Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion

In the air, the silence lasted only a moment. Then the raging blizzard abruptly stopped, and the sky, once filled with Brilliant Gold spiritual power, began to tremble.

An emerald hue spread from the distant horizon until it stained half the sky.

A young girl's clear voice rang out from the horizon.

"Little Dream?!"

With a flash of light across the sky, an emerald figure appeared in midair.

She was an ice-jade-colored giant scorpion, three meters long and only one and a half meters tall. Her shell combined emerald green with icy blue, and the aura of extreme cold radiating from her was enough to make anyone tremble in fear.

And she was none other than-

Seventh among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts.

Second among the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North.

The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, whose cultivation had reached 399,900 years.

"Wow! Bingbing! Long time no see!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm spoke excitedly.

"This is unbelievable. I never thought it would really be you, Little Dream. You're actually still alive."

The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's body shimmered within the emerald light before transforming into a graceful young girl.

Judging by her appearance, she looked younger than sixteen or seventeen. Yet her skin was as white as snow and slightly translucent, like ice crystals.

Her delicate, coolly beautiful face bore none of the anger she had shown in the original story. Instead, it was filled with excitement and joy.

Her long emerald hair was tied into twin ponytails, decorated with two beads. She had pale yellow eyes and wore a little emerald dress that suited her perfectly, with a long scorpion tail extending behind her.

"Hehe, this young lady is already a million-year soul beast-ah, no, this young fellow! A mere Bingbing should hurry up and kneel before me!"

"Really? That's wonderful."

As the Ice Empress spoke, her excitement gradually faded, replaced by her usual proud bearing.

"If you want me to kneel before you, you'll have to show me some strength. Even if you've really become a million-year soul beast, that only applies to your spiritual power and cultivation. Your physical strength is probably only at the level of a mere ten-thousand-year soul beast."

"All I need to do is find your true body."

As she spoke, her pale yellow eyes brightened, and a faint wash of emerald soul power instantly covered the entire plain.

One second.

Two seconds.

The pride in the Ice Empress's eyes slowly faded, replaced by confusion.

As a soul beast approaching four hundred thousand years of cultivation, she had spread her spiritual power over such a vast distance, yet she couldn't detect the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's true body at all.

"How could this be? Has Tian Meng really cultivated to that level?"

She returned her gaze to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's face, only to find a somewhat forlorn expression there.

A rather absurd possibility surfaced in the Ice Empress's mind.

Emerald light shone in her eyes as she stared fixedly at the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

Her confusion turned to disbelief.

"Little Dream, you..."

Only then did the Ice Empress notice the two humans far below on the ice field.

"Ah, it's just what you're thinking. A lot happened along the way. Anyway, I've become that little girl's Wisdom Soul Ring."

"A Wisdom Soul Ring?"

The Ice Empress didn't fly into a rage and attack the two humans below because her friend had become a soul ring. Instead, she was mostly confused.

"Uh, it's a little complicated to explain. Could you find us somewhere safe?"

The Ice Empress gave the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm a complicated look, but still nodded. A surge of icy emerald soul power swept up the two people on the ground and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, carrying them into the distance.

Before long, the four of them arrived in a hollow surrounded by mountains.

"Can you tell me now, Little Dream? What exactly happened? You disappeared for so long back then."

"Here's what happened."

Over the next while, he carefully explained to the Ice Empress how he had fallen into the Ice Cavern, absorbed ice marrow, and then left the Far North to travel.

He had then unexpectedly become a million-year soul beast, only to be captured by Di Tian. Later, the Evil Emperor had tried to seize him, and the two soul beasts had fought.

However, he had only heard about the battle between the two soul beasts from the other soul beasts.

"Di Tian went too far."

"Ah, well, actually... he didn't capture me to use me as food. Although he wasn't particularly friendly, he just wanted me to stay in the Star Dou Great Forest forever. But I didn't like staying there, so I ran away."

"So you chose to become a human's soul ring?"

