"Yuhao!"
Seeing Huo Yuhao slowly wake up, the huge stone in the Snow Empress's heart finally fell. She couldn't help but call out.
"You're injured?" Huo Yuhao saw the bloodstains on the Snow Empress's body at a glance. His face darkened, and he directly grabbed her fair wrist, looking her up and down with heartache.
"It's a small matter. I killed one of those two on the spot, and the other escaped." The Snow Empress gently shook her head, indicating that she was fine, but her heart was filled with joy.
"Let me transfer this injury for you." Huo Yuhao pulled her into his arms without another word, but she struggled free.
She knew what kind of injury transfer Huo Yuhao was talking about, but she would rather heal on her own than let Huo Yuhao get hurt.
The Snow Empress interrupted Huo Yuhao's self-harming behavior with the deep affection in her beautiful eyes. Are you the only one allowed to feel sorry for me, and I'm not allowed to feel sorry for you?
Gu Yuena, on the side, felt a little uncomfortable. She coughed lightly and asked, "Have you finished absorbing the soul ring?"
"Yes." Huo Yuhao didn't waste any words and directly switched to his second martial soul. Five soul rings—dark green, green-gold, orange-gold, orange-gold, and dark gold—appeared.
Seeing this scene, Nan Shuishui couldn't help but suck in a cold breath. None of this Demon King Huo Yuhao's soul ring colors were normal.
"That Tang San ran away, but I secretly placed a soul imprint on him. In the future, if he appears nearby again, you'll be able to sense it through this." Gu Yuena sent a wisp of divine sense into Huo Yuhao's forehead and said with a smile.
Only then did Huo Yuhao remember the original Tang San, who had fought with him for countless rounds. He immediately looked around and saw only ruins and broken walls.
Damn it, I got carried away and destroyed another city!
"Gate Master Nan, I'm sorry. I accidentally destroyed your Earth Dragon Gate." Huo Yuhao gave an embarrassed smile and apologized to Nan Shuishui.
Nan Shuishui shook her head with a complicated expression. Someone within the Earth Dragon Gate had colluded with an outside party to harm her and Huo Yuhao. Even if most of the disciples had been transferred and survived beforehand, it would be difficult for the Earth Dragon Gate to regain its former glory in the future.
In a sect, if there is a barrier between people's hearts, then it is just a plate of loose sand. Even though this incident was aimed at the Demon King Huo Yuhao, the high-level members of the Earth Dragon Gate who had betrayed her were also to blame.
"Is Nan Qiūqiū alright?" Huo Yuhao remembered that Nan Shuishui still had a "daughter" and could only offer his condolences sheepishly. He owed her a favor and could only try to do something for her.
Hearing this, Nan Shuishui gave Huo Yuhao a strange look. Only after clearly seeing the apology in the latter's eyes did she inform him, "Qiūqiū is said to have been sent to Shrek Academy in the Sun Moon Empire. I have already sent a trusted subordinate to confirm the situation. There shouldn't be any problem."
"That's good, that's good." Huo Yuhao quickly said with an apologetic smile. After the matters in Heavenly Soul were settled, he would also have to formally set off for the Sun Moon Empire.
Just as Huo Yuhao was talking with Nan Shuishui, the Snow Empress suddenly spoke, "Yuhao, I'm going back to the core circle of the Extreme North next. With me and Bing'er gone, there might be some chaos. I also need to consolidate my strength. Our opponents in the future will only get stronger..."
"You're going back already?" Huo Yuhao was stunned upon hearing this. He had already gotten used to having the Snow Empress by his side. This departure would likely mean they wouldn't see each other for some time.
But he also knew that the Snow Empress was going back to digest the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow. If she broke through smoothly, she would successfully advance to the true god level.
In the Earth Dragon Gate's Cold Spring, there was another cavern rich in Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow. When Huo Yuhao was collecting the Ice Pith God Crystals, he had already sent the Snow Empress to absorb the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow alone.
The Snow Empress of this life was not the little Snow Maiden soul spirit from the original timeline. Her true body was capable of absorbing and storing the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow from an entire cavern.
Huo Yuhao suddenly grabbed the Snow Empress's hand and placed some Ice Pith God Crystals into a storage soul tool, handing it to her. Among them were also heavenly materials and earthly treasures that Huo Yuhao had scavenged from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well that would help the Snow Empress improve.
"This is the leaf of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. Consuming it will have a certain amplifying effect on your ice attribute."
"This is the fruit of the Earth Dragon Golden Gourd. It can strengthen your physique and help you better absorb the ice marrow."
"This is the rhizome of the Primordial Immortal Grass. It can help you effectively compress your soul power and form a third soul core..."
Watching Huo Yuhao stuff things into her hands, even with the Snow Empress's cold arrogance, her beautiful eyes couldn't help but turn red.
