The Ice and Snow Emperors

Although he was delighted that his close friend had survived through an entirely new method, he still regretted that such good fortune had not fallen to him.

"Don't worry, Tian Meng. My teacher and I aren't just updating the Soul Spirit Contract. We're also researching how to turn your Wisdom Soul Ring into soul power, and we're actually making pretty quick progress. Before long, you should be able to become a soul spirit too. That would give you a little more freedom."

"Really, Little Mo?!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had still been several meters away, but upon hearing those words, he shot over to Lin Mo with a whoosh, clasping Lin Mo's hand tightly in both of his little hands, his face brimming with excitement.

He moved so quickly that even Lin Mo barely reacted.

"?"

"Oh, I knew from the very beginning that you were a kindhearted child."

"..."

"..."

"..."

All three others fell silent.

Huo Yuyao's gaze unconsciously drifted toward their tightly clasped hands before returning to Lin Mo.

At that moment, Tian Meng's antics had left Lin Mo rather dazed. His eyes narrowed slightly, his expression asking, What has gotten into you?

Lin Mo pulled his hand free and looked at the Ice Empress, who gave two awkward coughs before speaking.

"Tian Meng's reaction was a little exaggerated, but as a fellow soul beast, I can more or less understand how he feels."

Lin Mo said nothing, merely nodding helplessly before looking at Huo Yuyao.

"How do you feel, Little Yao? Anything you're having trouble adjusting to?"

Huo Yuyao shook her head and said happily.

"Super, super good! I feel so much stronger now!"

Yet Lin Mo still did not respond. He merely stared at her with a rather odd expression.

Huh? Doesn't everyone say that absorbing a soul ring causes particularly noticeable physical changes? Especially early on. This child's height doesn't seem to have changed.

He looked Huo Yuyao up and down. The girl's height and figure had barely changed at all. The only change might have been in her stats panel.

Could the modified Soul Spirit Contract leave a soul master's physique unchanged?

It was not that he particularly cared about Huo Yuyao's figure or height. What concerned him was whether this modified Soul Spirit Contract might have other effects if it really could affect a soul master to such a degree.

"Teacher, could I ask you to help examine her?"

Lin Mo called to his teacher within his Sea of Consciousness.

"Sorry, Little Mo. I'm occupied with something right now, so I can't come over."

"Huh? All right."

"But you've already learned the written language of my world. I'll pass a spell on to you. You only need to place your hand on someone's forehead to use it to examine their physical condition."

The fragment of divine sense housing Electrolux suddenly emitted a ray of light, which sank into Lin Mo's forehead.

In an instant, Lin Mo felt a flood of information pour into his mind.

"Thank you for teaching me, Teacher."

"There's no need for that. I've told you before: you're my disciple. Naturally, I'll teach you everything I've learned."

After leaving his Sea of Consciousness, Lin Mo explained his thoughts.

After listening, Huo Yuyao said nothing and simply walked over to Lin Mo. Before her eyes, Lin Mo's face slowly disappeared from view, replaced by his chest.

"..."

Huo Yuyao, who had been rather happy a moment earlier, suddenly became unhappy. She finally understood why Lin Mo had been looking at her.

"Mm..."

After two seconds of silence, Huo Yuyao pouted slightly and gently bumped her little head against Lin Mo's chest.

"Brother Xiao Mo doesn't like me anymore..."

"Huh?"

Seeing the girl's pitiful expression, Lin Mo hurriedly waved his hands in denial.

"How could that be? How could I possibly dislike you? I think you're wonderful just the way you are, and very cute. Your big brother likes you very much."

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm."

"That's good, then."

The innocent girl did not seem to think his earlier words had merely been a joke. She even patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Relax your mind and stay still. I'll examine you now."

"Okay."

Beside them, however, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and the Ice Empress looked puzzled. Soul masters could indeed examine someone's internal condition through touch, but only with extremely high cultivation. Lin Mo was merely a Soul Grandmaster. How could he possibly do it?

Under their puzzled gazes, Lin Mo slowly reached out and gently placed his hand on Huo Yuyao's head.

The girl's hair was soft and smooth, and Lin Mo could not resist stroking it first. Then, remembering the circumstances and noticing the other two's rather speechless looks, he gave two awkward coughs before gently pressing his hand against the top of her head.

