In Huo Yuhao's hand, a dark-blue ice column quietly appeared, its liquid core shimmering within.
Even though he had completely sealed its aura with spatial power, the Snow Empress recognized it instantly.
"Manifold Mysterious Ice Essence!"
This was a treasure from the legendary Tang Sect era—an unparalleled opportunity for ice-attributed soul beasts and soul masters!
Among natural ice-attribute treasures, it stood at the very peak.
One must remember that Skydream had only broken through to the unprecedented million-year level by consuming vast quantities of this very substance.
In the original work, the Snow Empress had even likened it to Life Gold in value—such was its rarity.
Yet treasures like these were exceedingly scarce. Even in the boundless Extreme North, only a single Manifold Mysterious Ice Cavern existed—one that Skydream had stumbled upon by chance.
Had there been enough of it, the Ice Empress and Snow Empress might have weathered their next catastrophe and altered their fates.
But the cave Bingdi had discovered was nothing more than an empty husk, already devoured by Skydream—an act that had sown deep resentment between them.
Later, Skydream even fled to the Star Dou Forest, effectively handing the Extreme North's remaining opportunities to its ferocious soul beasts.
This was the root of Bingdi's lingering bitterness toward Skydream.
However, thanks to Huo Yuhao's mediation, the two had since reconciled. Now, they were not just amicable sisters but also enthusiastic card partners.
Most days, they either slept or played cards within Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, occasionally dragging his spiritual avatar into their games.
Recently, after the opening of the Eye of Destiny and Electrolux's return to the spiritual sea from the second consciousness, the duo had taken to inviting him as well—sometimes even initiating four-player mahjong sessions with Huo Yuhao.
As for how Huo Yuhao obtained the Ten-Thousand-Year Manifold Mysterious Ice Essence—
It was all thanks to the Ice Soul Body's innate talent.
In truth, this was not the genuine article but a pirated version Huo Yuhao had crafted.
Using ice-attribute treasures provided by Shrek Academy and Skydream's memories as reference, he had repurposed his excess Ultimate Ice origin energy to synthesize a near-identical replica.
Huo Yuhao had realized that while the Ice Soul Body possessed limitless potential, Ultimate Ice itself had an upper limit.
The Ice Soul Body primarily aligned with the Soul Path and Ice-Snow Path, emphasizing mental power and ice attributes while also enhancing physical constitution.
This was why Huo Yuhao's physical training had progressed so smoothly—partly due to Life Gold's assistance, but largely because of the Ice Soul Body's innate boosts.
It bore similarities to his current Spirit Eyes martial soul, which was mental-based with supplementary time, space, and destiny attributes.
However, spirit-attributed soul beasts were rare, so Huo Yuhao prioritized the Spirit Eyes for enhancements.
As for his second martial soul—Ultimate Ice—
It was a double-edged sword.
As high-quality ice-attribute soul rings accumulated in the Ice Soul Body, the Ultimate Ice's potency surged.
But this disrupted the balance between the second martial soul's primary spirit and the Ultimate Ice's dominance.
The imbalance grew more pronounced after absorbing the Ice Dragon King's divine origin via the Eat Strength Immortal Gu, further amplifying the martial soul's ice properties.
Though this didn't hinder Huo Yuhao's cultivation or combat prowess—thanks to his Spirit Eyes' formidable mental control—it created a lopsided dynamic.
Worse, Ultimate Ice had a hard limit.
Huo Yuhao's current control only allowed temperatures as low as -250°C, far from absolute zero (-273.15°C).
Forcing further reductions risked shattering his body's equilibrium—potentially driving him mad or even killing him via ice-attribute erosion.
This mirrored the Great Love Immortal Venerable's dilemma in the RI: the Northern Dark Ice Soul Body, as a Ten Extreme Physiques, constantly teetered on collapse, requiring immortality to fully stabilize.
Huo Yuhao wasn't at risk of self-destruction—thanks to his twin martial souls' synergy—but he still needed cultivation to mitigate the imbalance.
Simply put, his soul power level and quality were still too low.
Even an overpowered martial soul couldn't defy fundamental limits.
Unless… he wasn't human.
Future Douluo protagonists relied on heaven-defying bloodlines to bypass such restrictions.
But Huo Yuhao saw no need—his martial soul was already broken enough.
Thus, he repurposed his excess ice energy into Manifold Mysterious Ice Essence, a downgraded but higher-purity version of the original.
The Ice Dragon King's divine energy was so potent that even a wisp could propel Huo Yuhao to Titled Douluo rank.
