Chapter 194: Manifold Frigid Jade Essence Bed

"Alright." Huo Yuhao felt a little fearful as he channeled the Mysterious Heaven Technique to the best of his ability and absorbed the pure cold energy into his body.

The thin streaks of cold energy merged with Huo Yuhao's soul power under the influence of his Mysterious Heaven Technique. His Ice Empress martial soul was released once again and his dark red four hundred thousand year soul ring glowed with four lines of golden light, smearing the entire room with golden-red light.

Huo Yuhao could see faint ice-blue mist rising from beneath him as the golden-red light shone. The Frigid Jade Essence Bed gradually became transparent, while the ice-blue colors were l.u.s.trous and glossy like jade. One could see subtle trickles of thick liquid slos.h.i.+ng around within, as if the entire thing was one delicious treat. Anybody looking it would have the urge to pounce on the jade essence bed to take a bite.

Huo Yuhao's soul power continuously directed the icy energy, and his body suddenly quivered like he'd been shocked. He quickly jumped to his feet and took off his clothes and soul tools in a jiffy, tossing them aside before he returned to the Frigid Jade Essence Bed.

Huo Yuhao realized that the cold energy released by the Frigid Jade Essence Bed was like the power of heaven and earth. The Ice Empress' energies within his body were also becoming stronger from the stimulation by the Frigid Jade Essence Bed's cold air. If this continued, his clothes would be destroyed, and even soul tools forged with precious metals would be unable to resist. He would be devastated if his soul tools were damaged because of this. This was the reason why he took everything off. While he was shedding his soul tools, he suddenly recalled something that rendered him speechless. Ever since he was inspected by Jing Hongchen, he had never carried the Cla.s.s 9 protective soul tool, Hongchen's Blessing—he realized he wouldn't have been injured by Zhao Yang if he had had that soul tool with him. Toiling to cultivate and researching every single day must have addled my brain. w.a.n.g Dong is right—I have to learn how to relax when it's time to relax.

There wasn't a thread of clothing left on Huo Yuhao's body, and his body emitted an explosive power. His muscles were not the overly large and stiff kind—the lines of his body were smooth, and his muscle details were perfect, his shoulders were broad, and his back was wide. His skin seemed to radiate jade-like hues. He was channeling every inch of energy in his body, and his vast life energy couldn't be covered as a result.

At this moment, the gigantic Ice Jade Empress Scorpion tattoo s.h.i.+mmered on his back, and Huo Yuhao's skeleton exuded a vigorous azure-green aura. His Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone flickered with azure light, and this light intertwined with the golden-red radiance that was coming from his four hundred thousand year soul ring, as well as with the colors released by the Frigid Jade Essence Bed. The entire room was filled with these brilliant colors.

The enormous Ice Jade Empress Scorpion tattoo seemed to come alive at this point. A pair of golden eyes seemed to flicker across its long tail's azure radiance, while Huo Yuhao's entire skeleton glowed with a faint green light. One could see that the azure light was becoming stronger with every flicker.

The truth was, with his continuous training and improvements, along with the immense life energy from merging with the Life Gold, Huo Yuhao could've absorbed part of the powers sealed away by the Ice Empress to boost his own cultivation a long time ago.

The reason why he hadn't done so was because he had discussed it with the Ice Empress, and they had decided that consolidating his foundations was more important. It was also better for him to conceal his own abilities—yes, conceal!

As an exchange student at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, every student from Shrek Academy had undergone strict investigations and interrogations when they first arrived—including himself. The Sun Moon Empire's teachers naturally paid more attention to him as he was a special student with twin martial souls, and also because his performance in the last season's Continental Compet.i.tion was stellar.

Under such circ.u.mstances, Huo Yuhao would have received much more attention if he had revealed even stronger abilities—there was even a possibility that the Sun Moon Empire would attempt to destroy him at all costs. In the end, he was on their turf!

When Huo Yuhao had first arrived, he had forced his cultivation down to three soul rings. Even though his soul power allowed him to have four, he only had three - the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy immediately relaxed after discovering this fact during their investigations. This was in spite of him attaining his fourth soul ring at Jingyang Mountain, and thus becoming a Soul Ancestor; he didn't attract much attention anymore.

Huo Yuhao dared to give his all in the exchange compet.i.tion because he wanted to infuriate the academy's students so that the exchange compet.i.tion would end more quickly, but also because he was clear that Jing Hongchen wouldn't be too wary of him because of his soul power, no matter how highly he might regard his abilities.

