Perhaps because she had finally let go of a long-held obsession, Huo Yuqing, for once, did not replace sleep with cultivation. But she did not sleep peacefully. With her eyes closed, she would smile one moment and shed tears the next, and she would only settle down after groping for Wang Rui's hand and gripping it tightly.
Wang Rui reached out and brushed aside a few strands of black hair stuck to the corner of her eye by tears. Half of Huo Yuqing's face was sunk into the pillow; beneath her fair skin showed a healthy, pale pink flush—just like an utterly ordinary little girl.
But she clearly was not.
She was like… the ugly duckling he had once fished out of the drainage ditch outside the Dai family home, timing it just right, Wang Rui thought.
He had prepared the most nutritious food and the best living environment for this ugly duckling, because an ugly duckling like her appeared only once in ten thousand years. She would molt, she would grow, and she would become the most terrifying monster of this entire ten-thousand-year span—this was a fate already set.
When this ugly duckling finished growing, she would possess wings that could blot out the sky. Those sharp wings would tear the heavens apart and fly to a place higher than the sky itself. And Wang Rui would follow behind her, riding the airflow of the monster's ascent, flying together beyond the heavens and leading his race out of their cage.
At the beginning, Wang Rui considered himself an investor. He would give the ugly duckling more knowledge, resources, protection, care, and necessary guidance than she ought to receive, in exchange for riding the coattails of the God of Emotions so that soul beasts could ascend to godhood. It was a very fair trade—indeed, if Tang San had not seized the body of the Blue Silver Emperor's son under the manipulation of the Asura God, this might well have succeeded ten thousand years ago.
It had been agreed that "of the fifty great paths, Heaven evolves forty-nine, leaving one to escape." The Blue Silver Emperor's son should originally have been that sliver of hope for soul beasts. Wang Rui had calculated that he ought to have died together with his parents at the scene of battle against the Spirit Hall, then awaken the power of the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline between life and death, revive through that bloodline's "wildfire cannot burn it all away" trait as a sentient Blue Silver Grass—then be carried off by a rabbit, grow up together, transform into human form, and travel the world. The Blue Silver Emperor was gentle by nature and should have become a bridge between humans and soul beasts.
But Tang Hao entered the City of Slaughter, and everything changed. After transmigrating, Wang Rui gained much clearer insight into certain hazy power comparisons: even with the Blue Silver Emperor's sacrifice, a newly promoted Clear Sky Hammer Titled Douluo was absolutely no match for an Angel-martial-soul Titled Douluo plus four Spirit Hall Titled Douluo. There was an eighty or even ninety percent chance that the Asura God had intervened to protect him. The Asura God protecting his "favored successor" was hardly questionable at all—Wang Rui had observed from afar with the Eye of Fate, and that blood-red half of the sky was simply painful to look at.
The "Child of Fate" sent by the Asura God and then forcibly protected by him—Tang Sect assassin Tang San—could neither be won over nor killed. Soul beasts could only tuck their tails between their legs and endure in silence for more than a hundred years. By the time Tang San became a god, that was it: the entire Blue Silver Grass lineage became completely untrustworthy.
And Huo Yuhao—now Huo Yuqing—was perfect. A true native, not a transmigrator with fixed thinking. Strip away the so-and-so fist and such-and-such sword, and all her abilities had nothing whatsoever to do with the God Realm; instead, they were deeply bound to soul beasts. Though Tang San had his eye on her, the methods of the current Asura God were far inferior to those of the old one.
This ugly duckling had been swimming all alone in the Dai family's drainage ditch when Wang Rui, who had been lying in wait for ten thousand years, scooped her up in one grab.
"Cats at home, we picked up a human—he wants to come with me!"
This ugly duckling, destined to become a swan, was the precious hope for soul beasts to break free of their predicament after ten thousand years—and also the precious hope for Wang Rui himself to achieve his ideals.
As for Wang Rui, he was an investor holding the script in his hand. But after the ugly duckling flapped her little wings and hugged him, he could no longer claim that he was merely investing in the future God of Emotions.
After all, aside from this fool, no one else had ever thought that the Imperial Auspicious Beast worked hard.
And now, Wang Rui's wrist was damp—his precious hope was using his hand to wipe away her tears.
He couldn't help reaching out to pinch Huo Yuqing's cheek.
"This is actually your disguise, right?" Wang Rui said softly. "Powerful soul beasts all disguise themselves when they're just born and still weak. Humans do too. Weak younglings look cute and fragile, so others can't bear to hurt them."
How could a monster destined to be extraordinary, destined to accomplish great deeds, cry quietly like an ordinary little girl?
"Why didn't you ask me to help you, and instead of crying here?" he asked again. "It's just a White Tiger martial soul titled Douluo is barely over level ninety. You wouldn't even need anyone else—I could kill him for you myself."
Huo Yuqing knew nothing, only curling up beside Wang Rui.
He fell silent for a moment. "Since you didn't come looking for me, then you're not allowed to ask anyone else to help you take revenge, understood?"
…
Huo Yuqing felt that she hadn't slept this well in a very long time.