Only the Immortal Gu's reality-warping properties allowed him to absorb it safely.
Now, he was essentially force-fed divine power—unable to digest it all, so he stored the surplus as Ultimate Manifold Mysterious Ice Essence.
Though its quantity paled compared to the original, its quality surpassed it, making it easier for ice-attributed soul masters to cultivate Ultimate Ice.
So far, Huo Yuhao had only condensed three of these.
Huo Yuhao had initially planned to plunder the Earth Dragon Sect's hidden Ten-Thousand-Year Manifold Mysterious Ice Essence cave—a resource that had helped the Snow Empress regain her memories in the original timeline.
But now, he realized his bottleneck wasn't more ice energy—but breaking past Ultimate Ice's limits.
Absolute Zero was the ceiling for a single attribute.
To advance further, he needed multi-attribute fusion—specifically, Ice-Fire Yin-Yang evolving into Chaos.
The Dragon God's supremacy stemmed from its Chaos Attribute, wielding Creation and Destruction simultaneously.
With the System's aid and the Silver Dragon King's support, Huo Yuhao believed he could achieve this.
His Ice Soul Body's mimicry talent even allowed him to evolve his physique by absorbing soul rings, bones, and bloodlines.
"So this is why you won't cultivate with me?" Di Qiu'er pouted.
"Not entirely. My Ultimate Ice is unstable right now—training together might backfire," Huo Yuhao explained.
"You promised…" She hesitated, meeting his azure eyes.
"Next time," Huo Yuhao reassured, ruffling her golden hair.
Besides, Gu Yuena had warned him against corrupting the youth—especially 15,000 years' worth of them.
"Fine! But next time, I won't let your soul power lag too far behind!" Di Qiu'er huffed.
Di Qiu'er, nearing Level 60, currently outranked Huo Yuhao's Level 56.
Satisfied, she relented—aware that Huo Yuhao disliked clinginess.
"Once you hit Level 60, wait for me. I'll help you secure a 100,000-year sixth ring," Huo Yuhao promised.
After parting with Qiu'er, Huo Yuhao headed to Ma Xiaotao's room—only to find Ling Luochen there.
"Sister Luochen? Why are you here?"
"Xiaotao… invited me," Ling Luochen stammered, blushing.
Huo Yuhao smirked.
'Is this the downside (or upside?) of the Ice Soul Body—specially its certain effects on others.'
...
Among the many senior sisters in Shrek Academy's inner courtyard, Ling Luochen's fondness for Huo Yuhao ranked easily within the top three.
It wasn't just because she saw in him the path to advancing her own martial soul to Ultimate Ice.
No, this famously aloof iceberg of the inner courtyard also possessed an imagination that was… perhaps a little too vivid.
As far back as two years ago, when Huo Yuhao had just enrolled, Ling Luochen had pieced together some shocking conclusions through her own deductions and a bit of clever observation.
Ling Luochen's Theory: That woman Ma Xiaotao must have blackmailed Huo Yuhao with some unknown leverage, forcing him to serve as her personal Star Wrath Force!
Her suspicions had been cemented the very first time she saw them together—witnessing the horrifying scene of Ma Xiaotao kissing the younger boy!
Originally, she hadn't planned to interfere. At most, she'd simply stumbled upon some juicy blackmail material to tease Ma Xiaotao with later.
But everything changed the moment she sensed Huo Yuhao's aura through her own martial soul—an aura unmistakably tinged with the power of Ultimate Ice.
Driven by a surge of righteous fury, Ling Luochen resolved to intervene!
First, she confirmed her suspicions by waiting near Ma Xiaotao's dormitory the next day, verifying Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice attributes. Then, with meticulous cunning, she launched her own covert investigation.
Soon, she pieced together the truth—or at least, what she believed to be the truth:
"This was all the doing of Yan Shaozhe, dean of the Martial Soul Department!"
From the moment Huo Yuhao enrolled, Yan Shaozhe must have noticed his Ultimate Ice martial soul in the admission records and immediately schemed to exploit him for his disciple's benefit.
After all, Ma Xiaotao needed an ice-attribute martial soul to suppress her Evil Fire, and what better choice than Ultimate Ice? The Xuanwu Turtle's water-earth attributes were no longer necessary.
The thought of Huo Yuhao—freshly enrolled, innocent—being targeted by the wicked Ma Xiaotao filled Ling Luochen with an indescribable rage.
And when he was fast-tracked into the inner courtyard? That only deepened her helpless fury.
