Chapter 196: Defiance

Snow Empress's voice was no longer her own, carrying a deep, resonating tone filled with divine malice. She stood up and the space around them started to distort.

The golden hue in her eyes burned brightly, and the aura of the Ice God's consciousness seemed to have fully awakened within her.

The presence that now stared down at Huo Yuhao was no longer the proud Snow Empress, but something far more ancient and powerful.

Huo Yuhao's breath caught in his throat as the weight of the Ice God's influence pressed down on him. His instincts screamed at him to act, but this was no ordinary opponent. He had to tread carefully.

"Snow Empress....Fight it!" Huo Yuhao shouted, his Mangekyou Sharingan spinning with intensity as he prepared to unleash the full force of Kuraokami once again. "Don't let this thing control you!"

But the figure before him only sneered, the golden light in her eyes flaring with contempt. "It's no use, boy. Though she doesn't truly worship me, my blood still runs through her veins," the voice that came from Snow Empress's mouth was sharp, filled with disdain, yet disturbingly calm. "She may resist, but I am already a part of her. A god's influence cannot be undone so easily."

She walked up to him, Huo Yuhao tried to move his body but the pressure was overwhelming, pinning him in place.

He desperately used Kuraokami against her once more, a dark-blue crystal ice spear formed before his eye and shot towards the Snow Empress.

The Ice God frowned pulling out her hand towards the ice spear.

"You dare use the power of Ice against me—hm?!"

The Ice God's eyes widened in shock as the Ice Spear pierced through her hand, and it would've destroyed her whole arm if she hadn't shattered the Ice Spear with her other hand.

She furrowed her brows, her golden eyes blazing with a fury that cast flickering shadows across the distorted space. She clenched her injured hand, watching as it began to rapidly freeze over, then heal itself, shards of glistening ice fusing her wound closed.

"You....How are you able to use that level of Ice? So cold it transcended reality and became hot.... Even I wasn't able to reach such understanding of the cold. Your eyes...." She took a deep breath, calming herself. "I will not waste my time, I will have everything you have, now."

Suddenly, a terrifying pressure began bearing down on Huo Yuhao—sounds of bounds cracking and breaking was heard. Blood began seeping out of his orifices.

Considering this was his spiritual avatar, his soul, Huo Yuhao was experiencing pain unlike the time when he fused with the Ice Empress's torso soul bone. That was physical pain, this was pain from his very soul!

Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth, activating his Susanoo to fight against the immense force weighing him down.

"You should've just accepted my position as a good. little. boy!"

The golden-eyed figure that had once been Snow Empress paused upon seeing the blue demonic skeletal construct, her presence oppressive, cold, and divine.

"Marvelous....a power from another world? Its defensive capabilities is at the level of a Titled Douluo, even though the boy is at 4 soul rings...." 'Snow Empress' shook her head, letting out a deep sigh. "Seriously, what is the Planar Lord of this planet doing? Letting outsiders...No, considering that the Divine Realm is currently—"

"Hey! Get out of Snow Empress's spiritual body!" Huo Yuhao shouted, his voice trembling with both anger and strain as the ethereal blue form of his Susanoo manifested around him, standing tall and defiant.

The skeletal frame glowed with a fierce intensity, offering him a temporary respite from the suffocating pressure that the Ice God's presence exerted.

The figure wearing Snow Empress's form stopped mid-sentence, narrowing her golden eyes in irritation. "You dare interrupt me, boy?" she hissed, her tone dripping with condescension. "You're like a young calf that doesn't fear a tiger. Don't you understand that you are standing before a God?"

Huo Yuhao's Susanoo surged forward, its skeletal arm reaching for the figure.

But before it could land a strike, the air around Snow Empress distorted, crackling with the raw energy of the Ice God's consciousness. The space split opened and a towering wall of ice shot up between them, blocking the attack.

"You think that construct can protect you?" The Ice God's voice echoed from Snow Empress's mouth, her expression twisted with contempt. "Even with such foreign power, you are nothing in the presence of divinity."

"Hahaha...."

