Chapter 44.2: Perfect Fusion, The Red Soul Ring
There were no obvious changes to his body, but there was now an enormous tattoo on his back. There was a pair of pincers that flickered with a dazzling light, and a captivating, jade-green tail. Was that not the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion?
This tattoo was extremely large, practically covering his entire back. Its six limbs hugged his ribs, and its pincers were located on the back of his shoulders. Its long tail was followed his spine, continuing all the way till his backbone before it slanted to the right, ending on his right buttock.
Other than the enormous tattoo, the youth’s greatest transformation was in his hands. His hands were now covered in a layer of extremely detailed diamond-like hexagons, which were about the size of a bean. If you looked at him as a whole, the resplendent luster coming from his arms also brightened the enormous tattoo on his back. Naturally, all of these changes, other than the one that had occurred to his hands, would be hidden if he had clothes on.
“I’ve succeeded.” The youth murmured to himself. At this moment, tears were flowing uncontrollably from his eyes. He had endured far, far too much pain for the sake of succeeding. After finishing everything, how could he not let tears of joy out? Something that was not easily obtained would make one cherish it more. After sensing the powerful feelings that were unceasingly spreading throughout his body, he nearly couldn’t control his emotions.
Right, this youth was Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao, who had finally completed his fusion with the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion of the Extreme North’s Three Emperors.
The blood-red soul ring flickering with four golden patterns was the first soul ring of his Ice Empress martial soul. It was a soul ring that had reached the four hundred thousand year rank.
Yes, four hundred thousand years, not three hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred years! During the fusion process, the Skydream Iceworm had used his origin energy to help the Ice Empress out. Due to this, she was able to break through her bottleneck during the fusion and strengthen her soul ring into a four hundred thousand year one. Although it was only a difference of a hundred years, it was a qualitative difference that was as different as the sky and the earth. That also represented the difference between a hundred thousand year soul ring with three golden patterns and one with four golden patterns!
“We’ve finally succeeded. All of my hard work wasn’t wasted after all.” The Skydream Iceworm’s exhausted, yet relieved voice rang out.
“Brother Skydream.” Huo Yuhao yelled out. Tears started to spring out from his eyes, “Thank you.” He naturally knew that from this moment on, he was no longer the weak, bottom-feeder soul master from Shrek Academy who could only rely on his hard work to barely catch up with everyone else while having no attacking soul skills at all. Everything he had at this moment had been given to him by the Skydream Iceworm! Thus, how could he not feel moved?
The Skydream Iceworm chuckled. “It’s good that you’ve succeeded. We’ve crossed the most substantial step now. With the torso bone the Ice Empress’ given you, the strength of your body has increased by at least fivefold. Your endurance has also increased by a large amount, so you’re now able to withstand the soul ring of a three thousand year soul beast at the very least. This is also the main reason why I got you to fuse with the Ice Empress before getting you your second soul ring. The Ice Empress has formally become the main soul ring of your second martial soul, as well as the main part of your second martial soul. She’s strengthened you by a large amount, so much so that it’s even more than what I’ve done. Your current cultivation is still weak, so you can only use a very small part of her power. However, as your cultivation continues to increase, the power she’s given you will definitely give you a nice surprise.”
“At first, I gave you four soul skills and a martial soul. Though the Ice Empress’ cultivation is inferior to mine, the legacy of her race is much more powerful than mine. Furthermore, according to the strength of a hundred thousand year soul beast, she’ll also give you four more soul skills in addition to the torso bone which has already fused perfectly with your body. The reason why you’re receiving four soul skills is because her soul ring will give you two skills, and her soul bone will give you another two. Though the fusion used up that Secret Law Soul you originally had, it’s absolutely worth it. Without the Secret Law Soul, the pain you received would’ve increased by at least 20%, and the fusion might not have been this perfect.”
It would’ve increased by 20%? Hearing the Skydream Iceworm’s words, Huo Yuhao couldn’t help but shiver. Though he’d already endured it, he didn’t want to even remember the fusion. This was especially so for the last two hours; the moment he thought about it, he felt his body itch incomparably.
“Four soul skills, another four soul skills!” Exuberant, Huo Yuhao asked impatiently, “Brother Skydream, what soul skills did the Ice Empress give me? How is she now? Was she able to retain her consciousness?”