"In this life, if Xiao Bai is still willing to follow me, bring her to find me when you come out of seclusion." Huo Yuhao held the Snow Empress's hands, along with the pile of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, in his palms and said with a smile.
The Snow Empress's hands were smooth yet cold, like soft ice and snow, without any warmth, yet pure and flawless.
"When you're undergoing your tribulation, remember to call me. Don't carry it all by yourself." Huo Yuhao's expression turned serious as he earnestly reminded her.
The Snow Empress nodded silently, her beautiful eyes staring at the young man before her without blinking, as if wanting to deeply imprint his appearance into the depths of her soul. She took a slow step forward, wrapped her arms around Huo Yuhao's neck, and kissed him heavily.
Watching the two embrace tightly from a distance, Gu Yuena let out a faint sigh. Her body dissolved into silver light and disappeared...
—
The Snow Empress and Gu Yuena had both left. Only Huo Yuhao and Die Qiu remained in Dragon City.
Before leaving, there was one more thing Huo Yuhao had to do: help Nan Shuishui rebuild the Earth Dragon Gate. For no other reason than the Ten Thousand Demon King's ability was too useful.
The Earth Dragon Gate was a sect with a history of over a thousand years. Most of its original buildings were made of wood, so restoring them was not too difficult. Considering that the two underground caverns would collapse soon after losing the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, Huo Yuhao specifically had the roots of the trees take root in these places to stabilize them.
Although there were internal conflicts within the Earth Dragon Gate, his arrival was ultimately the trigger for the sect's turmoil. Both in terms of sentiment and reason, Huo Yuhao could not just sit by and watch the Earth Dragon Gate.
Nan Shuishui was only able to gather a little over a hundred of the original Earth Dragon Gate disciples. The others had either fled out of guilt or sought better opportunities. The Earth Dragon Gate was in ruins and needed to be rebuilt. Those who were willing to answer the call were naturally mentally prepared to contribute to the reconstruction of the sect.
However, among these hundred or so people, there were bound to be some with ill intentions, who had mixed in under the pretext of responding to the call to gather intelligence. As for these people, Huo Yuhao believed that Nan Shuishui would certainly have her own set of solutions. It was not appropriate for him to interfere in another sect's affairs.
For a whole day, Huo Yuhao was busy at the old site of the Earth Dragon Gate. With the convenience of his Immortal Spirit Wood martial soul, he regenerated a towering cluster of buildings on the original site. Although it currently looked like it was all made of wood, with a little time, he believed that the Earth Dragon Gate would surely be able to restore its former prosperous scene, and even far surpass it.
Die Qiu was not idle either. She used her own good fortune to connect the Earth Dragon Gate to the nearest underground spiritual vein. Although a spiritual vein could not be directly used by soul masters, it was just right for boosting a power's fortune.
Huo Yuhao worked until the evening of the next day before he, exhausted, came to a pavilion and lay down on the floor without any regard for his image.
Simply using the Immortal Spirit Wood to build houses was not difficult, and it didn't even consume much soul power. After all, he could control a Great Buddha of a Thousand Hands that large. The main thing was that building houses was too mentally draining. For some of the fine structures in the architecture, he often had to spend more spiritual power to manipulate the trees to form the corresponding shapes.
Huo Yuhao decided that no matter how convenient his abilities were, he would never get involved in the construction industry again.
Just then, Nan Shuishui walked up with two water cups. Seeing Huo Yuhao sprawled on the floor, she couldn't help but let out a light laugh and handed the water cup in her hand over.
"You've worked hard."
Huo Yuhao took the water cup and drank it all down in one gulp, with no time to respond to her. He then grabbed the other cup from her hand and gulped it down as well.
"That's the one I drank from!" Nan Shuishui was both shy and annoyed. She couldn't help but want to kick this kid, but he probably wouldn't fight back, right?
"Hah..." Huo Yuhao had finally recovered a bit. His peripheral vision caught the lipstick mark on the water cup, and his expression also became strange.
"By the way, have you confirmed Nan Qiūqiū's whereabouts?" Huo Yuhao casually found a topic to change the awkwardness.
Nan Shuishui nodded. She had also breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the news. Nan Qiūqiū was at Shrek Academy, so she should not be in any mortal danger.
"That's good, that's good." Huo Yuhao quickly said with an apologetic smile. After the matters in Heavenly Soul were settled, he would also have to formally set off for the Sun Moon Empire.
Just as Huo Yuhao was talking with Nan Shuishui, a new piece of information was brought to him. He was told that the former dean of Shrek's proud disciple, the original number one genius of the inner court, the Phoenix Goddess Ma Xiaotao, would also be formally seeking a husband in this event.
"What did you say?" Hearing this, Huo Yuhao shot up in a carp leap, his face instantly turning cold. A sharp killing intent immediately filled the entire Earth Dragon Gate.