Huo Yuhao sneered. "Big talk from a mere plant."
He didn't want to waste anymore time and give the plant soul beasts preparations to overwhelm him.
Domain Expansion — Permafrost Domain!
Ultimate Ice spread outward of Huo Yuhao's body like a blizzard, blanketing the entire area except for the lake in a thick layer of dense ice.
Almost all the plants in the area were instantly encased in ice. Of course, Huo Yuhao held back and made sure that he only froze their "skin", halting their movements.
These were precious treasures formed from heaven and earth! He didn't know all of their uses, but he sure as hell knows that just one of these plants can change a person's destiny forever.
Freezing them to death by accident would be so stupid that Huo Yuhao wouldn't blame someone for wanting to kill him for it.
"Aaah!! Star Anise, Ah Jiao! Come out and properly protect us all! We're under attack!!"
The large pink flower trembled, its overbearing demeanor quickly dissipated like fart. It desperately tried to shrink its body.
Unfortunately however, one of the disadvantages of plant-type soul beasts had compared to animal soul beasts was mobility. Many plants couldn't move around, and were just rooted to the spot, so their attack and control range was limited to an area with their bodies at the center.
"Damn human! You're courting death!"
"Such frost..."
Powerful undulations of fire and ice erupted from the two halves of the lake. The temperature swung wildly between freezing and scorching, creating bursts of white steam that hissed through the valley like an angry dragon's breath.
Two plants shone brilliantly, respectively of red and blue lights.
One was a very tall, fiery red flower. Its entire body seemed like it had been sculpted from red rubies. It glowed once more, and the temperature of the air inside the valley rose a little bit.
The other was a white plant topped by a large white flower, octagonal, the stamen in its center twinkling like ice crystals, without releasing any fragrance. It glowed in tandem with its opposite, and the temperature went down.
Huo Yuhao smirked, unafraid. If there was something he wasn't afraid of in the world, it would be ice and fire!
Just as he took a step forward to take action, Jianxin spoke up.
"Yuhao, let me handle this."
He raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure?"
Jianxin smiled and nodded. "I'm also your companion. I want to help you with your battles."
"...You know you don't have to. You're not obligated to fight for me,' Huo Yuhao said quietly, his eyes softening beneath the brim of his straw hat.
Jianxin shook her head, her long hair fluttering in the wind. "It's not an obligation. It's gratitude."
She took a step forward, and a soft hum filled the air. The energies of heaven and earth began to gather around her, drawn by a pair of ethereal white and black wings behind her back.
Her teal eyes slowly shifted in color, one was as white as snow, while the other turned as black as darkness. The energies of Yin and Yang; two extremes locked in perfect harmony, surged within her spiritual form.
"The balance of all things lies between Yin and Yang," Jianxin whispered, her voice echoing softly through the valley.
"Convergence of Heaven and Earth!"
The wings of light and shadow flared behind her, each beat stirring the very air. The yin energy poured out as a calm, suppressive cold that harmonized with the ultimate cold of Huo Yuhao's domain, while the yang burned bright and wild, brimming with life and power.
The entire valley resonated with her presence. The once-hostile elements of ice and fire now twisted toward Jianxin as if recognizing a higher order, bowing to her will.
Jianxin sweetly smiled and offered both her arms forward.
Suddenly, almost all of the fiery and cold energies in the valley were pulled towards her like the wind, swirling into a vast tornado above her head.
The red and blue lights intertwined, twisting faster and faster, compressing the energies until they merged into a spherical pill of mixed red and blue, which was the size of a walnut.
Jianxin held the pill in her hand before unhesitatingly handing it over to a confused Huo Yuhao. "Here, it's useful for you. The ice and fire energies this pill has, combined with my law of Yin-Yang, also carries some of the medicinal effects from the plants here.
Not only would it increase your Ultimate Ice and Ultimate Fire, but also the properties of your physical body. Unfortunately, considering your current cultivation and physique, it could only offer small benefits."
"This is more than enough. Thank you," Huo Yuhao graciously accepted the pill. Without any hesitation, he ingested it.
The red and blue pill melted immediately upon contact with his tongue, turning into a stream of scorching heat and freezing cold that rushed down his throat and spread through his body like lightning.
Huo Yuhao's entire frame trembled. His meridians pulsed violently as the twin energies of Ice and Fire, combined with the law of Yin-Yang, steadily courses across every channel in his body.
For a moment, his blood felt as though it were boiling and freezing at the same time. Veins of blue and red light crawled beneath his skin, flickering like molten veins of lava and glaciers colliding.
However, the small transformations across his body quickly faded. The medicinal properties of the ice and fire were almost instantly absorbed into his body.
This kind of chaotic energy would've taken an ordinary Titled Douluo a few days or weeks to filter out the ice-fire poison and absorb its medicinal properties.
