The voice of the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm carried a rare, tense urgency, interrupting their brief rest: "Quick, move in the direction I say immediately, and don't make a sound! The Ice Empress's clansmen will soon sense that their monarch's Aura has suddenly dimmed, and they will converge from all directions! We need to leave here while we still can."
Huo Yuhao's heart tightened, and he nodded heavily: "Alright!"
Furina didn't say much, her eyes shimmering with a light that seemed to perceive everything. Her slender hands moved gracefully as Soul Power fluctuated, and two cakes adorned with crystalline blueberries and emitting a cool fragrance appeared in her hands—it was her Second Soul Skill: blueberry cake. She handed one to Huo Yuhao and elegantly picked up the other: "Eat this, it can increase your speed."
"Thank you, Sister Furina." Huo Yuhao took the cake, feeling the light energy contained within, and devoured it in a few bites. A breeze-like power instantly swirled around his legs. He and Furina exchanged a glance and shot forward simultaneously, leaving two sets of shallow footprints on the boundless snowy plains that were almost instantly blown away.
The two pushed their speed to the limit and ran for an unknown amount of time until the surrounding terrain changed from flat snowy plains to a region of rugged ice mountain fissures.
"This is far enough, right here," the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice rang out again, tinged with a hint of relief. "I've repeatedly scouted with my mental force; the depths of this ice cave are temporarily safe, and there are no Soul Beasts active nearby. Next... comes the real business."
Huo Yuhao stopped, panting slightly as his exhaled breath instantly condensed into frost. He looked at the golden silhouette in his spiritual sea and asked about the suspicion in his heart: "Real business? Is it about dealing with the Ice Empress? No... Brother Tianmeng, are you going to... awaken a Second Martial Soul for me?" A startling thought flashed through his mind. Could it be...?
"Smart!" The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's tone was filled with praise and irrepressible excitement. "That's right! The Ice Empress is the Second Martial Soul I've prepared for you! The Peak of Ultimate Ice—the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion!"
Despite having a premonition, hearing it confirmed still left Huo Yuhao feeling a wave of shock. He subconsciously looked at Furina beside him, only to see her curling her lips helplessly, clearly not entirely in agreement with the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's plan.
"Alright, I'll take it from here. Let me have a... good talk with my Bingbing." The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice instantly switched to that "affectionate" mode that made both Huo Yuhao and Furina feel intensely uncomfortable.
Furina finally couldn't take it anymore, pressing her hand to her forehead with a sigh: "I say, big worm, if you're going to discuss business, then do it properly. Stop saying such nauseating things. I told you a long time ago, being a simp never ends well."
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm immediately retorted as if its tail had been stepped on: "Che, what does a little brat like you know? This is called'sincerity can move even mountains and stones'! You don't need to worry about the matters between Bingbing and me; I know what I'm doing!"
Furina shrugged and spread her hands in a "suit yourself" gesture: "Anyway, I've said all I can. Whether you listen or not is your business. If the... well, results aren't ideal later, don't blame me for not warning you."
"Don't worry!" The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was filled with a mysterious confidence. "My heart for Bingbing is as clear as the heavens and earth! She'll be moved by me sooner or later! Just you wait and see!"
Huo Yuhao shook his head inwardly. Like Furina, he wasn't optimistic about Brother Tianmeng's overly optimistic "pursuit." After all, the Ice Empress's proud and cold image was simply too far removed from Brother Tianmeng's "overly passionate" attitude.
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm said no more and carefully released the Ice Empress, who was tightly bound by a flexible yet tough white light membrane—the power transformed from its million-year-old molted skin. Within the light membrane, the scorpion silhouette, only 1.5 meters long but appearing as if carved from the world's most perfect emeralds and diamonds, was clearly visible. At this moment, it radiated a towering rage and bone-chilling killing intent.
"Ice Empress, stop struggling," the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm said in its characteristic, somewhat lazy drawl, but beneath that laziness was an unshakeable mental force imprisonment. "You've tried many times; you should understand that it's useless."
The Ice Empress's voice was cold enough to freeze the Soul: "What do you want?"
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm immediately responded with a voice so tender it could drip water: "I don't want anything; I only want to be with my beloved forever."
"Is this how you love me?" The Ice Empress's voice was full of sarcasm. After this period of cooling down, this monarch of the Extreme North Land had completely realized that she had fallen into a meticulously designed trap.
If she hadn't been unsettled by the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's words about the Snow Empress, and if she hadn't sensed Tianmeng's return and been desperate to seize that "glimmer of hope," she would never have approached so easily, only to be trapped by this bizarre mental force. However, it was too late for regrets now. The wisdom gained from living for nearly four hundred thousand years allowed her to calm down quickly. No matter how strong this move of Tianmeng's was, it couldn't last forever; she only needed to wait.
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm chuckled and said, "Don't be in such a hurry. Let me explain it to you slowly."
The Ice Empress said coldly, "Explain what? Your hypocritical talk of love? If you truly loved me, why do you refuse to show me your true body even now? Could it be that you're afraid of me, your prisoner?" Her stinger flickered slightly with a lethal cold light; despite being trapped, her Aura didn't diminish in the slightest.
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm sighed, its voice carrying a trace of genuine bitterness: "Of course I'm not afraid of you. It's because... I have no way to show you my original body anymore! My original body no longer exists."
"What?" The Ice Empress's crystalline yellow compound eyes suddenly constricted, revealing genuine astonishment. "You only have your spiritual Origin left?! Then your body..."
Her gaze swept over Huo Yuhao and Furina like ice picks. "It couldn't be these two weak humans, could it? Although you've trapped me, I can see their insignificance even with just my eyes. Are they your Puppets? Or did you use some evil secret technique to parasitize them?"
Before the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm could answer, Furina suddenly took a step forward.
She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head back. Though she wasn't as tall as the scorpion's silhouette in the halo, her Aura wasn't weak at all: "Hey, hey, hey! What are you talking about? Who's his Puppet? This little silkworm baby, who's only lived a bit longer and has stronger mental force but probably has less actual combat power than a thousand-year Soul Beast, wants to treat us as Puppets? Listen up, I am the great Pope of the Water God Cult and the Water God, Furina! How could a mere million-year ice silkworm possibly control me? I'd even have to consider whether it's comfortable enough before letting him be my temporary mount!"