Tianlin ruthlessly beat Tang Hao for a full two minutes. Only when he sensed two immensely powerful auras approaching did he stop his assault and retract his soul bone armor.
"Ugh!" Face swollen and bruised, Tang Hao collapsed to his knees. He didn't understand why Tianlin had held back. Although his whole body was in pain, the injuries were only superficial. As long as he had no internal injuries, his cultivation wouldn't be affected.
"Why did you show me mercy?" Tang Hao asked with difficulty.
"I told you before, it's not that I don't want to kill you, but I promised a friend that your life must be left for the soul beasts to take." After speaking, Tianlin looked to the horizon. Two terrifying auras were drawing near.
Suddenly, a violent blizzard swept over, with massive dark clouds covering the entire sky. The blizzard gathered and gradually took human form—a woman with long, snow-white hair cascading down to her feet. Her sky-blue eyes were ethereal and penetrating as if they could see through everything. Her slender figure was flawless, and though her long white dress had no decorations, it made her appear noble, stunning, and meticulous—like a plum blossom blooming in the cold, standing out with proud elegance.
"So beautiful!" Both Tianlin and Ning Rongrong couldn't help but exclaim.
Ning Rongrong prided herself as a rare beauty, but compared to this woman, she still felt somewhat lacking.
Tianlin even thought that, in terms of temperament and appearance, this woman surpassed even the beauties he once considered the most beautiful—Qian Renxue and Bibi Dong.
"That's Snow Empress, the true queen of the Extreme North, and one of the top five most powerful soul beasts in the world today," Skydream Ice Silkworm introduced.
"Young lady and young man, you both have good taste. You're very handsome and beautiful too!" Snow Empress smiled at them. Although she was a soul beast, she was also a woman, and their sincere praise of her beauty made her quite happy.
But she didn't forget her purpose. "Now then, you three, can any of you tell me where the soul beast god Skydream Ice Silkworm, who summoned me here, is?"
Just as Tianlin was about to answer, a crisp voice tinged with anger sounded, "Snow Empress, Skydream is my prey—you can't touch him!"
Tianlin looked toward the source of the voice—a scorpion.
It was one and a half meters long, adorned with two colors: icy blue and emerald green. Its two front pincers were each a meter long, covered with hexagonal, diamond-like protrusions, with the foremost tips shining with a silver, mirror-like luster.
Seeing the Ice Empress Scorpion exuding killing intent below and the Snow Empress floating above, Tang Hao was utterly dismayed. No one had told him that such terrifying soul beasts lived in the Extreme North. He had thought he'd be safe as long as he avoided the Star Dou and Sunset Forests.
"It's Bingbing! Bingbing's here! Quick, Xiao Tian, lend me your body for a bit, I beg you!" Skydream Ice Silkworm immediately pleaded.
Seeing him like this, Tianlin reluctantly agreed, "Alright, alright, I'll let you reunite with your Bingbing first."
Suddenly, Tianlin's demeanor changed entirely, shifting from a swordsman to a rascal.
"Bingbing, my Bingbing, you're as enchanting as ever! I adore your emerald and snow-white body!"
"You... you're Skydream?" Ice Empress Scorpion was shocked. "You've taken human form? No, I'd be able to tell if a soul beast turned human. What's going on?"
Snow Empress also glanced over in surprise. No wonder she hadn't found Skydream earlier; he was hiding in a human's body. But given her cultivation, she soon saw through it. "So that's it—you actually became a human's intelligent soul ring, hiding your soul in a human's spiritual sea."
"Hehe, as expected of Snow Empress—sharp-eyed as ever. No wonder you're the boss of the Extreme North," Skydream complimented, then looked at Ice Empress. "Bingbing, you have to stand up for me! Just now, this guy bullied me, smashing me with his big hammer over and over. My Xiao Tian is only level eighty and hasn't even gotten his next soul ring yet. There's no way he could beat a Super Douluo. I could only hold on because I was thinking of you—otherwise, you wouldn't have seen me again."
Skydream pointed at Tang Hao, looking utterly aggrieved.
"Brother Skydream, could you not use my face to make such shameless expressions? It creeps me out," Tianlin complained.
Ning Rongrong kept reminding herself, "This isn't my Sword Brother, this isn't my Sword Brother!"
Tang Hao also felt wronged. Look at my swollen face—who beat up whom here?
"Hmph, human affairs have nothing to do with us," Ice Empress said disdainfully.
"But Bingbing, we only fought him to save these Ice Mammoths. Look at him! He's already a Title Douluo but still hunts soul beasts rampantly. My Xiao Tian has a kind heart and couldn't stand for it."
Hearing Skydream's words, the two Empresses looked at the herd of mammoths behind Ning Rongrong. Each was covered in wounds—clearly hammered. Some young calves, no more than ten years old, trembled as they hid under their parents.
"Rampantly hunting soul beasts, and with a hammer?" Snow Empress's face flashed with anger. "Di Tian once sent word that a Title Douluo wielding a hammer was slaughtering soul beasts for soul bones in the Star Dou Forest. So it was you."
At this moment, Snow Empress's voice turned as cold as ice. As her anger grew, the temperature dropped even further—so much so that even Tianlin and Tang Hao felt their blood nearly freezing.
Skydream quickly switched back with Tianlin, allowing Tianlin to use his ultimate fire to warm himself and Ning Rongrong.
"Greedy humans! If you hunted soul beasts only to advance, we soul beast kings would turn a blind eye, because it's an unresolvable conflict and a law of this world. But you—so insatiable! Did you really think we soul beasts are worthless, just for you to trample on?" Snow Empress raged. This seemingly gentle empress was not one to be trifled with.
Even the Titan Snow Demon King had all his bones broken for coveting her beauty. Tang Hao stood even less of a chance.
"So, it's you. You even dared target my Extreme North's soul beasts. Seeking death! Even though Skydream is useless, you don't get to bully him!" Ice Empress menaced, waving her massive pincers at Tang Hao.
Facing the two soul beast monarchs, Tang Hao broke into a cold sweat. In his view, the strongest soul beasts were the Titan Giant Ape and the Azure Bull Python, but compared to these two, they were nothing.
He realized—he was truly in danger today!