The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm burrowed into the earth, wailing.
After finally meeting a genius Soul Master with a spiritual attribute, he had thought he could embark on a grand road to godhood. He had never expected that the young man would possess a mysterious power capable of resisting a Soul Beast's sacrifice.
In the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's limited experience of life as a beast, only a god could interrupt a Soul Beast's sacrifice.
In other words, that human Soul Master was already a god's inheritor.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm wanted to cry, but had no tears left.
"What does he even need me to create a god for? He's already set foot on the road to godhood! What a wonderful opportunity!"
"But why won't the god within him let me sacrifice myself to him?"
"I'm a million-year Soul Beast! Even the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King back then hadn't reached my current realm!"
"Wait!"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm suddenly realized something, then burst out of the earth again.
"I understand!"
He watched Huo Yuhao's retreating back. "That god has taken a fancy to his Halberd Martial Soul!"
"But I was trying to sacrifice myself to his eye Martial Soul. How could an ordinary pair of eyes be worthy of a Million-Year Soul Ring?"
"That must be it! That god wants me to sacrifice myself to that Halberd Martial Soul!"
Convinced that he had figured everything out, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm refused to accept failure and charged toward Huo Yuhao.
An aura of extreme cold enveloped Huo Yuhao once more.
"Big brother!"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm shouted, "You're my big brother! I want to sacrifice myself to the Halberd Martial Soul in your hand!"
The ten golden halos on his body shook violently, trying to slip over Huo Yuhao.
An invisible wave of spiritual power spread outward from the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. His terrifying spiritual power covered every corner within a hundred-li diameter almost instantly.
Tang Ya and Bei Bei, who were hunting for Soul Rings in the Star Dou Great Forest, lost the ability to think in an instant.
The entire southern region of the Star Dou Great Forest fell frighteningly silent.
Yet he failed again this time, his origin forced out once more by the Martial Scripture.
"Why!"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm flew into a rage. "I've already sacrificed myself to the Halberd Martial Soul! Why did I still fail?"
Naturally, he did not dare direct his anger at Huo Yuhao, nor did he dare direct it at the god he imagined.
So he now looked exactly like a petulant child, rolling on the ground and wailing incessantly, lamenting his failure.
Huo Yuhao was utterly dumbfounded.
Even on the Tianxuan Continent, he had never seen a being like the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, hell-bent on sacrificing himself to someone else.
"You..." Huo Yuhao hesitated before speaking. "What exactly are you after?"
"Why are you so determined to sacrifice yourself to me?"
At the same time, he thought, So this is a million-year Soul Beast? He's far too pathetic.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm stopped wailing, flipped himself over, and stared straight at Huo Yuhao.
Only after thinking it over repeatedly did he speak evasively. "Because I want to live."
Then the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm began recounting his experiences over the past million years.
At the end, he sighed. "That's why I want to sacrifice myself to you. My lifespan has reached its end, and I don't want to die just like that."
"But for some reason, the god who has chosen you keeps stopping me."
After hearing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's account, Huo Yuhao's gaze turned cold.
He was lying.
Or rather, he had not told the whole truth.
This body was indeed only eleven years old, but Huo Yuhao's experience could not be judged by his physical age.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's experience of life as a beast was practically a blank sheet of paper, so Huo Yuhao could easily detect the unnaturalness in his voice when he lied.
Once he realized the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was lying, Huo Yuhao turned and left without the slightest reluctance.
A Million-Year Soul Ring was indeed an opportunity vast enough to flood the heavens, but the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm clearly had another purpose. Huo Yuhao felt that, at level ten, he was not fortunate enough to enjoy such an opportunity.
But just as Huo Yuhao had walked a short distance away, the Martial Scripture in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly gave a faint tremor, clearly stopping him.
The Martial Scripture wants me to stay? Huo Yuhao wondered.
He turned around and looked at the dejected Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. "I'll give you one last chance. Tell me the whole truth."
"You've seen it yourself. There's absolutely nothing you can do to me. If you try to hurt me, the god whose inheritance I carry will skin you and tear out your tendons."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's heart lurched.
A long while passed. Only when Huo Yuhao had completely lost patience did the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm say anxiously, "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
"I... I want to use your help to become a god."
He explained his god-creation plan in detail.
"That's how it is."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hung his head. "I originally wanted to create a god. For one thing, I wouldn't die, and for another, that future god would owe me a favor. But you're already a god's inheritor, so I wanted to hitch a ride on your fast carriage. That's why I tried sacrificing myself a second time."
Huo Yuhao stared at him, his azure eyes unfathomable.
He was still hiding something. He still had not revealed everything.
Huo Yuhao pressed his lips together and snorted.
No matter how little experience he had, he was still a Soul Beast who had lived for a million years. It was perfectly normal that he would refuse to lay everything bare.
Hearing Huo Yuhao's snort, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm cautiously raised his head, only to meet Huo Yuhao's lowered brows.
He gave an awkward smile.
"I wasn't finished."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm tried to patch things up. "I said too much all at once just now. I need a moment before continuing."
"This is a little selfish wish of mine. As you already learned, I won't give you a Soul Bone, but I will give you a Martial Soul."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm did not know what expression to face Huo Yuhao with. "I want your Second Martial Soul to be the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North. Because I like her, I want to bring her along to godhood."
After saying this, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm lost all his strength and slumped to the ground as though resigned to his fate.
The Martial Scripture gave a soft sound just then.
The truth.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had confessed everything.
Huo Yuhao's thoughts, however, drifted toward the Tianxuan Continent, recalling the Heavenly Demon Marten who had truly accompanied the Martial Ancestor as he grew.
Though the Tianxuan Continent was turbulent, its bonds were sincere. Whether between the Martial Ancestor and Lin Diao and Lin Yan, or between him and the two mistresses of the Martial Realm, those bonds transcended life, death, and reincarnation.
More than once, Huo Yuhao had imagined that he, too, would one day have such bonds.
But only when the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm truly appeared before him did Huo Yuhao realize just how naive his former thoughts had been.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm wanted to bring the Ice Empress to godhood?
Did he truly want to bring the Ice Empress to godhood, or did he want to use the powerful Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion Martial Soul to ensure his own ascension, then bring her along on the way?
"My god has agreed." Huo Yuhao's expression was unreadable. "You may sacrifice yourself now."
Even if he sympathized with the Ice Empress, that did not mean Huo Yuhao would give up the opportunity to obtain a Million-Year Soul Ring.
If he had the chance in the future, it would be best to tell the Ice Empress what this Ice Silkworm was thinking.
Having just escaped the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, Huo Yuhao could least tolerate the desecration of affection.
As for whether the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm would cause trouble in his Sea of Consciousness...
With the Martial Scripture there to suppress him, Huo Yuhao had no concerns on that front at all.
As for his relationship with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, he could only take it one step at a time.
If he could truly change later on, Huo Yuhao would not mind granting him eternal life.
After all, no matter what, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had provided him with support.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm sacrificed himself to Huo Yuhao for the third time.
Without the Martial Scripture obstructing him, the process went exceedingly smoothly.
A clear yellow Soul Ring slowly rose from beneath Huo Yuhao's feet.
At the same time, the perfectly clear sky suddenly darkened.