"Yeah." Huo Yuhao nodded. He raised both arms out to his sides and bellowed, "Glacier Conjoined Ape, possess me."
In the next instant, a purple soul ring rose from beneath his feet as a freezing chill erupted from his body. His muscles swelled once more and his height shot up, transforming him into a violent Conjoined Ape.
Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Despite it being an ice-attribute martial soul, Huo Yuhao felt a soothing warmth spread through his body after the martial soul possession.
Huo Yuhao didn't dwell on it too much, assuming the Glacier Conjoined Ape simply possessed incredible cold resistance.
The immediate priority was to escape this godforsaken place.
With that in mind, he stood up and clenched his fists. The purple soul ring on his body flared to life, and a layer of white, spherical energy barriers roughly the size of basketballs materialized over his knuckles.
"Glacier Fracture!"
Huo Yuhao roared, slamming his right fist into the ice wall before him. The wall shattered with a deafening crash, blasting out a crater nearly ten feet in diameter.
"Not a bad amount of power." Huo Yuhao grinned, throwing his other fist forward as well.
This time, the ice wall collapsed completely.
Seeing that he was about to be buried, Huo Yuhao remained entirely fearless. A brilliant white light flared from his chest, instantly forming a layer of ice-crystal armor around his body.
The cascading snow and chunks of ice crumbled into powder before they could even draw near him.
As his purple soul ring continued to shine, the white spherical barriers coated his hands once more.
In this manner, Huo Yuhao continuously excavated his way upward along an incline.
Whenever his soul power ran dry, he would sit cross-legged, eat some dry rations, and meditate to restore his energy. Then, he would resume digging upward.
Just like that, seven days passed in succession.
Huo Yuhao finally returned to the surface.
At the same time, he noticed a strange phenomenon.
The more he dug, the warmer his body felt. Toward the end, it had even escalated into a burning, restless heat.
By the time he broke through the ice and returned to the surface, his entire body resembled a fully cooked crawfish. His skin was flushed red and scalding hot, and an intolerable, frantic heat raged within him.
"Brother Tian Meng, what on earth is going on?" Huo Yuhao asked, clutching himself down below.
By now, even a fool would realize that something was terribly wrong.
Ever since Huo Yuhao obtained this second martial soul, the Tian Meng had faintly sensed that it had overlooked something. It wasn't until Huo Yuhao's physical symptoms manifested that it finally had an epiphany.
It cried out in shock, "Oh no, this is the Glacier Conjoined Ape's weakness."
"What weakness?" A terrible premonition instantly gripped Huo Yuhao's heart.
The Tian Meng explained, "Although the Glacier Conjoined Ape is formidable—to the point that even across the entire Extreme North, it belongs to one of the absolute top-tier species right beneath the Three Extreme North Kings—a typical ten-thousand-year Glacier Conjoined Ape can rival or even defeat soul beasts of over fifty thousand years. However, it has one flaw. This weakness has made it an enemy to the entire world within the Extreme North, which is why its numbers are incredibly scarce..."
Huo Yuhao grew anxious. "What weakness? Just spit it out already!"
The corner of the Tian Meng's mouth twitched slightly as it said, "Its physiological desires are exceptionally rampant. Within the soul beast circles of the Extreme North, it bears the notorious title of the Ape that Fields the Heavens."
"Huh?" Huo Yuhao was completely dumbfounded. After all that effort, the second martial soul he had acquired actually came with such a bizarre side effect.
"Brother Tian Meng, why didn't you say so earlier? Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"
This was the very first time Huo Yuhao had ever raised his voice at the Tian Meng.
The already frustrated Tian Meng had failed to secure its deeply yearned-for sacrifice from the Ice Emperor this time, and had ended up drawing trouble upon itself instead. Hearing Huo Yuhao's accusation, its temper flared as well:
"Why are you taking your anger out on me? I lived in the northeastern part of the Extreme North, close to the ocean side, while the Glacier Conjoined Ape lives in the southwest. I've only ever heard rumors about this soul beast; I've never actually seen one. So many years have passed, how could I possibly remember it so clearly?"