His Ultimate martial soul wasn't that great for cultivation. In the history of the Continent, Ultimate martial souls were rare, but that didn't mean they didn't exist. However, the number of people who had been able to succeed and been able to become a t.i.tled Douluo were few and far between - why? Because it was difficult for Ultimate martial souls to advance.

Huo Yuhao's current age was a soul master's golden age for cultivation. His body would grow much more slowly after he reached twenty years of age, to the point where his body might stop growing altogether. The fusion between his martial soul and his body would slow, and every soul master's cultivation speed would stabilize in this phase.

Huo Yuhao's soul power had only improved by about four to five ranks in his two years at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. With a speed like that, and even though he was still young, he would definitely be unable to reach Rank 50 at this rate by the time he was twenty years old.

Ultimate martial souls would only truly reveal their frightening aspects after reaching seven rings, and only then would they not be affected by their Ultimate nature's slow cultivation speed. However, it was much harder to advance from Rank 50 to Rank 60 than it was to advance from Rank 40 to Rank 50. Jing Hongchen even did the math for him once - by his calculations, Huo Yuhao would need another eight years to reach Rank 60, and it would take some luck for him to reach Rank 70. Huo Yuhao was a prodigy, but Jing Hongchen didn't find Huo Yuhao prodigious enough to poach him at all costs.

Huo Yuhao had made Jing Hongchen nervous before when he had suddenly entered deep meditation for six months after the exchange compet.i.tion. However, Huo Yuhao's cultivation didn't improve at all when he surfaced from the deep meditation, and Jing Hongchen had stopped focusing much attention on Huo Yuhao since that moment.

If Jing Hongchen knew that there were several formidable powers sealed within his body, he would have had a different opinion.

At this point, both Jing Hongchen and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy stopped paying much attention to the exchange students from Shrek Academy. From their perspective, only He Caitou, who had broken through Rank 60, was worth their attention. But He Caitou had always displayed integrity and honesty when he was doing research and forging soul tools, and he had never revealed his abilities at all, so over time, the academy began to relax.

Huo Yuhao believed he should wait until he returned to Shrek Academy before opening the Ice Empress' seal to boost his soul power. At that point, his progress would skyrocket. He would give the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy a "pleasant surprise" during the next Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.

However, destiny wouldn't change according to someone's will. The opportunity before him was simply too good to let go. The Ice Empress couldn't resist any longer, and thus released her seal, so that she could fuse part of her power with Huo Yuhao.

She had been waiting too long for this day.

The Ice Empress' seal wasn't solid, and she would actually have to resolidify it every now and then. However, this process consumed her origin power. She wasn't like the Skydream Iceworm; her spiritual power couldn't even compare to his. When she had merged with Huo Yuhao and become Huo Yuhao's second martial soul, all the power that was sealed away belonged to Huo Yuhao, though they were the ones responsible for helping him seal it away. Releasing part of that power would greatly reduce the pressure on the seal.

This Frigid Jade Essence Bed would greatly boost the fusion effects and the safety of the process. How could she let this opportunity slip by?

Huo Yuhao naturally understood what the Ice Empress was thinking, so he accepted her suggestion. The truth was that w.a.n.g Dong's ascension to Rank 60 gave him a lot of pressure. When they were cultivating together, he could clearly feel that seventy percent of the Haodong power came from w.a.n.g Dong, and he was pretty much ripping w.a.n.g Dong off. Even under such circ.u.mstances, his cultivation speed was still incomparable to w.a.n.g Dong's. In terms of personal ability, Huo Yuhao would no longer be a match for w.a.n.g Dong the moment w.a.n.g Dong got his sixth soul ring. w.a.n.g Dong also had twin martial souls, and both of his martial souls were top-tier ent.i.ties.

They were best buddies, so how could he be willing to have such an enormous rift between w.a.n.g Dong and himself? This was especially so after he entered the Clear Sky Castle today, and he was greatly affected by the fact that w.a.n.g Dong's second uncle made it clear that he wasn't worthy of being w.a.n.g Dong's friend, even though didn't say it explicitly. Huo Yuhao's experiences as a child made him stubborn and unbending, and he couldn't be bothered with anything else at this point.

Dense soul power rippled and sizzled, and this caused Huo Yuhao's aura to transform. The iciness, the power, and the primal energy that came from the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion were all slowly rising within this tiny room.