"Mm... that wasn't the main reason. The main reason I became a soul ring was the heavenly tribulation. By consuming heavenly treasures and sleeping, I really did unexpectedly break through to a million years, but I hadn't endured a heavenly tribulation. Still, it was bound to come sooner or later. Back then, I could already feel it approaching, so I had no choice but to make a decision."

"So you chose that girl?"

Tian Meng nodded.

"So you came this time to say a proper goodbye? After all, this human won't stay here forever. And you still haven't told me what this so-called Wisdom Soul Ring actually is."

The Ice Empress's tone no longer carried its earlier force. Instead, she sounded a little downcast.

Although her friend could be a little noisy at times, he had kept her company for a long time. Sadly, the heavenly tribulation had forced him to become a human's soul ring, and she was facing the same danger herself.

Her cultivation had already reached 399,900 years, leaving very little time before her 400,000-Year Heavenly Tribulation.

"You could call it a goodbye. Actually, the two things are connected. Let me explain what a Wisdom Soul Ring is first."

Over the next little while, Tian Meng gave a simple explanation, using terms she could understand as much as possible.

"So that's how it works. Who would've thought that little brain of yours would ever do something so impressive?"

"Hehe, of course-wait, what? What do you mean, little brain? This is a brain full of wisdom!"

Tian Meng spoke as though she hadn't understood him, but his expression looked more like a kitten hissing.

"The main reason I came to find you this time was actually to resolve the matter of your heavenly tribulation."

"You have a way..."

The Ice Empress stopped halfway through her sentence and looked at Huo Yuyao beside Tian Meng, her brows drawing together slightly.

"Don't tell me you want me to become this human's soul ring too?"

Tian Meng said nothing, merely nodding.

"Hmph! Whatever else I am, I'm still one of the ferocious beasts, one of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North. Even if I die under the heavenly tribulation, how could I possibly become a human's soul ring? Are you joking? Besides, what makes you think I can't overcome this 400,000-Year Heavenly Tribulation?"

At her friend's words, the Ice Empress's expression changed, taking on that initial arrogance and anger once more.

Seeing this, Tian Meng shook his head, his expression carrying both helplessness and regret.

"Bingbing, give it up. Don't you understand your own body? With your current strength, there's absolutely no way you can break through four hundred thousand years."

"So what? Even if I stop cultivating right now, I can still live for another hundred years. What about this human? How long do you think she can live?"

The two began arguing fiercely, just as they had in the original story.

But in the end, the Ice Empress lost the argument. When the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm explained that another purpose behind becoming a soul ring was to create a god, she was stunned.

As one of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, she naturally knew the continent's history. Even the most recent human to attain godhood belonged to a story from ten thousand years ago.

Yet she couldn't refuse the idea Tian Meng proposed. As long as she also became the human girl's soul ring, Huo Yuyao would become the continent's first holder of twin martial souls to possess both a Million-Year Soul Ring and a ferocious beast soul ring.

If anyone on the entire continent had the best chance of becoming a god, it would be her.

"So I'm gambling too, Bingbing. At most, we have a hundred years left to live, and the same goes for this human. Since we'll only have a hundred years whether we become soul rings or not, why not stake everything on one attempt?"

"If we succeed, we'll have endless life! Although our freedom will be somewhat limited, we'll still have gained immortality."

"If we fail, that's all right too. At least we'll put an end to that hope for the soul beasts who come after us. After all, if someone with twin martial souls-a body martial soul and an ultimate martial soul-can't become a god even with both a ferocious beast soul ring and a Million-Year Soul Ring, that can only mean the road to godhood has long since been severed. In this age, even humans can no longer become gods."

After hearing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's explanation, the Ice Empress said nothing more and silently nodded.

She slowly floated down in front of Huo Yuyao, her pale yellow eyes constantly appraising the human girl before her.

"Her constitution is quite good, and her innate soul power is at the maximum level. You certainly found yourself a good host."

Hearing that, Tian Meng gave an awkward laugh. He didn't intend to explain the matter of cultivation here, since that wasn't the focus right now.

"What's your name? And why are there two of you? Who is this boy?"

