"That's right?" Jiang Mian clasped his fists and looked at the empty snowy ground before him. "And you are?"
"You may call me the Ice Empress." A tornado of wind and snow rose from the ground. When it dispersed, a cold-faced beauty in a green dress appeared out of thin air. She carefully examined Jiang Mian and the Emperor Auspicious Beast beside him. "Are you Snow Empress's nominal master?"
"That's correct." Jiang Mian nodded. "Where is Snow Empress now?"
"She was drawn in by a wave of Spatial Turbulence. When I went to investigate with her, we were accidentally pulled inside." Ice Empress spoke frankly. "Snow Empress pushed me out and told me to wait for your arrival."
"So that was it." Jiang Mian suddenly asked, contrary to his usual manner, "You're telling me so frankly. Aren't you afraid I might have evil intentions toward Snow Empress?"
"I trust the person Snow Empress acknowledges." Ice Empress pointed at the snowflake mark between Jiang Mian's brows. "Since Snow Empress was willing to leave you a portion of her origin ice core, I can entrust my life to you."
"Is Snow Empress in danger?" Jiang Mian frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, "I didn't bring many fierce beasts this time. Should I call some more people over?"
"No need." Ice Empress shook her head. "This Spatial Turbulence is no trivial matter. Snow Empress isn't in danger for the moment, but we have no idea what the turbulence does. It's better not to summon too many fierce beasts to help."
"Alright." Jiang Mian said, "Then please lead the way. Take us to where this Spatial Turbulence is."
"If there truly is danger, I'll protect you even at the cost of my life." Ice Empress spoke calmly. "That is my promise to Snow Empress. I hope that one day, you can lead her to the height that we soul beasts could never reach, even after exhausting our entire lives."
"Rest assured. Not only will Snow Empress reach that height, all of you will." Jiang Mian promised firmly.
"Talk after you've actually achieved it." Ice Empress clearly wasn't buying Jiang Mian's grand promises. "When I face my tribulation, just make sure it strikes me with a few fewer lightning bolts."
"Of course, of course." Jiang Mian laughed and followed Ice Empress toward the Spatial Turbulence with the Auspicious Beast.
"The spatial fluctuations really are powerful. Could this have formed after an Ancient Deity fell in the past?" Jiang Mian stood atop a mountain, looking at the continuously twisting landscape before him. He was rather surprised. "But why was it only discovered now?"
"This place only changed into this state over the past few days. There had been no change before." Ice Empress explained, "Snow Empress sensed the anomaly and immediately invited me to investigate with her. Then, for some reason, a suction force tried to pull us inside."
"Seeing this thing, I don't know what to make of it either." Jiang Mian looked at the Spatial Turbulence, feeling somewhat intimidated. He turned to the Auspicious Beast. "Xiaomeng, can you try contacting Di Tian?"
"Di Tian and I share a connection, so I should be able to." Nan Meng nodded. "I'll try."
"Good. As quickly as possible." Jiang Mian frowned. The reason he wanted Di Tian to come was that, as the Beast God of his generation, Di Tian was powerful and widely experienced. He surely had some way of dealing with this Spatial Turbulence.
"So this is the Auspicious Beast of the Star Dou Great Forest?" Ice Empress looked at Nan Meng, who sat cross-legged on the ground and called for Di Tian. Her expression was astonished. "No wonder I felt my Soul Power growing much faster than before."
"The Auspicious Beast and Di Tian are closely connected. We'll wait until Di Tian gets here before making any plans." Jiang Mian said.
"Di Tian..." Ice Empress furrowed her brows. It wasn't that she had any issue with Di Tian. The Beast God had no major conflicts with her Extreme North, so she wasn't about to reject him.
If that Evil Eye Tyrant Ruler from Sun Moon Forest encountered Di Tian, it would be a disgrace to the titles of Di Tian and Evil Emperor if they didn't fight until heaven and earth were overturned.
Of course, Ice Empress felt that Snow Empress would still help Di Tian beat up Evil Emperor.
After all, the two of them were from Douluo Continent, while Evil Emperor came from Sun Moon Continent.
