Chapter 52 Condensation Failure?

"Big bug, total volume and quality are not the same thing."

Compared to Tianmeng's flustered state, Elder Ian's reaction was calm to the extreme. "Besides, that elemental sprite had accumulated energy for far too long and broke through the boundary during the sacrificial process."

"The second energy core, which was originally just a prototype, has completely formed. Her cultivation—what you people should call her age—is growing accordingly, driving her origin power to continue expanding."

At this point, Elder Ian paused for a moment. "I'm not even sure what the classification should be now. The grading system in the plane you inhabit is truly bizarre. There are so many tiers wedged between the ninth tier and the divine level."

He actually still had the mood to explain things here.

Tianmeng's expression instantly twisted, and he couldn't help but roar, "Then why don't you use your divine power to think of a solution quickly?! Don't you also hope that Huo Yuhao can reach the peak of the world?"

"Divine power? I hardly qualify."

Elder Ian shook his head. "You don't need to worry too much either. What I can think of, she naturally can think of as well—her abilities are even stronger than you imagine."

Her?

You Ji?

Tianmeng pressed closely against the layer of light and looked inward, discovering that at some unknown point, a snow lotus exuding a crisp, refreshing aura had suddenly appeared beside You Ji.

"That is... a hundred-thousand-year snow lotus!"

Such an item was extremely rare even in the Far North, belonging to a wondrous existence that hovered between a soul beast and a supreme heavenly treasure.

Leaving aside its effects of improving constitution and purifying the body, just the fact that it could carry a fierce beast's origin and assist in human transformation was already heaven-defying enough.

"She doesn't intend to—"

Tianmeng widened his eyes and pressed himself even closer.

Pop~

Under You Ji's control, that devoid-of-intelligence snow lotus radiated a halo of light, and then, with a soft chime, it merged into her body.

The origin power that had been surging wildly toward Huo Yuhao was suddenly pulled back, reversing its flow and rushing straight into the lotus heart together with the remaining energy within You Ji's body.

"Hoo~"

Gradually, You Ji's body, which seemed to be formed of condensed ice and snow, began to turn transparent, and that powerful aura capable of shaking heaven and earth completely dissipated amidst a gentle breeze.

Soul beasts across the entire Far North all raised their heads under a vague, formless sensing, looking toward the direction where all the commotion had vanished.

The monarch who had suppressed the crown of their heads for countless ages seemed to have vanished?

Tianmeng: "..."

This could work too?

Most of the energy was packaged and thrown into the snow lotus, while her true body entered Huo Yuhao's body through the sacrifice.

The sacrifice succeeded, the person was saved, the soul ring was attached, and the origin wasn't wasted.

Even the pain Huo Yuhao had to endure was reduced by a fraction.

"This sacrifice should have been planned by You Ji..."

Tianmeng let out a mournful sigh, vaguely foreseeing the day when he would lose his usefulness.

Originally, he didn't understand much, his strength was poor, and he hadn't delved deeply into any aspects of cultivation. Now, with the Ice and Snow Emperors taking up residence, he genuinely seemed to have nothing left to do.

"Unsurprisingly, a seventy-thousand-year red ring—eighty-thousand?"

Looking at the first soul ring rising from Huo Yuhao's body, Tianmeng suddenly froze.

That's not right!

Shouldn't You Ji's cultivation age be six hundred and ninety thousand years? Why was there a gleaming white, zigzagging fine line appearing on the soul ring, making up an eighth one?

"Her origin has completely merged with the snow lotus. Perhaps during the sacrifice just now, this snow lotus was also judged as a part of her."

Elder Ian narrowed his eyes, examining a gradually dissipating fine line in his hand.

The sacrificial laws of this Douluo plane were truly wondrous; even after borrowing a divine persona to extract a wisp of the law, he was unable to analyze anything from it.

It was as if a force higher and stronger than this world was at play.

"Ah?"

A bad premonition suddenly welled up in Tianmeng's heart.

This was the first soul ring that determined the martial soul's appearance. Would something go wrong if such a glitch occurred?

The next moment.

A ball of ice-blue mist surged upward from Huo Yuhao's body—it was precisely the second martial soul bestowed by Tianmeng. As the soul ring attachment completed, it began to gradually fit You Ji's figure under the influence of the soul ring's light.

Yet, just at the moment when success was imminent.

The moment Tianmeng cast his gaze.

"Puff~"

The martial soul that had just outlined a human figure suddenly collapsed, transforming once more into a swirling mist of indefinite shape.

Perhaps affected by this, the Ice Emperor soul ring that should have appeared also became stuck during the brewing process, completely unable to finish attaching.

That ominous premonition from earlier had completely come true.

"What is this again—"

"WHAT! IS! GOING! ON!"

Having witnessed so many messy events in a row, Tianmeng clutched his head in near breakdown.

How could a flawless god-creation plan unexpectedly sprout so many twists and turns out of nowhere?

Are you kidding me?!

This is only the second step of the plan!

"Yuhao... can you really make it to the end?" Tianmeng couldn't help but sigh mournfully.

He wanted to solve it.

Yet his million years of life were spent purely by sleeping hard; where would he get the insight or experience to answer such questions? Right now, he could only pin his hopes on the sharp eye and heaven-reaching experience of this wisp of divine consciousness beside him.

"It should be an origin conflict."

Floating around Huo Yuhao for a few slow circles, Elder Ian detected a trace of the clues.

He pointed with a finger.

Deep within the violently churning mist, three clusters of strange energy locked in crazy combat were revealed, alongside the ice-blue origin from Tianmeng that served as the battlefield.

"Understood..."

Tianmeng's mouth twitched violently.

His gaze swept across the scorpion that was now left with only an empty shell, and the snow lotus swaying gently as it fell to the ground.

Right now, almost everything inside Huo Yuhao's body was the Ice Emperor's origin, but his first soul ring came from the Snow Emperor, whose own origin had fused with the hundred-thousand-year snow lotus during the sacrificial process.

The martial soul couldn't possibly condense a freak with a human head, a scorpion body, and a lotus flower growing out of its back for him, could it?

It could only get stuck midway, neither advancing nor retreating.

—What happens next then?

Tianmeng stood silently for a long time, as if struggling with something, his condensed spiritual entity flickering unstably.

Beside him, Elder Ian also fell silent, and even his divine consciousness projection grew faint.

Leaving him a window to struggle and deliberate.

"Sigh~"

Suddenly, Tianmeng let out a long sigh and raised a ball of light with his hand. "I originally intended to keep this as a trump card... Yuhao, big brother is truly handing everything in his hands over to you this time!"

Naturally, someone as cautious and life-cherishing as he was could never bet all his hopes on a single person.

These sealed origins were what fierce beasts like Di Tian and the Ice Emperor bitterly pursued. With the origin in hand, even if Huo Yuhao accidentally died one day, Tianmeng could still use it to save his life, switch to a new host, and gamble once more for a chance at godhood.

Yet at this moment, only this origin, which had transformed into divine-level power, could help Huo Yuhao condense his martial soul.