Preparing for the Sacrifice

The Ice Empress's face abruptly turned pale. If she could not become a god even after a million years, what was the point of risking her life to survive her next heavenly tribulation?

Hui Ye patted the Ice Empress on the shoulder. "I don't think I need to say any more. Your Soul Beast Clan has been struck from the rolls of the Divine Realm. Apart from sacrificing yourself and entering the Divine Realm with me, there is no other way."

The Ice Empress sank to the ground in despair, without a word.

"Think it over."

After a long while, the Ice Empress raised her head, a flicker of resolve in her eyes.

"I agree, but I have a few conditions. I hope you'll accept them."

"Let's hear them first." Hui Ye nodded.

"First, I hope I can retain my consciousness after I sacrifice myself. With this lord here, I don't think that should be difficult."

The Ice Empress glanced at Electrolux.

Hui Ye nodded. "That won't be a problem."

"Second, help me find the Snow Empress. I want to see her. She hasn't appeared for a long time."

The Ice Empress looked forlorn, like a child who had not seen her family in a long time.

"I do know a little about the Snow Empress." Hui Ye pondered for a moment and decided to tell the truth.

"Where is she?" the Ice Empress asked hurriedly.

"If I'm right, she was probably captured."

"Nonsense! The Snow Empress is so powerful that even Di Tian can't do anything to her. Who could possibly capture her?"

The Ice Empress rushed forward and seized Hui Ye by the collar, unusually agitated.

Unable to push her away, Hui Ye had no choice but to blow himself up first, putting some distance between them.

"Have you considered why the Snow Empress has been gone so long without showing herself?

"There's only one reason: she's in danger.

"Under normal circumstances, if the Snow Empress refused, no one on the Douluo Continent could capture her.

"But what if her strength suddenly plummeted?"

"Plummeted?"

The Ice Empress froze, thoughts racing through her mind. Other than being injured in a fight with Di Tian and losing some of her strength, she could think of no other possibility.

The tribulation?

The Snow Empress still had some time before her tribulation was due. She could not have been injured then.

"Transformation." Hui Ye gave her a hint.

The Ice Empress's scalp prickled.

The Snow Empress seemed to have mentioned transformation to her once in passing. She had paid it no mind at the time, but now that she thought about it, the Snow Empress might really have taken that path.

Hope filled the Ice Empress's eyes. "Have you seen her?"

Hui Ye said, "I already told you. Someone captured her by chance while she was transforming into a human. As for where she was taken, when the time comes, I'll help you rescue the Snow Empress."

The Ice Empress gritted her teeth. "All right, I'll trust you this once."

Hui Ye sighed and said sympathetically:

"Unfortunately, even if the Snow Empress transformed into a human and wasn't captured, she still wouldn't be able to inherit a god's position in the end.

"Because no matter how she transformed, it couldn't change her nature as a Soul Beast. Her origin can't be altered."

The Ice Empress's eyes reddened. "That can't be true, can it? The Snow Empress abandoned everything just to become a god. Could it be that even this one path leads nowhere?"

Hui Ye said, "You remember the Shrek Seven Devils from ten thousand years ago, right?"

The Ice Empress nodded.

"One of them was called Xiao Wu. She was a Soul Beast who transformed into a human.

"Did you know that every one of the Shrek Seven Monsters had a god's position except Xiao Wu?

"In the end, she barely managed to gain divine status as the scabbard of the Asura God Sword."

The Ice Empress's mouth fell open, her face full of shock.

Hui Ye's next words struck the Ice Empress dumb.

"The reason is simple. The Divine Realm doesn't welcome Soul Beasts at all, so it refuses to let them become gods!"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Ice Empress staggered back three steps and fell on her backside. After a long while, she looked up at Hui Ye, her lips trembling slightly. "You're... you're lying, aren't you?"

"All right, my dear Ice Empress, you've already chosen the path of sacrifice. Why do you still care about that?"

Hui Ye spread his hands. "I only told you all this so you'd follow me wholeheartedly.