"Hey, Xiao Qing, you're finally awake!" Tianmeng's tone was very strange, all awkward and hesitant, as if he wanted to say something but didn't dare.
"You overexerted yourself. You've been asleep for almost a full day," the Ice Empress said coolly.
"What?!" Huo Yuqing shot upright. She still wanted to go out shopping with Wang Rui!
The simple dormitory of Shrek Academy came into view. Wang Rui was blocking the doorway, talking to someone outside.
"The tailbone doesn't match… definitely not an Ice Jade Scorpion! Then what kind of martial soul…?" Wang Yan's excited voice drifted in from outside.
Wang Rui was nearly driven mad by this theoretical expert. He had been blocking the door since morning, insisting on speaking with Huo Yuqing face-to-face. It wasn't even an order from Shrek's upper management—no matter how old the academy was, it wouldn't blatantly offend a student with such powerful backing. It was purely Teacher Wang's curiosity acting up. Wang Rui patiently repeated the explanation he had prepared earlier:
"It's an Ice Jade Scorpion. Humans have dark skin and light skin, too. Even soul beasts of the same species can differ in appearance due to different living environments. Teacher Wang wouldn't think all soul beasts look exactly like they do in textbooks, would you?"
Huo Yuqing was about to get up, but Wang Rui gestured behind his back, signaling her not to come out.
Wang Yan unwillingly said a few more words, seemingly asking about Huo Yuqing's soul skills, but Wang Rui gently coaxed him away.
"Quick, get ready—we're going out," Wang Rui said as he turned back, winking his left eye at Huo Yuqing.
Still a little dazed, Huo Yuqing carried a washbasin to clean up.
Most students had gone to class, leaving the washroom empty. She splashed water on her face, brushed the hair off her forehead back behind her head, and stared at herself in the mirror for a while.
"Ah, Xiao Qing, that felt so good," Tianmeng Ice Silkworm chattered excitedly in her sea of consciousness. "That bastard Dai Huabin even ordered his wife to ambush you… I bet he'll never be able to hold his head up in front of you again!"
"Mm, I got my share back," Huo Yuqing said softly. "And my mother's share too… I'll definitely get that back as well."
She lifted her head, looked at herself in the mirror, and smiled slightly. "I also need to thank you—Tianmeng, Ice Empress."
"Heh… what's there to thank? Who are we to each other? No need to be so polite!" Tianmeng Ice Silkworm said it was unnecessary, but he sounded extremely happy.
"Beating that black-hearted brat was your own ability, Xiao Qing," the Ice Empress said bluntly. "Even I didn't expect you to be able to use the soul bone skill I gave you at this level of cultivation."
"How so? Are those two soul bone skills special?" Huo Yuqing asked, a little confused.
"The two soul ring skills I gave you—Ice Empress's Claw and Ice Emperor's Guard—are simply practical abilities innate to the Ice Jade Scorpion race. Of course, when I use them, it's worlds apart from those little scorpions. But the soul skills on the two soul bones are my own unique abilities—other Ice Jade Scorpions don't have them," the Ice Empress said proudly.
"Permafrost Domain is a domain-type skill. Even ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul beasts may not possess such an ability. And the Ice Emperor's Descent that you used earlier… is a new skill I developed over nearly a thousand years."
"This ability hasn't actually been polished to full maturity yet. I was just experimenting with it, and I wasn't even sure it could be imprinted onto a soul bone and passed on to you. But when you and I fused, for some reason I gained a sudden insight… perhaps that's why it succeeded."
"The essence of this soul skill is an attempt to call upon the power of heaven and earth—of the Extreme North, turning the Extreme North into myself and myself into the Extreme North, thus unleashing power far beyond one's own limits. I only succeeded a few times when practicing it myself. I originally wanted to try it out when sparring with Xue'er, but unfortunately…" Thinking of the Snow Maiden, the Ice Empress sighed.
"With your current cultivation, you can't mobilize the power of heaven and earth. You can only use the source energy of mine stored in the soul bone, so the effect is naturally much weaker. Perhaps when my strength no longer 'far exceeds' yours, you'll be able to truly unleash its power."
"Ah, our Ice Ice really is the strongest!" Tianmeng Ice Silkworm praised her with a shared sense of glory.
The Ice Empress ignored him and fell silent again.
When Huo Yuqing returned to the dormitory, Wang Rui was sprawled bonelessly on the bed, speaking in a slightly sarcastic tone: "I almost thought you drowned in the bathroom."
"Yes, I fell into the sink and struggled for ages before climbing out," Huo Yuqing nodded gravely. Sitting down at the edge of the bed, she circulated a ring of ultimate ice soul power over her hands that had just touched cold water—and then stuffed them straight down Wang Rui's collar.
"Hiss." Caught completely off guard, Wang Rui was frozen and sprang up with a jolt. Before he could condemn her wicked deeds, the prank-successful Huo Yuqing leaned right onto him, pressing her upper body's weight fully against his.
"Rui-rui, where are we going to play?" she asked, widening her eyes and looking up at him innocently.
Author's Note:
The ribbon eel here sincerely advises all friends who want to study medicine: run.
(End of this chapter)