As he murmured an incantation, a gray energy carrying an ancient aura slowly appeared in his hand.

The gray light did not do anything else. It simply hovered where his palm touched the top of Huo Yuyao's head, circling continuously.

"Is... is this that deity's power? It can give a Soul Grandmaster who isn't a healer the ability to examine others, but I've never even seen these written characters."

"Shh! Don't say it, don't say it. Keep your voice down."

Hearing the Ice Empress's words, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hurriedly flew behind her and covered her mouth.

A little over ten seconds later, Lin Mo withdrew his hand.

"I didn't find anything strange. So why exactly did this happen?"

Seeing Lin Mo's confusion, the Ice Empress spoke.

"If there aren't any abnormalities, then we can only say that Little Yao's body is simply like this. I examined her carefully when we formed the Soul Spirit Contract too. Besides, the slight changes to someone's appearance after absorbing a soul ring mainly come from the influx of soul power and the soul ring, and changes don't occur with every absorption."

Only after hearing the Ice Empress's explanation did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Phew, that gave me such a fright."

Everyone there relaxed, save for one person who remained unhappy.

"Mm!"

Huo Yuyao looked down at herself, then walked up to Lin Mo and used her hand to compare their heights.

"It's all right. You only have two rings right now, after all."

Lin Mo offered some reassurance. Not only that, before she could say anything else, he turned to the Ice Empress. This time, however, his expression was solemn as he asked.

"Ice Empress, I'd like your help finding someone."

Huo Yuyao had still wanted to speak, but when she saw Lin Mo's suddenly serious expression, she fell silent.

"Hmm? Me?"

"Yes. I'd like to ask you to find the Snow Empress."

"Xiao Xue?!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm cried out in shock, seemingly using a rather intimate nickname.

"What do you want with Xue'er?"

The Ice Empress frowned slightly.

"Don't worry. I have absolutely no ill intentions toward her. There are just some things I think she needs to know, things concerning her future."

The Ice Empress said nothing more and merely looked at him silently. The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm looked toward the Ice Empress. Although he did use a rather intimate nickname for the Snow Empress, the Ice Empress was closer to her when it came to their actual relationship.

Lin Mo and the Ice Empress stared at each other like that. After a while, the Ice Empress sighed and said.

"All right. I understand."

After weighing it over, she still chose to trust Lin Mo. Besides, he had said it concerned the Snow Empress's future, which worried her a little. After all, the boy before her even had a deity as his teacher.

The Ice Empress turned and gazed into the distance.

An extremely faint ring of emerald-green soul power rippled outward from her, gradually spreading into the distance.

"Xue'er, are you there? Could you come over for a moment?"

Not long after her voice traveled outward, ripples of white energy appeared before her.

"What do you need, Bing'er?"

Those wisps of white energy transformed into delicate snowflakes in the air before finally condensing into a tall, breathtakingly beautiful figure.

Third among the continent's Ten Great Ferocious Beasts.

Chief of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North.

A seven-hundred-thousand-year soul beast formed from the purest ice element between heaven and earth: the Heavenly Snow Woman.

"Wow, she's so beautiful."

Looking at the Snow Empress who had appeared before her, with her cold beauty, tall figure, and looks that could topple a city, Huo Yuyao could not help exclaiming in admiration.

Having only just discussed her own height, she could not help looking down at herself again and sighing.

Unexpectedly, a hand gently stroked her head.

"Actually, it wasn't the Ice Empress who wanted to see you. It was me. Hello, Snow Empress."

"A human? You're... Little Dream?!"

Noticing another familiar soul beast present, the Snow Empress was somewhat surprised. It had been a very long time since she last saw the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

At the same time, she noticed the states her two friends were in.

"The state you're in... Humans!"

An immensely violent aura surged from her, crashing toward the two humans.

"Aaah! Xiao Xue, calm down!"

"Calm down first, Xue'er! Hear us out! They didn't hunt us!"

The Ice Empress instantly appeared before the two humans. She was different from the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's spiritual body.

She appeared as a soul spirit, so naturally, she could still use her own power. Though weaker than before, it was more than enough to block this wave.

Light radiated from the Ice Empress's entire body as she reached out and directly blocked the pressure.

"Bing'er, Little Dream, you..."

"Oh, it's a long story. Calm down first. We're going to explain everything to you, aren't we?"

