The Herrscher of the End Appears!

"Drip, drip..." Blood occasionally fell onto the pristine snow as Ling Mo ran while clutching his injured arm. More than half of his Soul Power had already been depleted, and the pack of Spirit Beasts relentlessly chasing him from behind gave him no time to use the Black Abyss White Flower to heal himself. Why had things come to this? It all began two days ago.

After arriving in the Far North two days earlier, Ling Mo did not slow down. He continued deeper toward its core. After awakening his Stigmata, he no longer feared the bitter cold when circulating his Soul Power, allowing him to travel inward at great speed. Once he felt he had gone deep enough, Ling Mo immediately began searching for Spirit Beasts. After several hours of searching, he soon spotted a Snow Wolf whose entire body was white. However, Ling Mo had overlooked the fact that wolves were pack-dwelling Spirit Beasts. The Imaginary Space opened, but before Benares could emerge, the Snow Wolf let out a long howl that summoned more than a dozen of its kind. One of them was visibly around twice the size of the other Snow Wolves. It was clearly the Wolf King.

Ling Mo inwardly cursed as he shut the Imaginary Space and immediately tried to flee. Yet this was how he ended up covered in wounds, with a pack of Snow Wolves relentlessly pursuing him. If he had not been constantly using the Herrscher of the Void's spatial movement, he might have long since become food for the wolves. Ling Mo fled beneath the pack's pursuit for an entire day.

Perhaps realizing they could not catch Ling Mo, the wolves eventually gave up on their prey. Ling Mo looked back and saw that the pack trailing him had vanished, but he still did not dare relax. The Black Abyss White Flower appeared, and his wounds rapidly healed. Ling Mo immediately left the area, intending to find somewhere safe to rest. In the end, after much effort, he found a hidden cave. Several days of arduous travel, combined with a full day and night of fleeing, caused Ling Mo to fall into a deep sleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

Who knew how much time had passed before the well-rested Ling Mo slowly opened his eyes. After waking, he stood and let out a long breath. In the frigid environment, his breath turned into white mist.

Only after recovering did Ling Mo begin to examine his surroundings. The walls of the hidden ice cave were crystal clear, while its depths were pitch-black, their extent impossible to discern. Curious, Ling Mo decided to explore further inside.

Within the silent ice cave, Ling Mo carefully slowed his steps to avoid making noise. The farther in he went, the dimmer the light became, until before long he could not even see his own hand.

The darkness only had a limited effect on Ling Mo. He continued slowly deeper, and more than ten minutes later, he suddenly saw a light within the cave. Ling Mo quickened his pace toward it, only to find not another exit as he had imagined, but a vast number of snow lotuses growing from the icy ground.

Why would snow lotuses grow inside a cave? Ling Mo did not know, nor did he want to think about it. The sprawling patch of snow lotuses gleamed brilliantly beneath light from an unknown source, and Ling Mo could not help shouting excitedly, "What a treasure!"

Although most of the snow lotuses were only a few hundred or thousand years old, there were also several Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Lotuses. Ling Mo immediately picked one and ate it bit by bit. A massive amount of Soul Power surged through every part of his body, and Ling Mo hurriedly began absorbing it.

Over the next several days, Ling Mo consumed four Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Lotuses in succession. His Soul Power Level successfully broke through to the peak of level thirty-four. Although he had not fully absorbed the medicinal power of the snow lotuses, he no longer had time to remain here. There were only a few days left before Shrek Academy reopened. If he could not find a Soul Ring soon, he could only return to the academy first.

After leaving the cave and seeing sunlight again, Ling Mo stretched lazily and continued searching for a suitable Spirit Beast. After being chased by the wolves for so long, Ling Mo had completely lost track of where he was in the Far North, but that did not prevent him from determining direction.

After confirming his direction, Ling Mo decided to continue north. It was dangerous, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. He did not have much time left.

Ling Mo continued deeper into the Far North, but he strangely discovered that he had not seen even a single Spirit Beast along the way. Even if Spirit Beasts were scarce in the Far North, after searching for several hours, he should have found one or two regardless of their age. How could there be none at all? Unable to understand why, Ling Mo continued onward. After searching again for several hours, the scene before him finally made him understand why no Spirit Beasts had appeared along the way.

