Tianlin stepped forward and, as he had with Tang San, cremated Tang Hao's body with his ultimate fire. With a few clinks, six glowing soul bones fell onto the snow.
"All high-level soul bones—the weakest is over thirty thousand years, the strongest nearly eighty thousand. Tang Hao was really rich!" Ning Rongrong excitedly collected them. With her Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, she immediately identified their value—each was priceless.
Now, between her and Tianlin, they had seven soul bones, including Tang Hao's full set and the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone. If word got out, countless desperate people would go mad over them.
"Humph, who knows how many soul beasts that guy slaughtered for these? Damn it, those fools from Di Tian let him run wild for so long. He should've been killed ages ago!" Skydream Ice Silkworm said angrily.
"Well then, host of Skydream Ice Silkworm, it's your turn now," Snow Empress said, walking over with Ice Empress. Ning Rongrong quickly hid behind Tianlin, thoroughly shocked by their strength.
Tang Hao had been undefeated for years, yet had no power to resist against these two.
Snow Empress smiled. "Little girl, there's no need to be afraid—we won't harm you. If it were the original Skydream, we might have captured and devoured him slowly. But since he's already sacrificed himself to this human, he's of no value to us anymore."
"Little boy, tell me—was it you who deliberately released Skydream's soul wave earlier? Was it to attract us, so you could use our power to kill that Title Douluo?"
"As expected of Snow Empress—sharp as ever. Yes, that's exactly what I did. Actually, I could have killed him myself, but I promised Brother Skydream that he'd die at the hands of soul beasts, to truly avenge those slaughtered," Tianlin replied.
"Hmph, at least you haven't betrayed your race. Skydream was right—soul beast vengeance should be taken by soul beast kings. Only then can our people rest easy. If it were by human hands, I'd feel uneasy too," Ice Empress nodded approvingly.
"Wow, Bingbing praised me! Xiao Tian, did you hear? Bingbing praised me!" In the spiritual sea, Skydream Ice Silkworm was rolling around excitedly.
"Alright, Brother Skydream, now's not the time to swoon. If you have anything to say, tell them yourself." This time Tianlin didn't give up his body to Skydream but used the Holy Spirit Pearl's life energy to let Skydream leave his body temporarily as a soul.
In human form, Skydream had long golden hair, wore a spotless white robe, had curved eyebrows and golden eyes, and looked very handsome—just a bit short, like a little boy.
"So that's Skydream? I always thought he'd look like a creepy old man," Ning Rongrong mused. Given his lovesick behavior and ancient age, she'd pictured him as an old lecher.
But even as a handsome boy, he couldn't hide his lovesick, simping nature. Skydream looked at Ice Empress and said, "Bingbing, you're even prettier after all these years. Can you take human form too? Your real body is intimidating, reminds me of when you used to chase me down."
"So troublesome," Ice Empress muttered, but her massive scorpion body slowly transformed. Her human form was beautiful yet cold, less proud than the adult Snow Empress, but with a certain frosty charm. Her fair face had four emerald markings on each side, and her dark green hair was tied in twin ponytails—cute and lovely.
Apparently, these fierce beasts could all take human form, though they weren't like Xiao Wu, who truly became human. Their essence was still soul beast, and their combat power was barely affected.
Ning Rongrong was amazed—she hadn't expected such fierce soul beasts to become handsome men and beautiful women in human form.
She thought of Xiao Wu—at least those long legs left her feeling inferior.
"Alright, say what you need to. Since you've sacrificed yourself, I'm not interested in you anymore. Say your piece and get lost," Ice Empress said coldly.
She was actually annoyed. She'd always been Skydream's crush, and now he'd attached himself to someone else.
"Skydream, you deliberately lured that Title Douluo to us. Surely it wasn't just to have us kill him, was it? Or was that only a side goal? You came back for us, didn't you?" Snow Empress was wiser than Ice Empress. She might not know what Skydream wanted, but she'd guessed his real target was the two of them.
"I came back to save you," Skydream said bluntly.
Ice Empress sneered. "Heh, save us? Don't make me laugh. In the Extreme North, even Di Tian can't touch us. What danger could we be in? If there really were an enemy we couldn't handle, what use would you be?"
"That's right. In this world, there are few who can match you. But those who can kill you aren't just enemies—there's also the ten-thousand-year limit. Snow Empress, you're now at 690,000 years. Ice Empress, you're at 390,000. You're both approaching your next limit. Ask yourselves—what are your chances of surviving it?" Skydream pressed with a serious expression.
Both Snow Empress and Ice Empress frowned at this sore spot. The soul beast limit got harder each time.
Ice Empress estimated her odds of surviving the 400,000-year tribulation at less than thirty percent. For Snow Empress's 700,000-year tribulation, she had almost no hope. Facing it would be like battling a god—she had no chance.
So far, there were very few soul beasts who had survived 700,000 years. Besides Skydream Ice Silkworm, there was only the Deep Sea Demon Whale King in the ocean, and Di Tian and the Evil-Eyed Tyrant Master on land—each a supreme beast with unparalleled body and spirit.
Snow Empress believed her ultimate ice was unbeaten in battle, but in pure physical strength, she lagged behind them.
She had even considered, if her strength didn't see a breakthrough before her next limit, to use a special method to become human and start anew, to avoid the calamity. In the original, she did exactly that—only to be captured and nearly made into someone's second martial soul.