Circle after circle of green light rippled out from the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's tattoo. This radiance merged with the icy-blue energy coming from the Frigid Jade Essence Bed beneath him before it followed Huo Yuhao's guidance and was absorbed into his body.

Huo Yuhao could feel that his Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's skeleton was starting to swell painfully, becoming increasingly agonizing as Ice Empress' aura was continuously released.

However, he was as tough and resilient as ever. Back in the icy regions of the Extreme North, he had suffered inhuman pain to merge with the Ice Empress, and the pain he was feeling now wasn't even enough to make him frown.

Huo Yuhao very quickly felt what the Ice Empress meant when she said that the Frigid Jade Essence Bed was a perfect opportunity for him. Huo Yuhao discovered that when the icy energy from the Frigid Jade Essence Bed was absorbed into his body when his own Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's skeleton was swelling painfully, the Frigid Jade Essence Bed's power would seep through his body, bringing waves of smooth, cool comfort with it. It greatly reduced his physical suffering, and even his mind felt felt the cool waves stimulating his spirit and making him especially focused and alert.

The soul power ripples were becoming more and more vigorous. Wave after wave of soul power flowed from the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's skeleton and fused with Huo Yuhao's own soul power.

The reason why his bones were swelling painfully was because the Ice Empress' power was sealed inside them, and releasing this power meant that it had to be push outwards.

The pain was still in a endurable range, while Huo Yuhao's already thick soul power was stably and rhythmically circulating inside his body under the control of his formidable spiritual power. After one day, he could feel that his cultivation had increased by a level that was higher than he could have achieved if he had cultivated for ten days under normal circ.u.mstances.

The energy released by the Frigid Jade Essence Bed seemed to be affected by the Ice Empress' energy, and it poured out with even more vigor than before. When it fused with the Ice Empress' power and they integrated with one another, it caused the Ice Empress' power to become even purer, and there was an intricate transformation that not even Huo Yuhao could perceive clearly.

Tiny cracks were starting to appear on the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's skeleton. These cracks were only on the surface, but Huo Yuhao felt as if his azure-green skeleton was shedding its skin, and the Ice Empress' power was sealed beneath this layer.

The temperature in the room was declining at a rapid speed, and a layer of frost quickly appeared on the room's walls. The frost gradually became thicker, and the temperature continued to drop. Even the window was covered by the frost, and the mystical ocean of clouds outside could no longer be seen.

——

On the third level of Clear Sky Castle…

The man in white was sitting there quietly, and he furrowed his eyebrows. The short-haired man was sitting not far from him, and there was a thoughtful look on his face.

"This fella does have some b.a.l.l.s! He recognizes the good stuff. Not even we have used the Frigid Jade Essence Bed before - he's lucky!" The short-haired man's emotions appeared to be very relaxed.

The man in white glanced at him and said, "Would you have waited for so long if you had the ability to use it?"

The short-haired man chuckled and said, "Who knows? That thing is still useful to us, more or less."

The man in white muttered, "What else can you see from his behavior?"

The short-haired man replied, "What else? Avarice. He made use of the good stuff as soon as he saw it. He's not a good guy."

"No, you're wrong," the man in white responded.

"Eh?" The short-haired man stared at this elder brother, confused.

The man in white said, "What you can see is just what it appears to be. I am certain that the first soul ring of this youth's second martial soul was attained by the sacrifice of a four-hundred thousand year soul beast. Furthermore, this soul beast that was sacrificed found a way to infuse its own power into his body and make a seal to contain it. Can you not feel how complete his four-hundred thousand year soul ring is? His Ultimate Ice martial soul came from that as well."

The short-haired man said, "What does that have to do with his greed?"

The man in white said, "This isn't greed, it's trust. If that were you, and you'd been thrown into a place where everything could threaten your safety, and you suddenly discovered something that could raise your own cultivation level, but the process of using it would cause your own power to flow outward and attract the attention of outsiders, what would you do?"

The short-haired man replied almost instantly, "I would find a way to take it away, and find a safe place before I started cultivating."

The man in white agreed, "At least you're not that stupid, and your many years of life haven't been wasted."

The short-haired man was annoyed and asked, "Do you not feel good if you don't insult me, brother?"

