Chapter 110: The Collapsing Duo
Tianmeng Iceworm shouted loudly, his expression filled with arrogance as his voice spread far into the distance.
The intense spiritual fluctuation shattered countless snowflakes around him, forming a vacuum area nearly a hundred meters wide.
After calling out, Tianmeng Iceworm fell silent, his gaze fixed with anticipation toward the distant horizon, waiting for the figure he had long yearned to see.
However…
"Caw! Caw! Caw!"
A crow with dull, lifeless eyes flew over his head, letting out mocking cries. The frigid northern wind blew a tumbleweed past him, making his figure appear especially lonely and desolate. Yet the one he longed to see never appeared.
"…?" Tianmeng Iceworm tilted his head, the borrowed face of Huo Yuhao full of confusion.
What the hell? Something's wrong here.
"Ice Emperor! I, Tianmeng, have returned for revenge! Come out and face me at once!" Tianmeng Iceworm shouted again, unwilling to give up. His spiritual power spread without restraint toward the Ice Jade Scorpion clan's territory.
Within the Ice Jade Scorpion territory, several ten-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion Kings gathered together, their crystalline yellow eyes glimmering with thought.
'That's the big worm the clan leader once hunted, isn't it?'
'Yes, that should be the one.'
'What should we do? Should we go out and capture it? The clan leader once said that worm tasted delicious!'
'Don't forget what the clan leader told us before leaving! No matter what happens, no Ice Jade Scorpion is allowed to leave the territory! If you want to face the clan leader's wrath when she returns, go ahead. I won't stop you!'
'Hmph! Fine, I won't go! No need to be so fierce…'
The scorpion kings huddled together, muttering in their own encrypted tongue. Before long, they reached a unanimous decision—ignore it!
One minute passed.
Ten minutes passed.
Half an hour passed…
"Brother Tianmeng, can we stop now? I can't hold on much longer!" Huo Yuhao's teeth chattered uncontrollably, the sound crisp and harsh as his face turned purple from the cold.
Suspended in the air, Tianmeng Iceworm's expression grew increasingly grim. The sight of Huo Yuhao's face twisted in frustration carried an unintentional trace of dark humor.
"Where is the Ice Emperor?! Where did such a mighty Ice Emperor go?!" Tianmeng Iceworm roared furiously, his voice filled with disbelief and frustration at the absurdity of it all.
Yet, despite his unwillingness to accept it, he dared not hesitate any longer. Through his perception, Huo Yuhao's life aura was flickering like a candle in the wind, and his consciousness was beginning to fade. He could lose consciousness at any moment.
In the core of the Extreme North, temperatures below one hundred degrees negative Celsius were the norm. Even a Soul Sage or Soul Douluo would find it unbearable—let alone Huo Yuhao, who had not even obtained his second soul ring.
If he truly fainted from the cold, he might never wake again.
Tianmeng Iceworm didn't dare recklessly charge into the Ice Jade Scorpion's domain with Huo Yuhao in such a state. Though frustrated and unwilling, he had no choice but to retreat back into Huo Yuhao's body.
"Forgive me, Yuhao. My plan failed. It seems I won't be able to help you obtain the martial soul we originally intended," Tianmeng Iceworm said remorsefully as his form turned into a beam of golden light and returned to Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Sea.
Upon his return, Tianmeng Iceworm released his origin power once more. Waves of golden energy surged from the Spiritual Sea, repairing the injuries Huo Yuhao had sustained from the bitter cold during the past half hour.
Frostbite healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and Huo Yuhao's soul power instantly broke through its bottleneck, reaching level twenty.
When Huo Yuhao regained consciousness, the first words he heard were these.
"Why?! Does that mean all my suffering was for nothing?!" Huo Yuhao lost control and shouted in fury, his emotions collapsing completely.
What had kept him moving through the Extreme North was Tianmeng Iceworm's promise—that if he came here, his talent would be reborn, transforming him into one of the greatest soul masters on the entire Douluo Continent.
Even if he could not compare to Lin Yun, at least he would not fall too far behind.
Lin Yun possessed the Power of Extremity, and he, Huo Yuhao, would gain the Power of Ultimate Ice—moreover, he was a twin martial soul wielder.
If not for this belief supporting him, how could a thirteen-year-old boy, with cultivation not even at two rings, have endured so long in this land of bitter cold?
And now Tianmeng Iceworm was telling him that all his suffering had been for nothing, that he would not obtain the supreme martial soul he had been promised?
Damn it all!
Without Electrolux's guidance, Huo Yuhao's temperament had already become unstable. Now, facing such a cruel truth, he nearly lost himself to darkness. Even toward Tianmeng Iceworm, who had always aided him, a faint trace of resentment arose. His once-clear blue eyes now held a hint of blood-red.
Sensing Huo Yuhao's emotional collapse, Tianmeng Iceworm panicked and hurried to comfort him. "Calm down, Yuhao, please calm down!"
"This failure is my fault. I don't know why, but the Ice Emperor didn't come out. Under normal circumstances, threatened by heavenly tribulation, she would immediately sense my aura and rush out to hunt me down. That would have been my chance to trap her with my origin power and persuade her to sacrifice herself to you, becoming your soul ring and martial soul."
"The Ice Emperor is a three-hundred-thousand-nine-hundred-year-old supreme beast! Wasn't that worth the risk? Even though my plan failed, my intentions were entirely for your sake!"
But as everyone knows, when a person's emotions collapse, reasoning with them is meaningless—and Huo Yuhao was no exception.
Though, under Tianmeng Iceworm's persuasion, Huo Yuhao's expression gradually calmed, it was only surface calm. What he truly thought inside, no one could tell but himself.
A faint rift had formed between man and worm. It was hard to say whether this small fracture might one day lead to something uncontrollable.
Tianmeng Iceworm fell silent.
It had already said all it could. Whether Huo Yuhao accepted it or not was beyond its control. Judging from his current demeanor, there should be no immediate problem.
After all, it was merely an iceworm—a soul beast. Even though it had seen Huo Yuhao's memories, it could never truly think as a human did. Soul beasts did not understand the tangled subtleties of human emotion; things were simple for them—what was, was.
Even if it sensed something amiss in Huo Yuhao's mood, its simple mind was incapable of grasping human thoughts so deeply.
"Since the original plan failed, Brother Tianmeng, do you have a second one?" Huo Yuhao asked at last, his voice utterly devoid of emotion.
"I do!" Tianmeng Iceworm replied with a nod.
(End of Chapter)
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