Chapter 34: Fusion with Snow Empress, Soul Skills to Control Cold Air (2400 words)
Who should fuse with the Snow Empress or Ice Empress first? Huo Yuhao pondered this seriously. In the original novel, the Snow Empress was incredibly powerful.
After becoming a soul, she occupied four soul ring positions—one for each of her three unique skills and one for the combined skill, Pride of the Two Ice and Snow Empress.
Fusing with the Snow Empress is indeed advantageous, but it takes up four soul ring slots, which is not Huo Yuhao's ideal configuration.
Improve the Soul System?
Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao looked at Electrolux with a contemplative expression in his eyes. "Elder Yi, if I merge with the Snow Empress..."
"During the soul fusion ceremony, can we save one or two soul rings to bring better soul skills to the soul master?"
If the Snow Empress's soul occupies four soul rings, then it could be seen as a disguised waste of potential.
A hundred-thousand-year soul ring can grant a soul master two skills, while a seven-hundred-thousand-year Snow Empress has three soul rings with three soul skills: Emperor Palm, Emperor Sword, and Emperor Frost Sky.
Without considering other factors, if Huo Yuhao absorbed each 100,000-year soul ring as normal, he would obtain six soul skills.
Of course, having more soul skills doesn't necessarily equate to greater advantages or higher combat effectiveness, but can Huo Yuhao's soul ring positions be the same as those of ordinary people?
No matter what, they should avoid wasting the potential of their martial souls and fully utilize every soul ring position.
Electrolux had contemplated this long ago and chuckled. "One reason it's called a soul is that it derives from the names of the old man, the Holy God of Death, and the Scourge of the Dead. The two terms, 'Dead Soul' and 'Undead Soul,' as applied to the soul ring, signify 'Soul Soul.'" Huo Yuhao pondered this and nodded. It sounded quite fitting.
After all, Electrolux was undoubtedly an expert in spiritual matters.
Electrolux recalled briefly: "The most important reason is that my research on the soul has reached a high level, allowing me a clear understanding, which is why I can create souls."
Electrolux discovered through the previous memory light ball that the Snow Empress's soul within it was merely a hastily created semi-finished product intended to save their lives.
Compared to the three unique skills of the Snow Empress, the two soul skills provided by the other soul ring are crucial for reflecting the Snow Empress's soul's value.
Xue Di followed the conversation between Huo Yuhao and Electrolux closely. She understood that Huo Yuhao wanted to merge with her first, but they were discussing a solution given that she might take up multiple soul rings.
"Xue Di, during the soul ritual, you must cooperate carefully with Yuhao," Electrolux instructed.
Xue Di readily agreed. "Don't worry, Senior Yi. Since I have chosen to help Yuhao achieve godhood, I will certainly do my utmost to assist him."
Huo Yuhao trusted Xue Di's professionalism.
"Snow Empress, after you become a soul, teaching me the three unique skills of the Snow Empress shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
The Snow Empress smiled gently, her hands covering her mouth. "Don't worry, Yuhao, I will teach you personally. It won't take long for you to master my moves."
Witnessing this, the Ice Empress couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. She decided to put some pressure on Huo Yuhao.
"Huo Yuhao, the famed three unique skills of the Snow Empress in the Far North are not as easy as you think. Even with the Snow Empress teaching you personally, it will still be challenging to get started."
Huo Yuhao replied with a bright smile, "That's okay, Ice Empress! I will persist, work hard, and practice diligently."
The Snow Empress sensed an undertone of disapproval in Ice Empress's words and gently countered, "Bing'er, don't you know my professionalism and teaching ability? I certainly won't delay Yuhao."
The Ice Empress took a deep breath. 'Is this what I meant?' They hadn't even merged yet, and they were already singing the same tune.
What would happen after they truly fused? Would there still be a place for her in Xue Di's heart?
Just as Bingdi felt disheartened, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm approached with a sigh, his tone full of regret.
"Hey, Bingbing, Yuhao's first two soul rings have been claimed by Xue Di. It looks like it will take some time before we can be together. True love always seems to be so tortuous."
Bing Di felt a surge of anger upon hearing Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's words. With its large pincers, she clamped down on his body.
Then she swung him around with force, sending Tianmeng Ice Silkworm flying a hundred meters away.