The man in white smiled and replied "Let me finish. Huo Yuhao is definitely aware that using the Frigid Jade Essence Bed for cultivation will unleash his aura and his power. The reason why he's still doing it is because of his trust in w.a.n.g Dong. Even though he's inside Clear Sky Castle, he trusts that w.a.n.g Dong can keep him safe, and thus he is going ahead with his cultivation. Of course - there's another reason, and that should be because the aura sealed in his body was triggered by the Frigid Jade Essence Bed. He has discovered this serendipitous opportunity."

The short-haired man dismissed that comment and said, "So what if he trusts w.a.n.g Dong? Our Xiao Dong has always been trustworthy."

The man in white shot him a glare and said, "Shut up! You should think more about things. Is your mind filled with alcohol? Or has your life been too smooth-sailing over the years?"

The short-haired man appeared afraid of his elder brother. Even though he was a bit unconvinced of his brother's intimidation, he didn't dare utter another word.

The man in white explained, "Trust in others is a kind of virtue, especially when one is willing to trust another completely, even when one's safety can be threatened at any moment. This proves that the other person is held in high regard in this person's heart. Dong'er's father told us once that we shouldn't interfere too much in Dong'er's life, and to let him make his own choices. All we have to do is ensure the general direction is right. Therefore, we only have to pay attention to three things about Huo Yuhao - his mentality, his ability, and his att.i.tude towards Xiao Dong. Judging from his cultivation, his att.i.tude towards Xiao Dong is satisfactory. Of course, we still have to investigate further. Tell everyone that no matter what happens on the second level, n.o.body is to disturb him. Since he trusts us, then we have to show him how generous the Clear Sky Sect can be. I want to see just how much our Frigid Jade Essence Bed can do for this youth."

——

If Huo Yuhao's soul power on normal days could be described as a fine and small stream that flowed gradually, then the soul power that was currently flowing through his body was like a thousand streams that flowed endlessly into the sea. The surging soul power flowed into his core continuously, and the speed of circulation being guided by the Mysterious Heaven Technique was ten times faster than typical days.

No matter how resilient Huo Yuhao's pa.s.sageways were, he was starting to feel a swelling pain. However, he approved of the Ice Empress' judgment more and more, and increasingly felt that opening the seal here was a great idea.

Huo Yuhao's spiritual power was at an extremely high level, and that enabled him to infuse his spiritual power into his flouris.h.i.+ng soul power. He managed to guide and control the surging soul power impeccably, so that it wouldn't bounce around uncontrollably. The purity provided by the Frigid Jade Essence Bed also protected his pa.s.sageways. The energy released from the jade essence was unbearably cold, but it was gentle and tender. It was like a gentle young girl softly caressing his painfully swelling pa.s.sageways and bones, in direct contrast to the Ice Empress' soul power, which was vigorous, ferocious, and barged around. It greatly reduced the pain that Huo Yuhao had to endure, and it greatly reduced the burden on his body during the fusion process, so that the Ice Empress' seal could be opened even wider…

Huo Yuhao could feel after these few hours that his soul power had broken through Rank 46, and he was entering Rank 47. At his current speed, his soul power, that crawled like a snail on typical days, would be able to break into Rank 50, give or take.

The origin energy of heaven and earth contained in the Frigid Jade Essence Bed was simply too vast. However, the rate of outflow appeared to have an upper limit, and wouldn't increase over time. Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice martial soul was within these boundaries, so the opening of the seal was extremely stable under its influence.

If this normal circ.u.mstance was allowed to continue, Huo Yuhao wouldn't experience any danger at all during this opening of the seal, and his cultivation would rise by an enormous amount. The Ice Empress' sealed power was Ultimate Ice, and Huo Yuhao's soul power would rise to about Rank 50 within the limits of endurance that his body could take.

However, just as Huo Yuhao could feel his power rising and just as he was controlling the circulation of soul power, his heart skipped a beat.

A peculiar power seemed to have been awakened inside his body. A layer of cold energy that was even more powerful than before erupted from within him.

A golden pearl started spinning around rapidly in his core before it started hysterically consuming the surging soul power in Huo Yuhao's body. The Frigid Jade Essence Bed below Huo Yuhao burst out with cold energy because of this, and its outflow at least doubled.

What's happening? Huo Yuhao was taken aback. Within his spiritual sea, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, who was focusing all her energy on controlling the seal's opening, was equally astonished, and she even screamed in shock inside his spiritual sea.

The golden pearl that was rotating with blinding speed had a powerful drawing power, and it seemed to sweep everything away as it consumed the soul power within Huo Yuhao's body, the power released from the seal by the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, and the origin energy of heaven and earth from the Frigid Jade Essence Bed.

