When the topic of the Holy Spirit Cult and the Demon Emperor was brought up, an unusual look of fear flickered across Xue Ling's soft face. She merely lowered her voice and responded briefly:
"Mm."
"The Holy Spirit Cult came many years ago to fight for dominance over the Extreme North. In the end, we lost."
"Those evil soul masters originally intended to slaughter us all, but the Cult's leader, the Demon Emperor, intervened and signed an agreement with Titan, forbidding soul beasts from leaving the core region of the Extreme North."
"If any soul beast violates the agreement and gets slaughtered by humans, she won't interfere."
"I escaped from the core region. It's too small, and the accumulated layers of snow are too thick."
"If I had undergone my hundred-thousand-year tribulation there, it would have caused a cataclysmic disaster. I couldn't drag my fellow soul beasts down with me."
Di Tian lowered his gaze slightly. The reality was just as he had expected.
Since Titan Snow Demon King had personally signed an agreement with the Demon Emperor, he must have a way to find her.
The Holy Spirit Cult was like rats hiding in the shadows, masters of concealment. It was far better to seek out someone with a lead than to waste effort sweeping the area with spiritual searches.
He then spoke to comfort Xue Ling. "Don't worry. Soon, all of you will be able to leave the core region and roam freely across the vast snowy plains of the Extreme North."
Hearing Di Tian's promise, Xue Ling's tone suddenly turned melancholic.
"Actually, that is my wish as well."
"Every time I see newly born soul beasts, whether ten-year or hundred-year-old ones, treating the tiny core region as their whole world, just like domesticated pets, I feel an inexplicable ache in my heart."
"But whenever I voice this thought, some ten-thousand-year soul beast will suddenly appear, kneeling and bowing, chanting praises like 'Snow Emperor is wise! Long live the Snow Emperor!'"
"So annoying!"
As they spoke, Di Tian and Xue Ling crossed the boundary into the core region of the Extreme North.
Xue Ling stopped in her tracks and intertwined her fingers with Di Tian's, pressing their thumbs together and hooking their pinkies.
"Remember your words. I'm taking them seriously."
"We're making a pinky promise—one million years, no going back on it."
"Don't look so speechless. I'll help you. Together, we'll achieve the freedom of soul beasts."
Before Di Tian could respond, a furious roar suddenly erupted from the distance, interrupting them.
"INTRUDER! RELEASE THE SNOW EMPEROR!"
A flash of emerald green abruptly appeared on a distant snowy slope.
It was an extremely powerful soul beast of the Extreme North—an Ice Jade Scorpion.
Its entire body was emerald green. Beside its topaz-like eyes, layers of emerald mouthparts were stacked together. Six slender legs were planted firmly in the ground, while two enormous pincers, nearly as long as its body, extended from its front half. A lotus-like emerald scorpion tail trailed behind it, tipped with a lethal, gleaming stinger.
Although the Ice Jade Scorpion was far away from Di Tian, its body shot forward like a streak of green light in an instant.
Its razor-sharp tail stinger extended to an unimaginable length, cutting through the air with a piercing "whoosh," aiming straight at Di Tian.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that Xue Ling didn't even have time to react.
"SPARE HER!"
She wasn't speaking to the Ice Jade Scorpion, but rather pleading with Di Tian.
She had witnessed his terrifying strength firsthand—how he had subdued a Super Douluo-level evil soul master without giving him even a chance to resist.
The Ice Jade Scorpion before them was one she recognized: Bing Ji, the current leader of the Ice Jade Scorpion clan, and a powerful soul beast with a cultivation of two hundred thousand years.
But even with such strength, she wouldn't last a single move against Di Tian.
As expected, just as Bing Ji's emerald-green scorpion stinger reached Di Tian's face, he caught it effortlessly between two fingers. The extreme frost energy it carried couldn't harm him in the slightest.
"Don't kill her!"
"She was just worried about me."
Xue Ling pleaded anxiously, tightly grasping Di Tian's hand, afraid he would strike in anger.
"Snow Emperor, are you unharmed?"
Hearing Bing Ji's concern even while her life was in someone else's grasp, Xue Ling felt both moved and helpless.
"I'm fine."
"But Bing Ji-jie, I'm Xue Ling, not the Snow Emperor!"
Despite Xue Ling's deliberate correction, Bing Ji didn't change her way of addressing her.
"You will grow into the true Snow Emperor, the sole ruler of the Extreme North."
"…And, who is he?"
A trace of shock lingered in Bing Ji's topaz-like eyes.
The towering man before her had caught her full-force attack with just two fingers—she hadn't even been able to see his movements.
This meant that his strength was far beyond hers!
Before Xue Ling could answer, Di Tian spoke first.
"Bing Ji, don't you remember me?"
"Thousands of years ago, when the Snow Emperor completed her six-hundred-thousand-year tribulation, she and I fought in the Extreme North."
"At that time, you had just survived your hundred-thousand-year tribulation and sat at the bottom ranks of the hundred-thousand-year soul beasts."
"Thinking back, the soul beasts of the Extreme North were far more numerous and prosperous than they are today."
"Sigh…"
"The golden age is gone. Now, all we can do is reminisce about those glorious days."
As he spoke, Di Tian released his grip, allowing Bing Ji to retract her tail.
The astonishment in her topaz eyes grew almost tangible.
She instinctively took a few steps back and lowered her proud head.
This was the soul beast equivalent of kneeling on one knee—a gesture of submission.
"Greetings, Beast God."
"I apologize for my offense just now. Please forgive me."
In the world of soul beasts, the strong ruled.
The man before her was arguably the strongest soul beast in existence, surpassing even the former Snow Emperor.
Bowing to a superior was only natural in Bing Ji's eyes.
"Rise."
"The soul beast race has declined. There are fewer and fewer of us left. I won't hold this against you."
"Thank you for your mercy, Beast God." Bing Ji lifted her gaze.
"May I ask why you have come to the Extreme North? Is there any way I can be of service?"
"I—"
Di Tian was just about to speak when he suddenly paused.
"The one I'm looking for has arrived. You can ask Xue Ling about everything else."
Atop a snow-capped peak in the distance, an enormous figure, entirely covered in white, stepped over the summit.
With each step it took, the ground trembled as if shaken by an earthquake.
The Titan Snow Demon King.
The leader of the Titan Snow Demon clan.
Ten thousand years ago, he was the third ruler of the Extreme North.
Now, after enduring ten thousand years of time's trials, he had successfully overcome the three-hundred-thousand-year tribulation.
"Greetings, Beast God."
His massive body crouched down, lowering his colossal head in deference to Di Tian.
"Mm."
"Take me to the Demon Emperor."
"The rest—we can discuss on the way."
Upon hearing Di Tian's words, Titan's enormous eyes flickered with shock and hesitation.
But those emotions came and went in an instant.
Because in the face of such overwhelming power, he had no choice.
And Di Tian had promised he could ask questions along the way.
Although Titan had cultivated for three hundred thousand years and could barely exert the power of an Ultimate Douluo by relying on the Extreme North's terrain, in front of Di Tian, he was still just a novice.
Not much stronger than Bing Ji.
"…Alright."
After agreeing, Titan took on human form.
A giant of a man, even taller than Di Tian.
He wore a thick fur coat, exuding the primal aura of a hunter's civilization.
Soul beasts that had cultivated for over two hundred thousand years, known as "Fierce Beasts," could take on human form without needing to start over.
(End of Chapter)