Although the Ice Empress had misunderstood something, Caelus did not explain Istaroth's true Origins in detail, as that would involve the System and the truth about them coming from outside this World, which was too shocking.
Letting the Ice Empress mistakenly believe that Istaroth was a Legacy Divine Sense left behind by some fallen or dormant God of Time was the simplest and most reasonable explanation for now.
'It seems... I really hit the jackpot this time.'
The Ice Empress took a deep breath of non-existent air, forcibly suppressing the ecstasy and complex emotions in her heart.
Her original choice of Caelus was a desperate move while near death, a transaction where she discarded her pride.
Deep down, she couldn't help but feel a sliver of reluctance, thinking, 'This human brat got the better end of the deal.'
But now, it seemed, it wasn't Caelus who had gotten the better deal at all.
Clearly, it was she, the Ice Empress, who had latched onto a thigh of a Divinity so thick it was unimaginable.
By becoming Caelus's Second Martial Soul, not only could she retain her own Soul Origin and will, but more importantly, once Caelus fully inherited a God Position and became a true Divinity, could she not, as his Martial Soul, follow him to ascend to the God Realm and obtain the eternal life she had dreamed of?
Having lived for so many years, was not her and the Snow Empress's greatest desire to break through the limits of their lifespan and obtain eternal life?
Otherwise, she would not be so worried about the upcoming fourth hundred thousand year Heavenly Tribulation, to the point of casting aside hundreds of thousands of years of pride to trade with a human and become a Martial Soul.
'I told you, choosing me was the right decision, wasn't it, Ice Empress?'
Caelus's voice, filled with a smile, rang out again; he had accurately grasped the shift in the Ice Empress's mindset at this moment.
He knew full well how fatally attractive eternal life was to these Vicious Beasts that had lived for countless years.
'You are right, I underestimated you.'
The Ice Empress raised her head, a bright and sincere smile appearing on her pretty face after entering the mental space; that smile dispelled the last haze and reluctance in her brows, filling her with hope for the future.
'It is I... who got the massive bargain.'
She felt as if she could already see that after Caelus became a god, not only would she be able to obtain eternal life, but even the Snow Empress could recover her strength with his help, and perhaps even ascend together.
Retaking the Extreme North Land? In the face of such a future, that seemed like a trivial goal.
The huge surprise and anticipation filled her with motivation instantly.
'Let's start quickly!'
The Ice Empress said impatiently.
As her voice fell, in the reality of the outside World, the Ice Empress's jade scorpion body, which had lost its Soul Origin and resembled an ice sculpture, suddenly burst into pure, emerald-green energy light spots.
Like being drawn by an invisible force, they surged mightily toward Caelus, who was sitting cross-legged and enduring the impact of the hundred thousand year snow lotus energy, merging into his body through every pore.
At this moment, Caelus was simultaneously enduring the impact of two forces.
The majestic medicinal power of the hundred thousand year snow lotus rampaged through his body, forcibly opening up the 'position' for his Second Martial Soul.
This was a transformation on the level of Law, forcibly opening up a brand-new 'base point' within his Soul and Physical Body to carry the Martial Soul Origin.
This process was like performing surgery on his most sensitive Soul, with pain that went deep into the marrow, indescribable.
And immediately following, the pure Ultimate Ice energy, transformed from the Ice Empress's Physical Body, surged into his body like a broken dam.
This energy was not a gentle nourishment, but carried the unique dominance and coldness of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, starting to fuse with the medicinal power of the snow lotus and aiming directly at the most important bone in Caelus's body — the Torso Bone.
As a Vicious Beast approaching four hundred thousand years of age, by sacrificing herself, the Ice Empress could choose to condense her most essential power into a Spirit Bone and specify its location.
She chose the Torso Bone, which had the widest coverage among Spirit Bones, provided the greatest improvement to a Soul Master's physical fitness, and was also the most important.
'Ugh, ahhh —!'
Caelus, who had been forcibly enduring, finally could not fully suppress a muffled roar.
He felt his entire spine, ribs, sternum... all the bones belonging to his torso were being crushed inch by inch by an irresistible, freezing, and extreme power.
That was not a metaphor; it was a real, physical shattering.
He could clearly 'hear' his bones making an unbearable, teeth-grinding 'creaking' sound, and then, under the impact of that domineering emerald energy, turning into powder.
After being crushed, that pure Ice Empress Origin energy, mixed with the vast vitality of the hundred thousand year snow lotus, began to reshape and condense his bones according to the perfect blueprint of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's Torso Bone.
The new bones were no longer a common pale color, but presented a jade-like, warm, yet indestructible emerald luster, with countless tiny ice crystal runes circulating inside, emitting terrifying Ultimate Ice coldness and majestic power.
Shattering bones and reshaping.
This pain far exceeded the widening of his Meridians by thousands of times.
It was a transformation and sublimation at the level of the Origin of life, a process of completely breaking the old shell and shaping a new body.
Every second was like suffering in purgatory.
Caelus's body trembled violently; the veins on his forehead, neck, and arms bulged, winding like dragons, looking ferocious and terrifying.
Large drops of cold sweat had just seeped out of his pores when they were frozen into tiny ice crystals by the Ultimate Ice coldness radiating from his body, hanging on his skin, eyebrows, and hair tips, making him look like an ice man.
His lips were bitten open, and the blood that flowed out instantly froze into dark red ice dregs.
His teeth chattered, as if they would shatter at any moment.
His sitting body began to sway, appearing as if he might not be able to hold on at any moment and collapse to the ground.
'Hold on, Caelus, you must hold on, stay awake; once you lose consciousness, the Fusion will be interrupted, and we will both be backlashed, and all our efforts will be wasted.'
In the mental space, the Ice Empress's human Incarnation shouted anxiously, her face full of worry.
She had poured everything she had, sacrificing both her Soul Origin and Physical Body, just to gamble for a bright future.
If Caelus failed here, she would truly vanish completely, without even a trace left behind.
'You underestimate him.'
Compared to the Ice Empress's anxiety, Istaroth, who had been sitting quietly on the starlight stairs, still had an expression calm and without waves, only a trace of almost imperceptible approval flashing in the depths of her golden eyes.
'This bit of pain cannot crush his will; if he cannot even endure this, what qualification does he have to touch the authority to manipulate fate and time, and sit on that supreme throne?'
Her understanding and trust in Caelus far exceeded the Ice Empress's.
She had witnessed the toughness in the deepest part of his Soul, an essence that remained unextinguished after Transmigration through time and space barriers, enduring System collapse and Soul tearing.
The facts were exactly as Istaroth had anticipated.
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