Chapter 11: The Far North
On the snow-covered ground, where the wind and snow howled, Huo Yuhao was buried in the snow, his ears frozen crimson.
"Tianmeng, has the Titan Snow Demon King left?"
Huo Yuhao's body was numb from the cold, and although Tianmeng Iceworm's remains helped him resist some of the severe cold, it still couldn't completely withstand the low temperatures of the Extreme North Land.
"That scoundrel has finally left, Yuhao, you can come out now," Tianmeng Iceworm quickly reminded him after detecting the Titan Snow Demon King's departure.
"Phew, I'm freezing to death! Tianmeng, let's continue our journey. Let's quickly find Ice Empress and proceed with our next plan."
Huo Yuhao sprang out of the snow and continued walking in the direction Tianmeng Iceworm indicated, heading towards the dwelling of Ice Empress, one of the three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North.
After Electrolux entered the Eye of Life to repair his divine force fragments, Huo Yuhao informed Tianmeng Iceworm about some future plot points from the original story.
Upon learning that Ice Empress would agree to join them in the future, Tianmeng Iceworm was overjoyed and immediately took Huo Yuhao on a journey to find Ice Empress.
However, there was a small incident earlier when they encountered the Titan Snow Demon King patrolling his territory. Fortunately, they passed safely and were not discovered.
"Yuhao, this is about far enough," Tianmeng Iceworm estimated the distance and told Huo Yuhao to stop.
"Alright, Tianmeng, the rest is up to you."
As soon as Huo Yuhao finished speaking, Tianmeng Iceworm temporarily separated from Huo Yuhao's body, transforming into a young boy hovering in mid-air.
The young boy, transformed from Tianmeng Iceworm, waved his hand, and the remaining essence within Huo Yuhao's body temporarily flew out, pulsating around him.
"Ice Empress, do you dare to come out and meet me?" Tianmeng Iceworm's voice spread out, and with the release of his essence power, the entire sky was rendered golden.
"Tianmeng, you still dare to come back!" At this, an angry female voice came, and the sky, which had just been rendered golden by Tianmeng Iceworm's mental force, instantly turned half emerald green.
A crystal scorpion, completely emerald green and nearly a person's height, crossed stretches of snow at an extremely fast speed, like a direct beam of green light.
Ice Empress stopped in front of Tianmeng Iceworm in just a few seconds. She stared at the young boy transformed from Tianmeng Iceworm for a couple of glances.
"A body condensed from mental force, huh? It seems your true body isn't far from here. My 400,000-year tribulation might have a chance of being overcome," Ice Empress said coldly.
Seeing Tianmeng Iceworm about to open his mouth to reminisce with Ice Empress, Huo Yuhao, hidden in the snow, immediately interrupted in his Spirit Sea: "Tianmeng, stop talking nonsense! Hurry up and act! The remains have set up a trap for you, and I can't hold on much longer."
"Alright, then Bingbing, we'll talk later." As soon as he finished speaking, Tianmeng Iceworm temporarily trapped Ice Empress with his remains.
"Yuhao, run! Ice Empress's clansmen will be chasing after us soon."
Tianmeng Iceworm reintegrated his essence into Huo Yuhao's body and guided Huo Yuhao to sprint towards a snow-covered mountain.
"Phew, we should be safe here, right? Tianmeng, I'll have a good talk with Ice Empress."
After sprinting for about half a day, Huo Yuhao brought Ice Empress to the foot of a mountain, preparing to talk to her first.
"Tianmeng, you useless fellow, you actually became a Spirit Master's spirit ring!"
Ice Empress looked at Tianmeng Iceworm, who had merged with Huo Yuhao, and angrily questioned him.
Tianmeng Iceworm did not respond; instead, Huo Yuhao spoke first.
"Ice Empress, I know your situation. Your 400,000-year tribulation is approaching, and you have no confidence in overcoming it on your own. That is to say, you are about to perish."
Listening to Huo Yuhao's words, Ice Empress immediately scoffed, "Oh, so according to you, I should become your spirit ring, fulfill you, so as not to waste my cultivation?"
Huo Yuhao didn't mind Ice Empress's unfriendly tone and continued to explain:
"Tianmeng and I are preparing to embark on a path to godhood. He used his million years of cultivation to help me condense a second Spirit, preparing to use this to transform you into a sentient spirit ring similar to him, and together embark on this path to eternal life."
"Oh? Then how do I know you will definitely become a god, and why should I choose you?" Ice Empress was somewhat moved by the words, but still asked with some hesitation.
"First, with Tianmeng's help, my first Spirit, the Spiritual Eye, is about to evolve. Plus, the Ultimate Ice you bring by joining us, I will become an unprecedented genius on Douluo Continent."
"Second, my teacher is a god. He has the experience and methods of becoming a god, enough to help me complete that final step."
"Third, you actually have no choice now. You, who cannot overcome the 400,000-year tribulation, your life is like a candle in the wind. You have no time and cannot wait for anyone else."
After Huo Yuhao finished speaking, he asked Old Electrolux to briefly use the pressure of the God Realm, giving Ice Empress a chance to feel it.
Feeling the pressure of the God Realm's mental force, Ice Empress instantly changed her attitude; her hesitation vanished, leaving only determination.
"Alright, since that's the case, I agree to your terms, but Tianmeng Iceworm must swear to the Ice God to help me become a sentient spirit ring."
Upon hearing Ice Empress's words, Tianmeng Iceworm immediately jumped out excitedly, "Bingbing, I knew you would agree! I, Tianmeng Iceworm, swear to the Ice God that I will definitely help Ice Empress transform into a sentient spirit ring."
Seeing Tianmeng Iceworm swear, Ice Empress finally felt completely at ease and began to prepare for the integration with Tianmeng Iceworm.
"With your current physical constitution, after I seal my essence, you will be able to absorb the torso bone I transform into. However, the process might not be very pleasant; you must endure it."
After Ice Empress finished speaking, her own spiritual essence merged into Huo Yuhao's Spirit Sea, and her massive body transformed into an emerald green torso bone, slowly integrating into Huo Yuhao's body.
Instantly, intense pain transmitted to Huo Yuhao's brain nerves, making his entire body tremble.
"Whoa, this bone-changing pain is quite interesting, it's really intense," Huo Yuhao muttered a few words, shifting his attention.
As the integration deepened, the spirit gold finally began to work. A large amount of green life energy surged within Huo Yuhao's body, beginning to cooperate with the Ice Empress torso bone to strengthen and repair Huo Yuhao's body.
With the help of the spirit gold, Huo Yuhao felt the pressure greatly reduced and let out a long sigh of relief.
Two hours later, Huo Yuhao finally completed the integration with the Ice Empress torso bone, and his physical constitution was greatly strengthened once again.
"The effect of absorbing the Spirit Bone is good, less essence was sealed than I imagined. Next, it's time to merge with the spirit ring."
Ice Empress praised Huo Yuhao, who had finished absorbing the Spirit Bone.
Huo Yuhao activated Ice Empress's 400,000-year spirit ring, gradually drawing it onto himself. It was a red spirit ring with four golden patterns.
Previously, after Tianmeng and Ice Empress discussed, Tianmeng Iceworm used some of his essence power to completely raise Ice Empress's cultivation to 400,000 years during Huo Yuhao's process of merging with Ice Empress's Spirit Bone.
As Huo Yuhao absorbed the 400,000-year Ice Empress spirit ring, Huo Yuhao's originally formless second Spirit, the Ice Spirit, gradually transformed into the appearance of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion.
Huo Yuhao's entire spirit power also gradually gained the attribute of Ultimate Ice.