High in the heavens, the golden radiance of the Soul Beast Ranking gradually faded away. Yet the shock brought by Bi Ji's appearance on the list spread across the entire continent like a tsunami.
Seven hundred thousand years of cultivation, dual ultimate attributes, command over life and death. This Emerald Swan had already become one of the most feared existences on the continent.
At the Lake of Life within the Star Dou Great Forest, Bi Ji slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze lifted toward the Soul Beast Ranking in the sky, anticipation and battle intent flashing through her eyes.
"Next, whose turn will it be?"
Her voice was gentle yet carried an undeniable authority, like heavenly music echoing across the entire lakeside.
[Soul Beast Ranking No. 8: Snow Empress]
[Age: 710,000 years]
[Affiliation: Extreme North]
[Evaluation: True form is the Ice Heaven Snow Maiden, born of heaven and earth. She is the strongest soul beast of the Extreme North. Rumored to possess the Ice God's bloodline and wields three supreme techniques: Emperor Palm, Emperor Sword, and Emperor Frost Heaven.]
[Reward: Cultivation increased by 130,000 years. Ice God bloodline increased by 20%.]
The Extreme North stretched endlessly, a frozen wasteland of ice.
Goose-feather snow filled the sky as bone-piercing cold winds carried shards of ice, howling across the boundless snowfields. This was a forbidden zone for life, yet a paradise for the soul beasts of the Extreme North.
At the center of the ice plains stood a majestic palace forged from thousand-year cold ice. Thick snow covered its roof, and ice crystals refracted a frigid glow, resembling the dwelling place of a goddess of ice and snow.
On the plaza before the palace, several figures stood proudly amid the snow.
At the forefront was a figure clad in white robes whiter than snow, appearing only sixteen or seventeen years old.
Her skin was crystal clear, as though carved from the purest cold ice. Between her brows lay an innate chill and majesty, as if she were the sovereign of the Extreme North itself.
She was the Snow Empress, the Ice Heaven Snow Maiden in her true form, the uncrowned ruler of the Extreme North.
Beside her, the Ice Empress, dressed in a cyan-green long gown, widened her eyes in shock.
Next to the Ice Empress stood a tall and burly figure, his body covered in snow-white fur. His enormous bear paws gleamed with cold light. He was Little White, a clansman of the Ice Bear King of the Extreme North.
On Little White's other side stood an even more massive presence, towering dozens of meters high. His entire body was covered in thick armor of ice and snow, like a moving iceberg. He was the Titan Snow Demon King.
When the light curtain of the Soul Beast Ranking pierced through the raging wind and snow and illuminated the skies above the Extreme North ice plains, the Snow Empress's crystal-clear eyes rippled for the first time.
"Soul Beast Ranking… eighth place?"
Her cold voice sounded like fragments of ice colliding, gentle yet carrying unquestionable authority.
She gazed at the slowly emerging words "Eighth Place" on the light curtain. Her jade-like hand lifted slightly, and a strand of ultimate ice energy coiled around her fingertips.
The information on the light curtain exploded like thunder across the Extreme North.
The Ice Empress's pupils contracted sharply, disbelief flashing through her icy eyes. "Seven hundred ten thousand years… and only ranked eighth?"
Little White scratched his head, his massive bear face filled with simple astonishment.
"What? The Snow Empress is only eighth with seven hundred ten thousand years? Then how strong do the ones above her have to be?"
The Titan Snow Demon King let out a deep roar. A layer of frost spread across his heavy ice armor, showing that he too was shaken by this ranking.
On the ice plains below, countless soul beasts raised their heads to stare at the light curtain in the sky, their eyes filled with shock and reverence.
"It's Lady Snow Empress!"
"Seven hundred ten thousand years, and she's only ranked eighth!"
"The Ice God bloodline! It's said Lady Snow Empress shares the same origin as the ancient Ice God. So it's true!"
The giants of the Titan Snow Demon Clan knelt to the ground one after another, their massive bodies trembling and cracking the ice beneath them.
The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion Clan prostrated themselves in the snow, the ice crystals on their tail hooks gleaming with submissive light.
Even the usually arrogant Ice Snow Dragons, led by their clan leader Luka, lowered their heads toward the direction where the Snow Empress stood.
They all understood that the Snow Empress was not only the ruler of the Extreme North, but also the inheritor of the Ice God's legacy.
The Ice God bloodline flowing through her veins granted her potential and power far surpassing soul beasts of the same level.
Before the palace, the Snow Empress's gaze fell upon the reward, "Ice God bloodline increased by 20%," and a trace of anticipation flickered through her cold eyes.
Born of heaven and earth, condensed from the purest ice-aspected world essence of the Extreme North, she shared the same origin as the ancient Ice God and was of the Ice God's own kin.
For countless years, she had longed to fully awaken the Ice God bloodline and restore the glory of the ancient Ice God. Yet the shackles of bloodline had always been difficult to break.
Now, the reward of the Soul Beast Ranking had given her an opportunity that came once in a thousand years.
Boom!
Before the Snow Empress could think further, a dazzling pillar of light suddenly descended from the heavens.
This pillar was different from the dual-colored energy Bi Ji had received. It was pure to the extreme, an indescribable ice-blue hue containing vast and boundless divine ice power, as if it were pouring directly down from the Ice God's divine kingdom.
The pillar of light pierced through the raging snowstorm and instantly enveloped the Snow Empress's body.
Majestic energy surged into her like a roaring river, and the Snow Empress's aura began to rise at a visible speed.
Seven hundred ten thousand years, seven hundred twenty thousand years, seven hundred thirty thousand years…
The torrent of energy was unstoppable. Her cultivation soared rapidly, drawing forth the earth veins beneath the ice in a frenzy. The entire Extreme North ice plains trembled faintly.
In the end, when the flood of energy finally subsided, the Snow Empress's cultivation stabilized firmly at eight hundred forty thousand years.
Eight hundred forty thousand years of ultimate ice cultivation caused the air around her to crystallize into ice. The temperature within a thousand-mile radius plummeted sharply. Even the howling cold winds seemed frozen solid, leaving only absolute stillness between heaven and earth.
Even more astonishing was the pure power of the Ice God bloodline, which flowed into her limbs and bones like gentle spring rain.
The Snow Empress could clearly feel the Ice God bloodline within her rapidly awakening, dormant power being roused one layer after another.
Faint ice crystal patterns appeared across her skin. In her eyes reflected the phantom image of the Ice God. An ancient and sacred divine pressure slowly radiated from within her body.
Hum!
The Snow Empress raised her hand. In her palm, a strand of ice-blue energy condensed.
In an instant, heaven and earth changed color.
The raging snowstorm abruptly halted. Countless ice crystals solidified in midair, forming a long sword of flawless clarity. Ice God runes flowed across the blade, exuding an aura capable of destroying heaven and earth.
This was one of her three supreme techniques, Emperor Sword.
Immediately after, she brought her fingers together into a palm and gently pressed downward toward the ice plains below.
"Emperor Palm!"
Her cold shout fell, and a massive ice-blue palm descended from the sky like the firmament collapsing.
Wherever it passed, the ice instantly froze solid, forming an endless frozen expanse. The ultimate chill contained within the palm wind was enough to make any soul beast tremble in fear.
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