"Why didn't you kill me?" Gu You asked, the biting cold around him finally fading. He and the Ice Emperor Scorpion stared at each other, tension still thick between them.
"Mm… I don't know," the Ice Emperor Scorpion muttered. "There's something strange about your aura. Besides, you're definitely not one of those people."
'Strange aura? Looks like there's still a lot I don't know about my martial soul,' Gu You thought. "Which people? And how did you even get caught?" He was puzzled. A talking soul beast was already a sign of high intelligence, and judging by its power, it shouldn't have been so easy to capture.
"Long story," the Ice Emperor Scorpion huffed, pointing one of its claws at a frozen box. "First, help me shut off that hateful sphere over there. It's suppressing my cultivation."
Gu You glanced over. Inside the box, at its center, was a glowing orb surrounded by layers of ice. "No way. What if you recover your strength and decide to kill me?"
"Despicable human! We soul beasts keep our word much better than you people!"
"You soul beasts are way more cunning than us humans."
"You… you! You're driving me crazy!" The Ice Emperor Scorpion stomped back and forth in the confined space, agitated.
"I didn't say I wouldn't help. But first, answer my two questions." Gu You couldn't help finding the giant scorpion rather amusing.
"Really?"
"Of course!"
"Alright! I'm from the Ice Emperor Scorpion clan, a royal bloodline among us. I was born superior to other beasts. But when I was young, I was pretty playful…"
"Wait a second. What's there to play with in the Far North besides snow and ice?" Gu You raised an eyebrow. This Ice Emperor Scorpion really acted like a kid.
"Uh? I just wandered around. Sometimes I'd use my claws to shape ice blocks. You humans would probably call it sculpting." The Ice Emperor Scorpion clicked its pincers together with a little pride.
"What? You're telling me you're an artist? There are artists among soul beasts?!" Gu You's mind blanked for a moment. 'Today is seriously shattering everything I thought I knew about soul beasts.'
"Am I an artist? That sounds nice! Anyway, I ran around a lot when I was young — probably over four thousand years — and didn't really cultivate much…"
'Four thousand years?!'
Gu You felt his jaw nearly drop. 'Man, the long lifespans of soul beasts really are enviable.'
"After I got bored of playing, I started cultivating. With my ultimate ice attribute and royal bloodline, it only took me about three thousand years to reach fifty thousand years of cultivation. After that, I mostly slept, probably for a few thousand more years, and when I woke up, I was already at sixty thousand years. Then…"
"Stop! Stop! Get to the point!" Gu You quickly waved his hands.
"…One day, when I was nearly at a hundred thousand years, even though I was only about ten thousand years old in total, one of my clan's elders told me that soul beasts must undergo a heavenly tribulation every hundred thousand years. My body was too fragile — I'd probably die at the first tribulation. Then I heard a legend in my clan: once, a powerful Ice Emperor became one of the Ten Great Savage Beasts and followed a human boy to godhood. I was so naive back then. As the tribulation approached, I left the Far North and went to the outer regions where you humans live. I was in a hurry. Then I met a woman — she was very strong. She looked shocked when she saw me, and I… well, I bragged that I wanted to become her spirit soul. And then… and then…"
"And then what?" Gu You leaned forward, fully engrossed.
"She revealed nine spirit rings — and she beat me up! I didn't even manage to hit her!" the Ice Emperor Scorpion wailed, sounding completely aggrieved.
'Nine rings!' Gu You's expression turned grim. 'That means there's a nine-ring evil soul master nearby. How the hell am I supposed to escape now?'
"After that, she left me battered and used some strange device to suppress me here. That's the one I pointed out earlier. Honestly, her aura really disgusted me. I just don't like her. But sometimes she brought me food, which… well, wasn't too bad."
'What kind of ridiculous story is this?' Gu You thought, exasperated. "Sounds like you've been living a pretty comfortable life."
"This life sucks! It's way too cramped here. I want to go home!" the Ice Emperor Scorpion whimpered, rolling on the ground.
'So if the place were bigger, you'd be fine staying? Unbelievable.' Gu You smacked his forehead. Just as he was about to inspect the suppressing device, a thought struck him. "Wait, didn't you say your hundred-thousand-year tribulation was approaching?"
The Ice Emperor Scorpion froze. 'Oh, right…' She vaguely remembered that the signs of the tribulation had already started back when she left the Far North. But why hadn't it descended yet? She stared blankly at the device suppressing her. 'Could it be because of that…?'
"What should I do? I don't want to die! I still want to leave this place!" The Ice Emperor Scorpion sat down heavily, covering her face with her claws, sobbing pitifully.
"Uh… didn't you say you wanted to become a spirit soul? Couldn't you choose me?" Gu You asked, hoping to trick this naive scorpion into joining him.
"You?" The Ice Emperor Scorpion sized him up. "Your soul power is so low, you're as weak as crap! What spirit soul would pick you?"
'Damn it!'
"How am I weak? I could take on ten of those small fries outside all by myself!" Gu You protested indignantly.
"Yeah? And how would you survive absorbing my spirit ring? I'm close to a hundred-thousand-year cultivation, you know. I can tell you can't even handle more rings right now." The Ice Emperor Scorpion bounced in place, staring him down.
"It's simple! I'll forcibly break through five levels. My spiritual power is strong enough!" Gu You confidently pulled out his soul power bottle, surging waves of energy pulsing from it.
"Forcibly breaking through will hurt your future development," the Ice Emperor Scorpion warned.
"My talent is unmatched in all history. What do I have to fear? Without setbacks, wouldn't things be too easy?" Gu You smirked.
"Can you even ascend to godhood?" the Ice Emperor Scorpion asked sharply, hitting a sore spot.
Gu You almost passed out. 'Godhood? Logically, that's impossible now — the God Realm was swept away by the space-time currents, after all.'
"Of course I can! Think about it: that Ice Emperor from the old stories chose someone whose talent wasn't even a tenth of mine, and he still became a god. Why wouldn't I be able to?" Gu You declared proudly.
"Mm… alright, fine. You seem like the best choice anyway," the Ice Emperor Scorpion relented.
'What do you mean "seem like the best choice"? Are you saying you're settling for me?!' Gu You cursed under his breath but sat down cross-legged, preparing. He poured the massive soul power from the bottle into his body, aiming to break through to level 30!
26!
The thick soul power in the air even stunned the Ice Emperor Scorpion. 'What kind of magical bottle is that? It can release so much energy!'
Gu You planned to forcefully absorb all the soul power stored inside — enough to match a Soul Douluo-level expert. He grit his teeth as his body trembled, bones creaking under the pressure.
'This pain… it's nothing!'
27!
28!
29…
(End of Chapter)
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