Just as Jiang Mian and Ice Empress sat down to protect Nan Meng, the Spatial Turbulence behind them suddenly stirred. It opened without warning, and a turbulent current instantly erupted from within, sweeping toward all three of them.
"Ah!" Jiang Mian was caught off guard. Before he could even summon his Soul Power to defend himself, he was sucked inside. "Ice Empress, stay here with the Auspicious Beast and wait for Di Tian. You must wait for Di Tian."
"Brother Mian!" The Auspicious Beast abruptly opened her eyes. She shot into the air, intending to follow Jiang Mian inside. Fortunately, Ice Empress reacted quickly and decisively wrapped her arms around the Auspicious Beast, preventing her from being sucked into the Spatial Turbulence alongside him.
"The suction has weakened?" Ice Empress held the Auspicious Beast while releasing Soul Power to resist the pull. The first time she came here, she and Snow Empress had struggled to resist it together. How could she hold it off by herself this time?
Could Snow Empress be helping her from the other side?
"What are you doing?" Nan Meng watched Jiang Mian vanish before her eyes and immediately shouted furiously, "Don't you know Jiang Mian is the hope of the soul beast race? It would've been one thing if you didn't save him, but why did you stop me from saving him?"
"Didn't you hear what he said just now?" Ice Empress's expression changed, and her tone turned icy. "If you followed him inside too, how would Di Tian find this place?"
"Why couldn't you pull him out?" the Auspicious Beast demanded angrily.
"This was his own plan!" Ice Empress was clearly angry as well. She snapped, "Didn't you see that he didn't even resist?"
"What would you know?" the Auspicious Beast shouted.
"Stay here obediently and wait for Di Tian. That was his plan." Ice Empress's face was full of anger. "If your disobedience causes both him and Snow Empress to be trapped inside, I'll make you pay for Snow Empress's life!"
"Right now, I want you to pay for Jiang Mian's life!" The Auspicious Beast suddenly unleashed her Soul Power, and a sacred wave of Soul Power pressed down upon Ice Empress like a collapsing sky.
"You want to fight?" Ice Empress showed no mercy, releasing her own Soul Power as well. The two forces, powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth, clashed against each other as though even the world had changed color!
The Auspicious Beast had been blessed by nature. Her strength couldn't be measured by her years, and her attribute naturally countered Ice Empress's. With one side gaining and the other losing, she actually showed signs of overpowering Ice Empress.
Yet Ice Empress stood within her own territory, surrounded by dense ice-element energy. Combined with her cultivation of three hundred and eighty thousand years, the two soul beasts were evenly matched for a time.
If Jiang Mian had seen these two start fighting at the slightest disagreement, without a thought of rescuing him or Snow Empress, he probably would have been angered unconscious on the spot.
"Auspicious Beast, stop!" Di Tian's voice rang out beside the Auspicious Beast's ear. After she contacted Di Tian earlier, he had kept the connection active. Otherwise, he would not have sensed the conflict between her and Ice Empress.
"You withdraw first." The Auspicious Beast puffed out her cheeks. "If you withdraw your Soul Power, I'll withdraw mine."
"You withdraw first, then I will." Why would Ice Empress yield to the Auspicious Beast? She wasn't some delicate queen.
Hearing that, the Auspicious Beast ignored Di Tian's advice entirely and released even more Soul Power. Ice Empress refused to be outdone, and the two soul beasts continued their standoff amid the ice and snow.
Jiang Mian, inside the Spatial Turbulence, had no idea what was happening outside. Looking at this entirely new place before him, he was somewhat afraid to proceed. But with no one beside him to protect him, he could only cautiously explore the space.
Moreover, ever since entering, his connection to Snow Empress had completely vanished. It was as though some natural barrier within this space had directly severed their connection.
"There's no mistake." Sensing the divine aura permeating every corner of the space, Jiang Mian immediately concluded that this had to be an independent space formed after some Ancient Deity had fallen.
It had merely collided with Douluo's space in recent days, opening a gateway in the Extreme North that led into this place.
