I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the latest and advanced chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Link: Patreon.com/AVRKingsTL
—------------------—
... A vast, deeper, and more profound aura, carrying a hint of eternal indestructibility, erupted from the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm! Its entire body became like white jade, crystal clear, emitting a heart-palpitating pressure!
A million years! It succeeded!
The tribulation clouds in the sky slowly dispersed, as if heaven and earth had acknowledged this newly advanced Million Year Soul Beast.
However, the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, which had successfully overcome the tribulation, rapidly became weak. Although its body exuded the pressure of a million years, it gave people a feeling of being strong on the outside but weak on the inside, like a lamp running out of oil.
"Su... succeeded... but I... seem to be dying..." Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's weak mental force came through, filled with intense fear and unwillingness.
It looked at Xuan Ming and Gu Yuena with complex eyes.
It was Xuan Ming who had attracted the heavenly tribulation, forcing it onto this path of no return, but it was also this desperate situation that allowed it to complete its final transformation.
Gu Yuena slowly stepped forward, her silver-purple eyes calmly observing it, her voice clear but with an undeniable power: "Tianmeng, you have achieved a million years, but your origin is depleted, and you don't have long to live."
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's mental force came through, with a crying tone: "Master... save me... I don't want to die..."
Gu Yuena shook her head slightly: "Your physical body is beyond saving. But your soul and mental origin still have a glimmer of hope."
She paused, her tone carrying a sense of guidance and promise: "Sacrifice yourself to him, integrate your Million Year spirit ring, Spirit Bone, and all your mental origin into his body. Help him ascend to the God Position."
"If he succeeds, on the day he becomes a god, divine force will reshape your body and resurrect you. At that time, you will be a hero of the Spirit Beast race's revival, revered by all beasts."
"Re... resurrect? Hero?" Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's mental fluctuations intensified, and a glimmer of hope reignited in its faint light.
It looked at Gu Yuena, whose aura was unfathomably deep, and then at Xuan Ming, who stood beside her with cold but powerful eyes.
It knew this was its only way to survive.
Rather than perishing completely, it was better to gamble everything on this last chance!
"I... I am willing!" Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's mental force became firm, "Master, Big Brother! I am willing to sacrifice myself! Please... you must resurrect me!"
Gu Yuena nodded: "Don't worry, with the heart of the dragon god as witness, the Spirit Beast race always keeps its word."
"Before this," Xuan Ming suddenly spoke, looking at Gu Yuena, "you first consume its life origin to recover your own injuries. The subsequent assessments will only be more difficult, and you need to recover as much strength as possible."
Gu Yuena paused slightly, looked at Xuan Ming, and seeing his calm but firm eyes, she nodded.
She indeed needed to recover. Previously, she had only split a part of her soul from her main body, giving birth to Gu Yuena. Although her power was not strong, it did not carry on the main body's injuries.
Now that she was integrated, if it weren't for the energy from the heart of the dragon god, she could fall into a coma at any time.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm had no other choice at this moment. It painstakingly gathered its last strength, and a pure, milky-white aura containing vast life energy separated from its body, slowly drifting towards Gu Yuena.
This was not its mental origin or spirit ring energy, but the purest life essence accumulated over its million years of cultivation, which had miraculous effects on healing injuries and replenishing vitality.
Gu Yuena absorbed this mass of life origin into her body. Her pale complexion visibly turned a little rosy, and her aura solidified considerably.
Although it was still far from a full recovery, it at least stabilized her foundation.
"Begin," Gu Yuena said to Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, then stepped aside. The heart of the dragon god floated before her, emitting a soft nine-colored halo, enveloping Xuan Ming and Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, preparing to stabilize the sacrifice process.
At the same time, within Xuan Ming's body, the residual souls of the Ice Dragon King and the Fire Dragon King also fully awakened, no longer holding back.