"Besides, you know exactly what kind of situation you were in back there. Falling into such a deep ice abyss, even if I possessed your body, I wouldn't have been able to carry you out before the possession effect expired. No matter what, if you wanted to stay alive, absorbing the Glacier Conjoined Ape's soul ring was the only path available..."
Seeing that the Tian Meng was genuinely angry, Huo Yuhao's tone softened immediately. "I'm sorry, Brother Tian Meng. I was just too agitated. You know that kind of... urge is really not something an ordinary person can easily endure."
The Tian Meng sighed and said, "If you can't endure it, then just release it. Among the original Shrek Seven Monsters, wasn't there also one who had exceptionally rampant physiological desires due to a flaw in his own martial soul? After he found a way to resolve it later on, didn't he still successfully become a god?"
"You possess twin martial souls, and you even have me—an unprecedented million-year intelligent soul ring. In my view, your prospects of achieving godhood are far greater than that Ma Hongjun from ten thousand years ago."
Huo Yuhao thought of Dai Huabin. Instinctively repulsed by the idea of visiting brothels, he pressed further, "Then Brother Tian Meng, when will I be able to resolve this issue?"
The Tian Meng pondered for a moment and replied, "Once you cultivate the ice attribute of the Glacier Conjoined Ape to the level of Ultimate Ice, you should be able to achieve it."
Though it spoke reassurance, the Tian Meng had secretly developed other thoughts. Right now, Huo Yuhao's first martial soul, the Spirit Eyes, had wasted a soul ring slot.
His second martial soul was far below expectations, and it even came with a terrible side effect.
If things continued like this, when would he ever achieve godhood?
Should it consider finding a new host?
Inexplicably, the image of Feng Piaoling flashed through the Tian Meng's mind.
If it had known things would turn out like this, it should have sacrificed itself to that kid instead.
Back then, why on earth had it been so blinded by infatuation to choose Huo Yuhao?
Otherwise, relying on that Feng Piaoling kid's twin martial soul talent, combined with its million-year soul ring and the bestowed third martial soul, he would have absolutely been the most likely candidate to achieve godhood.
When the time came and Feng Piaoling grew strong enough, they could have returned to the Extreme North to find Bingbing together. It certainly wouldn't have degenerated into the current predicament.
Huo Yuhao had no idea that the Tian Meng had already harbored thoughts of abandoning him.
Seeing that the worm offered a solution, he let out a massive sigh of relief. He glanced down, scanned his surroundings, and simply dug a snow cave beneath his feet before crawling inside.
Three minutes later, he emerged looking refreshed and radiant, beginning his search for a suitable third soul ring for his Spirit Eyes martial soul.
Meanwhile, within the Sun Moon Empire's Jing Yang Mountain Range.
"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo...!"
Feng Piaoling, who was currently testing his soul tool, the 'Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword,' while helping Ju Zi and the members of the Spirit Hall hunt for soul rings, suddenly sneezed three times in a row for no apparent reason.
"What's wrong?" Ju Zi looked at him with a solemn expression.
Their current situation was highly unfavorable, as they were completely surrounded by over a hundred Golden Wolves.
Leading them were three Golden Wolf Kings whose lifespans exceeded ten thousand years, while the rest were ordinary Golden Wolves ranging from hundreds to thousands of years in age.
The three Golden Wolf Kings protected a Silver Moon Wolf King that had just entered the ten-thousand-year level behind them. The Silver Moon Wolf King watched for an opportunity to strike, continuously tightening the encirclement under its command.
"It's nothing. I guess someone must be thinking about me."
Feng Piaoling rubbed his nose, his gaze sweeping across the surrounding wolf pack before finally settling on the ten-thousand-year Silver Moon Wolf King. He muttered to himself, "To think I'd run into the Silver Moon Wolf King from the original story on a casual trip to the Jing Yang Mountain Range. Destiny truly is a fascinating thing."
-----------------------------------------------
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi