No choice but to activate Plan B

Seeing the blue-and-gold barrier within the Jade Phosphorus Poison Cloud, Huo Yun could not help cursing inwardly again. That son of a bitch. Just as I thought.

Huo Yun immediately returned to Huo Yuhao and told the three of them what she had discovered.

"That damned Tang San-that son of a bitch has already enveloped the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in his divine power.

"My consciousness can't probe inside. It looks like he hasn't just left his Divine Sense there. It's more like he's pulled the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well into a special space. If we step inside carelessly, we have no idea what things will actually be like in there.

"But my guess is that if we enter, what awaits us will most likely be Tang San himself."

"No way. He plans to act personally? Is he even allowed to?" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could hardly believe it. Weren't the gods of the Divine Realm supposed to be unable to act as they pleased?

"The gods of the Divine Realm aren't allowed to interfere in mortal affairs. That's a rule of the Divine Realm, but Tang San already treats those rules like toilet paper.

"Besides, if he finds a way to block the Divine Realm's view, or pulls the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well somewhere close to the Divine Realm, that place could count as part of the Divine Realm too. If we enter, he might even punish us for trespassing into the Divine Realm.

"Of course, I don't know what's happening inside either. I can't see inside, and I don't dare rush in.

"After all, Tang San really knows how to find loopholes in the rules," Huo Yun said.

Because she did not know, she really did not dare enter recklessly. Their situation might look good now, but they were actually walking across a single-plank bridge.

What stood between them and Tang San was, in fact, the Divine Realm's rules. Tang San had yet to reach the point where he could disregard them however he wished.

That was also why Tang San could not act personally. If his true body could make a move, their little group would not have even the slightest ability to resist.

"What do we do, then? Why don't we give up on the Ice Dragon King Martial Soul?" the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm suggested.

"We'll see whether the rewards are proportionate to the risks. Yuhao hasn't reached rank twenty yet. There's no rush. I'll observe it some more and see whether we can enter. If it's only Divine Sense, we can ask the Silver Dragon King for help.

"But if Tang San has pulled it into a special space near the Divine Realm and made it part of the Divine Realm, allowing his true body to act personally, then there's nothing we can do. We'll activate Plan B," Huo Yun said after some thought.

Whatever they did, they had to consider the risks and rewards. Of course, she would rather take no risks if possible, but given the power of the Ice Dragon King Martial Soul, they should take it if the risks were controllable or manageable. If the risks were too great, however, they would give it up.

They still had two paths available anyway. Under normal circumstances, obtaining the Ice Dragon King would merely give their side another path through Huo Yun's efforts.

If it really did not work out, Huo Yuhao's original Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion would do too. Besides, she had anticipated this sort of situation and already had a backup plan.

"That's all we can do," Electrolux said with a slight nod.

"There's no helping it. If we can't get a God-level Martial Soul, we'll substitute a top-tier Martial Soul." In truth, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm felt a little pleased as he said this, because at least his Bingbing would have another chance.

Hearing his words, Huo Yun countered, "Who said we can't obtain a God-level Martial Soul? I have another one here. It's just a little harder to obtain than the Ice Dragon King. Otherwise, why do you think I said we should activate Plan B? I really do have a second plan."

"Huh? There's another God-level Martial Soul?" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was a little flustered. Were God-level Martial Souls really so thick on the ground on the Douluo Continent?

"Of course. How many years has this world existed? It's nurtured countless gods. Some live in the Divine Realm, some passed their Divine Seats to others and left after becoming gods, while others perished."

"It's that Ice God, isn't it? We heard earlier that Tang San used the supposed appearance of the Ice God's Divine Seat to lure believers into acting. That proves the Ice God has perished, and her Divine Seat currently has no master." Electrolux reacted remarkably quickly. Hearing Huo Yun's words, he guessed the second God-level Martial Soul she meant.

Huo Yun nodded. "That's right. The Ice God also ascended from the Douluo Continent, though that happened ages ago. She perished in the Dragon God war. After her death, her Divine Seat fell to the Douluo Continent with her remnant soul and hid in a special space.

"It's a little harder to obtain than the Ice Dragon King, so I didn't consider it at first. But now their difficulty seems to have reversed, so the Ice God can become our first choice."