"Hm?" The Ice God frowned, her eyes narrowed. "Was seeing such disparity between us already sent you into a crazed fit? I expected more from the mortal that earned my interest."

"No. No, no, no...." Huo Yuhao slowly rose to his feet, his Mangekyou Sharingan burning brightly, the defiant grin on his face not matching the dire situation. "I'm just laughing at the sheer audacity of your arrogance!"

"Huh?" Snow Empress's expression turned completely dead, her blank golden eyes showing no emotion, only cold indifference. The Ice God, speaking through Snow Empress, tilted her head slightly, as if processing Huo Yuhao's unexpected response.

"You laugh in the face of a god?" The Ice God's voice was low, almost a growl, filled with cold disdain. "Do you not understand your place? You are but a mortal, and yet you challenge me with such insolence."

Huo Yuhao straightened up, his body aching under the weight of the divine pressure, but his resolve only grew stronger. "My place?" he scoffed. "Like hell you have any right to judge me. Like you have the right to control her!"

Snow Empress clenched her fists, her golden eyes narrowed and looked down.

'Stay down, my child! I will return your spirit back when—'

"You may be a god, but that doesn't make you invincible. Didn't you suddenly disappear from your territory for eons?" Huo Yuhao taunted her with a smirk on his face.

"You—!"

"Also, you're not in your true form." Huo Yuhao clasped his hands into a different set of handseals. His Mangekyou Sharingan flared as the energy around him surged, the fiery contradiction of Kuraokami intensifying.

"You're just a split of your divine consciousness!"

"Such mouth...! I'll be sure to freeze it and break it apart!"

The small dimension they were started to break and distort, the overwhelming chill of the Ice God's divine presence pressing down harder. Towering ice crystals spread across the everywhere, and the golden thread of control pulsed more intensely, as if the Ice God was tightening its grip on Snow Empress.

However, to the utter shock of the Ice God, Huo Yuhao laughed harder.

"Hahaha! You complete idiot!"

The Ice God growled, confusion adorned on the Snow Empress's beautiful face. "What are you laughing for, mortal?! Do you realize what you're going to go through now?"

"Do you realize you're about to do?" Huo Yuhao retorted, blood continuously dripping from his eyes. "You're about to destroy this small space apart!"

The Ice God went silent, eyes furrowed in deep thought and her eyes widened in realization.

"No!"

"What is happening here?" A wise, ancient voice permeated through the air and the figure of Snow Empress went still. "What is this foreign energy intertwined with Snow Empress's spiritual body?"

"An intruder, huh." Another voice was sounded and Indra appeared from behind Huo Yuhao, his Mangekyou Sharingan staring at Snow Empress.

The Ice God in Snow Empress's body felt a shiver run down her spine, fear that it hadn't felt in a very long time resurfaced in her mind.

'J-Just who is this man?! I could understand the Necromancer stirring up a sense of dread within me, considering he has domain over the dead, but this man in front of me?!According to Snow Empress's memories, this man shouldn't have ascended to Godhood, so why?' The Ice God gritted her teeth and raised her hands, a spiral of ice energy gathered in her palms.

Swoosh!*

"Mere mortals, you dare go against me—!" Her eyes widened as she looked down to see Snow Empress falling down before Huo Yuhao caught her, who looked to be unconscious.

The blue thread that was attached to her head was cut.

'What happened?' The Ice God thought, dumbfounded.

"You talk too much..."

Electrolux appeared behind the Ice God, a sword in his hand that he casually sweep to the side. He glanced at the small specter floating above. "You're merely an Ice Element, your control over a soul is trash. Against a Necromancer such as myself, even if I'm not at my full strength, it was simple to cut the connection between you and Snow Empress."

"Damn Necromancer....! Aaagh-!" The Ice God's scream was cut off as a hand grabbed the specter.

Indra brought his hand back and stared down at the Ice God's split consciousness coldly, "We're all spirits here, do you honestly think you could simply leave?" his Mangekyou Sharingan revolved.

"Tsukuyomi!"

There was a brief pause as Huo Yuhao dropped to his knees, his Mangekyou Sharingan cancelled, a shrill cry of pain was heard.

