6: C6 Ice Empress:
Fortunately, Ju Zi, who had not yet become radicalized at this point, did not press him for a response.
As for Ju Zi’s mention of establishing achievements like Tang San?
What a joke!
In his previous life, while serving the Tang family in the Great Divine Realm, Huo Yuhao had learned that his father-in-law, Tang the Pure, operated under the principle of “those who imitate me live, those who resemble me die” behind his mask of purity.
Having deeply understood the peril of serving a sovereign as if accompanying a tiger, Huo Yuhao, in this second chance at life, and after reuniting with Brother Tianmeng and Elder I, had abandoned the idea of lying flat and had instead formulated a preliminary plan—survival above all else.
If he were to act like a deeply aggrieved and ambitious figure at this stage, wouldn’t that be like stirring up trouble right under the nose of his father-in-law, who sat before the divine realm’s central hub watching the mortal world?
After seeing Ju Zi off, Huo Yuhao lay in Room 411 of the Mingyue Hotel, flipping through the most popular historical publication of this era on the Douluo Continent—The Chronicle of the Sea God’s Extermination of Evil—for entertainment, while simultaneously opening his “Spectator” interface within his spiritual sea to browse through the Records of the Douluo Continent.
As for The Chronicle of the Sea God’s Extermination of Evil, needless to say, it was the “true account of the glorious and righteous Sea God’s defeat of the evil Angel God,” written by the continent’s foremost “renowned teacher” of ten thousand years ago, Yu Xiaogang—the man who had “raised a god.” It was also the history that the people of this era on the Douluo Continent read.
It recorded stories such as “how the Angel God Qian Renxue, upon receiving her divine test, exposed her greedy heart and murdered Qian Daoliu…”
However, when Huo Yuhao compared this history with the Records of the Douluo Continent he saw through his “Spectator” interface, he found the discrepancies to be more than just a little different—they were worlds apart.
But Huo Yuhao did not remain idle for long before redirecting his focus back to soul tools.
“Elder I, let’s begin.
From now on, you will be my second martial soul.” That day, as he spoke, Huo Yuhao activated a soul tool formation with his hands.
The reason he had chosen the Sun Moon Empire over the Body Sect after leaving the Star Dou Forest, aside from the fact that he was not a body cultivator, was this: he needed to make it appear reasonable from the perspective of the divine realm’s central hub for him to have Ilex as his second martial soul.
After all, from the perspective of that Sea God seated before the divine realm’s central hub, if a young man who had joined the Body Sect suddenly produced a technique that used a remnant soul from another world as a martial soul, the only explanation would be that both the young man and the technique were problematic.
Huo Yuhao’s purpose in making Ilex his second martial soul was singular: to bind Ilex’s life to his own.
If Tang San attempted to make a move against Ilex, it would be equivalent to making a move against a native of the mortal Douluo Continent.
And the God of Destruction of this era would then have a reason to confront Tang San.
After the first semester at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy came to an end, Huo Yuhao, who had gained some renown in the Sun Moon Empire by then, did not remain there during his break.
Because after Ilex became his second martial soul, Brother Tianmeng, who had heard Huo Yuhao speak of what the future held for the Douluo Continent, immediately thought of his goddess, the Ice Empress.
Tianmeng hoped the Ice Empress could come with them.
Seeing Tianmeng’s eagerness, Huo Yuhao packed his belongings and hurried off to the Extreme North.
On the snowy plains, the biting wind howled, snowflakes occasionally drifted down, and the entire world was a blanket of pristine white.
Walking through this seemingly pure and flawless expanse of white, Huo Yuhao—who had been quite accomplished in ice and snow powers in his previous life—did not feel the freedom of a bird in the open sky.
Instead, he felt a certain heaviness.
The Tianmeng Iceworm, lounging lazily in his spiritual sea, asked curiously, “Little Yuhao, are you still thinking about matters of the divine realm?”
Snapping back to attention upon hearing Tianmeng’s question, Huo Yuhao said, “Brother Tianmeng, are you certain you want to bring the Ice Empress along with me?
What I’m about to do has no turning back.”
Without hesitation, Tianmeng replied, “Little Yuhao, based on what you’ve told us about the future you saw in your previous life, other than following you all the way into the darkness, what better choice do Ice and I have?”
Huo Yuhao fell silent, and Tianmeng did not press the topic further.
Knowing that Tang San would definitely set up a scenario where Tang Wutong would take over everything from the Emperor Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion—the symbol of the soul beast race’s fortune—and knowing the murky circumstances surrounding the sacrificial offering of that Emperor Beast to Huo Yuhao, Tianmeng, though simple-minded, had still grasped a crucial piece of information: after that period ended, the soul beast race was finished.
As for Huo Yuhao telling him about the revival of soul beasts twenty thousand years later?
That was nothing but a joke.
If there had been any choice, who would willingly be slaughtered?
“Uh, Brother Tianmeng, do you still remember the direction of the Extreme North?” Huo Yuhao suddenly slapped his forehead, recalling something.
“In this vast expanse of ice and snow, with nothing but white as far as the eye can see, I can’t tell which way is which.”
After becoming “Dai Yuhao” in his previous life, he had spent too long as a lofty Divine King, and whenever he observed the Douluo Continent, he had always kept his gaze fixed on Shrek.