But since Huo Yuhao possesses the Dual Ultimate Ice and Fire Physique, the pill was a great tonic and was eaten like candy.
"Huu..." Huo Yuhao let out a breath, feeling that his body felt lighter, stronger. Every muscle, every bone, every cell humming with rejuvenation.
By his own estimation, his physical body was coming close to reaching the state similar to a Great Beast!
And when his body finally reaches that stage, he was confident that he could even absorb a million year old soul ring!
Skydream might've proclaimed that he was the only one million year old soul beast, but not anymore when Di Tian revealed about the existence of the Monarchs.
As beings who have lived since the era of the Divine Wars, or possibly even during the height of the Dragon Clan, and that was a very long time ago. And considering Di Tian's own testimony of them being as strong as the Gods, then it was likely that they were considered to be one million years old or Divine Beasts.
Considering the law of this world of animals dropping a soul ring and soul bone(though rarely), then it was more than likely that the Monarchs would be following the plane's laws.
It was simply insane. But he simply didn't have any other choice.
Huo Yuhao wanted to try to do the divine inheritance trials, but they were more than likely to be a part of the Divine Realm and are weaker than the Asura God King Position that Di Tian told him about.
He'll try those divine trials out in the future, but he wouldn't put all his eggs in one basket.
If Huo Yuhao wanted to escape the hatred of the Gods, then he had to be more than ambitious and insane in order to overcome his limits!
'When I take some of these immortal herbs, could I finally awaken Skydream, Ice Empress, and Snow Empress?' Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up.
The fiery-red flower roared in disbelief. "Impossible! How can a human wield both ultimate laws of the plane with such ease!? I don't even see her soul rings!"
The icy-white flower trembled and muttered, "Ah Jiao, You You, her aura... don't you think it's a bit weird?"
"Eh? Her aura? What are you talking about?"
"Now that you mentioned it... Ah! I-I recognize it! That's the aura of a soul beast! But... It's so strange! It's like they're not alive!" You You gasped, momentarily forgetting its fears, it stood up and "stared" at Jianxin.
Ah Jiao, the fiery-red plant, flared up once more. "You're a soul beast!? Then what the fuck are you doing, helping this kid!"
Jianxin softly smiled and replied, "I'm helping him, what's it to you?"
"Wha-?! Huh? Are you freaking stupid or something?! He's human! You're a soul beast!"
"Oh wow. So, just because he's human, I can't help him? Okay, racist. Just because he's human, doesn't mean you can just belittle him."
If Ah Jiao had eyes, she would've looked at her in disbelief. "What the fuck are you talking about?!!"
"Damn..." Star Anise muttered, feeling impressed. He hadn't seen his old friend/rival Ah Jiao so gobsmacked in his entire lifetime until now!
Huo Yuhao wasn't surprised. He's seen her interactions with Zi Ji, Bear Lord, and Scarlet King. The four of them were the most chaotic group of friends he's ever come to know.
"Seniors, please calm down. We meant no harm." Huo Yuhao stepped forward with a smile on his face, hands cupped.
"Huh?! Bullshit! If you didn't mean us any harm, then why are most of our kin covered in ice?!" Ah Jiao yelled.
"I sincerely apologize for such actions. But please understand, I was fearing for life at that moment! A plant-type soul beast that could talk? What else but a hundred thousand year old soul beast could do that!
So please understand that I was just trying to defend myself there. Also, I held myself back. That ice plant over there should vouch for me that I haven't severely harmed the frozen plants."
'Fearing for your life?To lie so easily. As expected of a Shinobi,' Jianxin inwardly snickered.
Star Anise chimed in, "He speak the truth. The ice encasing them haven't damaged their roots and essences. He had merely halted their movements."
"Oh, they're fine? Okay! I forgive you!" You You said, quickly standing up straight. He even started emanating a strange and friendly scent.
"Would you two like a tour around the garden? Over there is the red area, Ah Jiao rules that area, and all of the plants of fire attribute are grown there. While the other side is where Star Anise rules and that's where water/ice attributed plants are grown."
"There are other plants in this place. Now you'd think since the essence of ice and fire are strong here that—"
If Ah Jiao and Star Anise could, they would've face palmed before slapping over You You's head.
Huo Yuhao and Jianxin stared at him.
Wasn't he being too friendly? And so quickly?
Huo Yuhao shook his head and hurriedly interrupted the large pink flower. "You You, can you hand me that book you're keeping?"
"The book? Aah! Are you that person's descendant?!"
Huo Yuhao smiled widely, showing his pearly white teeth.
"Nope! Absolutely not!"
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
Rejoice. For I have no date. Thus, the story continues!
Happy Valentine's Day anyways!