The temperature in the Far North was lower than Huo Yuhao had imagined.
The food in his storage necklace froze into solid lumps of ice as soon as he took it out, making it extremely difficult to chew.
"This won't do. Without hot food to replenish my strength, my stamina will eventually run out."
"Tian Meng, how much farther do we have to travel before we reach our destination?"
Huo Yuhao bit down hard on a piece of frozen meat, the impact making his teeth ache.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm released his spiritual power to sense their surroundings.
A moment later, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm withdrew his spiritual power and transmitted his voice to Huo Yuhao. "Our current location isn't ideal, but it's good enough to call the Ice Empress."
Huo Yuhao grimaced. "I suppose that counts as good news."
"But Brother Hao, you'll have to put up with some discomfort next."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's tone was solemn. "I need to retrieve my Remnant Husk and use it to simulate the aura I had when I was alive to call the Ice Empress. You'll be without protection during that time. You must hold on."
"I'll temporarily remove my Remnant Husk first so you can estimate how long you can last on Soul Power alone."
"All right," Huo Yuhao said.
With a flash of white light, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm peeled the Remnant Husk off Huo Yuhao, and bone-piercing winds instantly engulfed him.
The bitter wind almost tore his skin apart. Even though Huo Yuhao immediately protected his body with Soul Power, a layer of frost swiftly formed on his eyelashes.
Every breath felt as though ice blades were slicing through his throat, and his voice grew extremely hoarse. "If I avoid expending any stamina, I can last twenty minutes."
"That's enough!"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm covered Huo Yuhao with his Remnant Husk again. "Next, Brother Hao, use the Heavenly Scale Ancient Halberd to dig an ice cellar here that you can shelter in. Heat up some food and recover your strength properly. After you've rested for a day, I'll call the Ice Empress."
The frozen ground in the heart of the Far North was harder than refined steel from the outside world.
At that moment, Huo Yuhao was immensely grateful that the Martial Ancestor had bestowed the Heavenly Scale Ancient Halberd upon him.
Otherwise, trying to dig an ice cellar large enough to shelter and rest in with nothing but a White Tiger Dagger would have been a monumental undertaking.
Huo Yuhao swung the Heavenly Scale Ancient Halberd furiously, and before long, he had dug out an ice cellar large enough for a person to lie down and rest in.
"The Heavenly Scale Ancient Halberd, a deadly weapon in the Martial Ancestor's hands, probably never imagined that it would one day be reduced to a shovel."
Huo Yuhao took some firewood from his storage necklace, lit it, and set the meat over it to roast.
To keep the smoke from choking him, he deliberately dug a small passage to vent it.
He also placed his storage necklace in a hollow dug beside the passage, constantly channeling Soul Power into it to absorb the smoke and prevent it from attracting passing Soul Beasts.
The Soul Beast meat soon finished roasting, giving off an enticing aroma. Huo Yuhao tore into it and could not help letting out a moan of satisfaction.
He did not mind a road to strength filled with hardships, but that did not mean he was willing to endure unnecessary suffering.
After eating and drinking his fill, Huo Yuhao buried the ashes in a nearby snowdrift, then lay down inside the ice cellar and began chatting intermittently with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
Through their time together, he had discovered that although the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm sometimes had little schemes of his own, his fundamental nature was not bad overall.
Soul Beasts on the Douluo Continent only developed true intelligence after attaining over a hundred thousand years of cultivation. Compared with the Demon Clan of the Tianxuan Continent, they awakened their intelligence far too late.
Huo Yuhao believed that this pronounced delay in mental development, along with their lengthy growth period, were the two major factors preventing Soul Beasts from catching up with Soul Masters.
Soul Masters possessed legacies and could pass down their predecessors' experience from generation to generation.
Soul Beasts, however, could not. They had none of the racial legacies of the Tianxuan Demon Clan and could only explore their paths individually.
Thus, every intelligent Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast could be described as an entirely new "individual sect" born from its species, whose path of growth could not be replicated.
Moreover, even after developing intelligence, Soul Beasts with a hundred thousand years of cultivation continued to live far from human civilization for long periods, so their thinking remained dominated by primitive animal instincts.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's desire to become a god, as well as his feelings for the Ice Empress, were essentially manifestations of this animal consciousness that had yet to fully transform into rational thought.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm is like a human child right now. What he becomes in the future depends entirely on how others guide him.
Huo Yuhao could not help imagining what he would have become if he had never met the Martial Ancestor.
If I hadn't met the Martial Ancestor, I definitely wouldn't have seen through Tian Meng's little schemes. He would have influenced me bit by bit.
But thankfully, it's all just speculation.
Huo Yuhao pulled his clothes tighter around himself, and as he entered the deepest level of cultivation, his consciousness soon merged with heaven and earth.
He was contemplating the Talisman Master system. Compared with the Yuan Power System, the Talisman Master path was where he truly possessed an innate advantage.
With my Spirit Eyes Martial Soul, cultivating the Talisman Master system is like a fish taking to water. Before my spiritual power becomes tangible, I can take a shortcut and condense a Life-Bound Talisman Seal ahead of time.
Huo Yuhao continued his contemplation.
He felt that his earlier thinking had been somewhat mistaken.
Condensing Soul Skills into Life-Bound Talisman Seals was premature given his current spiritual power cultivation. What he should attempt now was to see whether he could turn his Spirit Eyes into a Life-Bound Talisman Seal.
The Spirit Eyes were his Martial Soul, the core deeply bound to his soul. Turning them into a Life-Bound Talisman Seal would therefore not only be easier than turning Soul Skills into talisman seals, but would also better drive his cultivation in the future.
But the danger of doing so was also far greater than turning Soul Skills into talisman seals. A single careless mistake could scatter his soul.
Huo Yuhao stopped after a tentative exploration. No. My understanding of the soul is too shallow. I can't attempt the final step at all.
This isn't a question of courage. It would be nothing but gambling.
Turning Soul Skills into talisman seals requires a profound understanding of how Soul Skills form, and opinions on that vary widely across the Douluo Continent. Turning my Spirit Eyes into a Life-Bound Talisman Seal requires an extremely thorough understanding of my own soul. Right now, I can't even send my soul out of my body. Attempting it rashly would only have the opposite effect.
I can only hope that once I join the Body Sect, they'll have an elder with a soul or spiritual power Martial Soul, and that their sect records contain information about the soul.
Huo Yuhao opened his eyes and called to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm in his Sea of Consciousness. "Tian Meng, I've rested enough. It's time to call the Ice Empress and acquire my Second Martial Soul."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm nodded.
Intense spiritual fluctuations immediately emerged. Waves of dizziness washed over Huo Yuhao, making it difficult for him to stand upright.
The clear yellow Soul Ring beneath him appeared, slowly pulsing around his body.
At the same time, his eyes began to change, gradually turning a brilliant golden yellow.
Huo Yuhao's mind was perfectly clear at that moment, but he had already lost control of his body.
He could feel his perception extending outward at a terrifying speed, as though he were overlooking the earth from the sky. It was a completely different sensation from his usual use of spiritual power to observe his surroundings.
Golden light representing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's essence surged from between Huo Yuhao's brows. It condensed into a figure radiating dazzling golden light, with an appearance identical to Huo Yuhao's.
The auroras surging across the heavens seemed to be stirred by a giant hand, and muffled thunder rumbled.
"Ice Empress, I, Tian Meng, have returned!"