Chapter 199: Long Time No See
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The three Rank-98 Super Douluos, along with Yan Shaozhe and a few other slightly weaker Super Douluos, may not have personally encountered the true Snow Empress, but they had certainly heard of her abilities.
Once they began suspecting her identity, their minds immediately drifted toward less-than-honorable intentions.
With so many powerful figures eyeing the Snow Empress, the atmosphere in the Great Soul Arena grew unexpectedly heavy.
Noticing the shift, Su Yu quickly analyzed the situation. After observing Yan Shaozhe and Zhongli Wu, he used the power of fate to sense the flow of events, which further confirmed his deductions.
"They're planning something against the Snow Empress?"
Su Yu remained unfazed.
There was no need to worry.
The Snow Empress wasn't some helpless soul trapped within a Sealed God Platform.
Unleashing her full power might come at an irreversible cost, but if she were to self-destruct, she could easily take several Limit Douluos down with her.
Moreover, the fact that she dared to come to Sun-Moon and participate in the Soul Dueling Tournament meant she had a way out.
Su Yu refused to believe that someone as intelligent as the Snow Empress would recklessly step into danger without a proper escape plan.
Suddenly—
"AHHH!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream pierced the air.
Ji Li clutched his mouth, blood gushing from between his fingers.
His name may have sounded auspicious (Ji Li meaning "good fortune"), but ironically, he was an evil soul master.
His martial soul was the Brain-Devouring Beast, a spirit beast that once thrived by consuming brain matter but had long gone extinct. However, Ji Li had somehow awakened it as his martial soul.
Born with an innate soul power of only Rank 2, Ji Li never imagined that his Brain-Devouring Beast martial soul could actually be cultivated. He drifted aimlessly until he was discovered by the Holy Spirit Church at the age of twelve. Over the next eight years, his cultivation skyrocketed from Rank 2 to a Rank-60 Soul Emperor.
Such terrifying growth naturally came at an equally terrifying cost.
To advance, he had to consume brains.
The higher the quality and cultivation of the brain he devoured, the greater the boost to his soul power.
At Rank 60, how many brains had he consumed?
By estimation, at least ten Soul Douluo-level brains.
Or perhaps, the brains of thousands of Soul Elders and Soul Kings?
If measured in ordinary humans—an unthinkable number.
The Brain-Devouring Beast's feeding organ was its tongue, and Ji Li relied on it both for control and as a weapon in combat.
Unfortunately for him, the Snow Empress found his tongue utterly repulsive.
A storm infused with frost condensed into a razor-sharp blade—slicing Ji Li's tongue clean off.
Yan Feng's expression darkened with fury.
This Snow Woman had single-handedly fought all seven of them for three full minutes—and still held the upper hand.
For them, as evil soul masters, this was nothing short of humiliating.
After all, becoming an evil soul master granted them unnatural and grotesque combat methods that made them nearly invincible against opponents of the same level. They could even challenge and defeat foes one or two ranks above them.
Yet here they were, being dominated by one woman.
Bone Dragon Avatar!
Yan Feng's seventh soul ring flared as he transformed into a massive bone dragon, its skeletal body radiating an eerie frost imbued with a sinister chill.
"Ice… is not meant to be used like that."
The Snow Empress's voice was icy, filled with disdain.
To her, ice should be pure.
But Yan Feng had tainted it—mixing it with undead energy, malevolence, and corruption, twisting its very nature.
Such defilement of ice was nothing short of an insult.
A vast surge of ice-elemental energy gathered under the Snow Empress's command, forming into a colossal sword of ice.
The blade pulsed with overwhelming power.
Soul power and spiritual energy fused together, intertwining with the very essence of the world. The sheer force behind this sword had already surpassed the Soul Saint level.
SLASH!
Su Yu carefully observed the Snow Empress as she executed Imperial Ice Sword: Peerless Frost.
Through her technique, he deepened his understanding of the fusion between spiritual power and soul power.
At the same time, a new realization formed in his mind.
"Soul power… is far more than just the connection between the soul and the body."
The Martial Soul refines the external world's elemental energy, converting it into a soul master's soul power. However, the fundamental nature of soul power still originates from elemental energy.
While soul power possesses qualities that make it closely related to spiritual power and vital energy, at its core, it remains elemental energy.
So then—does the "Qi" in the fusion of Essence, Qi, and Spirit also refer to external elemental energy?
"A true fusion should integrate the elemental component of soul power with spiritual power and vital energy."
The Snow Empress showed no mercy.
Just as she was about to finish off Yan Feng after heavily injuring him, the Holy Spirit Sect suddenly chose to surrender.
For an evil soul master, surrender on the battlefield usually meant facing a fate far worse than death. Because of this, Holy Spirit Sect members would typically fight to the last breath rather than give up.
And yet, they had done just that.
Su Yu turned his gaze toward the Grand Preceptor, shrouded in a black robe on the main stage.
"A direct order from Zhongli Wu to Zhang Peng?"
The Snow Empress also glanced at the stage, frowning. She was displeased that she hadn't been able to eliminate all seven of these wicked criminals in the arena.