Red and blue dragon soul power surged out, intertwining around Xuan Ming. On one hand, they helped him stabilize his body and withstand the impact of the Million Year spirit ring. On the other hand, their dragon soul aura also subtly resonated with Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's power, further reducing repulsion.
"Master, that... can I... can I say goodbye first?" Tianmeng Ice Silkworm said somewhat nervously.
"Goodbye?" Gu Yuena was slightly taken aback.
"As soon as possible."
"Thank you, Master!" Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's figure flickered, and it arrived nearby, facing the Ice Empress, who stood with the Snow Empress and had transformed into human form.
With a delicate face, she had less arrogance than the Snow Empress but more cold allure. On both sides of her captivating fair face were four emerald green demonic patterns, and a head of dark green long hair cascaded behind her.
At this moment, the Ice Empress's emerald green eyes were coldly glaring at Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, unabashedly showing her displeasure and... a hint of annoyance at being preempted.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm took a deep breath, gathered its courage, and its mental force carried a tremor and an unprecedented seriousness: "Ice Empress, actually I... I..."
"Scram!" The Ice Empress didn't wait for it to finish, directly letting out a cold shout, her voice clear but with bone-chilling coldness.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was choked by the Ice Empress's cold shout, its massive body shrinking slightly, appearing somewhat wronged. But it still bit the bullet and quickly said: "Ice Empress! I know you've always wanted to catch me! But I... I like you! I've liked you for a very long time! Although I know I'm not worthy of you, I just want to tell you! I'm afraid... afraid I won't have another chance if I don't say it now!"
Its words burst out like a barrage, carrying a tragic and sincere determination.
The Ice Empress was stunned, a trace of surprise flashing in her emerald green eyes, "Did the heavenly tribulation split your brain?"
Tianmeng took a deep breath, "It's true. I know it's strange. It was you who chased me, which led me to jump into the deep sea, go to the Star Dou Great Forest, and then be imprisoned by Ditian and the others. But, during these tens of thousands of years of imprisonment, I suddenly realized that I actually feel... for you..."
"Shut up!" The Ice Empress's voice was like the most biting cold wind from the extreme north ice plain, carrying bone-chilling killing intent, "If you're going to die, then hurry up and die, don't stand here blocking my sight!"
She had searched for this bug for tens of thousands of years! Its vast mental force and ice-attributed origin were excellent tonics for her!
If she could have consumed it, she would probably have reached the same realm as the Snow Empress by now, and it might even be possible for her to truly break through to the Million Year realm in the future!
But now, it was all gone!
Not only was it found first by Ditian and the others, but now it was going to be sacrificed to a human! How could she not be angry?
She knew very well that her potential was exhausted, and when the next heavenly tribulation arrived, she would surely die!
Yet this foolish bug was still saying these meaningless words even now!
The Ice Empress was so angry that she almost took action directly, but she was held back by the Snow Empress beside her.
All the fierce beasts watched this scene, their eyes somewhat unnatural.
This deathbed confession was truly... unique.
The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, and the Ice Silkworm, predator and food?
The food actually developed feelings for the one who was going to eat it?
Gu Yuena's lips also twitched imperceptibly, and her clear voice rang out: "Time is pressing."
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm shivered, and quickly said: "Done, done! Master, I'm ready!"
It took one last deep look at the Ice Empress, whose pretty face was flushed with anger, its eyes complex, with reluctance, relief, and finally, resolve.
It turned, its massive body floating back in front of Xuan Ming. Its originally crystal-clear body began to burn with brilliant white-gold flames, a sign that its million years of cultivation and soul origin were beginning to be sacrificed.
"Big Brother! Master! Let's begin!"
Gu Yuena nodded, and the heart of the dragon god's nine-colored light shone brightly.
Xuan Ming sat cross-legged, the dragon soul power of the Ice Dragon King and the Fire Dragon King surging around him.
The next moment, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's massive body completely transformed into a pure, white-gold torrent, containing its vast, ocean-like mental origin, rushing towards Xuan Ming like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea!
