Chapter 53: The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion Martial Soul
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice, laced with an uncharacteristic taut urgency, cut through their brief respite. "Quick—go, now! Follow the direction I give you, and don't make a sound! The Ice Emperor's clansmen will soon sense that their sovereign's aura has abruptly dimmed. They'll swarm in from every direction. We need to get out of here while we still can!"
Huo Yuhao's heart seized. He nodded fiercely. "Alright!"
Furina didn't waste words. A knowing, all-seeing light shimmered in her eyes. With a graceful lift of her slender hand and a faint ripple of soul power, two cakes materialized between her fingers—studded with glistening blueberries and exuding a crisp, refreshing chill. This was her second soul skill: the Blueberry Cake. She handed one to Huo Yuhao and took the other for herself with effortless elegance. "Eat this. It'll boost your speed."
"Thank you, Sister Furina." Huo Yuhao accepted the cake, sensing the light, fleet-footed energy contained within. He devoured it in two or three quick bites. A breeze-like force instantly wrapped around his legs. He exchanged a glance with Furina, and the two figures simultaneously shot forward, leaving behind two faint trails of footprints on the endless snowy plain—tracks almost instantly erased by the sweeping wind.
They pushed their speed to the limit. Who knew how long they ran before the surrounding terrain gradually shifted from flat tundra to a jagged landscape of crevasses and fractured ice mountains.
"This is far enough. Here." The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice sounded once more, carrying a note of released tension. "I've scanned the area repeatedly with my spiritual power. The depths of this ice cavern are temporarily safe. No soul beasts are moving nearby. Now... it's time for the real business."
Huo Yuhao halted, breathing hard, his exhaled breath crystallizing into frost the moment it touched the air. He looked toward the golden orb of light within his spiritual sea and voiced the speculation forming in his mind. "Real business? Dealing with the Ice Emperor? Wait... Brother Tianmeng, are you saying... you're going to awaken my second martial soul?" A staggering thought blazed across his mind. Could it be...?
"Smart!" Tianmeng's voice rang with approval and barely restrained excitement. "That's right! The Ice Emperor—she's the second martial soul I've prepared for you! The pinnacle of Ultimate Ice—the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion!"
Despite his earlier suspicion, hearing the confirmation with his own ears still sent a tremor of shock through Huo Yuhao. Instinctively, he glanced toward Furina at his side. She was pursing her lips in evident exasperation—clearly, she didn't entirely approve of Tianmeng's plan.
"Alright, leave the rest to me. Let me have a good, proper chat with my Bingbing..." Tianmeng's voice instantly switched into that deeply, cloyingly "affectionate" mode that both Huo Yuhao and Furina found profoundly uncomfortable.
Furina finally couldn't hold back. She pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed. "Look here, you overgrown worm—if you're going to discuss serious business, then discuss it properly. Stop with the nauseating sweet talk. I've told you before: being a hopeless simp never ends well."
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm immediately retorted as if his tail had been stepped on. "Tch, what does a little girl like you know? This is called 'sincerity moves mountains and opens gates of jade'! You don't need to worry about what's between me and Bingbing—I know what I'm doing!"
Furina merely shrugged, spreading her hands in a "suit yourself" gesture. "I've said my piece. Whether you listen or not is your own affair. If, when the time comes... Well, if the results aren't quite what you hoped for, don't say I didn't warn you."
"Rest assured!" Tianmeng brimmed with inexplicable confidence. "My heart for Bingbing can be witnessed by heaven and earth! She'll be moved by me sooner or later! Just wait and see!"
Huo Yuhao shook his head inwardly. Like Furina, he had little faith in Brother Tianmeng's overly optimistic "pursuit." After all, the Ice Emperor's haughty, cold, and merciless image couldn't be further removed from Brother Tianmeng's "over-enthusiastic" attitude.
Without further word, the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm carefully released the Ice Emperor from her restraints. She was still bound tightly within that layer of supple yet unyielding white luminescence—the power born from his million-year legacy shed. Within the light membrane, the silhouette of the scorpion was clearly visible: merely a meter and a half long, yet seeming carved from the most flawless jadeite and diamond that creation could offer. At this moment, she radiated towering fury and a bone-freezing, lethal killing intent.
"Ice Emperor, stop struggling," Tianmeng said in his uniquely languid, almost lazy drawl. But beneath that languor lay an immovable, crushing force of spiritual suppression. "You've tried many times already. By now, you should understand—it's useless."
The Ice Emperor's voice was cold enough to freeze the soul itself. "What do you want?"
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm responded at once in a tone so tender it could drip water. "I don't want anything. I only want to be with the one I love. Forever."
"And this is how you love me?" The Ice Emperor's voice dripped with venomous scorn. After this period of forced calm, the sovereign of the Far North had fully grasped the truth: she had fallen into an exquisitely laid trap.
If Tianmeng hadn't thrown her into turmoil with those words about the Snow Empress—if she hadn't been so desperate to seize this "sliver of hope" upon sensing Tianmeng's return—she would never have drawn so close so recklessly, allowing this strange, aberrant spiritual power to ensnare her. But now, regret was meaningless. Nearly four hundred thousand years of accumulated wisdom allowed her to swiftly regain her composure. No matter what tricks Tianmeng had up his sleeve, this binding couldn't last forever. She only needed to wait.
Tianmeng chuckled softly. "Don't be in such a rush. Let me explain myself slowly."
The Ice Emperor's voice was razor-edged. "Explain what? Your so-called love—that hollow pretense? If you truly loved me, why, even now, do you refuse to show me your true form? Could it be that you're afraid of me, your helpless captive?" Her tail hook swayed faintly, the lethal, diamond-bright tip glinting with frozen light. Trapped though she was, her imposing, regal aura hadn't diminished in the slightest.
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm sighed. For the first time, a thread of genuine bitterness seeped into his voice. "Of course I'm not afraid of you. It's because... I have no way to show you my true body anymore. My physical form—it no longer exists."
"What?!" The Ice Emperor's crystalline yellow compound eyes abruptly contracted with genuine, unfeigned shock. "You're reduced to nothing but a spiritual source?! Then your body..."
Her gaze swept across Huo Yuhao and Furina beside him like daggers of ice. "It can't be these two weak humans? Though you've trapped me, even just looking at them, I can see how insignificant they are. Are they your puppets? Or have you used some vile, forbidden art to parasitize them?"
Before Tianmeng could answer, Furina abruptly stepped forward.
She planted her hands on her hips and tilted her chin upward. Though she barely reached the height of that radiant scorpion silhouette, her aura was undiminished in the slightest. "Hey, hey, hey! What are you saying?! Who's his puppet?! This silkworm grub here—aside from living a bit longer than most and having slightly stronger spiritual power, his actual combat ability probably isn't even a match for a thousand-year soul beast! And you think he could make puppets out of us? Listen well: I am the great Pope of the Church of the Water God, and the Water God herself—Furina! A mere million-year ice silkworm, controlling me? I'd have to think twice before letting him serve as my temporary mount—and only if it was comfortable enough!"