The things they had just discussed were so important and so shocking that she hadn't had time to pay attention to the two of them.

She had only begun paying attention to Huo Yuyao after their conversation ended, let alone Lin Mo, who had remained outside the discussion the entire time.

"I... my name is Huo Yuyao. It's nice to meet you, um, Ice Empress. This is my older brother, Lin Mo. He was very worried about me, so he came along."

After hearing the girl's explanation, the Ice Empress turned her gaze toward the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

"Little Dream, you're trying to create a god, and you're letting other people know about it?"

"Hehe, he doesn't really count as an outsider. For certain reasons, uh... anyway, you'll understand once you've completed the ritual."

Tian Meng scratched his head awkwardly, unsure what to say. Then he suddenly recalled the few words he had exchanged with Electrolux on their journey to the Far North.

He still remembered the contents of that conversation vividly.

And the central term in that conversation was-

Soul spirit contract.

His gaze drifted toward Lin Mo, seemingly by chance. Lin Mo noticed and merely returned a friendly smile.

"Is this a good thing or a bad thing...?"

After all, as he remembered it, Electrolux had only told him that their current research was complete, but they might still need a few days to verify it.

He was just about to ask through spiritual power when Lin Mo spoke first.

"Hello, Ice Empress. I'm Huo Yuyao's older brother, Lin Mo. As for why I've come here, to be precise, I'm here to help you."

"Help us?"

The Ice Empress became even more bewildered. She looked questioningly at the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, whose expression was helpless.

Next, Lin Mo began explaining the soul spirit contract he and Electrolux had developed during this time.

In fact, the two had begun researching it as early as when he enrolled. During the journey, Lin Mo had described the relevant details from the original story, helping them further refine the soul spirit contract.

On their second day in the Far North-just half a day earlier-the verified soul spirit contract had finally been perfected.

Although the current soul spirit contract was only their first attempt, it already had the same effects as the soul spirit contract in the original story.

Neither of them was satisfied with those effects, and they were still making constant revisions. But for now, it was enough to help Huo Yuyao and the Ice Empress complete a soul spirit contract.

After hearing the details of the soul spirit contract, the Ice Empress looked at Lin Mo in utter disbelief.

She simply couldn't believe that a boy and his teacher had created something so incredible.

It also made her intensely curious about who this boy before her really was, and who the teacher behind him could be.

"Ahem. You'll find out about that when we help you form the soul spirit contract in a moment. I can't tell you yet. After all, this is my teacher's and my most important secret-more important than our lives, even. So I can only entrust it to people I trust completely."

After speaking, Lin Mo suddenly realized his words sounded somewhat wrong and hurriedly waved his hands to explain.

"I'm not saying you aren't trustworthy, Ice Empress. It's just a basic safeguard, I suppose. Hehe."

The Ice Empress wasn't angry at his explanation. Or rather, she wouldn't get angry over something like that.

On the contrary, having lived so long and become the leader of her clan, she thought highly of Lin Mo for having such an attitude.

"I understand. You don't need to explain. I don't think there's anything wrong with what you said."

The Ice Empress stepped back twice and returned to her true form.

"At this point, I have nothing more to say. I'll join you in this mad idea. But this came so suddenly that I need to return to my clan and make a few simple arrangements first."

With that, her true body became a streak of emerald light and flew into the distance.

As she left, snowflakes slowly began drifting down over the snowy plain once more.

"Hey, hey, hey, Lin Mo! Are you sure that soul spirit contract of yours is really perfected? This isn't something to joke about."

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was still a little anxious. On one side was his current host, and on the other was his closest friend. They were the two most important people in his life right now, and he didn't want to gamble with either of their lives.

"Don't worry. My teacher and I have already tested it. There aren't any problems. Besides, my teacher said he prepared a backup plan. Even if something unexpected really happens, he can intervene and resolve it, guaranteeing neither of them suffers any harm."

"Ah, that's good. That's good."

Although he was still somewhat nervous, he trusted the guarantee of a god-level expert.

Before long, that familiar streak of emerald light came flying toward them.