"I can still use my Soul Power, but Bear Lord and the others aren't here. I'd better proceed carefully." Jiang Mian rubbed his brow, somewhat regretting not bringing Bear Lord and the others along.
Originally, on this journey to the Extreme North, he had planned to spend some time alone with the Auspicious Beast and deepen their relationship. He hadn't expected to jump into the pit he dug himself.
Jiang Mian spotted a village in the distance and decided to go there to gather information. After all, he was a Soul King, and in terms of raw strength, he wouldn't fear even a Soul Douluo. Nothing unexpected should happen while gathering information in a village.
"Is this a bounty board?" Jiang Mian walked to the village entrance and found a large sign standing nearby, covered in all sorts of bounty notices.
"Seeking Bone Spirit Flowers. Brass-tier Mission. Reward: three Gold Soul Coins."
"Kill the Cold Iron Raven invading the village. Silver-tier Mission. Reward: thirty Gold Soul Coins."
"Help Old Wang at the village entrance find his lost dentures. Unranked mission. Reward: one meal."
"What level of soul beast is this Cold Iron Raven, for it to offer so many Gold Soul Coins?" Jiang Mian thought of the subsidies Spirit Hall provided to soul masters. A Soul Elder could receive one hundred Gold Soul Coins a month, so this Cold Iron Raven was probably around Soul Elder level.
Jiang Mian decisively chose to first ask around the village. If the Cold Iron Raven was truly formidable and he failed the mission, he might bring disaster upon the entire village.
"Old man, is this Cold Iron Raven dangerous?" Jiang Mian spotted an old man smoking a dry pipe by the village road and immediately stepped forward to ask.
"What kind of raven?" The old man narrowed his eyes and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Cold Iron Raven."
"What raven?"
"Forget it. You get some rest, old man."
"Alright."
Jiang Mian curled his lips speechlessly and prepared to find another household to ask about the situation. Just then, an exclamation sounded from the entrance, followed by a young man covered in bulging muscles walking in while holding the Cold Iron Raven bounty notice.
"Folks, I'm taking this bounty." The young man was enormous, standing nearly a full head taller than Jiang Mian.
"Friend, why are you stealing my job?" Though Jiang Mian had no intention of taking the mission, he still put on a threatening demeanor and stepped forward to question him. "Do you know I was just about to accept this mission?"
"After I kill the Cold Iron Raven, you can have the reward." The young man was exceptionally straightforward. Rather than growing angry, he smiled. "I only want to raise my rank."
"Rank? What's that?" Jiang Mian was thoroughly confused and immediately leaned close to the young man, asking in a low voice.
"After completing bounty missions, every adventurer can take the bounty notice to the Adventurer's Guild to raise their rank." The young man said, "The higher your rank, the more activities you can participate in and the higher your status will be."
"Why does that sound so confusing?" Jiang Mian scratched his head and muttered to himself, "What kind of thing did this deity's thoughts create within this space after its death?"
After every Ancient Deity fell, their body would vanish and form spaces like the one Jiang Mian currently occupied, while their thoughts and consciousness would manifest all things and living beings within those spaces.
Some deities might manifest vast lands and magnificent territories. Others might only manifest a courtyard or a tavern. Beyond those places, all one could see was chaos.
Thus, such Godfall Spaces were also called Small Worlds.
Clearly, the world created by this deity's thoughts was vast enough to have even formed a complete system.
"Friend, I've decided you're my friend." Jiang Mian patted the big man's shoulder. "May I ask your name?"
"My name is Kloss." The big man smiled bashfully, scratched his head, and said, "Once I kill the Cold Iron Raven, you can just ask the villagers for the reward."
"I'm not doing this for money." Jiang Mian shook his head, wearing an expression as though he lived to serve the people. "I just can't stand seeing the people here suffer such hardship. I want to get rid of this scourge for them."
"Friend, you're so noble." Kloss's eyes suddenly lit up as he looked at Jiang Mian admiringly. "Your adventurer rank must be very high, right?"
