"Human boy, please prepare yourself."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm did not dare look at Di Tian again and turned his attention back to Gu Yunxiao.
Gu Yunxiao nodded slightly and sat down cross-legged.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm immediately began his sacrifice, gathering the origin power within him into a mass of energy and drawing it out of his body.
Then he guided that mass of energy into Gu Yunxiao's body.
Bzzzt!
A humming sound rang out, echoing through the space.
Ice-white energy spread outward from Gu Yunxiao in ring after ring, like ripples across water.
Gu Yunxiao's eyes were tightly shut, his brows slightly furrowed as pain swept through his entire body.
This was not a complete sacrifice, only a partial one.
Thus, Gu Yunxiao had to endure some torment of both body and soul.
"It's about time."
Di Tian prepared to act, intending to ease the pain of Gu Yunxiao's fusion.
Yet just as he was about to pour in his energy, something unexpected happened.
Roar!
A roar resounded within Gu Yunxiao's body-the roar of the Heavenly Tribulation Demon Dragon.
At that roar, Gu Yunxiao immediately opened his eyes. Alongside the indifference in his purple eyes was an exalted nobility.
Under the power of heavenly tribulation and the Dragon God's power, the pain of fusion instantly vanished.
Seeing this, Di Tian lowered his raised hand and quietly stood guard nearby.
Wh-what kind of martial soul does this boy have? How can it be so terrifying?
Having witnessed everything, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm trembled to his very core, shivering uncontrollably.
But he did not dare utter a word, afraid that if he disturbed Gu Yunxiao, Di Tian would kill him on the spot with a swipe of his claw.
Bzzzt...
Meanwhile, as his origin power disappeared, the energy within the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm began leaking out beyond his control.
Just as the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm thought all his cultivation would go to waste, the altar suppressing him actually locked that energy in.
Incredible!
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was utterly astonished.
For a moment, he suddenly felt that sacrificing himself to Gu Yunxiao might not be such a bad thing.
What Gu Yunxiao had shown so far made it well worth staking everything on him, taking a gamble on the "god-making plan" he had envisioned all these years.
Time trickled by, and who knew how long had passed.
The power of heavenly tribulation and the Dragon God's power around Gu Yunxiao gradually receded, and an icy chill slowly spread from within his body.
After absorbing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's origin power, he now had an empty ice martial soul slot within him.
"It worked."
The indifference in Gu Yunxiao's eyes vanished, replaced by a trace of joy.
He could sense an empty slot for an ice-attribute martial soul beneath his Heavenly Tribulation Demon Dragon martial soul.
Though acquired rather than innate, it still meant he had twin martial souls.
Moreover, he could choose his second martial soul.
Since it was ice-attributed, he naturally had to aim for ultimate ice.
"Let's go. We'll head to the Far North right now."
Di Tian stepped forward and led Gu Yunxiao out of the space.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm watched the direction in which they had disappeared. He opened his mouth to say something, but swallowed the words before they could escape.
In truth, he desperately wanted to ask Gu Yunxiao a favor.
If possible, he hoped Gu Yunxiao would choose the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion as his second martial soul.
That way, he could be a little closer to Bingbing.
But at the thought of Di Tian's ferocity, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was scared to death. In the end, he chose to wait quietly for his sacrifice.
The Far North.
Brilliant halos of seven-colored light shimmered in the sky.
On the ground, frigid winds blew and snowflakes swirled, while layers of powdered ice danced through the air.
This was already close to the core region of the Far North. Many powerful ice-attribute soul beasts lived here, and those with a hundred thousand years of cultivation were far from rare.
But with Di Tian's strength, he could easily bring Gu Yunxiao in and out of this place at will.
"Uncle Tian, what soul beast should I choose for my second martial soul?"
Gu Yunxiao understood his own position very clearly.
He was merely a "clueless beginner." Whether cultivating soul power or learning about soul beasts, he needed others to teach him.
"The Far North has Three Great Heavenly Kings. Not only do they command exceptionally powerful ice attributes, but each has over two hundred thousand years of cultivation."
"The first-ranked Snow Empress has close to seven hundred thousand years of cultivation. Her true form is the Heavenly Snow Woman, and she is the ruler of the Far North."
"The second-ranked Ice Empress has close to four hundred thousand years of cultivation. Her true form is the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, and she is extremely close to the Snow Empress."
"The third is a Titan Snow Demon King with two hundred thousand years of cultivation."
"Of them, the Snow Empress and Ice Empress possess ultimate ice, while the Titan Snow Demon King's ice attribute is somewhat weaker."
"Our goal is an ultimate ice martial soul, but the Snow Empress has no kin. Only the Ice Empress has an Ice Jade Scorpion group."
"So our target is an Ice Jade Scorpion."
If possible, Di Tian would certainly have preferred one of the two empresses to become Gu Yunxiao's second martial soul.
But that was unrealistic, and might even spark a great battle.
Even in the Far North, Di Tian had no fear of the two empresses. Getting either of them to willingly become Gu Yunxiao's martial soul, however, was another matter entirely.
For Gu Yunxiao's safety, it was more prudent to settle for the next best option and choose one of the Ice Empress's kin.
"All right."
Gu Yunxiao nodded.
As long as it possessed ultimate ice, nothing else really mattered.
After all, his second martial soul was meant to serve the Heavenly Tribulation Demon Dragon.
"She's here."
At that moment, Di Tian looked into the distance, and a dark aura surged around him.
Gu Yunxiao instinctively followed Di Tian's gaze and saw a layer of emerald-green light spreading across the horizon.
Close behind it came a savage, wild, icy aura.
"Hmph!"
Di Tian snorted coldly. His dark aura ravaged the space ahead, whipping up a hundred-meter-high wall of snow and crushing that icy aura.
The other party seemed to freeze briefly under the dark aura.
Then a clear, crisp voice rang out, carrying boundless chill.
"Di Tian!"
There was a trace of wariness in that voice.
Di Tian's expression remained indifferent as he calmly gazed into the distance.
Bzzzt!
In an instant, emerald-green light blazed across the sky.
On the ground, snow churned and surged toward them like a tsunami. Only when it reached a point several dozen meters in front of Di Tian did it gradually disperse.
With a flash of emerald light, a strange soul beast appeared before Di Tian and Gu Yunxiao.
She was a scorpion-an exceptionally... beautiful scorpion.
It was hard to imagine the word "beautiful" being associated with a creature like a scorpion.
Yet that was Gu Yunxiao's first impression of the scorpion before him.
Is this the Ice Empress?
Gu Yunxiao studied the emerald-green scorpion ahead, his eyes full of curiosity.
The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion was a meter and a half long, and her body bore only two colors: the color of ice and emerald green.
She had yellow eyes, silvery-white mouthparts, six long legs, and two front pincers a full meter long.
Most striking of all was her five-segmented tail, ending in a hooked stinger made of diamond granules.
Taken as a whole, she gave an impression of crystalline clarity and exquisite beauty.
Di Tian looked at the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion before him and said evenly, "Ice Empress."
"Di Tian, why aren't you staying in the Star Dou Great Forest? What are you doing here in my Far North?"
"And what's going on with this human?"
The Ice Empress looked at Gu Yunxiao, a trace of puzzlement flashing through her bright yellow eyes.
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