When had he ever had time to pay attention to matters concerning Brother Tianmeng’s homeland?
Now, although his divine sense was formidable, with his father-in-law watching from the divine realm above, he dared not release his divine sense to search for the Ice Empress’s aura directly.
“Well…” Tianmeng was stunned for a moment before speaking awkwardly.
“Brother has been trapped in the Star Dou Forest for the past ten thousand years.
How would I know what changes have occurred in the snowy plains’ terrain over such a long time?”
“What did you say?” Huo Yuhao’s face was covered in dark lines.
And so, after wandering through the snowy plains for many days, Huo Yuhao finally encountered the Ice Empress at the foot of a snow mountain.
The moment Tianmeng saw his goddess, he excitedly approached her.
He was promptly picked up by the Ice Empress like an ant.
“After all these years, I thought you were dead.
I never expected you to deliver yourself to my doorstep…”
“Ice, don’t be so fierce…”
Huo Yuhao did not interrupt the exchange between the two soul beasts.
Whether it was the love god’s influence at work again or not, the Ice Empress was ultimately persuaded by Tianmeng.
Seeing the Ice Empress approach him, Huo Yuhao revealed his second martial soul—Necromantic Calamity.
“Brother Tianmeng should have already told you many things, so Miss Ice Empress, are you willing to come with me?”
“You…
are no ordinary person.
I hope you won’t deceive us…”
The Ice Empress did not continue speaking, but Huo Yuhao could tell that she merely needed a reason to convince herself…
“I am certainly no ordinary person.” Huo Yuhao smiled.
Whether as the favored child of the Douluo Continent’s fortune in his previous life or as a reincarnated Divine King in this one, he was anything but ordinary.
“However, I will say it again: the road ahead is truly dangerous.
If Miss Ice Empress is unwilling, I will not force you.”
“This king has never hesitated once a decision is made.” With that thought, the Ice Empress opened and closed her pincers before speaking in a low voice.
“I am willing to walk the same path as you!”
“Welcome!”
Unlike in his previous life, Huo Yuhao refused the Ice Empress’s torso bone.
“Your soul beast clan’s cultivation is all within your flesh and blood.
Keep this torso bone.
If I lose my life in the future, it will be your escape route.
Perhaps you can find another soul master to become his sentient soul ring.”
Beside them, Tianmeng was dumbfounded.
“Little Yuhao, what are you doing?
Even if your origin is extremely high-level, Ice’s forty-thousand-year cultivation soul bone would at least bring considerable benefits to your fragile body.”
But Huo Yuhao said seriously, “Brother Tianmeng, I’ll tell you the truth once more: if what I’m attempting fails, it will be utter annihilation!
This is no child’s play.”
“Well…” Tianmeng hesitated.
He knew Huo Yuhao was leaving them a way out.
At this point, the Ice Empress, who had manifested as a proud and arrogant little girl, planted her hands on her hips and looked at Huo Yuhao with a cold, aloof demeanor.
“You truly are an interesting human.
But I must warn you, with that frail body of yours, merging with me will cause you tremendous pain.
I don’t know if you’re mentally prepared for that?”
Huo Yuhao merely smiled and immediately sat down cross-legged.
“Pain?
It doesn’t matter.
Bring it on!”
Pain?
Compared to the nine blades and eighteen holes he had endured in his previous life for Tang Wutong—the woman who had turned him into “Dai Yuhao”—what was the pressure of merging with the Ice Empress?
“Your origin can actually bring me…
a feeling of approaching death?”
After appearing in Huo Yuhao’s spiritual sea, the Ice Empress felt an overwhelming pressure.
She knew that the silver point of light at the very center of Huo Yuhao’s spiritual sea had already transcended the level of spiritual consciousness.
Huo Yuhao rubbed his hands together and said, “Then let’s talk now!”
Only within his own spiritual sea did Huo Yuhao dare to speak openly about many things, such as the future of the Extreme North that concerned Brother Tianmeng the most.
“You mean that across the entire Douluo Continent, including the Extreme North, the soul beast race will have few who can escape death in the coming times?” After listening to Huo Yuhao, the Ice Empress’s face was filled with shock.
“And then, in the revival twenty thousand years later, we will follow that descendant of the Sea God, who inherits the throne of the Dragon God, and once again gain the possibility of becoming gods?”
“Though cruel, that is indeed what the future holds.” Huo Yuhao spread his hands.
“You all are slow to realize it.
If your soul beast race’s monarch, that Silver Dragon King, had a clear head, what she should be doing right now is plotting to sabotage what the Asura God Tang San is doing at Shrek.”
“Unfortunately, she has done nothing.
So the script the Tang family has prepared for you is already set: over the next ten thousand years, soul engineers will make humanity capable of universal mobilization, and soul masters will grow even more powerful.
These ten thousand years will be the age in which you are slaughtered one by one.
The second ten thousand years will be the era of that Sea God’s descendant’s rise, inheriting the Dragon God’s throne.
He will resurrect all of you who have been killed and take you in as his followers.”
“In short, it’s a process of being killed—then becoming followers.”
Hearing Huo Yuhao say this, the Ice Empress suddenly understood why Tianmeng had been so anxious when he saw her hesitating during his persuasion.
But if this was the situation, then what about Snow Empress, who was just beginning her cultivation anew…