A trembling woman's voice rang out in Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, "Oh no, my sealed origin has been triggered! How can this be?"

"Oh no!" Electrolux's elderly voice rang out. All four powerful beings in Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea who were typically in deep slumber all woke up, and everyone started to panic.

"Don't panic everyone, let's think of solutions." Huo Yuhao took a deep breath. He was extremely composed at this moment, and even though he didn't know what was going on, he immediately used his soul power to forcefully control the turbulent soul power within his body. He still didn't know how to resist the powerful gravitational force, but he could at least delay the hysterical absorption speed.

The Ice Empress recovered after Huo Yuhao's reminder, and she tried her best to close her seal within Huo Yuhao's body.

However, the suction force was simply too strong, to the point where the Ice Empress' attempts to control it were futile. She was slowing the absorption speed, but there was no way she could close her seal.

The vast origin energy of heaven and earth contained in the Icejade Bed beneath him was being extracted rapidly, and it was getting faster. The golden pearl was spinning at such a speed that Huo Yuhao really couldn't tolerate it anymore. He could see that his core was still swelling, and the vast energies being swallowed away were causing it to grow larger.

Electrolux contemplated momentarily, then said, "I think I understand. Snow Lady, I will help you suppress it. The sealed origin power seems to have been ignited by the origin energy of heaven and earth contained in the Frigid Jade Essence Bed. We're in big trouble now."

"Ignited what?" The Snow Lady asked, confused. She was the golden pearl's owner, but she had no idea what was happening.

Electrolux lowered his voice and said, "There is no question - both you and the Ice Empress are the most powerful ice-type soul beasts in the world, and your powers are very close to the upper limits of coldness. Once coldness reaches its upper limit, it's theoretically possible for a qualitative change to happen, and the Ultimate Ice will be converted into Ultimate Fire. The coldest energies will be converted into frightening, scorching energies."

"What? How is that possible? I have never felt something like this before." Within Huo Yuhao's turbulent spiritual sea, the Snow Lady looked at Electrolux with a face of disbelief.

The Ice Empress was focusing all her attention on controlling the seal, so she couldn't speak. However, she was looking at Electrolux with the same inconceivable and unfathomable expression.

Electrolux said, "It doesn't mean it doesn't exist if you haven't felt it before, that's only because your cultivations are too low. Grasping the trans.m.u.tation of Ultimate types from one extremity to another can only be controlled by divine sense. I once possessed part of that power, but what I had was the conversion of extreme light into extreme darkness, and hence came the name Divine Law of Necromancy."

"What do we do now then?" the Snow Lady asked urgently. "Part of my consciousness and origin power are sealed inside the snow pearl, and I have no way of controlling the violence within it. If this is allowed to continue, it will reach a size so big that it will detonate. At that point, us and even the mountain range around us will be flattened by the terrifying force."

Electrolux laughed bitterly and said, "There's nothing I can do even though I know what's going on. Your strength is considered sufficiently powerful in this world, and when this power undergoes a trans.m.u.tation, it are also compressed to the highest possible level. It is so intricate and compact that it can trigger the polar extremes. Because your reincarnation wasn't successful, and your body was damaged, you weren't able to control and compress your power. I used a special curse and borrowed Yuhao's spiritual power to seal your compressed power. When Yuhao can control this spiritual power by himself one day, then he will be able to absorb a little of your vast compressed power that's sealed away. Even though much will leak away, at least it won't trigger an explosion.

"Even I couldn't predict today's circ.u.mstance - I never expected that something else in this world shared the same origin power as you. The origin energy of heaven and earth contained within the jade essence is very similar to yours. Your control of the extremely compressed and sealed origin power has always been unstable because you left your consciousness. It was stimulated by the outer world's origin energy of heaven and earth, so it would naturally hope to absorb this immense power into itself. It began to react violently under such circ.u.mstances, and the polar extreme has occurred. It has become like a bomb, and it's rapidly swelling as it absorbs, so the extreme coldness is starting to trans.m.u.te into the opposite extreme, and this power will expand even more. This explosion will have the terrifying power of a divine being, and both me and you guys will…"

The Skydream Iceworm was worried. He had wracked his brains and done everything he could to merge with Huo Yuhao, and had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel. This sudden calamity stunned the lazy bug as he said, "Stop saying that, Elder Yi! You have to think of a solution! There must be a solution, right?"

