Leng Yaozhu

Though the Ice Bird was not the Gray-Headed Ice Hawk's biological mother, their bond was pure and unbreakable. How could she be willing to let her child die alongside her?

The Gray-Headed Ice Hawk felt the same. Though the Ice Bird was not its biological mother, she had still been willing to die with it.

Even the naturally cold-hearted Gray-Headed Ice Hawk could be moved by the Ice Bird's maternal love. Yet Lin Xiuran had once devoted himself wholeheartedly to loving that family, only for it all to end in sorrow.

Sometimes, some people truly were worse than beasts.

Lin Xiuran's gaze narrowed slightly. Before he could do anything, the Ice Bird suddenly looked at him.

The towering lightning she had willingly accepted erupted from within her body the next instant and shot straight toward Lin Xiuran.

Waves of numbness spread through his body as the lightning washed over him, leaving him paralyzed. The next moment, his consciousness gradually sank, and he passed out.

Before long, the woman who had been pursuing them arrived. By then, the Thunder Tribulation had just dissipated. The Ice Bird had landed atop the snowy mountain, devoid of all life. In the end, she had failed to survive this Ten Thousand Year Tribulation, falling beneath heavenly punishment—or perhaps beneath the unfair rules of the Douluo Continent.

Only the Gray-Headed Ice Hawk remained, its low, mournful cries echoing endlessly across the frozen wilderness, bleak and desolate.

Perhaps before long, the corpses would be buried beneath wind and snow. Even every trace of the Ice Bird's life, including her cave, would vanish. Amid this boundless snowfield, nothing would remain.

Too many lives had perished in this frozen wilderness. Even an Ice Bird with ninety thousand years of cultivation seemed so insignificant.

Shrek City

Ancient and modern elements blended ingeniously here. It was a vast city stretching beyond sight, flourishing in prosperity.

This was the largest city on the Douluo Continent—Shrek City!

Not only was Shrek Academy located in Shrek City, it was also home to the Spirit Pagoda's headquarters.

Despite Shrek City's enormous scale, one could clearly see a towering structure piercing the clouds from anywhere within it.

That immense tower stood majestic and tall, gleaming with a faint silver radiance. Its body had eight sides, and its highest section was already concealed among the clouds.

This was the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, as well as the tallest building on the continent.

Moreover, the Federation had explicit regulations stating that no building could exceed its height. This was the Federal Government's respect for an organization, and it was enough to demonstrate the Spirit Pagoda Organization's pivotal position within the Federation.

If one spoke of the continent's most mysterious organization, it was likely the Tang Sect. The organization with the deepest foundation was likely Shrek Academy. But when it came to the strongest organization, there was no doubt that it belonged to the Spirit Pagoda.

Thanks to artificial Soul Spirits, the Spirit Pagoda possessed the finest researchers and powerful experts, as well as wealth that could rival nations. Its status within the Federation was exceptionally influential.

Seven seats in the Federal Parliament belonged to the Spirit Pagoda. One had to know that the entire Federal Parliament had only one hundred and eight seats in total.

That did not even account for the other parliament members influenced by the Spirit Pagoda Organization.

Not every level of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters was open to the public. The higher one went, the more important the confidential matters—and the higher the status of those within the Spirit Pagoda.

At this moment, on one of the highest floors of the Spirit Pagoda, the clouds outside were clearly visible through the windows.

A woman stood before the enormous floor-to-ceiling window. She had red hair and red eyes, a face as exquisite as jade, and a temperament like fire—passionate yet delicate, breathtakingly beautiful, and brimming with the vitality of the sun. Her graceful, tall figure was like the most beautiful adornment.

She was Leng Yaozhu, the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, hailed as the Spirit Pagoda's greatest beauty and its Deputy Pagoda Master.

Yet at this moment, the beauty was staring absentmindedly at the clouds beyond the window. Only when she heard a faint breath behind her did she return to her senses.

When Lin Xiuran awoke, the first thing he saw was the woman's beautiful face, very close to his own. For a moment, even someone as aloof as him was struck by her beauty.

Although the woman before him seemed fiery and passionate, he could clearly sense the introversion beneath it.

Perhaps that outward passion and dominance were merely a shell protecting her.

"Now that you're awake, stop staring blankly." Leng Yaozhu naturally noticed Lin Xiuran's gaze, but she merely spoke softly before getting up and standing to one side, her eyes never leaving him.

"What's going on?" Lin Xiuran asked.

Leng Yaozhu gave him an indifferent glance before explaining, "I found you in the Far North. At the time, there was a Soul Beast beside you that had just failed its tribulation, along with another Gray-Headed Ice Hawk that had cultivated for ten thousand years. So I brought you back after you passed out."

Perhaps it was just as Leng Yaozhu had said. After sensing Lin Xiuran's bloodline, she had searched all the way there. Later, when she discovered a Soul Beast undergoing a tribulation, she rushed over. But by the time she arrived, everything had already ended. She could only carry the unconscious Lin Xiuran back.

Lin Xiuran slowly propped himself up into a sitting position, looked at Leng Yaozhu, and asked, "You are?"

"Spirit Pagoda. Leng Yaozhu."

She only gave her name, but her eyes continued to assess Lin Xiuran before her.

Lin Xiuran feigned surprise. "You are the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, Your Eminence?"

Though his surprise was deliberate, he was genuinely quite astonished. He had not expected to encounter her in the Far North. It was simply not in his nature to reveal such obvious emotions, so he had intentionally put on a surprised expression.

Leng Yaozhu did not speak further. She merely snorted coldly. "Quite the inner drama."

With her shrewdness, how could she fail to see that Lin Xiuran's surprise was feigned?

"May I see your Martial Soul?" Leng Yaozhu, standing by the wall, suddenly asked.

Lin Xiuran did not give her request much thought before releasing his Martial Soul.

She had saved him. Letting her look at his Martial Soul would not cost him anything. Besides, with her strength, he had no way to resist anyway.

As Leng Yaozhu looked at Lin Xiuran's so-called Wind Bird Martial Soul and sensed the aura that made even her bloodline tremble deep within her, she could not help but freeze.

After a while, she recovered and looked seriously at Lin Xiuran. "All right. I only want to ask you one thing now. Are you willing to become my student?"

Lin Xiuran was startled. He had not expected Leng Yaozhu to be so direct in wanting to take him as her student.

"There's no need to be surprised." Leng Yaozhu's gaze softened somewhat. "I have investigated your background thoroughly. As for your Martial Soul, no one could be more suitable than me to teach you."

Leng Yaozhu was known as the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, and her Martial Soul was also the Heavenly Phoenix, which had no small connection to the true Phoenix Bloodline.