'Shrek, aiding the wicked! Yan Shaozhe, shielding evil with his authority!'
On the surface, Huo Yuhao's early promotion seemed like special favor from the academy.
But in truth? It was Yan Shaozhe's ploy to make it easier for his disciple to have her way with him!
'Hell is empty, the devils are here!'
'Yan Shaozhe—a beast in human skin!'
'Ma Xiaotao—born wicked!'
'Huo Yuhao is just a child! How could you exploit him like this?!'
Could it really be that Huo Yuhao had coincidentally met Ma Xiaotao during enrollment, fallen in love at first sight, and volunteered to help suppress her Evil Fire?
"Impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!"
What freshman could leap multiple tiers to suppress a Soul Emperor's Evil Fire? Even the most prodigious Ultimate Ice couldn't manage that!
Heartbroken, Ling Luochen could only throw herself into training and missions, venting her stifled sense of justice.
Every time she saw the faint exhaustion in Huo Yuhao's brow unbeknownst to her, caused by his relentless cultivation, guilt gnawed at her.
But what could she do?
Defeating Ma Xiaotao? Exposing Yan Shaozhe's hypocrisy?
These were secrets far beyond the reach of a mere Soul King.
She was just an ordinary inner courtyard student, after all.
So instead, she became a caring elder sister to Huo Yuhao—offering warmth, letting him know that Shrek still had kindness in it.
At the time, Huo Yuhao often found her sudden tenderness baffling. But he accepted it readily.
After all, in the original timeline, Ling Luochen had chosen him without hesitation during the Sea God's Fate Ceremony. Now, with his stronger talent and more striking looks, being adored was only natural.
A year passed.
Huo Yuhao's strength blossomed, and Ling Luochen gradually realized things might not be as dire as she'd imagined. He wasn't being mistreated.
Yet their relationship remained light—close friends, a reliable senior and her diligent junior.
Ling Luochen: I enjoy mentoring this junior!
Huo Yuhao: I enjoy being passive!
Take, for instance, the many… intimate scenarios that arose while helping Ma Xiaotao suppress her Evil Fire. Huo Yuhao had never been the instigator.
Naturally, the clash of fire and ice left their sweat-drenched clothes rather fragile. Garments tearing? Perfectly normal.
After a few incidents, Ma Xiaotao grew tired of it. "If I'm going to be seen naked anyway, why bother with armor?"
Occasionally, to break the monotony of cultivation, she'd tease Huo Yuhao—his earnest purity too tempting to resist. A playful hip check here, a truck collision there—minor antics.
Her ripe peach of a figure was undeniably alluring. Any normal man would've succumbed.
But Huo Yuhao was not normal.
Thanks to the Ice Soul Domain's forced calm, he could honestly say the process wasn't that difficult.
It wasn't that he was some chaste saint devoted to one love. No, he simply refused to let himself be distracted by earthly pleasures, lest his cultivation stagnate.
In the early stages, with his extreme soul power and outdated meditation techniques, every second of training counted.
'Hmph. Women will only slow my sword!'
Moreover, after his Ice Soul Body's enhancement, he'd begun to suspect he had a Incubus physique. The realization sent chills down his spine:
'If I don't grow stronger, I'll become some woman's plaything! To avoid being captured and forced into marriage, I must advance faster!'
Though Shrek's environment seemed friendly now, vigilance was key.
As for his recent proactive efforts—besides helping Ma Xiaotao reach Ultimate Fire—they were also his first experiments with the Ice Soul Body.
The idea to refine it further came from the Deluxe Edition Ice-Fire Body Tempering. Though the Eat Strength Immortal Gu primarily absorbed the Ice Dragon King's divinity, traces of the Fire Dragon King's power had also seeped in.
The Ice Soul Body didn't reject it. Instead, it assimilated everything.
Now, Huo Yuhao's body harbored both dragon kings' energies. While insufficient for mimicry, they were perfect for cultivation.
His sparring sessions with Ma Xiaotao had effectively become miniature Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, immensely beneficial to both.
Not only did they stabilize Ma Xiaotao's bloodline, but they also accelerated Huo Yuhao's soul power and physique.
Even the Fire Dragon King's aura within him subtly fused with her Ultimate Fire Phoenix energy, enhancing it further.
Now, dual cultivation was a legitimate path to power!
And once a door opens, there's no going back.
Both their mindsets began to shift.
At first, Ma Xiaotao was thrilled—her efforts directly aiding Huo Yuhao's growth filled her with a strange sense of duty.
'If I don't endure this, who will?'