Gu Yuena used the heart of the dragon god to stabilize the energy flow, while the residual souls of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings fully protected Xuan Ming's soul and body.
The process was exceptionally smooth.
Vast, ocean-like mental force surged madly into Xuan Ming's spiritual sea, pushing his mental force to frantically charge towards the limits of the mortal realm! Pure ice-attribute energy cleansed his meridians, enhancing his foundation.
After an unknown amount of time, when the last trace of white-gold energy completely merged into Xuan Ming's body, and the white-gold Million Year spirit ring finally stabilized, exuding an eternal and indestructible aura—
Buzz—!
An indescribable, powerful mental force, as if capable of perceiving the essence of all things and controlling the rules of heaven and earth, quietly spread out with Xuan Ming as its center! Although the range was not large, the feeling of qualitative change was incredibly clear!
Xuan Ming slowly opened his eyes, and in the depths of his ice-blue eyes, galaxies seemed to flow, incredibly profound.
He felt his mental force was unprecedentedly powerful and refined, and his control over his own power had reached a completely new height!
The Black Dragon Martial Soul's first spirit ring, the Million Year Tianmeng Ice Silkworm spirit ring, was successfully attached.
And his mental force had reached the limit of the mortal realm, half-step divine consciousness!
With a slight thought, the white-gold Million Year spirit ring glowed, and the information of four Spirit Abilities naturally appeared in his mind. Each perfectly matched Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's vast mental origin and pure ice-attribute power, and created a wonderful fusion and sublimation with his own Slaughter Domain and ice and fire attributes:
First Spirit Ability: Mental Domain · Eternal Ice Mirror.
Effect: Transforms vast mental force into a spherical detection Domain centered on oneself, with a radius that increases with the strength of mental force.
Within the Domain, all energy flows, material structures, life auras, and even subtle spatial fluctuations are as clear as lines on a palm.
Enemy mental attacks and Spirit Ability fluctuations will be refracted, deflected, and even partially copied and reflected by countless invisible "ice mirrors" within the Domain, greatly weakening the effect of enemy mental attacks and causing strong mental interference and freezing sluggishness to enemies.
Can greatly weaken the effects of illusion and stealth-type abilities, and can perform ultra-long-range mental locking.
Second Spirit Ability: Ice Soul Armor.
Effect: Activates the extreme ice energy and vast mental force contained in the spirit ring to form a substantial white-gold ice crystal battle armor on the body surface.
This battle armor not only possesses extremely strong physical and energy defense, but also effectively resists mental impact and soul attacks. When attacked, the Ice Soul Armor will automatically convert part of the damage into mental impact, reflecting it back to the attacker.
Third Spirit Ability: Mental Impact · Absolute Zero.
Effect: Compresses vast mental force to the extreme, mixed with extreme ice-cold will, transforming it into an invisible mental ice thorn that directly impacts the opponent's soul core.
Those struck will not only suffer terrifying mental tearing damage, but their soul level will also feel instantly frozen, their thoughts stagnant, their movements rigid, leaving them at the mercy of others.
Fourth Spirit Ability: Nether Soul Substitute Death.
Effect: Consumes a large amount of mental force and spirit power to create an ice crystal remnant clone identical to oneself.
This clone possesses part of the main body's strength and can perfectly simulate the main body's aura, enough to be mistaken for the real thing.
When the clone is destroyed, it will unleash a powerful mental impact and ice explosion, interfering with enemies.
The main body can instantly swap positions with the remnant clone within a certain range, with the distance and cooldown time shortening as strength increases.
These four Spirit Abilities cover almost all aspects of control, defense, offense, and self-preservation, and all are closely related to mental force, perfectly transforming Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's million-year foundation into Xuan Ming's actual combat power!
Next, it was time to further push the limits of his physical body and total spirit power.
Deep Sea Demon Whale King!