Chapter 40.2: Skydream, Ice Emperor
The pure white halo of light surrounding Huo Yuhao slowly began to change color, as his originally white soul ring gradually changed from white to pale gold, then from pale gold to bright gold. The golden luster coming from it was definitely much brighter any soul rings Huo Yuhao had seen in the past.
There were white ten year soul rings, yellow hundred year soul rings, purple thousand year soul rings, black ten thousand year soul rings, and red hundred thousand year soul rings. And yet, all of them would only be able to submit in front of the boundlessly imposing golden luster of this golden soul ring.
This⦠this was the true color of the Douluo Continentâs unrivalled, and only, million year soul ring! It was also the first time that the Skydream Iceworm had released the true color of its soul ring into the world.
The astonishing golden luster immediately caused a strange feeling to rise in Huo Yuhaoâs heart.
One day, I will no longer let the Heavens cover my eyesâwhere I will no longer let the Earth bury my heart. I want everything in the world to submit to me, just like that man who could grasp the sun and moon in each hand, and could pluck the stars from the sky.
At that moment, not only did the Skydream Iceworm show how powerful he was, heâd even buried a seed of faith inside of Huo Yuhaoâs heart; the faith that he could become the sovereign of the entire world. This was the first time that Huo Yuhao had a dream even loftier than his wish for revenge.
As if he could sense the change in Huo Yuhaoâs mental state, the Skydream Iceworm seemed gratified. Right! Since heâd been able to become the main body for a million year soul beast, thereâd be a day where he would become the true master of the Skydream Iceworm. If he didnât have any lofty ambitions, wouldnât he that be akin to covering a precious pearl with a layer of dust?
Golden balls of light began to emerge from Huo Yuhaoâs forehead. As each golden ball left his body, Huo Yuhao began to feel more and more hollow. By the time the ninth ball of light had left his body, heâd even begun to feel somewhat tottery.
In the beginning, the Skydream Iceworm had entered his body with a total of ten balls of light. This was the Skydream Icewormâs spiritual origin, as well as the nucleus of its strength. Now that nine balls of light had left his body, only one ball of lightâthe one that Huo Yuhao had already absorbedâremained within his body. That was the only connection left between Huo Yuhao and the Skydream Iceworm.
The nine golden balls of light slowly descended from the air. Once the first ball of light had landed on the snowy ground, the second ball landed on top of it. The other seven balls followed suit as they stacked on top of each other. Afterwards, the total volume of the nine balls of light gradually began to decrease, while the golden light that they were emitting became increasingly tangible. At that moment, Huo Yuhao was clearly able to sense how strong the Skydream Iceworm was. It had such a terrifying amount of spiritual power that it could even cause a meteorological phenomenon.
Once the nine golden balls of light had finished stacking atop one another, they gradually began to form a shape. Unexpectedly, they solidified into the shape of a golden man made of light. More astonishingly, its appearance was completely identical to Huo Yuhao. Even the golden clothes it wore were identical to Shrek Academyâs uniform. Huo Yuhao didnât know whether to cry or to laugh when he saw this.
Once the Skydream Icewormâs spiritual body had taken shape, he sent a thought outwards with his spiritual force, âIce Emperor, I know that youâve already sensed that Iâm here. I, Skydream, have come to take my revenge. Do you dare to come out and meet me?â
As soon as the Skydream Iceworm had begun speaking, an unfathomably strong wave of spiritual power had instantly covered Huo Yuhaoâs body, thus shielding his presence within the ice house.
However, the Skydream Iceworm and Huo Yuhao were still a single entity. Because of that, Huo Yuhao could still tell what was going on outside via the Skydream Icewormâs spiritual power after he came in contact with it. When the Skydream Iceworm enlarged the range of his spiritual power, he was still able to sense every single detail within a thousand meters. However, the more magical thing was that, this time around, his perception had entirely replaced his eyes. He could truly see everything outside through his perception, not just shapes.
After finishing his sentence, the Skydream Iceworm quieted down. However, the golden luster his body emitted continued to shine brightly. The bright golden light he was emitting was extraordinarily clear within the pure-white world. Black clouds began to appear in the air as the sky grew darker and darker, which caused the atmosphere to become increasingly grave. However, the golden luster emitted from the Skydream Icewormâs body remained as brilliant as ever beneath the dusky sky.
The Skydream Iceworm didnât seem to be worried at all as he quietly stood there. The violent winds continued to thrash about around him, but he stood there mightily, unmoving.
Huo Yuhao was able to sense all of this. However, in an area outside of the range of his perception, an innumerable amount of soul beasts had scattered in all directions, terrified.
There was a chance that the Skydream Iceworm wouldnât even be able to defeat a ten thousand year soul beast in direct combat. However, there wasnât a single soul beast on the entire Douluo Continent that could contend with him in terms of pure spiritual power.
The Skydream Icewormâs biggest problem lay in its bloodline. Even though heâd cultivated for a million years, in the end he was still a low-ranked Iceworm. With a background like this, even though heâd been able to become stronger due to the constant evolutions heâd undergone, and had obtained an enormous amount of energy due to the Ten Thousand Year Ice Pithâs unceasing nourishment, he had become akin to a mountain full of treasure; he had treasures, but he didnât know how to use them. If you were to describe it in soul master terms, he was an expert who possessed a terrifying amount of soul power, yet didnât have any soul rings or soul skills.
