The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion was once again trapped inside the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's shed skin. No matter how hard she struggled, she could not break free. His shed skin was the crystallization of a million years of cultivation. Even the Ice Empress's cultivation and strength could not overcome it-a testament to its toughness.
At first, Huo Yuhao had thought it was merely a treasure for keeping warm. Now that he had seen it restrain a formidable soul beast with three hundred and ninety thousand years of cultivation, his eyes burned with desire.
However, it seemed that only the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm himself could control it, and each use took an enormous toll on his spiritual origin. That was why he only used it at crucial moments.
"Ice Empress, stop struggling. You've tried many times already. You should know it's useless," the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said in his distinctive, languid voice.
The Ice Empress said coldly, "What do you want?"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said tenderly, "I only want to stay with the one I love forever."
"Is this how you love me?" After more than a day of reflection, the Ice Empress had realized that she had fallen for his trap. If she had not been so close to him at the time, he could never have succeeded.
Unfortunately, it was too late to say anything now. She had fallen into the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's hands and could not break free of this strange power. This mighty being, who had lived for nearly four hundred thousand years, would naturally not give up easily. If strength could not prevail, she would have to rely on other abilities.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm smiled faintly. "Don't be impatient. Hear me out."
A short while later, understanding dawned on the Ice Empress.
"So after you escaped from the Far North, you drifted at sea for countless years, and once you reached land, the ferocious beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest captured you and fed on you for three thousand years?"
The Ice Empress immediately snapped, "I was wondering why the quality of the soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest suddenly soared. So you were the one nourishing them?"
"Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, you great traitor to the Far North! You secretly ate so much ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow, then turned around and went off to enrich the Star Dou Great Forest. Absolutely outrageous!"
By now, the Ice Empress's fury blazed three feet high. No longer caring that she was a prisoner, she hurled abuse straight at the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
After all, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm really was beyond all reason.
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao listened with rapt attention. The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had only told him that the soul beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest had imprisoned him, never going into such detail.
Only now did Huo Yuhao truly understand everything the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had been through. His lot had indeed been rather miserable.
If Huo Yuhao had not happened to venture into the Star Dou Great Forest, its soul beasts might have drained the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm dry, and he would have died for good.
Huo Yuhao had no interest in love between soul beasts, nor could he understand it. In his view, what the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm felt for the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion was probably more of an obsession.
He felt that the word "love" carried far too much weight. Perhaps the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had only endured those thousands of years of torment by clinging to his obsession with the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion.
That was why he was so fixated on her.
The moment an opportunity arose, he had rushed straight to the Far North. He wanted the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion to become Huo Yuhao's second martial soul, just as he had become part of him, so that the two of them could live together forever.
Unfortunately, now that the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had ended up like this, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion had no interest in him whatsoever.
"So, since you don't have a physical body anymore, why did you capture me? Hurry up and let me go."
To her surprise, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm shook his head repeatedly.
"No. I racked my brains to keep you by my side. I'll never let you go in this lifetime."
"Neither you nor I want to die. We've already lived for so long. How could we bear to turn into a pile of dust?"
"My allotted time is almost up. There's no way I can survive the million-year heavenly tribulation, so I chose to become a human's soul ring. I believe you're the same. I can sense that your next great tribulation will arrive in less than a hundred years. That's why, when you received my message, you were so impatient that you even fell into this most basic of traps."
"It's all because you're afraid. You're afraid you won't survive the heavenly tribulation, so you're frantically searching for every possible opportunity, trying to find that single thread of heaven's favor. But now I'm telling you that I've found a better way."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's words caught the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's attention. Almost instinctively, she asked, "What way?"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said solemnly, "God-making."
"God-making?"
"That's right. During those endless years trapped in the Star Dou Great Forest, I considered all sorts of methods. In the end, I found the most suitable path: help a human become a god, then have that human resurrect me."
"Because I'm a special million-year soul beast, my origin power can give a human a second martial soul, making him a one-of-a-kind genius with twin martial souls. At the same time, my million years' worth of origin power can help him raise every one of his soul rings to the hundred-thousand-year level."
"With both martial souls raised to their absolute peak, he might well break through that final boundary of the heavens and become a god at rank one hundred."
After the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm finished this string of explanations, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion sank into thought. She had also spent tens of thousands of years on the Douluo Continent and had some understanding of gods.
If becoming a god were truly so easy, why had Di Tian still not broken through to god-level? Why had not a single human become a god in the past ten thousand years?
Becoming a god was several times harder than surviving her heavenly tribulation. She had little faith in the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's plan.
She felt it was somewhat unreliable.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had also explained the concept of a Wisdom Soul Ring to her. His scheme against her now was intended to turn her into a Wisdom Soul Ring as well, so they could support his chosen human together.
But could it really succeed?
Rather than believe in such a nebulous method, she would be better off facing the heavenly tribulation head-on. If she succeeded, she would gain another hundred thousand years of life.
Even if she failed, the worst that could happen was death. Human lives, meanwhile, were far too short. A hundred years would pass in the blink of an eye.
"Tian Meng, all this talk hasn't moved me. Let me ask you just one thing: how confident are you?"
The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion was now like meat on someone else's chopping block, entirely at the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's mercy. He had not persuaded her, but she seemed to have no other choice.
If the chances of success were high, she could choose to take this mad gamble with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and help this boy become a god.
But if the chances were low, she would expend every last bit of her origin power if necessary to break free of this cage and regain her freedom.
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