As soon as Huo Yun finished, a heart-wrenching roar came from beside her. "That's impossible!"

"What's wrong, Brother Sky Dream?" Huo Yuhao asked, instinctively covering his ears. Could he please stop roaring inside his Sea of Consciousness? The sound was so three-dimensional that he could even hear echoes.

"How could Lord Ice God have perished?" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm looked as though he had suffered a tremendous blow, his faith crumbling.

"Gods are only somewhat stronger people. Becoming a god doesn't mean you can do whatever you please. Don't be too upset." Huo Yun knew that the entire Far North believed in the Ice God. They might not say it aloud, but that was their faith.

"My condolences." Electrolux raised a hand and gently patted him. Even he, who often called him a big bug, could not help comforting the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

"Actually, look on the bright side. The previous Ice God has perished, but her Divine Seat remains. Strictly speaking, the Ice God has never disappeared. It's simply that no one has inherited her position yet. Whoever inherits the Divine Seat will still be the next Ice God.

"Besides, don't you want to take part in the new Ice God's growth and become a new legend passed down in the Far North?" Huo Yun continued. Those words were rather like saying that although the Ice God he believed in was gone, he would have another faith in the future.

But sometimes that was how things worked. When someone's faith collapsed, giving them a new faith could work too, especially when they were personally involved.

Hearing this, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's tiny eyes instantly lit up. "So we'll have Yuhao inherit the Ice God's position, obtain her Divine Seat, and gain the Ice God Martial Soul? If that's the case, I'm all for it with both hands and feet-no, with every hand and foot!"

As he spoke, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm rolled over and raised all his hands and feet.

The Ice God was only a legend to him. He had never even seen her in person, only heard tales of her legendary deeds. Those legends flowed through the bloodlines of all the Soul Beasts in their Far North, passed down from generation to generation.

But now that the old god was dead, personally taking part in the legend of a new Ice God would bring glory to his ancestors. It might even earn him a whole page in his family genealogy in the Far North.

"That change was a little too quick," Electrolux muttered, amused by him as well.

"Never mind him. Let him enjoy himself for a while. Speaking of which, Elder Yi, there's something I'd like to discuss with you. Do you have a way to extract a Soul Beast's soul from its body through special means, then have it form a contract with a Soul Master and become their Soul Ring without being hunted down?" Huo Yun suddenly asked Electrolux.

The method she described was actually the Soul Spirit system. In the original story, Electrolux had pioneered and developed it, though Huo Yuhao had ultimately carried it forward and established the Spirit Pagoda. Later on, even Soul Spirits could be artificially created.

However, Soul Spirits had their drawbacks too: Soul Beasts would be enslaved in a disguised form. Although their lives were preserved, they lost their bodies and could only reside within Soul Masters, going wherever their Soul Masters went, effectively imprisoned. Even if their Soul Master died, they could only choose to contract with another and continue serving them, never free for all eternity.

Thus, after Soul Spirits became widespread, rather than resolving the hatred between humans and Soul Beasts, they deepened it.

So Huo Yun intended to first develop Soul Spirits, then research Artificial Soul Spirits. After that, she would try to make Soul Spirits into a special race, allowing dead Soul Beasts to become Soul Spirits and even improve themselves. Ideally, once Soul Spirits grew powerful enough, they could choose to relinquish their power and be reborn.

That way, Soul Spirits could replace Soul Beasts, and those that reached a certain level could freely choose resurrection and escape their confinement. With the foundation left by their previous growth, they could easily cultivate to even greater heights.

It would be like a cycle of reincarnation, except that each cycle would only be stronger than the last, repeating endlessly.

"I do have magic that allows souls to form contracts with people, but I've never tried what you described. I don't know whether it would work," Electrolux said. Strictly speaking, what Huo Yun described was a form of necromancy. Naturally, he knew how to form such contracts.

"We can try. Besides, it seems we don't even need to find a Soul Beast. Isn't Tian Meng right here? Ask him later whether he's willing to help. If he is, we can give it a try. Once Yuhao reaches rank twenty, we can see whether the method I described can provide him with his second Soul Ring. If it works, a single Soul Spirit could give a Soul Master another one or two Soul Rings in the future, reducing human slaughter.

"If we can eventually create artificial..." Huo Yun laid out her entire plan.

