Deep in the Core Zone of the Extreme North.
Inside a hidden ice cave covered in ten-thousand-year-old black ice.
An incomparably beautiful woman sat cross-legged, radiating a chilling aura that made one's heart tremble.
Her long hair was pure white, and her eyes were like the purest ice crystals. But now, those eyes were filled with determination and struggle.
She was the Snow Empress, ruler of the Extreme North and a Super Fierce Beast with seven hundred thousand years of cultivation.
But at this moment, she felt more helpless than ever before.
The executioner's blade known as the Seventy Thousand Year Heavenly Tribulation hung above her head, ready to fall at any moment.
She knew full well that if she tried to endure it in her current state, she would certainly die.
Her only chance of survival was the Hundred Thousand Year Snow Lotus before her, exuding an unusual fragrance.
Reincarnating as a human and cultivating anew.
It was a gamble.
If she won, the world would be hers; if she lost, she would be doomed, and hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation would vanish into nothing.
"I have no choice."
The Snow Empress closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and swallowed the Snow Lotus.
Terrifying energy erupted inside her in an instant. Her body began to grow translucent, and her aura plummeted to rock bottom.
This was the most critical step in cultivating anew—and the moment when she was at her weakest.
Just then.
Buzz—!
In the once-silent ice cave, space suddenly rippled strangely.
The next moment, a shadow appeared out of thin air.
It was a human dressed in a gray Soul Tool robe, with a sinister face and undisguised greed and fervor in his eyes.
In his hands, he held a strangely shaped metal platform that radiated a bizarre suction force.
A Rank Nine Soul Tool, the Platform of Deification!
"Kehehehe..."
"Who would've thought this old man would be so lucky as to stumble across a legendary soul beast cultivating anew?"
The man let out a chilling cackle, his eyes fixed on the Snow Empress, who was in the middle of the critical moment of her transformation.
"I only came here to catch a ten-thousand-year soul beast for an experiment. I never expected to find a treasure like this!"
"A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beast Embryo... If I take this back, whether I harvest its ring and bones or use it for research, my name will resound throughout the entire Sun Moon Empire!"
Taking advantage of someone's weakness.
A classic move from a despicable villain.
"Despicable human!"
The Snow Empress's eyes flew open, filled with fury and shock.
She tried to fight back, forcibly summoning the Extreme Ice within her to freeze the intruder into an ice sculpture.
Boom—!
Terrifying cold erupted in an instant, as if even the space around them had frozen.
But the human remained completely unruffled. The Platform of Deification in his hands suddenly burst into dazzling white light.
Countless complex runes flashed. A terrifying suction force, specifically designed to target the essence of soul beasts, appeared from nowhere, instantly neutralizing the Snow Empress's attack and locking onto her true form.
"It's no use. Stop struggling."
The human laughed smugly. "The Platform of Deification is a Rank Nine Soul Tool, created specifically to counter your kind!"
"Come quietly!"
Under the Platform of Deification's suppression, the weakened Snow Empress was unable to struggle. Her body flew uncontrollably toward the metal platform.
Despair surged over her like a tide.
Was she really going to lose all the cultivation she'd built in this life to this mere insect?
Would she become a human's test subject, or even a plaything?
No!
She was the queen of the Extreme North. Even if she died, she would take someone down with her!
"You think you can catch me? Dream on!"
A trace of madness flashed through the Snow Empress's eyes as the essence within her began to burn violently.
If she couldn't live, then they would die together!
Boom—!
A mental wave filled with endless grief and despair, carried by the snowstorms that swept across the Extreme North, instantly spread a thousand li in every direction.
It was her final cry, unleashed as she burned her life away.
Just as her consciousness was about to blur and the Platform of Deification was about to devour her completely—
She sensed it.
A strange mental fluctuation.
Not far away.
Its strength wasn't among the highest, but its level was extremely high, and it carried an... damnably alluring quality.
Like a beacon in the darkness.
There was no time to think.
She had to grasp at any chance, no matter how slim.
With the last of her strength, the Snow Empress locked her coordinates and distress signal onto that direction.
"Help... me..."
At the same time, on the Extreme North Icefield.
Gu Yuejin was making his way through the snowstorm with Huo Yuhao.
Suddenly, golden light flared from Huo Yuhao's brow. In his Sea of Consciousness, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm shuddered as if struck by lightning.
"Yuhao! Gu Yue! I can feel it!"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's voice was sharp and urgent. "It's the Snow Empress! She's calling for help! Her aura is extremely unstable, like she's burning her essence!"
"She's right ahead! Less than ten li away!"
Hearing this, Gu Yuejin stopped and looked toward the raging snowstorm in the distance.
The amused curve of his lips slowly widened.
"Looks like we're in luck."
"Someone else has made the first move for us."
He loved it when he didn't have to exert himself to catch his prey and could simply reap the rewards.
Wasn't "robbing the robber" a villain's essential skill?
"Let's go."
Gu Yuejin grabbed Huo Yuhao, and Blue Silver Emperor sprang into action beneath his feet. He shot toward the coordinates like a streak of light.
Fifty li vanished in the blink of an eye.
The scene was a complete mess.
At the heart of the blizzard, the Rank 9 Soul Master was operating the Platform of Deification in his hands, his face alight with feverish excitement.
"Absorb! Absorb her!"
Watching the exquisite yet translucent figure inside the Platform of Deification, who had nearly given up resisting, the Soul Master grinned until the wrinkles on his face bunched together.
He'd done it!
He was about to succeed!
This was a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beast Embryo!
Once he pulled this off, he'd be the undisputed number-one Soul Master in the Sun Moon Empire. Even the Hall Master of Mingde Hall would have to bow and scrape before him!
But he didn't know that the real hunter was already standing behind him.
"A Rank 9 Soul Master?"
A voice edged with mockery suddenly rang out through the snowstorm.
The Soul Master stiffened all over, and his hands slowed for half a beat.
He hadn't sensed anyone approaching at all!
Turning around, he saw a young man in black standing on an ice outcrop not far away, looking down at him.
"You make a decent tool. You've saved me quite a bit of effort."
Gu Yuejin looked over the Platform of Deification and nodded in satisfaction. "It's packaged nice and tight. I like it."
"It's mine now."
He didn't waste a word.
He didn't even give the other man a chance to ask who he was.
"Yuhao, stay back. Don't get blood all over you."
After casually tossing Huo Yuhao into a safe spot nearby, Gu Yuejin took one step forward.
Boom—!
An overwhelming aura erupted like a volcano, instantly scattering the blizzard.
Beneath his feet, seven Soul Rings slowly rose.
Yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.
The first six Soul Rings alone were enough to make an ordinary Soul Master tremble with fear.
But the instant the seventh Soul Ring lit up, the Rank 9 Soul Master's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
That eerie, scarlet glow stood out against the pristine snowfield.
"A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!"
Before you continue