A massive White Cocoon as tall as a person radiated dense Soul Power. Pale blue patterns covered its entire surface. Ling Mo had actually encountered a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast undergoing conversion and rebuilding!

"No wonder no Spirit Beasts appeared along the way. This is the territory of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast." Ling Mo was instantly overjoyed. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast meant a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring and Soul Bone. While he could not absorb the Soul Ring, he could absorb the Soul Bone. With this Soul Bone, the age limit his Soul Rings could withstand would definitely rise by a huge margin.

Thinking this, Ling Mo no longer hesitated. Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were extremely weak while rebuilding themselves, and Ling Mo naturally would not let this opportunity pass. A Purple Spirit Ring lit up, the Black Abyss White Flower appeared in his hand, and Ling Mo immediately charged forward. He could already see the Soul Bone slowly beckoning to him.

However, just as Ling Mo thrust the Black Abyss White Flower into the giant cocoon, a sudden change occurred. Powerful Soul Power erupted from within the cocoon. Ling Mo had not expected the Spirit Beast's consciousness to remain, and before he could defend himself, he was directly grievously injured by the burst of Soul Power. Yet it was far from over. A cold female voice came from within the cocoon and shouted furiously at Ling Mo, "Human! Die!"

Soul Power several times stronger than before erupted from the cocoon again. Ling Mo was already badly injured and could barely move, leaving him no time to dodge. He could only hold the Black Abyss White Flower across his body and fully activate his Stigmata, hoping to block at least part of the impact. But how powerful was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? Moreover, Ling Mo's strike with the Black Abyss White Flower had pierced the cocoon and caused its rebuilding to fail. It was already near death, so it held nothing back in attacking Ling Mo.

The Black Abyss White Flower in his hand shattered, and the powerful blast struck Ling Mo, crushing all his internal organs. Although Ling Mo miraculously survived the attack, his severe injuries made him lose consciousness instantly, collapsing to the ground without rising again. Yet the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's fury was far from spent. Though surprised that Ling Mo had survived its full-strength attack in its current state, that did not diminish its desire to kill him.

Another blast no weaker than the previous one surged from the cocoon. It was confident that this weak human would become an ice sculpture beneath this strike, forever leaving the world. This was the pride and absolute confidence of the Snow Empress, foremost among the Far North's Three Heavenly Kings!

That was right. The Spirit Beast within this cocoon was the true ruler of the Far North—the Snow Empress! Long ago, by a stroke of fortune, the Snow Empress obtained a hundred-thousand-year snow lotus. After much deliberation, having accepted the fact that she could not survive her next heavenly tribulation, she chose to use the snow lotus's power to rebuild herself into a human. In the original story, this was also why she was sealed by a Soul Engineer inside a ninth-grade Soul Tool and turned into a Spirit Beast embryo. Unexpectedly, Ling Mo's continued advance had led him by chance to the Snow Empress's rebuilding site. He had even mistaken her for an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast undergoing rebuilding. Had Ling Mo known that this cocoon was the Snow Empress, he would never have entertained the thought of taking her Soul Bone. But now, everything was too late.

The powerful Soul Power blast had already reached Ling Mo. The unconscious Ling Mo could not offer any resistance, and the Snow Empress believed this human was undoubtedly dead.

However... nothing happened! That was right, Ling Mo remained completely unharmed. Rather than being frozen into an ice sculpture by her Soul Power as the Snow Empress had imagined, the Soul Power blast simply vanished into thin air just before striking him!

Just as the Snow Empress wondered what was happening, Ling Mo moved! His fallen body slowly rose, floating three feet above the ground. His hair turned snow-white, a golden halo appeared above his head, a square star-shaped symbol appeared between his brows, and brilliant, strange golden wings of light unfolded behind him. Finally, Ling Mo's eyes slowly opened. Not even a trace of emotion could be seen within those golden eyes.

"I never expected you to have become this weak already." A voice as devoid of emotion as those golden eyes came from Ling Mo's mouth.

"Ling Mo" slowly lowered his head to look at the White Cocoon on the ground before him. "It would trouble me greatly if he died, so... my apologies." As he spoke, he raised his right hand and clenched it hard. The White Cocoon formed by the Snow Empress instantly exploded! Only a crystalline pale-blue Soul Bone and a blood-red Soul Ring remained where it had been!