'For our future together, a little suffering is nothing.'
But she'd underestimated Huo Yuhao's stamina.
His physique now rivaled a Titled Douluo's. Against a mere Soul Saint like her? She was swiftly overwhelmed.
Especially after he mastered new techniques—even unlocking the god-level body martial soul of the Ice Soul Body through sheer instinct.
Ma Xiaotao, despite her two-rank advantage, was utterly crushed.
Ma Xiaotao: I never thought I'd be the first to surrender!
She retreated under the guise of seclusion, partly to avoid Huo Yuhao's… enthusiasm.
Her dream of monopolizing him? Gone.
Now, she just wanted more sisters to share the burden.
And Ling Luochen was her first recruit.
She'd tried creating opportunities, but Ling Luochen hesitated every time. Today, she'd even refused, citing transfer student evaluations.
Ma Xiaotao, exasperated: 'Pathetic! The worst rivals I've ever seen!'
Smug about her lead, she decided to force the issue.
During a lakeside barbecue, she cornered Ling Luochen with a proposal: "Luochen, tonight—Huo Yuhao is yours."
Before Huo Yuhao left with Tang Ya, he'd promised Ma Xiaotao they'd train together upon his return. But upon learning of his progress, she was stunned.
'Ling Luochen—all talk, no action?!'
'I was in seclusion for so long, and no one made a move?!'
'Useless! Absolutely useless!'
Ling Luochen wanted to argue:
'You were in seclusion, then Huo Yuhao left and came back with two new rivals! When was there even a chance?!'
But seeing Ma Xiaotao's scheming grin, she knew the offer was dubious.
Yet she also knew—this might be her only chance.
Especially after noticing Xue Di and hearing whispers of her as the premium inner courtyard ice goddess, Ling Luochen's competitive spirit flared!
She accepted.
'Opportunities favor the prepared!'
So that night, clad in her victory lingerie, Ling Luochen moved into Ma Xiaotao's dorm.
And waited.
…
Present
Staring at the shy boy before her, Ling Luochen felt a rush of emotions.
Wordlessly, she pulled him into an embrace.
Memories flooded her—Huo Yuhao saving her during the corpse explosion incident, gifting her the Deep Blue Glory Skull at auction…
One thought consumed her: 'If I can't repay this life-saving grace with anything, I'll repay it with my body!'
"Yuhao… let's train further."
Her thin robes clung to her curves, her delicate collarbone and milky skin on full display.
"Uh—" Before Yuhao could speak, Ling Luochen kissed him, her arms wrapping around his solid frame.
"Don't refuse me… okay?"
'I wasn't going to.'
Out of habit, Huo Yuhao sealed his spiritual sea.
Skydream shrieked in his mind, "Damn it, Yuhao! Not fair!"
Huo Yuhao rolled his eyes, "Not for kids. Stay out."
As their lips met, Ling Luochen melted under his touch, her earlier boldness evaporating.
Ling Luochen was dazed, 'I was the one taking the lead… so why does it feel like I'm the one being conquered?'
But it didn't matter.
With a final act of courage, she shed her remaining garments—her flawless form unveiled like a masterpiece.
Huo Yuhao paused.
Perhaps he'd underestimated the… passion of this world.
Maybe he should be more proactive from now on.
As Huo Yuhao restraint wavered, he chided himself: 'Huo Yuhao… how could you sink so low?'
…
The taste of an iceberg? Exquisite.
Compared to Ma Xiaotao's fiery aggression, Ling Luochen offered a wholly different flavor.
And with both their martial souls ice-aligned, their training yielded significant soul power feedback—especially as Ling Luochen's martial soul edged closer to Ultimate Ice.
Huo Yuhao (post-climax clarity): 'Am I really walking this path now?'
Ling Luochen asked panting, skeptical: "Yuhao… can this really evolve my martial soul?"
With a thought Deep Blue Ice Marrow appeared in Huo Yuhao's hand, "Well, technically… it's this."
He handed her the Ultimate Deep Blue Ice Marrow originally meant for the Snow Empress.
"Sister Luochen, let me help you refine it properly."
Ling Luochen blushed, "Ah… Yuhao, p‑please… slow down a bit…"
[Achievement Unlocked!]
[Ling Luochen's Trial of Ice and Snow Love completed. Reward: Self Will Gu]
[Self Will Gu (Fifth-Turn Wisdom-Type): Generates Self Will, a special resistance against divine influence.]
[Evaluation: My Will is God's Will!]
…
I've now caught up with the raw chapters of this novel!
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