"Tian Meng, don't bother me! I'm in a bad mood right now. If you dare come over again, I will cut you into pieces and string you together!" Bing Di warned, her jade-colored scorpion tail raised threateningly.
After throwing Tianmeng Ice Silkworm away, Bing Di contemplated what the Ice Empress had just said and crawled over to Xue Di with a creaking sound.
"Xue Di, Yuhao, when will I fuse with Yuhao?"
Huo Yuhao reflected that in the original work, the Ice Empress only occupied one soul ring position. "When I cultivate to level 30 and obtain a new soul ring position, I can fuse with you."
"You won't make me wait too long, will you?" the Ice Empress asked, her concern evident.
"No, it won't take more than a year for me to reach Soul Master," Huo Yuhao assured.
Hearing this, the Ice Empress felt much better. A year was no more than a fleeting moment for soul beasts of their caliber. They could return to training or sleeping, and time would pass quickly.
Electrolux smiled gently. "Alright, Yuhao, let's find a spot for you and the Snow Empress to begin the fusion."
"Go to the top of the snow mountain where this Emperor resides." The Snow Empress pointed towards a distant white snow mountain.
"Yuhao, I'll take you there."
With that, the Snow Empress stretched out a white arm, lifting Huo Yuhao into her embrace as she flew toward the snowy mountain.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, after being flung a hundred meters away, finally crawled up to the Ice Empress, unabashedly saying, "Bingbing, you are so domineering and cold! It makes me so happy!"
Before Tianmeng Ice Silkworm could finish speaking, the Ice Empress's front claws struck it hard, nearly forcing out its spiritual essence.
Then, the Ice Empress darted in the direction of the Snow Empress.
Soon, they arrived at the top of the snowy mountain, where a misty hot spring exuded an icy white atmosphere, a small paradise in its own right.
Through the hazy mist, a snow lotus could be seen suspended in the center of the hot spring, with each petal giving off a strange halo.
As soon as the Snow Empress set Huo Yuhao down, he quickly activated the Seal of Life to recover from his injuries.
"Xue Di, you broke my arm at least three times during the trip," Huo Yuhao remarked, shaking his arm to indicate he had sustained serious injuries.
"Ah? You didn't even scream?"
Xue Di quickly retrieved a healing spiritual item unique to the Far North and set Huo Yuhao's bones.
Huo Yuhao glanced at Xue Di. "If I couldn't help but scream when you do this little maneuver, how could I hold on during our fusion later?"
Xue Di felt a touch of guilt. The first time she brought Huo Yuhao to her domain, she had hurt him multiple times.
"I tried my best to hold back my strength, but I didn't realize you were so fragile that it would break with a mere touch."
Huo Yuhao: "..."
Those words cut deep.
With Xue Di's level of cultivation, she shouldn't have had trouble controlling her strength. The only explanation lay in her slightly emotional state when considering her transformation into a soul.
Xue Di exhaled softly, and then a petal from the snow lotus materialized in her palm.
"Yuhao, take this. It will help ease the pain when we fuse later."
Xue Di offered the lotus leaf to Huo Yuhao.
"Snow Empress, where did this come from?" Huo Yuhao blinked in surprise. If he wasn't mistaken, she had just blown it into existence.
"It's nurtured within my body; of course, it comes from me."
Xue Di responded matter-of-factly, without even a second thought.
Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes, emitting an intensely dangerous aura. She stood and slowly approached him.
"Yuhao, look me in the eye."
The Snow Empress's gaze turned icy as she asked frostily, "Did you just think that I ate this lotus leaf and found it dirty?"
Huo Yuhao met the Snow Empress's piercing gaze and immediately felt the temperature plummet around him as if he might be frozen into an ice sculpture.
"Snow Empress, no! You misunderstood! I don't find it dirty; I'm just curious if it still works."
The Snow Empress's expression remained devoid of warmth. "I said it's nourished within my body. How could it not work?"
"And I'm a being formed from elemental energy; my entire being is pure and clean. Even if it didn't work, it wouldn't be 'dirty' for you to consume."
Huo Yuhao locked eyes with the Snow Empress, transforming thousands of words into one:
"Xue Di is right."
After saying that, Huo Yuhao took the lotus leaf from Xue Di's palm, pinched a small piece from the edge, and twisted it with his fingers.
Xue Di frowned at this action.
Huo Yuhao then stuffed the lotus leaf into his mouth. He didn't even need to chew; it dissolved instantly into a cool liquid.