Indra snorted and clenched his fist, scattering the Ice God's consciousness like they were ashes. "They didn't even last a day, and they dare call themselves a God? Pathetic."

Electrolux walked towards Huo Yuhao and leaned down to survey Snow Empress's condition. "Hmm. Aside from some energy consumption, Snow Empress seemed to be fine."

"Really? Thank...whatever good God there is in the world." Huo Yuhao muttered, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Yuhao, put her down for now." Indra walked up to him with a frown. "Due to the damage the Ice God caused to this small space, some of Snow Empress's energy had spilled out. If you don't handle it now, your body's going to explode!"

Electrolux then added, "We'll fix the pocket dimension here for now. Yuhao, hurry."

Huo Yuhao's expression changed and he nodded in understanding. He got up for a moment before placing Snow Empress on a ice bed before heading out.

Electrolux glanced at Indra, "Why didn't you tell him about the matter of his left arm?"

Indra shrugged. "I didn't have to, Yuhao already figured out what to do."

Back in the hotel room.

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes and spat out a mouthful of blood. Tremendous amount of soul power and Immortal Qi started to surged out of his body, cracking and shattering the ice in the room.

The energies rampaging in his body was so terrible and thick that he felt like his body was being bloated up like a balloon with a continuous pump of water from the ocean!

'Ugh! S-So full...! I gotta...redirect the energies....!' He glanced down at his left arm, and a resolute look flashed across his eyes.

"Yuhao!" At that moment, Elder Xuan busted through the thick ice crystals that covered the window. With wide eyes, he stared at Huo Yuhao emanating an unbelievable amounts of energy that his cultivation shouldn't be able to produce.

"Elder Xuan, good timing! I need your help!" Huo Yuhao exclaimed as he flexed his right hand into a handseal and placed it over his left arm. "Could you create a small dimensional pocket or devour an explosion at the level of a Class 8 Soul Tool?!"

"Huh? Yuhao, what's—"

"No time! Just. Do. It!"

Elder Xuan frowned but nodded in understanding, this was certainly not the time to ask any questions.

Without any hesitation, he brought his hands together and the space between his palms suddenly began to distort and pulsed with immense soul power.

Huo Yuhao nodded and he looked down to see that his left arm had turned into a crystalline structure and started giving off a dangerous emerald hue.

'C'mon! Take it all you piece of shit!' Huo Yuhao groaned as he cursed, shifting all of the spilled soul power of Snow Empress and the Ice God's divine power into his left arm.

It took two minutes, but it felt like seven hours had passed for Huo Yuhao as he pushed all the energies into his left arm.

Closing his eyes, there was a bright green light as he revealed his third eye, shocking Elder Xuan from the immense life energy coming out of his Eye for Eternity.

'Such pure life energy....So I was right. Yuhao isn't a pure Evil Soul Master if he has such life energy that it feels like I'm standing near the Golden Tree.' Elder Xuan gulped, his hands slightly trembling.

He was even further surprise as a deep jade green knife passes through Huo Yuhao's third eye and landed on his right hand.

But Elder Xuan's look of surprise then shifted into a look of horror as Huo Yuhao unhesitatingly placed the edge of the green blade against his lower left bicep.

"Yuhao, wait—!"

"Haaaaa!" Huo Yuhao screamed and with a swift motion, he brought the blade down.

...

❄️Shout out to the great Cultivators of my patreon, may you reach the peak of the heavens and conquer the earth! Pursue immortality and receive enlightenment!

•Julien

•SpamSubi

•matatank

•B1G_DREAM

•Nicholas Berenguer

❄️A bigger shout out to the ones who ascended to become a One Above All!! The GOATS! THE MAJESTIES!!

•Tyler Dann

•Adrian Durand

•Chris

•swift arrow

•Uncle father

Wanna read advanced chapters, other stories, photos of the characters and support me all at the same time so I can pump out more chapters, and possibly dish out extra chaps? Well then, head on over to become enlightened cultivators!

P.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/FroztDouluo