"I have Twin Martial Souls now, I can revive without limit, and my Soul Power is unlimited. I also have my teacher backing me. What else do you have to worry about?

"If there's nothing else, let's get the process started."

"Give me three days before the sacrifice. I need to take care of affairs in the Far North. With the Snow Empress gone too, the Far North is a host of dragons without a head. I need to hand over authority."

With that, the Ice Empress turned and left, her retreating figure full of desolation, like an old person in the twilight of life.

The god's position she had longed for all her life had been nothing but flowers in a mirror and the moon in water. Someone had severed her path completely at its source.

Over the next three days,

the entire Far North erupted into activity. Everyone formed ranks, guarding the Far North's core region so tightly that nothing could slip through.

The Ice Empress ordered that supreme authority over the Far North be handed to the Titan Snow Demon King, with Ice Bear King Xiaobai as his deputy.

While the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress were away, the two beasts would have full charge of all the Far North's affairs, great and small.

Three days passed, and the Ice Empress, Hui Ye, and Electrolux gathered in the palace of ice and snow.

"Oh, right, there's one last thing I forgot to tell you. If you get the chance, give Tian Meng a beating for me."

The corners of the Ice Empress's mouth curved upward.

"That won't be necessary. I will preserve your soul intact. When the time comes, you can do it yourself," Electrolux said mildly from the side.

The Ice Empress's eyes lit up at once, and she nodded repeatedly. "Good, good, good. It's settled, then."

Hui Ye sat cross-legged in an open space and adjusted his condition. "I'm ready. Teacher, Sister Bingbing, let's begin."

Electrolux sent his staff soaring toward the sky, and a magic array enveloped the entire palace of ice and snow.

"Last time that big worm sacrificed himself, he caused such a commotion that almost the entire Star Dou Great Forest learned of the sacrifice.

"This time, I've set up a magic array to conceal our presence. It can confine the disturbance caused by the sacrifice to the smallest possible area."

"Teacher, you really think of everything," Hui Ye said with heartfelt admiration.

The Ice Empress said, "I plan to give you the bone before the ring. I'll use the Soul Bone my own body produces to strengthen your physique first, then give you the Soul Ring."

Hui Ye glanced at the Ice Empress. "Don't tell me you're going to give me a torso bone?"

"What's with that look? Are you looking down on me?" The Ice Empress grabbed a fistful of Hui Ye's hair.

Hui Ye remained unmoved. "Big sis, I can already revive without limit. Why are we even talking about my physique? A torso bone is good, but there's no need for one, is there?"

The Ice Empress refused to let it go and yanked a large clump of hair from Hui Ye's head.

"Then tell me, what kind of Soul Bone should I form? Of the six main Soul Bones, only the Head Soul Bone and torso bone are the most important.

"I'm not a spiritual-type Soul Beast, so a Head Soul Bone I form would be completely useless.

"If I don't form a torso bone, do you want me to form a Soul Bone for one of your limbs?

"I'm a super Soul Beast of nearly four hundred thousand years, after all. Don't I have any face to save?"

Hui Ye slapped the Ice Empress's hand away and said irritably, "Who says there are only six Soul Bone locations? Aren't there External Soul Bones too?"

The Ice Empress froze. That's right. How could I have forgotten that?

After pondering for a moment, the Ice Empress said, "Here's what I'll do. I'll divide the Soul Bone into two parts for you.

"The first External Soul Bone will be my tail. It's a means of attack I use often, and I can teach you how to use it when the time comes.

"The second Soul Bone will be my pair of ice pincers. I plan to form them into your ten fingernails.

"Your First Martial Soul is a wolf, anyway, so claws suit your fighting style too.

"Also, they'll give you an additional boost when you use the Ice Empress's Pincer Soul Skill."

Hui Ye thought it over, then nodded in agreement.

"Then it's settled. Let's begin. What comes next will hurt a lot, so prepare yourself."

"Friendly reminder: Master Hui's pain is reduced by ninety-nine percent."

"...Forget I said anything."