Coming from someone else, these words might have been nothing but a pipe dream. After all, this amounted to creating an entirely new race. But who was Huo Yun? She was the current World Will. This world had nurtured untold numbers of lives and different races. No one had more experience creating races than she did.

"Mm. I happen to have nothing to do right now. I'll look into it. Big bug, I need your help with something." After hearing her out, Electrolux nodded in agreement and floated over to find the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

"Mom, if the kind of being you described really is created, would that resolve the conflict between humans and Soul Beasts?" Huo Yuhao had been listening to Huo Yun and Electrolux's conversation all along. Seeing Electrolux go to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, he approached to ask.

Huo Yun gently shook her head. "It would only give us the most basic foundation for resolving the conflict. To ease the many years of conflict between the two sides, someone would still need to guide them, and people would need to let go of their hatred.

"After all, we'd only have solved the Soul Ring problem. Problems like Soul Bones would remain unresolved. If some greedy humans wanted to assemble a complete set of Soul Bones and discovered that Soul Beasts no longer needed to provide Soul Rings, they might even start slaughtering Soul Beasts like mad.

"Then things wouldn't be resolved. They would only get worse. So it depends on people's efforts. Someone needs to guide them, someone needs to establish these rules, and someone needs to tell those greedy people that once they attack Soul Beasts, not only will Soul Beasts retaliate, but humans will hunt them down too. Through absolute force, they must learn just how devastating the price of reaching out a greedy hand can be.

"Peaceful coexistence between humans and Soul Beasts will take the efforts of who knows how many generations."

After listening, Huo Yuhao nodded. He understood that he had oversimplified things. They would merely have the conditions needed for a solution, not a guarantee of one. Countless humans and Soul Beasts would still need to work toward it.

He should join those efforts too and repay the kindness he had received. The Star Dou Great Forest had sheltered him, to say nothing of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

But before that, there was one prerequisite: he had to grow stronger and possess enough strength to deter those greedy people.

Having made up his mind, Huo Yuhao felt an even stronger desire to cultivate and grow stronger. "Um, Mom, I'll go cultivate first. With things like this, I want to reach rank twenty quickly and become stronger sooner."

"No. We agreed today, and the rule is that you have to rest and play." But Huo Yun rejected him without a second thought.

If Huo Yuhao grew stronger now, reached rank twenty, and obtained the Martial Soul, the problem was that unless he revealed the Ice God's Divine Seat, doing so would draw the attention of Tang San's believers and shift their target directly from the Far North to him.

That would resolve the Far North's current situation, though it was also possible it would not. Tang San could continue sending people to slaughter there. Unable to restrict Huo Yuhao through his Martial Soul, he could restrict the Soul Rings Huo Yuhao could obtain instead.

That was looking at the bigger picture. But from a mother's selfish perspective, what she wanted was to see Huo Yuhao grow up happily.

Huo Yun wanted Huo Yuhao to shelter her after becoming a god, but who could say that after spending all this time together, she had not come to see him as her true son?

She could not let him truly grow up as carefree as a child. He already had a goal that was impossibly distant for him.

But at least, as he grew up, he should have time to be a carefree child.

A sensible child should not be made to bear ever more burdens. He too had the right to play happily, laugh happily, and run happily like those ordinary children on the streets.

Instead of holing up in his room every day, cycling between cultivation, meals, and grilling fish. That sort of life was far too monotonous.

"But..." Huo Yuhao still wanted to struggle, but he saw an imposing gaze coming from the colored ball of light that represented his mother, Huo Yun. It was as though she were telling him that if he dared keep mouthing off, she would give him the full childhood experience.

Unable to win, Huo Yuhao could only continue wandering around, strolling here and there just as he had that morning. Unlike the morning, however, there was less urgency to it. Having learned so much that afternoon, his mind was not on playing at all.

After spending the afternoon wandering with his thoughts in a jumble, he finished grilling fish that evening and, under Huo Yun's imposing pressure once again, had no choice but to crawl into bed and sleep.

Only on the second day did he end this life that he might have found a little boring and return to his training routine.

When the tenth day agreed upon with Zhao Xinghe arrived, he came to Xinghe Manufacturing.

"Wait, Yuhao. Don't go in. Use the Eye of Destiny to activate Spiritual Detection and look inside."

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