Spiritual Power +30%, Comprehension +10%!] [Congratulations! The host has received: The complete alchemy inheritance of an Eighth-Rank Alchemist!] [Congratulations! The host has received: Bone Chilling Flame!] [Congratulations! The host has received: Black Demon Cauldron!] [Congratulations! The host has received: One random thirty-thousand-year Soul Bone!]
A few days after Chen Mo left.
A graceful figure appeared at the spot where the Ice Empress had faced her tribulation.
"Bing'er, I'm sorry. I'm late."
Before you continue