Electrolux forced a laugh and shook his head. "Would I still be waiting here if I had a solution? We're all in the same boat, and even though I am only left with part of my divine sense, I have recovered some memories with the aid of Yuhao's spiritual power. I am also unwilling to die if I can live. However, this bomb created from the conversion of one extremity to another is not something I can control, and neither is it something you guys can change. I have no solutions anymore, and all I can do is wait for death to come."

Both the Snow Lady and the Skydream Iceworm's auras changed once Electrolux said those words. The Ice Empress was still trying her best to control the power flowing from her seal, but even she shuddered and nearly lost control of its vast strength.

"I'm sorry, Snow Empress," the Ice Empress exclaimed. She could see that virtual light erupting with blinding brilliance, and ring after ring of azure-green that looked like flames rose from her body. The power leaking out from the seal was temporarily held back, and Huo Yuhao felt as if the snow pearl in his core was now spinning a little slower.

The Snow Empress was only left with her divine sense, and there was nothing she could do at this moment. She said fearfully, "Why are you doing this? Even if you ignite your own origin power, you can't stop all of this. Fate has played us - we are destined to perish here together."

This disaster had come too suddenly, and it was something that n.o.body was able to predict. At this moment, Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea entered a deathly and despondent silence. The snow pearl in his core was expanding rapidly, and there was a possibility that it could explode at any time.

Huo Yuhao's eyes were wide open, and he shouted inside the spiritual sea, "My fate belongs to me and not to the heavens! We cannot give up! Elder Yi, Snow Empress, Ice Empress, brother Skydream - I believe that nothing is impossible in this world, and we cannot give up if we have even a thread of a chance. We have simply too many things we have yet to do. There is only one motivation for your decisions to be with me, and that's to live on! I beg all of you, in such a time of calamity, we cannot sit back and watch as disaster falls upon us. Even if the things we do may be futile, we have to try everything we can to fight for our lives! Come - release all your powers! Even if we die, we will die a spectacular and glorified death. I don't believe our combined strengths will be unable to suppress the snow pearl!"

Huo Yuhao's voice rekindled everyone's spirits. The Skydream Iceworm was the first to agree with his speech, and said, "Yes, we can't just keep waiting like this. Our fates are ours, and not determined by the heavens - we'll fight to the end! Elder Yi, you're at the highest level amongst us. I will release all of my spiritual origin for you to manipulate. If it's possible, you can erase my consciousness to obtain more power. All I wish is that you can help Ice Empress survive."

The Skydream Iceworm's fleshy body trembled violently, and his frame swelled explosively. He became like a giant vessel drifting on Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, as the golden circles on his body radiated and expanded outwards. Immense spiritual fluctuations instantly quieted Huo Yuhao's turbulent and torrential spiritual sea.

The Ice Empress was still burning her origin power, and she stared at the Skydream Iceworm with her crystal yellow eyes. "Skydream, you…"

Something that resembled a human appeared around the Skydream Iceworm's eyes. He said gently, "Don't say anything more, Ice Empress. The truth is that I have lived for more than a million years, but if there's anything left in this world for me to love or to remember, it is you. When I was tortured by those brutes back in the Great Star Dou Forest all those years ago, I thought about dying together with them many times. With the strength of my spiritual origin, I was able to greatly reduce their cultivation even if I didn't kill them. However, I didn't want to die just like that - I was thinking about you, and you have always been inside my heart.

"We are not from the same race, and our races can even be said to be natural enemies. However, I was deeply enchanted by your beautiful body when I first met you. Perhaps it's because I'm more intelligent than other Iceworms, but I've never forgotten about you ever since that day. And then, finally, we were together. Even if you may not accept me, to feel your aura every day was my life's greatest fortune. Ever since I picked you up from the Extreme North with Yuhao, I have been very happy, much happier than I was in the past million years of my life - and the reason was because I had you beside me.

"I can feel that you like the Snow Empress. Even though your genders are the same, your love has always been given to her. But I don't care, because I'm happy enough that I get to feel your existence every single day. Inside Yuhao's body, even if you may hate me, we can't be separated.

"Perhaps this may be the last thing I can say to you, and maybe we won't even succeed. However, I am even happier at this moment because I am able to offer you the last of my power and my consciousness. Ice Empress, please don't scold me when I utter my last sentence if you can help it?

"I love you."