"Does having a high rank make someone impressive?" Jiang Mian spouted nonsense with a straight face. "I can't stand adventurers who only chase ranks without doing practical things for the villagers. They're all hypocrites. If we help the villagers, we should do so wholeheartedly without asking for anything in return!"
Damn it, he obviously didn't have one. If Jiang Mian's rank had been high, he would have shown it off long ago.
"Friend, your ideals are truly lofty." Kloss said somewhat ashamedly, "I was too shallow. May I ask your name?"
"Just call me Jiang Mian." Jiang Mian smiled faintly and patted Kloss's shoulder again. "Don't worry, brother. I won't let you face the Cold Iron Raven alone. How about I fight by your side?"
"I couldn't ask for more." Kloss reached out and shook Jiang Mian's hand, grinning. "Sure enough, one mustn't judge by appearances. Your body looks so frail, yet your hand is so strong."
Jiang Mian smiled faintly. Nonsense. I'm a dignified Soul King.
After accepting the bounty, Jiang Mian and Kloss naturally received the village's "finest" treatment and moved into a broken thatched hut by the entrance.
Did they really think the villagers were so easy to fool? What if these were adventurers merely joining in for fun? The villagers would feed and house them, only for them to leave after eating their fill. Where would the villagers go to seek justice then?
Therefore, until they completed the bounty, Jiang Mian and Kloss had no source of income whatsoever.
Jiang Mian lay on a bed of piled straw, unable to stop worrying. I wonder how the flow of time here compares to outside. What if time moves incredibly fast here, and when I leave, Zhuqing and the others have all grown old?
If it was especially slow, that would be fine. If he spent a year or half here while only a day passed outside, it wouldn't be much of a problem.
Jiang Mian was filled with worry, but Kloss beside him was carefree. He didn't think so much about it. Once the Cold Iron Raven arrived, they would kill it. So, he slept soundly.
Jiang Mian did not sleep the entire night. He simply couldn't fall asleep. Only when dawn had begun to brighten the sky did he emerge from his cultivation state. Since he couldn't sleep, meditating to raise his Soul Power could serve as a substitute.
"Brother Jiang Mian, time to eat." Kloss had risen long ago. He had helped the villagers with some work in exchange for two flatbreads, barely enough to fill their stomachs.
"Thanks for the effort, brother." Jiang Mian thanked him sincerely. He felt that Kloss was truly simple and honest, without the schemes of people outside. Jiang Mian would absolutely treat a friend like that with sincerity.
"What was that cultivation method you used just now?" Kloss asked curiously. "I've only seen the gods use methods like that."
"There are gods in this world?" Jiang Mian was startled inwardly, though he outwardly acted as if he understood everything. "This is a cultivation method I developed myself. It does borrow from the gods in some ways."
"You're amazing." Kloss's eyes widened as he gave Jiang Mian a thumbs-up. "Those gods can command wind and rain. Since you know their cultivation methods, can you command wind and rain too?"
"How do you cultivate?" Jiang Mian asked in return.
"By tempering the body, of course." Kloss looked surprised. "Don't tell me you've never tried it?"
So the people here had no soul skills. They all gained strength by tempering their bodies. That was unlike soul masters and more similar to soul beasts!
Jiang Mian held his chin and smiled slightly. "I tempered my body a few times when I was young, but I haven't tried it since."
"I see." Kloss nodded. Just as he was about to show Jiang Mian his muscles, a fierce gust of wind suddenly swept past outside.
A black raven whose entire body gleamed with a cold, metallic luster appeared above the village. Relying on its powerful body, it began wreaking havoc throughout the village.
"It's our turn." Kloss pulled two daggers from his pocket. Those were his weapons.
Jiang Mian had not expected that such a burly man would use weapons so small and delicate.
Kloss hurled a dagger with all his strength from his left hand. With a bang, it struck the raven's body. Sparks flew from the impact, but it caused the raven no real damage.
"Such powerful defense?" Jiang Mian looked at the raven and estimated its age. This Cold Iron Raven seemed to be around three thousand years old, stronger than most Soul Elders.
