Heaven Dou City

After successfully obtaining a soul ring for Lang Lei, Snow Empress and her group rested briefly before leaving the Star Dou Great Forest without hesitation.

Although Snow Empress was powerful and feared not the legendary Beast God Di Tian, she also knew that being held up by Di Tian would bring plenty of trouble. Better to avoid trouble when possible, and with Lang Lei—the "burden"—in tow, it truly was not advisable to clash with Di Tian.

The Star Dou Great Forest was not particularly far from either empire. However, after listening to Snow Empress and Ice Empress's detailed introduction of the two great empires, Lang Lei ultimately chose to head for the Heaven Dou Empire. The reason was simple: he could not muster the slightest interest in the Star Luo Empire's royal family.

As a Nameless, Lang Lei naturally had to strictly abide by the Nameless code. He knew that the people on every planet had their own choices and ways of life. As an outsider, he should not interfere too much in their internal affairs. Only when an entire planet faced a crisis of survival would a Nameless lend a hand.

And as a Sea Ranger, Lang Lei had traveled across many planets and seen all kinds of systems. There were certain aspects of the Star Luo Empire's system that he simply could not agree with. In comparison, while the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family was far from perfect, at least some of its aspects were still acceptable to him.

Perhaps it was also because the Heaven Dou royal family was comparatively weak? That was why they seemed a little more humble.

By now, he could be considered half a native of Douluo Continent, much like that fellow who was both Ultraman and human. From a certain perspective, even if he took some minor action, Paimon probably would not have much to say about it.

However, his current strength was still rather lacking—or rather, he was somewhat weak in his normal state. He was still far from being capable of changing the world. Even Ice Empress and Snow Empress would find it difficult to do that.

With their current strength, they would most likely be unable to withstand the combined assault of all Douluo Continent and could only flee in disgrace in the end. Lang Lei still had doubts about the combat strength displayed on the surface of Douluo Continent. Could it be that, across this vast continent, there were truly only those three Rank 99 Peerless Douluo?

Was this continent really so "shallow"?

No matter what, before he truly grew strong, Lang Lei believed he should keep a low profile and proceed cautiously... Snow Empress and Ice Empress naturally respected Lang Lei's decision. Without hesitation, they took Lang Lei into the air and sped straight toward Heaven Dou City.

Since they sought to develop themselves, they naturally had to choose the empire's core region. After all, that was where the finest talents of the entire Heaven Dou Empire gathered. As the saying went, those nearest the water got the moonlight first. Only in a place overflowing with talent could they maximize their potential and steadily improve themselves.

Furthermore, the empire's core region possessed the richest resources. Cultivation grounds, simulated environments, precious herbs, and ores could all be found there. For soul masters, this was undoubtedly an enormous temptation.

Of course, aside from those material advantages, the empire's core region had another crucial characteristic: competition was exceptionally fierce. As the saying went, progress came through competition. In such a fiercely competitive environment, everyone had to keep striving or risk being eliminated.

And in the Extreme North, aside from Snow Empress, the darling of ice and snow, which Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast had not risen above intense competition? They became Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts not merely because they possessed great strength, but because they had continually tempered themselves through competition, allowing them to reach such lofty realms.

With Snow Empress and Ice Empress's speed, reaching Heaven Dou City was naturally effortless. By the time Lang Lei had taken a short nap, the three of them were already standing before Heaven Dou City's gates.

Heaven Dou City's gates were tall and magnificent, giving off an imposing and solemn air. Guards atop the city walls held long spears, their expressions stern as they vigilantly watched the passing pedestrians.

Snow Empress and Ice Empress possessed beauty capable of toppling kingdoms. If they did not conceal themselves, they would surely draw countless gazes. To avoid unnecessary trouble, the two women simply put on veils to hide their faces.

Yet even so, their graceful figures and otherworldly aura still attracted the attention of many. People stopped to watch, hoping to catch a glimpse of the true faces of these two mysterious women.

But after they revealed just a trace of their aura, many no longer dared to look. After all, provoking an expert merely for a moment of visual pleasure was not worth the cost.

Ice Empress gave a haughty snort. If not for Lang Lei, she would have long since frozen those people who made her uncomfortable into ice sculptures.

Before entering the city, Snow Empress was still somewhat uneasy. She hesitated slightly, then softly reminded Ice Empress, "Bing'er, once we're in the city, make sure not to act impulsively. We must not bring unnecessary trouble upon ourselves."

Ice Empress nodded at Snow Empress's words and replied, "Of course I know..."

Before she could finish, Lang Lei suddenly let out a snort of laughter.

Hearing it, Ice Empress whipped her head around and glared fiercely at Lang Lei. Her gaze was like a blade stabbing straight into his heart. Lang Lei shuddered all over and hurriedly waved his hands. "Sister Bing, I was wrong. I didn't mean to laugh..."

Ice Empress gave a cold snort, clearly with no intention of forgiving Lang Lei so easily. After snorting, she ignored him and turned to head toward the city gate first.

Snow Empress watched Ice Empress's departing back and shook her head helplessly. Then she exchanged a glance with Lang Lei, and the two smiled at each other.

Snow Empress chuckled softly. "All right, let's hurry and catch up." With that, she stepped after Ice Empress, while Lang Lei hurriedly followed.

Surprisingly, the three of them made it all the way to the city gate without being stopped by a single guard. This made Lang Lei suspicious, and he muttered to himself, "Could it be that the curse of this Nameless being wanted everywhere has vanished from me?"

Though most of the time, Nameless did not want things to turn out this way, for some reason, Nameless who gladly helped others and selflessly contributed always ended up on wanted posters.

It was probably all the trouble caused by Akivili, the Trailblaze Star God, and Aha, the strongest Trailblaze Emanator...

Silently pinning the blame on the two Star Gods, Lang Lei turned his attention back to Heaven Dou City with satisfaction.