But there would be other opportunities.
Following their surrender in the team battle, the Holy Spirit Sect also forfeited the individual battles, withdrawing from the competition entirely.
Thus, the final match of the round-robin tournament between the Snow Demon Sect and the Holy Spirit Sect concluded with a victory for the Snow Demon Sect.
Yet, while the tournament had ended, the turmoil sparked by the Snow Empress's identity had only just begun.
---
Nightfall.
Sun Moon Royal Hotel.
"Elder Xuan, that was the Snow Empress, wasn't it?"
Yan Shaozhe's expression was grave as he turned to Elder Xuan, seeking confirmation of his suspicion.
This time, they had not chosen to discuss the matter in the Star Luo Royal Team's quarters. Instead, they gathered in Shrek Academy's own Suite 401.
Elder Xuan's face was equally solemn.
"I have never seen the Snow Empress, the true ruler of the Extreme North, with my own eyes. But the techniques that Snow Woman displayed in the arena—"
"—They were exactly as Elder Mu once described: Imperial Sword, Imperial Palm, and Imperial Frost Heaven, the three ultimate abilities of the Snow Empress."
"And then there's her Martial Soul—the Ice Snow Maiden. One appearing in Su Tong was already difficult enough to comprehend. But now, another one has emerged?"
Yan Shaozhe hesitated before asking, "But hasn't she already cultivated for nearly seven hundred thousand years? How could she still transform into a human? Didn't they say that if a soul beast chose to continue cultivating past one hundred thousand years without taking human form, they would completely lose the ability to do so?"
Elder Xuan explained, "The Snow Empress is the ruler of the Extreme North, ranked third among the Ten Great Beasts. She may have had a special method."
On the Douluo Continent, nothing was ever truly absolute.
Elder Xuan had no intention of overanalyzing how the Snow Empress had managed to take human form at seven hundred thousand years of age.
"The real issue," he said gravely, "is that the Snow Empress didn't just transform—she even cultivated to the Soul Saint level."
"If the Snow Empress successfully took human form… what about the other members of the Ten Great Beasts?"
Given the sheer power of the Ten Great Beasts, if any of them transformed into humans, as long as they avoided early demise, they would undoubtedly become peerless geniuses—capable of advancing through their weakened state at unprecedented speed and reaching maturity as Soul Saints in no time.
And once they reached the Soul Saint level, their transformation would be irreversible.
Even a Titled Douluo would not be able to tell that they were originally soul beasts.
No, it wasn't just that their identities would become impossible to detect—once they reached the Soul Saint realm, they would have completely integrated into human cultivation.
Apart from retaining a pure soul beast bloodline, they would, in essence, be no different from a human soul master.
Looking at the worst-case scenario—what if this was an organized plan by the soul beasts?
If multiple members of the Ten Great Beasts had chosen to take human form, they would rapidly rise in power, becoming Titled Douluos without issue. Some could even reach the Super Douluo level.
Worse yet—
They might even, as human soul masters, cultivate to the Limit Douluo stage.
If that were the case, then the human world was in grave danger.
They would have a spy among their ranks, one whose strength was overwhelming, one who might even surpass their original beast form.
Compared to soul beasts, human soul masters had an immense advantage in cultivation.
A journey that might take a soul beast hundreds of thousands of years could be completed by a human in just a century or two.
This was the fundamental difference between human and soul beast cultivation—a disparity woven into the very fabric of their existence.
"This is the worst-case scenario. Most likely, I'm just overthinking things," Elder Xuan said. "After all, the Extreme North is isolated from the rest of the world and has little to no contact with other soul beast territories like the Star Dou Forest."
According to Shrek Academy's records, only a few of the Ten Great Beasts were close to facing their Heavenly Tribulation. Most still had tens of thousands of years left to cultivate and wouldn't risk sealing their power just to enter human society.
The only exception was the Snow Empress, who was indeed nearing seven hundred thousand years.
"Elder Xuan, now that the Snow Empress has taken human form, how should we at Shrek respond?"
As the most authoritative institution in the soul master world, Shrek Academy had long assumed the responsibility of overseeing soul masters.
Having spent so much time there, Yan Shaozhe had also developed the mindset that they had the authority to regulate all affairs of the soul master world.
After all, they had always been responsible for hunting and eliminating evil soul masters.
By that logic, if a soul beast took human form and entered human society, it was only natural for Shrek to intervene in matters concerning the Snow Empress.
"According to historical records," Elder Xuan explained, "the Snow Empress has never shown mercy to human soul masters who dared enter the Extreme North. However, when it comes to the conflict between humans and soul beasts, she has never taken an extreme stance. In fact, as long as humans don't disrupt the Extreme North, she won't actively attack them."
Yan Shaozhe nodded. From Elder Xuan's words, he gathered a key takeaway: the Snow Empress could be recruited.
And conveniently, Shrek already had Su Tong, who also possessed the Ice Snow Maiden Martial Soul.
Perhaps they could use Su Tong's connection as a bridge to establish contact with the Snow Empress, allowing them to further evaluate her stance and ideology.