Seeing that neither of her friends looked distressed, she finally reined in her emotions, though her gaze toward the two humans remained hostile.

Next, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm explained their current circumstances to the Snow Empress one by one, and the Heavenly Snow Woman's expression grew increasingly animated.

"So you're saying that one of you now exists within this girl as a Wisdom Soul Ring, while the other exists through that so-called Soul Spirit Contract? And not only does this Soul Spirit Contract preserve your intelligence, it also gives you a degree of autonomy, allowing you to leave the soul master and move around freely?"

There was obvious astonishment in her voice. After all, despite possessing seven hundred thousand years of cultivation and having lived for so long, she had never heard of anything so miraculous.

"Not only that, but this kid Lin Mo also said the current Soul Spirit Contract is only the initial version. It'll keep being updated. For now, he hopes to use this Soul Spirit Contract method to ease the conflict between humans and soul beasts as much as possible in the short term."

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm scratched his head as he spoke, while the Snow Empress turned her gaze toward the boy.

"Who is this teacher of yours?"

"Sorry, my teacher is occupied at the moment. It's inconvenient for him to come out and meet you."

Having already learned that Electrolux was a deity, the Snow Empress did not ask any further questions.

"So... Little Dream, Bing'er, you want to gamble on that slender chance of survival, helping this girl become a god so you can gain eternal life."

The two soul beasts said nothing, merely nodding silently.

"So you've come to say goodbye to me?"

For the first time, a lonely expression appeared on the Snow Empress's face.

Huh, why does that sound a little familiar?

Standing behind the Ice Empress, Lin Mo suddenly found his thoughts sidetracked by those words.

"No, no! It was Lin Mo. He asked me to find you, saying there was something concerning your future."

"Something concerning me, and my future at that? Human, you certainly talk big."

As the focus of the conversation gradually shifted toward him, Lin Mo showed neither timidity nor his earlier playfulness. He simply smiled naturally.

"Of course. If I say it, then it must be true."

He displayed such confidence that he really did give the Snow Empress pause.

"Then tell me what it has to do with my future."

Perhaps the reunion with her two old friends had brought her joy, for the Snow Empress, usually known for her coldness, showed a little more warmth.

Seeing that she was actually so willing to talk, Lin Mo did not beat around the bush.

His purpose in seeking out the Snow Empress this time was to prevent her from following her original path.

Namely, the matter of the Snow Empress Embryo in the original story.

In the original story, Huo Yuhao had taken in the Snow Empress, whose origin power was about to explode, through a chance encounter. Later, she accidentally came into contact with the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow Jade Bed and nearly exploded again. In the end, only Electrolux's sacrifice had secured that slender chance of survival.

It was also then that soul spirits were officially born. Yet everyone firmly believed that had only been an initial version of the Soul Spirit Contract. Had Electrolux not died so early, the Soul Spirit Contract would surely have appeared in the world in a better form.

As long as I persuade the Snow Empress here, the hundred-thousand-year soul beast embryo incident won't happen. Her seven-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation isn't far off. The best outcome would be for her to become Little Yao's soul spirit.

Indeed, having already reached seven hundred thousand years of cultivation, the Snow Empress was about to face her seven-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation. After failing in her attempt to cultivate complementary Yin-Yang soul cores like Di Tian, she knew she could not withstand this tribulation and chose human reincarnation, only to be captured by humans as a result.

"Snow Empress, is your seven-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation approaching?"

Those words immediately drew the gazes of all three soul beasts present. Heavenly tribulations were a subject no hundred-thousand-year soul beast could escape.

"And what if it is?"

The Snow Empress remained as cold as ever, but her gaze drifted toward Huo Yuyao, who stood beside Lin Mo, and one eyebrow rose slightly.

"What, taking in Little Dream and Bing'er wasn't enough? You intend for me to become this girl's soul spirit in the future too?"

"That is indeed my intention."

Lin Mo did not choose to hide it. He stated his thoughts outright. This did not anger the Snow Empress, though the Ice Empress frowned, looking somewhat displeased.

"Oh? As long as I survive this great tribulation, I can live for at least another hundred thousand years. Why should I become this little girl's soul spirit?"

"Don't you already know the answer yourself? Because you can't withstand this heavenly tribulation."