Hearing the Ice Emperor agree to the deal, Yun Luo breathed a sigh of relief.
"Of course. We'll wait for you here."
Meanwhile, Jin Peng and Li Qing, who had listened to their conversation, were shocked beyond measure.
Given the composure and strength Yun Luo had displayed, they could safely say that wherever the Holy Son told them to strike in the future, they would go.
He could damn well take the Body Sect to new heights.
Jin Peng opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he merely patted Li Qing on the shoulder and whispered, "From now on, we just need to follow the Holy Son."
Hearing Jin Peng's words, Li Qing nodded in wholehearted agreement.
When Du Busi heard the Ice Emperor agree, he could not suppress the smile tugging at his lips either.
If he had not needed to maintain his composure as sect master, he would have shouted something.
"Our sect's Holy Son has the makings of a god!"
With that, the Ice Emperor stepped down from her throne, walked up to Du Busi, and spoke.
"Open the formation. This Emperor needs to go out and make arrangements for my clan."
Hearing the Ice Emperor's words, Du Busi suppressed his delight and nodded slightly.
Just as Du Busi was about to open it, the Ice Emperor gave him a reminder.
"Before opening the formation, conceal your presences properly. Otherwise, if you're discovered, even this Emperor will have trouble..."
Although the Ice Emperor did not finish, Yun Luo and the others understood what she meant.
"Yun Luo, come here."
Hearing the Ice Emperor's words, Yun Luo walked over to her side.
Once Yun Luo had come over, Du Busi gave Jin Peng and Li Qing a few instructions.
"Both of you, conceal your presences properly."
Only after these preparations did Du Busi remove the formation.
Sensing the formation disappear, the Ice Emperor turned and left the ice cavern.
Li Qing could not wait to step forward and ask. Although Jin Peng beside him did not ask anything, his eyes were also filled with curiosity.
"Holy Son, how exactly did you learn about the Ice Emperor?"
Faced with the two elders' enthusiasm, Yun Luo did not know how to answer for a moment.
Seeing this, Du Busi came to Yun Luo's rescue.
"Enough. We can discuss these things later. Let the Holy Son rest first."
Li Qing and Jin Peng exchanged a glance. Though they desperately wanted to know, the sect master had spoken, so they could only swallow their bellyful of questions.
About an hour later, the Ice Emperor returned.
Her expression showed no change, but Yun Luo noticed a trace of desolation flash through her eyes. Had he not been watching closely, he would not have noticed it.
"This Emperor has made all the arrangements. Let's go."
Seeing that Yun Luo and the others did not move, the Ice Emperor offered another explanation.
"Even if I'm going to sacrifice myself, I can't do it here. Even with a concealing formation, we still need to leave this place. I'll lead you."
"All right."
Hearing the Ice Emperor's words, Yun Luo and the other three concealed themselves and followed her out of the Ice Jade Scorpions' territory.
After flying for roughly half an hour, the Ice Emperor brought everyone to a canyon in the core region of the Extreme North.
Fierce winds howled incessantly, sweeping up heavy snow, while ice crystals covered the cliffs on either side. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but a vast white wasteland of ice and snow.
After landing here, the Ice Emperor spoke.
"Let's do it here. What do you need me to do?"
After Du Busi set Yun Luo down, he explained his method to the Ice Emperor.
"Ice Emperor, I need you to pour your origin into my body and create the rudimentary form of an ice-attribute Martial Soul for me."
"Then I'll sign a contract with you and make you my Soul Spirit."
Yun Luo's method had not come out of thin air. He had adapted it from the Skydream Iceworm's idea in the original story.
In the original story, Huo Yuhao had relied on the rudimentary second Martial Soul the Skydream Iceworm created for him. After he absorbed the Ice Emperor's Soul Ring, his second Martial Soul became the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion.
Now, he needed to rely on the origin power of ice to construct a rudimentary form, then sign a Spirit Soul Contract.
Du Busi and the other two were filled with shock when they heard Yun Luo's words.
"You can actually do that?"
Jin Peng's eyes widened. In all his years, this was the first time he had heard that someone could artificially create the rudimentary form of a Martial Soul.
Hearing Yun Luo's words, the Ice Emperor considered the feasibility before speaking.
"I can, but if you can't endure it, this Emperor cannot guarantee that you'll survive."
"Don't worry. I'm confident."
"I'll finish setting up the Soul Spirit formation first, then you can pour in your origin."
Just as Yun Luo was about to set up the formation, the Ice Emperor spoke.
"Hey, human. Earlier, you said you knew Xue'er's whereabouts. Was that true or false?"
Hearing the Ice Emperor's words, Yun Luo froze for a moment before replying.
"Of course it's true. I wouldn't lie to you."
"Also, stop calling me human all the time. I have a name. I'm Yun Luo."
"Understood, Yun Luo."
The Ice Emperor nodded, her expression relaxing considerably.
"All right, I'm going to start drawing the formation."
With that, Yun Luo began using his spiritual power to draw the formation for contracting a Soul Spirit.
Recalling the formation he had seen before, Yun Luo first drew the outer boundary of a circular formation.
He then drew six lines extending outward and connected their endpoints to form a closed six-pointed star. Finally, he inscribed equal symbiosis contract runes along its six sides.
As for why he knew the formation, that was thanks to his thought after transmigrating that he might find a soul beast in the ocean suitable for becoming a Soul Spirit. He had therefore asked his master, Mu Ye, to help look for it.
Back then, he had practiced hard for an entire month before he mastered it.
About half an hour later, Yun Luo finished constructing the formation, took a deep breath, and spoke.
"It's ready. Pour your origin into my body first, then we'll sign the contract."
"Yun Luo, you'd better not fail to endure it and die."
The Ice Emperor's words were unforgiving, but as she finished speaking, her movements showed no hesitation.
She raised her hand, condensing a ball of jade-green light at her fingertips. It was precisely his Ice Jade Empress Scorpion origin power.
After she extracted her origin, both her presence and her strength diminished considerably.
Seeing the origin fly toward him, Yun Luo sat down cross-legged.
The instant the origin entered his body, Yun Luo let out a muffled groan.
A bone-piercing chill exploded from his chest, as though millions of ice needles had plunged into his meridians at once, sweeping through his entire body along the routes through which his Soul Power circulated.
Cold sweat instantly covered his forehead. His teeth clenched tight, and his face paled at a visible rate.
"Holy Son!"
Jin Peng could not help taking a step forward, but Du Busi raised a hand to stop him.
"Don't touch him. Since he's confident, we have to trust him."
Although Du Busi said he trusted him, he was already prepared to intervene at any moment.
To avoid interfering with Yun Luo's absorption of the Ice Emperor's origin power, Du Busi spoke to Jin Peng and Li Qing.
"Set up a concealing formation. Don't let anyone discover us."
"Yes."
The two immediately got to work, one on the left and the other on the right, pouring Soul Power into the ground. An invisible barrier enveloped them.
About four hours later, Yun Luo took a deep breath and finally opened his eyes, a jade-green gleam flashing through them.
"It worked."
Seeing Yun Luo succeed, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.
"Once I've rested a little, we'll sign the contract."
Yun Luo sat on the ground as he spoke.
His face was still somewhat pale, but anyone sensing him up close would be able to feel the cold power within his body that could freeze heaven and earth.
"All right."
The Ice Emperor answered, thought for a moment, then spoke again.
"Yun Luo, this Emperor can provide you with a Soul Bone. Which part of the body would you like it for?"