It was simply too clumsy. Aside from attacking with its body, it couldn't use any magical attacks. That truly opened Jiang Mian's eyes. After all, what soul beast in the Douluo World didn't know at least some magical attacks?
Jiang Mian now understood the difference between this space created by the deity and Douluo. The people and soul beasts here relied entirely on their powerful bodies, while the people and soul beasts of the Douluo World developed comprehensively in every aspect.
"Attack its eyes!" Jiang Mian stopped watching from the sidelines and shouted, "Kloss, its eyes are its only weakness!"
"I understand!" Kloss roared, his entire body tensing with muscles. He rushed toward the raven in great strides, intending to fight the soul beast at close quarters.
The raven flapped its wings and soared high into the air. Then it abruptly descended, planning to use the force of its dive to slam Kloss away.
Kloss drew in a sharp breath and forcefully clamped both hands around the Cold Iron Raven's wings.
"Magnificent!" Jiang Mian's eyes widened. He picked up the dagger that had been knocked away earlier and charged forward. In one bound, he leaped onto the raven's back and drove the dagger directly into its eye.
"Awoo!"
The raven let out a pained howl and went still.
"No wonder this thing is Silver-tier." Jiang Mian muttered, "It can fly and has such a powerful body. It really earns that reward."
If Jiang Mian had merely stabbed its eye with the dagger, he could never have killed it completely. What truly killed it was the Hellfire Jiang Mian released through the dagger.
The flames did not reveal themselves. They passed through the raven's eye and burned its brain to ashes.
Fortunately, Jiang Mian had intervened. Otherwise, with Kloss's method of fighting purely with his body, he might not have been able to kill this raven.
Still, the outcome was good. Kloss dragged the raven along, with Jiang Mian following behind him. After the two collected their money from the village chief, they happily carried the bounty notice to the Adventurer's Guild to raise their ranks.
"What do you adventurers mainly raise your ranks for?" Jiang Mian asked curiously. He didn't think Kloss was someone chasing empty fame, so why was he so determined to raise his adventurer rank?
"I don't know about the others. I raise my rank for someone." Kloss's expression became solemn. "Jiang Mian, please keep this secret for me. It concerns that person's life."
"Kloss, since you trust me, I'll definitely keep your secret." Jiang Mian promised.
"Actually, I'm an orphan. The reason I have my current strength is all because an old man taught me." Kloss said frankly, "He's very powerful, but he was sealed in a certain place. Only the fruit of the gods can save him."
"What exactly are the gods in this world?" Jiang Mian couldn't help feeling curious. They didn't seem as rare as the deities of Douluo Continent.
Furthermore, all the living beings in this world were ultimately transformed from the thoughts of that Ancient Deity. The so-called gods were merely false gods created by those thoughts.
"Only by taking first place in the Heroes' Tournament will the gods give the winner three Diamond-tier Missions. After completing them, you can make one request of the gods. That's how I might obtain the fruit of the gods." Kloss said. "Of course, one requirement to enter the tournament is reaching Gold Rank as an adventurer."
"So that's how it is." Jiang Mian suddenly understood. The gods here were not only common, but could even descend and grant sacred items to warriors. That was rather interesting.
And after seeing Kloss's fighting style earlier, Jiang Mian felt it was simply the fighting style of a crude brute, with no technique whatsoever.
Then could he also join the tournament, learn about the nature of this world, and perhaps find traces of Snow Empress through the competition?
Though doing so was somewhat dangerous, Jiang Mian had no choice but to take the risk. He did not know how powerful the gods of this world were, but judging from that Silver-tier Mission, they might be roughly comparable to a Titled Douluo.
After all, no matter how an Ancient Deity's thoughts manifested, they could not possibly create beings stronger than the deity itself.
And Di Tian was already on his way. Once Di Tian entered with Ice Empress and the Auspicious Beast, Jiang Mian could turn this place upside down, and no one would be able to threaten him!
Jiang Mian made up his mind to enter the Heroes' Tournament. His most urgent task was to raise his rank to Gold Rank first.
"Kloss, let's take on a big mission."
Before you continue