He beckoned with his raised right hand, and the blood-red Soul Ring immediately flew toward Ling Mo. "Oh? You still have some soul consciousness left? It does not matter..." Holding the Soul Ring in his upturned right hand, "Ling Mo" raised his other hand. A rift immediately appeared to his left, and through it could be seen an enormous floating tree. Under "Ling Mo's" control, deep and heavy energy poured from the rift, all of it entering the Soul Ring held in his right hand. The deep-red Soul Ring visibly changed to azure blue at a rapid pace, with streams of black and white light winding around it.

The rift gradually closed. He raised the Soul Ring held in his palm slightly and directly pressed it against his chest. The Soul Ring quickly merged into Ling Mo's body and vanished.

After absorbing the Soul Ring, "Ling Mo" made the same gesture again, and the crystalline Soul Bone flew over like the Soul Ring had. Looking at the Soul Bone in his hand, "Ling Mo's" tone finally changed slightly. "You, who are unwilling to become a Herrscher, are willing to fuse with the genes of Honkai Beasts. Now, in order to grow stronger, you are even willing to absorb the bones of beasts. Are Herrschers really so unbearable in your eyes? Heh... Then I refuse to let you have your way." The moment he finished speaking, he exerted a little force with his hand, and the azure Soul Bone instantly turned into ashes that scattered in the wind.

"Live well, Ling Mo. Next time, I will not help you again." After saying that, the gold in Ling Mo's eyes faded, and they gradually closed. His body fell from the air. Aside from the tips of his violet-gold hair turning faintly white, no other changes could be seen on Ling Mo's body.

As Shrek Academy reopened, students gradually returned to the academy. But two people were absent: Huo Yuhao and Ling Mo.

The moment Wang Dong discovered that Huo Yuhao had not returned, she ran to ask Zhou Yi. However, the answer she received only made her more worried. She could only comfort herself by thinking that Huo Yuhao had gone with Ling Mo to obtain a Soul Ring, just as Zhou Yi had guessed. Ling Mo was powerful, and according to Zhou Yi, helping Huo Yuhao obtain a second Soul Ring would be easy for him. Wang Dong could only keep consoling herself as she anxiously waited for Huo Yuhao, hoping the two would return soon.

Perhaps Wang Dong's hopes had an effect, because Huo Yuhao arrived at the dormitory that very night. The worried Wang Dong could not help giving Huo Yuhao a round of punches and kicks. Afterward, Huo Yuhao found Zhou Yi with Wang Dong accompanying him and began explaining what had happened.

Huo Yuhao's explanation was extremely bizarre. First came the possible shattering of his martial soul, then his Second Martial Soul awakening for unknown reasons, followed by the origin of his Soul Bone and the Thousand-Year Soul Ring of his Spirit Eyes. The entire sequence of events took on a strange, fantastical hue under Huo Yuhao's telling. Unable to make sense of it, Zhou Yi and Fan Yu could only choose to believe his account in the end.

However, a more important matter arose. Though Huo Yuhao had given an elaborate explanation, he had not mentioned Ling Mo at all. So the question was, where was Ling Mo?

Just as Zhou Yi, after another day of anxious waiting, decided to have Wang Yan report the matter to Xuan Zi, Ling Mo finally returned to Shrek Academy. Faced with questioning from the two homeroom teachers, Ling Mo could only lie that after obtaining his Soul Ring, he had encountered a Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Beast on the way back. To evade its pursuit, he had been forced to keep hiding nonstop. After finally escaping that Spirit Beast, he had rushed back to the academy without stopping, but he was still two days late.

Although Ling Mo's explanation was far-fetched, Wang Yan and Zhou Yi could find no reason to refute him. Even so, Ling Mo still received some punishment.

When he returned to the dormitory, the room that had been unoccupied for so long was covered in a thin layer of dust. That was one downside of living alone—he always had to clean it himself.

After spending some time cleaning his dormitory room, Ling Mo sat cross-legged on the bed and guided his consciousness into the Stigmata Space. Since that day, Ling Mo had discovered that his Stigmata Space had gained a guest, but he had been too eager to return to Shrek Academy to pay any attention to it. But now, he was going to have a proper "talk" with that guest.