"This is the etiquette for taking a Master, Master!"
Tang San's words were incredibly sincere, wearing an expression of "If you do not cast me aside, I am willing to honor you as my foster father," which gave Huo Yuhao goosebumps.
Huo Yuhao only felt disgusted. He didn't reply, but instead turned and called out: "Elder Xuan, your disciple is here." Then, he turned and left immediately.
Whoever wanted this student could have him; he certainly didn't want him—it was too revolting.
As Huo Yuhao's figure vanished, an old man with an equally unfathomable aura appeared. Tang San, whose expression had stiffened, finally reacted. Maintaining his kneeling position, he kowtowed three more times with a series of thumps and said earnestly:
"Master!"
Xuan Zi, who had witnessed the entire process: "..."
Wait, is there something wrong with the brain of this new disciple I just took in?
...
Several months later, the Extreme North, Core Region.
As the residence of the Snow Emperor, this place wasn't filled with the bone-chilling blizzards found in the outer regions. Instead, it seemed peaceful, even covered in beautiful flowers that looked like ice crystals.
However, in contrast to the scenery, the air was saturated with the aura of Ultimate Ice and Snow.
Any Soul Beast under the 10,000-year level would be turned into an ice sculpture the moment they stepped foot here, preserved for eternity.
Suddenly, in this core region that seemed destined for eternal silence, the space in one area distorted, and a pale gray spatial portal abruptly appeared.
Two figures stepped out.
It was Huo Yuhao and the Ice Emperor.
"I'm back..."
Feeling the familiar aura of Ultimate Ice and Snow around her, the Ice Emperor felt a strange sense of nostalgia... along with an indescribable, slightly illicit feeling.
She subconsciously tightened her grip on Huo Yuhao's hand. She looked forward to seeing the Snow Emperor, but a sense of guilt involuntarily surged within her.
She and the Snow Emperor were like sisters, and she had always liked the Snow Emperor—so how did she end up getting involved with Yuhao?!
What even is this?!
"It's been a while since I was last here."
Huo Yuhao let out a faint smile, then, as if foreseeing it, he raised his eyes to look at the ice-blue figure that suddenly appeared ahead.
The Snow Emperor's ice-blue eyes were ethereal and transparent. Her long, snow-white hair reached down to her feet, and she wore a simple white dress without any decorations, accentuating her tall and slender figure.
"Snow Emperor."
The moment he felt the Snow Emperor's presence, the Ultimate Ice Martial Soul within Huo Yuhao instinctively resonated with her aura of Ultimate Ice and Snow.
Under this attraction of auras, Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice Martial Soul naturally possessed him. His azure eyes were stained with a hint of ice-blue, and four ice-crystal Soul Rings naturally manifested. The aura of Ultimate Ice, pure to the extreme, intertwined with the Snow Emperor's Ultimate Ice and Snow.
Similar faces, similar auras—after the Martial Soul possession, even their eyes were nearly identical...
At this moment, the Ice Emperor felt like she was the outsider.
"Human... long time no see."
The Snow Emperor's voice was ethereal, giving off a noble and cold feeling, like an ice-crystal snow lotus—to be admired from a distance, not toyed with.
However, as soon as she spoke, she suddenly moved closer. She raised her slender hand and naturally stroked Huo Yuhao's cheek, her eyes fixed solely on him.
"You... have become stronger again."
There was a hint of surprise in the Snow Emperor's tone.
Although there was a contract signed by Fate between them, allowing her to vaguely sense the changes in Huo Yuhao's strength, who could have imagined that in just a few years, Huo Yuhao could grow to such an extent?
This was truly a bit ridiculous...
Moreover, the pure aura of Ultimate Ice on Huo Yuhao's body had even surpassed her own Ultimate Ice and Snow, making her instinctively want to draw closer.
As expected, this human is different...
The corners of the Snow Emperor's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a very, very faint smile. This smile was caught by Huo Yuhao and the Ice Emperor, who had already become a "third wheel" on the side.
For a moment, the Ice Emperor's expression stiffened.
On one side was Yuhao, and on the other was the Snow Emperor. She didn't even know whose jealousy she should be feeling right now!!!
At this moment, feeling like an outsider for some reason, the Ice Emperor completely understood a certain Ice Silkworm.
The person she liked and the person she liked even more were both right in front of her. Both things should have been happy, but why did things turn out like this...
The light in the Ice Emperor's eyes began to fade.
...
A while later, the Snow Emperor gathered all Soul Beasts in the Extreme North above the 10,000-year level to the core region.
This was one of the goals of Huo Yuhao's trip—to reorganize the Extreme North and absorb the Power of Faith from the region.
Several months had passed, and half of the entire ocean was now controlled by the "Beast Sect."
At the same time, statues belonging to him as the "Sea God" were being built one by one, serving as relay stations to transmit Power of Faith to Huo Yuhao bit by bit.
In the records of the God Realm, the first generation Sea God held the Trident, spent his life traveling to every corner of the ocean, settled countless wars, and saved many sea tribes.
Millions of Sea Soul Beasts and Sea Soul Masters developed faith in him, and this faith constituted the Power of Faith. Eventually, witnessed by time, the first Sea God obtained enough Power of Faith to break through Rank 100 and become the Sea God, possessing all the power of the ocean.
In Huo Yuhao's understanding, the first Sea God didn't become the Sea God because his strength was sufficient; rather, he used the Power of Faith to mold the Sea God Divine Position, and finally, by accommodating that Divine Position, he became the Sea God.
After that, the first Sea God used the power of his own Sea God status to give himself—who was originally without a Divine Position and only at the level of a Limit Douluo—true god-level power.
It could be understood that a Divine Position allows anyone to reach the heavens in a single step. But in reality, a so-called Divine Position is more like a ladder, allowing you to see the scenery from a high place in advance, and then you turn back to elevate your original self.
Precisely because of this, so many original gods in the God Realm chose to give up their Divine Positions and turn back to wander the universe, pursuing a higher level.
One could say that using the Power of Faith to condense a Divine Position can quickly accumulate strength, allowing you to rapidly reach the level of a First-rank God. However, the Power of Faith needed to go even higher would be an astronomical figure; promotion is too difficult.
For those geniuses who create their own Divine Positions and ambitious heirs, a Divine Position is a constraint. For those greedy mediocrities who only know immediate strength and do not know how to choose, a Divine Position is the only thing they can rely on.
In contrast, looking at Huo Yuhao's "Soul Ring carrying Soul Ring" method, though he was only a four-ring Soul Ancestor by the traditional Soul Master system, his actual combat capability was already comparable to a Third-class God.
What was currently restricting Huo Yuhao's breakthrough in realm—aside from the Soul Core, which becomes harder to condense the further one goes—was having enough energy.
And this was the difference between the Soul Ring-carrying Soul Core system created by Huo Yuhao himself, the traditional Soul Master system, and the Faith God system.