If she could be swayed, then a future Limit Douluo-level powerhouse joining Shrek's Sea God's Pavilion wouldn't be out of the question.
The conflict between human soul masters and soul beasts had only been growing more intense. As the stabilizing force of the soul master world, the Sea God's Pavilion had been deeply concerned about this issue for a long time, but they had never found a proper approach to address it.
But if they could use the Snow Empress as a focal point to bring this conflict into the open, there might be a way to ease tensions between humans and soul beasts.
---
The Snow Demon Sect
Shrek Academy had records on this sect.
However, because it was located on the fringes of the Extreme North, and most of its members possessed ice-element Martial Souls, many of their strongest figures spent their time in seclusion within the Extreme North, rarely appearing in the soul master world.
As a result, the Snow Demon Sect maintained a relatively low profile.
But its strength was undeniable.
It had three confirmed Titled Douluos.
As for whether any of them had reached the Super Douluo level, no one in the outside world knew.
Still, just the fact that they had three Titled Douluos was proof of their power.
After all, even ten thousand years ago, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had become one of the Top Three Sects with just two Titled Douluos.
Of course, back then, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's two Titled Douluos had both been Super Douluos, making them a force to be reckoned with.
---
"Su Tong?"
Without delay, Yan Shaozhe knocked on Su Tong's door.
Before long, she opened it to greet him.
She hadn't been training tonight—she had already anticipated that Yan Shaozhe would come to ask her about what happened earlier that day.
"Dean Yan, is this about that Snow Woman?" Su Tong's expression was complicated as she looked at him.
Even now, she still couldn't figure out who that Snow Woman really was.
"Su Tong, do you know how many times the Ice Snow Maiden Martial Soul has appeared in Douluo Continent's history?"
Yan Shaozhe, sensing her confusion, posed the question.
"Before you arrived at Shrek, there was only one recorded case."
"That case was none other than the ruler of the Extreme North—the leader of its Three Heavenly Kings—"
"And the third-ranked existence among the Ten Great Beasts... the Snow Empress!"
Su Tong was taken aback, staring at Yan Shaozhe with an expression of disbelief. "Dean Yan, are you saying that the Snow Woman is actually the Snow Empress?"
It was such a simple deduction, yet she had never thought of it herself.
She had been trapped by her own way of thinking.
In Su Tong's family, there was a legend of receiving blessings from the Ice God, and they were a clan that worshipped the Ice God, much like how Sea Soul Masters revered the Sea God. The Su family's Martial Soul was an ice-elemental spirit with a powerful control over snow and ice, but they only possessed the bloodline of the Ice God.
In Su Tong's generation, the bloodline had become stronger, and her Martial Soul had mutated into the Ice Snow Maiden.
She had thought that the Snow Woman might be a branch of her family that had spread out through the generations or perhaps someone who, like her, had received the Ice God's blessing, resulting in a mutated Martial Soul. However, she never imagined it could be the Snow Empress.
After all, the Snow Empress, with her 700,000 years of cultivation, was a soul beast of an entirely different caliber compared to the 70th-level Soul Saint Snow Woman.
Her knowledge of common sense made her instinctively overlook that possibility.
But now, after Yan Shaozhe's reminder, the more she thought about it, the more it seemed reasonable. On the Douluo Continent today, only the Snow Empress could possibly manifest the power of the Ice Snow Maiden Martial Soul as fully as she had in the arena that day.
The strength the Snow Woman displayed wasn't something the Ice Snow Maiden Martial Soul alone could achieve.
As a Soul Saint herself, Su Tong understood that.
"Dean Yan, did you come to see me because of the Snow Woman, the Snow Empress?" Su Tong asked.
"Exactly. The conflict between humans and soul beasts has existed for a long time, and it's reached a critical point. Shrek has been paying attention to this issue for some time, but we've been struggling to find a way to mediate the situation. Now, I believe the Snow Empress could be a good point of leverage."
Listening to Yan Shaozhe's words, Su Tong slowly began to agree with his theory.
Indeed, the conflict between human soul masters and soul beasts needed to be addressed.
---
Meanwhile, after the tournament, Su Yu and Huo Yuhao didn't return to Sun-Moon Hall but instead went straight to a bar, renting a private room.
"You've been hiding this pretty well. Your second Martial Soul turned out to be a mutation from the Ice Emperor's sacrifice." Su Yu commented, listening to Huo Yuhao's explanation and following up with his own words.
"I don't know how it happened either. At the time, the Ice Emperor seemed to have suffered serious injuries after crossing a heavenly tribulation. Then she came to me, and after the sacrifice, perhaps her power was too great. She retained her spiritual body, much like the soul spirits we've researched, and not long ago, we finally formed a soul spirit contract. She's now fully my soul spirit." Huo Yuhao scratched his head, explaining with an embarrassed smile.
Su Yu observed Huo Yuhao's performance but didn't call him out.
They didn't have to wait long before a graceful figure appeared outside their private room.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Su Yu opened the door to let her in.
It was none other than the Snow Empress.
"Snow Empress, long time no see." Both of them greeted her in unison.
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(End of Chapter)