"Is it the Titan Snow Demon King, or another background creature?"
Mu Yang could not help but speculate inwardly.
A cultivation of around two hundred thousand years was no small matter. Within his knowledge, only two possibilities matched—either the Titan Snow Demon King, one of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North alongside the two Empresses of Ice and Snow, or one of the background spirit beasts that had never been introduced in the original story, fated to fall under a heavenly tribulation.
After some thought, Mu Yang led Shui Bing'er as they flew northwest.
Regardless of whether this ferocious beast was truly the Titan Snow Demon King, so long as they feigned weakness and fought it, the commotion that followed would most likely draw out the Empresses of Ice and Snow.
Moreover, considering that the Ice Empress was more active than the Snow Empress, if they did not display overly powerful strength, the one to appear would very likely be the Ice Empress alone—unless she happened to be away from the core region of the Extreme North at this time.
If that were the case, then his plan would proceed even more smoothly.
Not long after, within the sight of the two, a massive figure shrouded within the blizzard came into view.
That towering figure stood a full hundred meters tall, its entire body covered in white fur, resembling a white-furred ape. From afar, it looked like a giant that could pierce the heavens.
As Mu Yang had expected, this colossal figure radiating a powerful aura was indeed the Titan Snow Demon King, one of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North who had appeared in the later story.
"Hiss—such a huge body! It's at least a hundred meters tall, isn't it?"
Gazing at the massive figure in the distance, Shui Bing'er could not help but click her tongue.
"By eye it's about that. It calls itself the second-largest beast on land—no other spirit beast would dare claim first."
Even though he had been mentally prepared, Mu Yang was still shaken by the sheer size of the Titan Snow Demon King.
It was not that he had never seen colossal beasts before. The Azure Sky Bull Python, for instance, had a body length of no less than a hundred meters.
But one had to understand—while the Azure Bull Sky Python was serpentine and slender, resembling a stretched piece of dried meat, the Titan Snow Demon King was a humanoid beast. Seen from afar, it was like a giant a hundred meters tall. The shock it brought was far beyond what the Azure Sky Bull Python could deliver.
"Come to think of it, did the Ancient Ice God really have such… heavy tastes?"
Recalling the origins of the Titan Snow Demon King's race, Mu Yang could not help but harbor such a wicked thought.
If he remembered correctly, the Titan Snow Demons were the descendants born when the Ancient Ice God lay with a Titan Giant.
And though the Titan Snow Demon King's one-hundred-meter frame was an exceptional case within the Titan Snow Demon race, ordinary Titan Snow Demons were by no means small. Even a newborn Titan Snow Demon stood ten meters tall, and once fully grown, they exceeded fifty meters.
Given the enormous size of ordinary members of this race, it was clear the Titan Giant who had been favored was not small either.
So, was it that the Ancient Ice God had an unusually heavy taste, or that the Ice God itself was also a giant?
"Mu Yang, this big fellow's cultivation should far exceed a hundred thousand years. Why don't you use its spirit ring?"
After sizing up the distant Titan Snow Demon King, Shui Bing'er suggested to Mu Yang.
"This Titan Snow Demon's cultivation is about two hundred thousand years. Too low—it won't do."
Mu Yang shook his head.
Truth be told, the Titan Snow Demon King's spirit ring was rather compatible with the Iceflame Saint Shadow Martial Soul. But its cultivation was ultimately a bit low. Perhaps in the past he might have considered it, but now, it simply could not enter Mu Yang's eyes.
A two-hundred-thousand-year spirit ring held no attraction for him. Moreover, killing a spirit beast above one hundred thousand years guaranteed the drop of a spirit bone. Whether killed or sacrificed, the Titan Snow Demon King would only yield the torso bone that Mu Yang currently lacked.
But the torso bone had already been reserved for the Ice Empress.
Because the Ice Empress' cultivation was higher, once the torso bones were completed, the resulting physical boost would be greater, allowing him to attach a god-bestowed ninth spirit ring of higher years when advancing as a Food-type Titled Douluo.
By comparison, the Ice Empress was superior to the Titan Snow Demon King. Naturally, Mu Yang would not abandon the Ice Empress' ring and bone in favor of the Titan Snow Demon King.
As for Shui Bing'er?
She did not need it for now either. God-bestowed spirit rings were superior to the Titan Snow Demon King's ring, and with a god-bestowed spirit ring already in hand, Shui Bing'er would undoubtedly attach it as her ninth spirit ring to advance into a Titled Douluo.
The Titan Snow Demon King's spirit bone, however, could prove useful—after all, Shui Bing'er currently also lacked a torso bone.
But to hunt the Titan Snow Demon King just for a spirit bone would be far too wasteful. At the very least, it was still a two-hundred-thousand-year spirit ring—such a treasure could not be squandered.
Therefore, Mu Yang intended to temporarily spare the Titan Snow Demon King and see whether the Snow Empress later could provide him with a surprise.
If, after dealing with the Snow Empress, she dropped a torso bone, then the extra Ice Empress' torso bone could be given to Shui Bing'er.
If, however, the Snow Empress did not drop a torso bone, then the Titan Snow Demon King would simply be out of luck.
"No—that's wrong!"
Suddenly, Mu Yang realized that there was a flaw in his earlier plan.
With Shui Bing'er's physical constitution, once she cultivated to rank 90 and reached Quasi-Titled Douluo, if she advanced to nine rings using a god-bestowed spirit ring, the ninth spirit ring's years would likely not exceed five hundred thousand.
But if the Snow Empress were compelled to sacrifice herself to Shui Bing'er, then Shui Bing'er's ninth spirit ring would reach at least six hundred thousand years.
Moreover, if the Snow Empress sacrificed to Shui Bing'er, the resulting spirit bone would definitely be the torso bone she lacked.
If instead the Snow Empress sacrificed to him, serving as the seventh spirit ring of the Iceflame Saint Shadow Martial Soul, his spirit bone slots would already be full. In that case, the bone dropped might not necessarily be a torso bone.
"And most importantly, a god-bestowed spirit ring usually only yields one skill. The seventh ring skill is fixed as Spirit Avatar anyway, so the god-bestowed ring's limitation has no effect.
But the Snow Empress' spirit ring, without accident, could grant Bing'er two spirit skills. On this point alone, the Snow Empress' ring surpasses a god-bestowed ring."
Casting a glance at Shui Bing'er beside him, Mu Yang could not help but think inwardly.
After a moment of consideration, Mu Yang had his plan: once he possessed divine-level combat strength, he would arrange for Shui Bing'er to obtain the Snow Empress' spirit ring and bone, while he himself would use the god-bestowed spirit ring she still held.
"ROAR——!"
At this moment, the distant Titan Snow Demon King let out a furious bellow, its lantern-sized blue eyes locking fiercely onto Mu Yang and Shui Bing'er.
There was no need for words. Any human Spirit Master who dared enter the Extreme North was here to hunt spirit beasts.
Although the Titan Snow Demon King could not discern the exact levels of Mu Yang and Shui Bing'er, it could sense their extraordinary auras. Naturally, it assumed that the two had come to hunt high-aged spirit beasts—or even hundred-thousand-year beasts—to ascend to nine-ring Titled Douluo.
And for human Spirit Masters who dared to come to the Extreme North to hunt, and whose target was high-aged or hundred-thousand-year spirit beasts, the Titan Snow Demon King, as one of the rulers of the Extreme North, could not possibly harbor any goodwill.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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