When there was a large gap in cultivation between him and his opponents, he could still rely on the absolute strength of his spiritual power to defeat them. However, when he met an opponent that possessed at least a certain level of strength, he would be completely out of luck. Regardless of how strong his spiritual power was, if he didnât have a way to concentrate it into a terrifying spiritual skill, his killing power would always be limited. After becoming Huo Yuhaoâs million year soul ring, heâd become extremely envious of the four soul skills that Huo Yuhao had received. Only, the Skydream Iceworm was someone whoâd always cared about face; he âd never admit how envious he was.
If, when the Skydream Iceworm had had a tyrannical million year cultivation level, heâd only had a single soul skill, almost every single soul beast on the Douluo Continent wouldnât have been able to pose a threat to it.
At this very moment, heâd released all of his spiritual power. It extended out and covered basically everywhere that he wanted it to. A third of the Extreme Northâs core regions, at the very least, had been encapsulated within his Spiritual Detection.
Although the Skydream Iceworm appeared extremely carefree on the surface, his current actions were definitely not simple at all, as he hadnât used his own aura to release his spiritual power. At the very least, soul beasts that were unfamiliar with him definitely wouldnât think that this was something done by someone who possessed no attacking skills at all.
The Skydream Iceworm had used his terrifying spiritual power to imitate the aura of a certain soul beat that lived within the Extreme North. Faced with this aura, the other soul beasts didnât dare to have any thoughts of resisting at all. This was the aura of the leader of the Extreme Northâs Three Emperors. This was the aura of the soul beast who possessed a cultivation of five hundred thousand years along with its noble bloodline.
Furthermore, heâd purposely evaded the territory of the leader of the Extreme Northâs Three Emperors. Due to his meticulous control over his Spiritual Detection, he wasnât scared of being discovered by the person he was imitating. As such, the soul beasts in the area that heâd wanted to intimidate had immediately scuttled away after being frightened. They simply decided not to bother him and Huo Yuhao anymore.
On the other hand, the second-ranked Ice Emperor who he was looking for was also encapsulated within the range of his spiritual power. Having known him for a long time, the Ice Emperor naturally wouldnât mistake his aura for someone elseâs. Besides, heâd also said such unbridled words.
With the Skydream Icewormâs understanding of the second-ranked Ice Emperor, he believed that it would definitely come. This was because he himself was an extremely beneficial supplement that would tempt all soul beasts. Furthermore, this Ice Emperor was a soul beast whose cultivation exceeded the three hundred thousand year rank, yet couldnât break through the four hundred thousand year barrier.
The Ice Emperor understood himself well, and understood the Ice Emperor just as well. At that time, the Ice Emperor had nearly died not long after its cultivation had broken through to the three hundred thousand year rank. Currently, it probably wasnât too far away from reaching the four hundred thousand year rank. Previously, when breaking through to the three hundred thousand year rank, the Ice Emperor had said that it had reached its limit. Moreover, it had injured its origin energy, thus making it impossible for it to reach the four hundred thousand year rank. The only way that it could break free of its fetters was for it to absorb the Skydream Icewormâs enormous yet pure energy. If it were to do this, it would even overtake the first ranked Emperor in one fell swoop.
The Skydream Icewormâs only stroke of luck was that the first ranked Ice Emperor wasnât aware of his existence. Otherwise, he believed that it would have definitely caught himâeven when he was still in the Great Star Dou Forest.
Having been lured by something related to its survival, the Ice Emperor had no other choice. It definitely wanted to come, and it definitely would come. When the Skydream Iceworm was clearly able to sense its aura, a crafty smile appeared on his face.
Time continued to pass second by second, but the Skydream Iceworm didnât seem to be panicked at all. Even though it was hard for the hiding Huo Yuhao to endure his stiffening body, he didnât even dare to breathe too loudly, just in case. He wasnât sure when the so-called Ice Emperor would appear, but this was undoubtedly a life-and-death trial for both him and the Skydream Iceworm. He still wasnât sure what the Skydream Iceworm was relying on in order to kill a super-expert like the Ice Emperor, who even Titled Douluos were terrified of.
As Huo Yuhao continued to wait in his shelter, he felt his heartbeat slowly speeding up. At the same time, he felt both anxious and afraid, as his body began to stir with excitement. Just as this began to occur however, he suddenly felt the outside world change.
The originally pitch-black sky suddenly shook violently, and immediately afterwards, a jade green light instantly appeared in the distant northern horizon.
In the blink of an eye, the dusky sky had turned a penetrating yet alluring jade green. This touching shade of color made it seem like the aloof sky had suddenly turned into an enormous jade green gem. In an instant, the originally oppressive aura within the sky had vanished into thin air.
When the jade green light entered the Skydream Icewormâs thousand meter range, Huo Yuhao finally become able to sense it. He couldnât help but inhale a deep breath of icy air. Itâs coming, itâs really coming.
âSkydream, youâre actually still alive. Itâs no wonder that youâre the longest-living soul beast from our Extreme North.â A crisp voice rang out in all directions. The appearance of this voice was followed by a terrifying sound wave. The snow on the ground instantly rose by three meters as the sound wave struck it, akin to a wave suddenly passing through an ocean. Only the hundred meters around the Skydream Icewormâs body remained calm, as it had been protected by the enormous spiritual power coming from his body.
âIce Emperor, you havenât died yet, so why canât I be still alive? Donât you remember what I said that year? âIf I donât die, thereâll be a day when Iâll become your partner.ââ The Skydream Icewormâs voice suddenly turned gentle. This somewhat overly-sentimental voice even gave Huo Yuhao a few goosebumps.