Xue Di calmly remarked, "You're clever," and then turned to Electrolux. "Thank you, Senior Yi. Let's start the fusion now."
"No trouble at all; it's a piece of cake," Electrolux chuckled as he began preparing for the soul fusion ceremony.
Bing Di, standing off to the side, observed the earlier interaction between Xue Di and Huo Yuhao and pouted. "He, a human, gets the snow lotus nourished in Xue Di's body, while I can't even receive such treatment..."
Bing Di felt a pang of jealousy.
Soon, Electrolux was ready for the ceremony.
Xue Di spoke softly, "Yuhao, you should know that even though I am a soul beast, my appearance closely resembles that of humans."
"Therefore, whatever part of the soul bone you desire, I can leave you the ideal part guided by my own will."
Huo Yuhao contemplated for a moment before two ideas took shape in his mind.
Skull, or arm bone (with hand bone, to eventually fuse with the dark gold claw).
If he chose the skull, in the original novel, Huo Yuhao's fate skull was provided by the three-eyed golden lion. In the original work, since Xue Di's original power was ignited, she did not leave any soul bones for Huo Yuhao after 700,000 years.
This time, a suitable beast wouldn't be sacrificed, and the Snow Empress could complete a regular transformation into a soul. This would fill the void left by the skull.
However, a better option for the skull would be the 800,000-year-old Evil-Eyed Tyrant Ruler, the Evil Emperor.
So the head was questionable.
As for the arm bone, in the original novel, the right arm bone of the 100,000-year-old mermaid princess Huo Yuhao was, to be honest, a bit meager for Huo Yuhao.
The seven-hundred-thousand-year-old Snow Empress's arm bone was more suitable for Huo Yuhao's configuration.
Arm bones specialize in enhancing strength, which would be beneficial for practicing combative skills like the Eight Extreme Collapse and Flame Devouring Wave Ruler.
"Xue Di, can I have an extra arm bone along with a hand?"
"Alright, then, the hand bone."
A column of icy white light radiated from the center of Xue Di's brows, flowing toward Huo Yuhao's brows and into his arms.
The fusion of the Snow Empress's handbones caused a dull ache in Huo Yuhao's arm. However, since he had previously fused with the Chilling Bone Flame, the pain from the Snow Empress's hand bones was entirely bearable.
"Yuhao, first the bones, then the soul. The pain from fusing the hand bones is beyond what you can imagine. I will use my ice and snow to numb your discomfort and reduce it as much as possible."
Huo Yuhao nodded in agreement. The lotus leaf he had consumed earlier also began to take effect, providing a soothing coolness to his mind.
After a short while, the icy white halo gathered around Huo Yuhao's brows, giving his arms a unique texture.
His hands transformed into an appearance resembling jade—crystal clear and as white as porcelain.
Huo Yuhao could distinctly feel that his mental power and strength surged abundantly, indicating that the fusion of his hand bones was successful.
At that moment, the Snow Empress took on a spiritual mimicry form. "I didn't expect Yuhao to adapt so well to my arm bones. Senior Yi, let's proceed with the soul fusion ceremony."
In the next instant, a magic circle softly appeared around the Snow Empress and Huo Yuhao, establishing a peculiar connection between them.
A strange halo enveloped both of them, forming a translucent light film around them, within which an indescribable energy began to brew.
"Yuhao, this Emperor is coming." The Snow Empress gradually released her original energy, a vast force that seemed to envelop Huo Yuhao.
However, under the mindful control of the Snow Empress, the pure white halo flowed into his body little by little, rendering his entire form icy white.
As this energy flowed in, the transformation of Huo Yuhao's appearance became significant.
Perhaps because the Snow Empress was Huo Yuhao's first soul, his facial features gradually softened, and his skin turned a snowy white.
As time passed, two orange-gold soul rings faintly appeared around Huo Yuhao.
He realized that one of the soul skills of one of the orange-gold rings was a three-piece set: Emperor Palm, Emperor Sword, and Emperor Frost Sky.
The other orange-gold soul ring held one of the soul skills.
Qi Baixue.
The inherent soul skill of the Ice and Snow Girl allowed her to gain absolute control over the powers of ice and snow, bolstered by nature's might within the domain. (Inspired by Death God - Sode no Shirayuki, slightly adapted)
(End of this chapter)