Chapter 182: Ice Empress — I've Already Taken Ye Chen's Shape, Tianmeng, Give It Up
Under normal circumstances, Huo Yuhao had no chance of surpassing Ye Chen—not even a sliver of possibility.
But Tianmeng had once told him: if he could reach level 20, a great opportunity would await him—a fate-defying chance that would help him overturn destiny itself. One day, he would surpass Ye Chen, leaving him far behind!
Thinking of that, Huo Yuhao straightened his posture, his young face firm with determination. He looked at Ye Chen and said seriously, "Ye Chen, I'll definitely surpass you! I'll make Wang Dong realize who's the most reliable roommate!"
Ye Chen blinked, slightly amused by the sudden childish declaration. "Alright then," he said with a smile, shrugging. "I'll look forward to it."
"Eh? You're Huo Yuhao… You have a very familiar aura on you."
The voice came from Ye Chen's shoulder. The Ice Empress tilted her head curiously, examining Huo Yuhao with those amber-gold eyes of hers.
Ye Chen had mentioned this boy before—the one who carried the essence of the Tianmeng Iceworm as his Spirit Wisdom Ring.
Even without her original cultivation, she could still share parts of Ye Chen's perception.
The moment she saw Huo Yuhao, she saw through him completely. Pathetic talent, weak physique, pitiful cultivation—an utter waste.
That bumbling fool Tianmeng had actually chosen this boy as his host? Absurd.
At her words, Huo Yuhao instinctively looked up—and froze.
The girl sitting on Ye Chen's shoulders was… breathtaking. Her fair, crystal-like skin gleamed faintly under the light, her eyes shone like cut amber gems—cold, elegant, and wholly divine.
Just meeting her gaze made him feel as if he'd fallen into an icy abyss, his body trembling with an instinctive fear.
It was the first time he'd ever seen such an impossibly beautiful—and terrifying—little girl.
Up until this moment, all his attention had been on Ye Chen. He hadn't even noticed the girl riding on his shoulders.
Who was she?
The way she clung to Ye Chen—were they siblings?
No… they didn't look alike at all.
While confusion overwhelmed him, deep within Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, the once-slumbering Tianmeng Iceworm suddenly jolted awake.
A familiar resonance, ancient and soul-deep, made his entire essence tremble with excitement.
"B—Bingbing?!"
The Tianmeng Iceworm's voice rang through Huo Yuhao's mind, filled with shock and ecstatic disbelief.
"That's her aura! It's really her! How… how could she be here? Wasn't she supposed to be deep in the Extreme North?!"
The ancient spirit nearly lost its composure.
The Ice Empress—the one it had dreamt of recruiting for eons to complete its god-making plan—was here… alive, in a human city, sitting on the shoulders of a human boy?!
Shock and confusion collided violently within Tianmeng's mind. Unable to contain itself any longer, it burst from Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea.
A surge of silver light erupted from Huo Yuhao's forehead.
Then—whoosh!
The air above his shoulder twisted, condensing into a short, plump white worm around twenty centimeters long. Its glossy body shimmered as two round eyes locked onto the Ice Empress, swelling with awe, delight, and disbelief.
"T-Tianmeng… brother?!" Huo Yuhao stammered in shock.
"Huh—didn't you say no one could see you?! Why—why did you come out?!"
His mind went completely blank. If a strong cultivator passed by now, Tianmeng's existence would be exposed—his greatest secret revealed!
But the Tianmeng Iceworm wasn't listening. Its chubby form trembled with excitement, all awareness focused on the dazzling figure before it.
"Bingbing! It's really you!"
Its voice quivered with emotion. "You—you're actually here! Am I dreaming?! Shouldn't you be cultivating in the Extreme North? What happened to you?!"
The Ice Empress stared down at the overly familiar, yammering white worm. Her flawless face showed momentary shock—then turned cold with unmistakable disgust, her beautiful eyes glinting with repulsion as if she had spotted filth on snow.
"Hmph. And what business of yours is it where I am?" she replied coolly, lifting her chin in pride.
"Wait… Ice Empress—your form—hold on!" Tianmeng's tone wavered, confused and suspicious. "What's your relationship with this human?!"
Because something was clearly unusual.
The Ice Empress didn't feel like a spirit beast anymore. Her state… it was oddly similar to Tianmeng's own—like a Spirit Wisdom Ring.
Yet unlike Tianmeng, her body wasn't condensed soul energy. It was real—alive, flawless, and physical. She could breathe, eat, and move freely.
Whereas Tianmeng's substance was little more than spiritual energy given shape; solid when his energy was abundant, mere phantom when depleted. He had no true sense of touch—all sensations had to be simulated through mental power.
Compared to her, he was little more than a ghost.
"Well," she said with a small, smug smile, "of course I chose to merge with Ye Chen willingly—as his Spirit Wisdom Ring. Anything wrong with that?"
"Spirit Wisdom Ring…?"
Huo Yuhao's eyes went wide.
That was exactly what Tianmeng was!
But Tianmeng had told him he was the first and only such existence in the world.
Yet now there was another one—attached to Ye Chen, no less.
The shock made his stomach twist. Tianmeng's gift, once his only advantage over Ye Chen, now meant nothing.
If Ye Chen had one too—what chance did he have left?
Meanwhile, Tianmeng Iceworm froze completely.
Its expression of disbelief would have been comical if not for the way its entire body flickered, unstable from the emotional surge shaking it to its core.
The mighty Tianmeng Iceworm—utterly speechless.
(END CHAPTER)
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