An intelligent soul ring was much stronger than a regular soul ring that only gave him some strength. Let alone that, with the Ice Empress’ status in the Extreme North and her intelligence, anything Huo Yuhao wanted to do here would be much simpler. On the other hand, Huo Yuhao’s second martial soul was Ice. As a result of that, it was probable that he would have to return here in order to obtain more soul rings. Furthermore, the Ice Empress had done everything she could for him. If she couldn’t retain her spiritual origin, that would be extremely regretful.
“The Ice Empress is fine. Only, she’s just fused with your body. She had my protection, but she was still extremely exhausted. Right now, she’s in a deep sleep. After all, this was different from my fusion with you. When I fused with you, I didn’t really have much of my soul power left. It was a simple fusion with my spiritual origin. Moreover, I’m a spiritual-type soul beast, making it much easier. However, the situation was very troublesome with her. Fortunately, we succeeded. She’ll wake up in a while.” The moment he spoke about the Ice Empress, the Skydream Iceworm was evidently pleased.
“Then what about the four soul skills? What are they?” Huo Yuhao asked again.
The Skydream Iceworm smiled mischievously, “I don’t know either! I’m not the Ice Empress. You’ll slowly understand what they are. Go, head towards the east and we’ll go find your second soul ring.”
Huo Yuhao was extremely happy. Now that he thought about it, he was still a Soul Master. His soul power was still limited to Rank 20. There was nothing he could do about it. Though he’d obtained another soul ring, it was still the first soul ring of his second martial soul! Thus, he was still a one-ringed soul master. If he wanted to continue to increase his cultivation, he had to obtain another soul ring.
“Brother Skydream, should I get another soul ring for my Spirit Eyes or the Ice Empress’ martial soul?” Huo Yuhao asked. Both of his martial souls were one-ringed ones, and he was faced with a choice now. Would he choose to continue strengthening the Spirit Eyes or the Ice Empress’ martial soul? These were undoubtedly two different paths.
Normally, soul masters possessing two martial souls wouldn’t obtain soul rings for both of their martial souls at once, because that would erase the greatest advantage of having two martial souls. The truly powerful twin-souled soul masters would do their best to increase their soul power while cultivating and adding soul rings to a single martial soul. When they cultivated to a certain level, they would begin to add soul rings to their second martial soul. This way, it was very likely that a situation in which their second martial soul was filled with high-ranked soul rings would occur. In that case, they would be much stronger than the other soul masters of their rank.
However, this required a process. Normally, twin-souled soul masters would add soul rings to their martial soul when they were at the seven-ringed rank, at the very least.
For example, Xiao Xiao. She had had no choice but to add a soul ring to her second martial soul in order to claim a place in Shrek Academy and give her a certain advantage over the other students. This was why she had chosen to add a soul skill to her second martial soul. Other than giving a soul skill, a soul ring would also increase the comprehensive physical ability of a soul master. After much consideration, and wishing to increase her cultivation as quickly as possible, Xiao Xiao decided to add a soul ring to her Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute. However, that was only her first soul ring. Before reaching the seven-ringed rank, she would definitely not add any more soul rings to her Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute.
If Huo Yuhao decided to continue adding soul rings to his Spirit Eyes, he would walk the path of a control-type soul master for a very long time; if he chose to add soul rings to the Ice Empress, he would switch to the path of an assault-type soul master. There was no doubt that he would definitely become the number one attack-type genius in Shrek Academy if he chose to switch to the path of an assault-type soul master, having a four hundred thousand year soul ring. There was absolutely no need to doubt this. However, how would he explain the appearance of a four hundred thousand year soul ring?
The Skydream Iceworm said, “Yuhao, I’m guessing that you’re already thinking about it. It’s true that the Ice Empress is very powerful, but from my experience, you’ll have to hide your abilities as much as possible if you want to live for a long time. Moreover, even if you choose to cultivate the Ice Empress, you’ll have to find a second soul ring for your Spirit Eyes right now. It’s because the first soul ring of your Ice Empress is too eye-catching. You have to conceal it, otherwise you’ll just be studied in a research lab.
Huo Yuhao nodded in agreement, “Brother Skydream, I’ve made a decision. I’m going to continue cultivating my Spirit Eyes. Once my cultivation’s high enough, I’ll continue to add soul rings to my Ice Empress martial soul. In the future, I’ll do my best to not use the Ice Empress. This way, other people won’t be able to see how special my soul ring is.”
The Skydream Iceworm smiled mischievously, “Why won’t you use it? If you don’t use it, how are we going to go awe the others? That Shrek Academy of yours isn’t simple! If you want to stand stably, you’ll have to show off some of your strength. If you’re going to use the Ice Empress, you don’t necessarily need to be very subtle about it.”