Chapter 7: Poor Choice Of Friends

"I'm going too!"

At this moment, Bing Ji also transformed into her human form.

Her petite figure exuded a cold beauty, and two emerald-green demonic markings adorned each side of her forehead, both mysterious and dazzling.

Gritting her teeth, she declared, "The evil soul masters under the Demon Emperor slaughtered many of my clan. As the leader of the Ice Jade Scorpion clan, I must avenge them!"

Di Tian: "…"

When had he ever said he was going to destroy the Holy Spirit Cult and eradicate the evil soul masters?

Could they not read too much into things?

Before he had a chance to say anything, Xue Ling impatiently chimed in.

"I'm going too!"

"No way!" ×2

The ones opposing her were Bing Ji and Titan. Even if she weren't Xue Ling but just an ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul beast, they would still stop her.

After all, the Holy Spirit Cult was too powerful. Even without considering the unfathomable Demon Emperor, there were still several Ultimate Douluo-level figures among them.

As fierce beasts of the Extreme North, they at least had the advantage of terrain and wouldn't require Di Tian to worry too much about their safety.

Xue Ling pouted in dissatisfaction, just about to argue back, when she was abruptly cut off by Di Tian's low voice.

"Enough!"

"I'm not going to war with the Demon Emperor, nor am I going to massacre the evil soul masters."

"Those evil soul masters still have value. When that value is exhausted, someone will naturally send them to their deaths."

With Di Tian's statement, the three of them quieted down significantly.

However, noticing their puzzled expressions, he elaborated a bit more.

"The Demon Emperor, like us, is also a soul beast. She has, to some extent, kept the Holy Spirit Cult's evil soul masters in check and has not allowed them to commit genocide against the soul beasts of the Extreme North."

The Demon Emperor, as the leader of the evil soul masters, naturally needed to conceal her identity.

With her strength, if she intended to hide, even fierce beasts would find it difficult to see through her true form.

Thus, upon hearing that the Demon Emperor was a soul beast, all three of them were utterly astonished.

Di Tian said no more. He simply grabbed Titan's shoulder, and with a flicker of their figures, both vanished from the core region of the Extreme North.

Xue Ling immediately shot forward, attempting to chase after them, only to be blocked by Bing Ji's swift movement.

"Bing Ji-jie!"

Seeing Xue Ling's tearful, pleading look, Bing Ji remained unmoved, her gaze unshakably firm.

Even if they weren't going to fight, Bing Ji would not allow Xue Ling to put herself in danger.

In her eyes, Xue Ling's potential surpassed even that of the former Snow Emperor—she was the last hope of the Extreme North.

She had already made the grave mistake of letting the Snow Emperor sneak out once before. She would not allow a second mistake to happen.

With this in mind, she suddenly asked:

"When you secretly left the core region of the Extreme North to undergo your hundred-thousand-year tribulation, did you encounter any danger?"

A moment ago, Xue Ling had been on the verge of tears, but at this question, she immediately collected herself. Her large, sky-blue eyes darted about as she stammered,

"N-No, of course not!"

"Really?"

"Y-Yeah! I even ran into Beast God Di Tian! What danger could there be?"

"Hmm," Bing Ji nodded thoughtfully—not because she believed Xue Ling, but because she trusted in Di Tian's strength.

Just as Xue Ling let out a sigh of relief, thinking she had narrowly avoided a lecture, Di Tian's voice echoed from afar.

"She encountered evil soul masters and nearly perished. Bing Ji, make sure to keep an eye on her."

The moment his words landed, Xue Ling's expression turned comically embarrassed, her soft face scrunching up in distress.

Under Bing Ji's strict, teacher-like gaze, she immediately lowered her head.

Inside, she wailed: Poor choice of friends!

Di Tian was too cruel! She had invited him into her home, and he had gone and tattled on her to her guardian!

—

Far from the core region, Di Tian withdrew his thoughts and turned to Titan.

"Bing Ji and the others treat Xue Ling as the Snow Emperor, seeing her as their hope and worshiping her as if she were divine—that's understandable."

"But you, Titan, who once stood as one of the three rulers of the Extreme North alongside the Snow Emperor, who secretly admired her for years, and who was… intimately beaten up by her—surely you can tell the difference between the Snow Emperor and Xue Ling?"

Titan didn't pay attention to the teasing tone in Di Tian's words. However, the voice of the current ruler of the Extreme North sounded particularly heavy as he responded.

"Of course I know the difference. But it can't be helped."

"The soul beasts of the Extreme North have been too severely suppressed!"

"The human army that sealed off the Extreme North blocked every beast tide I launched without even breaking a sweat."

"Then, the Holy Spirit Cult's evil soul masters compressed our living space further, forcing us into the tiny core region of the Extreme North."

"The soul beasts here need hope—something to believe in—so they don't fall into complete despair."

Titan chuckled self-deprecatingly before continuing,

"And honestly, it's not just them. Even I sometimes have to delude myself into believing that the weak Xue Ling is the Snow Emperor, just to keep from being crushed by the weight of reality."

"That assessment is too biased," Di Tian shook his head and offered a different perspective.

"Xue Ling may not be strong enough yet, but in terms of her pure-hearted determination to restore the soul beast race, she surpasses even the Snow Emperor of the past."

"I'm not just trying to comfort you—Xue Ling is a raw gem. She only needs to be sharpened through battle and hardship. Once she sheds her immaturity, she will become an exceptional leader."

Titan blinked at Di Tian, momentarily stunned.

It was hard to believe that a newly advanced hundred-thousand-year soul beast could receive such high praise from the Beast God himself.

Suppressing his emotions, he temporarily put aside thoughts of Xue Ling and asked about Di Tian's true goal in seeking the Demon Emperor.

"If the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult is a soul beast, then it makes sense why she hasn't turned us into livestock and started slaughtering us all these years."

"Beast God, are you seeking the Demon Emperor because of her immense strength? Are you trying to recruit her?"

"Yes."

Hearing the confirmation, Titan was visibly excited.

"Before Snow Emperor ascended to the Divine Realm with Huo Yuhao, she told me that in the core of the Star Dou Forest's Lake of Life, our soul beast sovereign lay in slumber."

"Has the Lord awakened? Is it time to strike back against humanity?"

Di Tian lowered his gaze and answered gravely.

"The Divine Realm has vanished. This is our last chance. For the sake of the soul beast race—and to save ourselves—we must fight back."

"Of course, not just yet. We still need time to prepare."

Though Di Tian spoke with conviction, deep inside, he had no certainty at all.

He himself might not even survive long enough to see the preparation through.

But he had no choice. As Titan had said, the soul beasts were too suppressed—they needed hope.

And the sovereign they had all been waiting for—their supposed savior—was already gone.

For now, he was the highest-ranking soul beast left.

If even the Beast God lost confidence, the entire soul beast race would be doomed.

Hearing this, Titan had no choice but to suppress his battle fervor and lead Di Tian as quickly as possible to the headquarters of the Holy Spirit Cult.

Truth be told, the Holy Spirit Cult's lair was hidden incredibly well. It was nearly impossible to find.

They had to traverse almost the entire Extreme North before reaching its northernmost point—right by the Ice Sea.

(End of Chapter)