Living Gold, Shu Yan's World Came Crashing Down

A dense, icy aura suddenly erupted from within the carving knife. Cyan light illuminated the entire hall in an instant, while a chilling wind howled as though countless wandering ghosts were shrieking at their sides. A gloomy sensation enveloped the hall.

Xu Jiujiu let out an uncomfortable muffled groan. To her astonishment, the icy energy seemed capable of seeping through anything. In just an instant, a small portion had broken through the defenses of her Soul Power and entered her body.

Seeing the cyan light emerge from the Devouring Spirit Carving Knife, Snow Empress more or less understood what was happening. She waved a hand, releasing the aura of an ultimate Fierce Beast. In an instant, she completely suppressed the pressure emitted by the Devouring Spirit Carving Knife. After its body trembled a few times, it returned to calm.

The Devouring Spirit Carving Knife was exceedingly dangerous in itself, but before a Fierce Beast, its threat was far too insignificant. They were not even on the same level.

Once the Devouring Spirit Carving Knife had completely settled down, Ice Empress turned to Snow Empress and asked curiously, "Xue'er, what did you see?"

Snow Empress ran her jade-like fingers over her teacup. After considering it for a moment, she said, "The Evil Soul Master who created this carving knife did indeed leave a trace of his soul within it. That fragment has continuously grown by absorbing the Soul Power and Life Energy of its successive owners. Anyone who uses this carving knife will be affected by that soul fragment. Those with weak wills will eventually be corrupted by it and fall into darkness and evil. Simply put, this knife truly lives up to its reputation as a vicious blade."

"However, after conducting an in-depth analysis with my Spiritual Power, I discovered something different beneath that icy surface. That familiar energy fluctuation seemed to be... Life Energy?"

Shu Yan raised his eyes slightly. He was not surprised that Snow Empress had spotted some of its mysteries. After all, she possessed Spiritual Power at the level of a Limit Douluo. It would have been truly unreasonable if she had noticed nothing at all.

Ice Empress scratched her head and stared at the Devouring Spirit Carving Knife for a while longer, but she still found nothing unusual. The only difference was likely that strange feeling in her heart.

Shu Yan reached out and closed the jade box, then said softly, "Sister Xue was not mistaken. This carving knife was forged from a special metal known as Living Gold. The Life Energy contained within it is so vast that it is almost beyond imagination."

The unfamiliar term appeared once more, and surprise crossed the faces of Snow Empress and the others.

Xu Jiujiu tugged on Shu Yan's arm and asked curiously, "A Yan, what kind of metal is Living Gold? Why have I never heard of it?"

Snow Empress and Ice Empress also looked at him curiously, seemingly waiting for his explanation.

Yet Shu Yan merely shook his head lightly and said, "You'll learn later. For now, you only need to know that this is a supreme treasure ranked among the finest in the entire plane. It has merely been obscured by its outward appearance. With it, even if you wanted to die, I'm afraid it would be difficult..."

Ice Empress froze at those words, then abruptly slapped the table and sprang to her feet. Her eyes gleamed as she said, "Vast Life Energy—isn't that exactly what Xue'er and I need? If we had sufficient Life Energy, forget surviving this Heavenly Tribulation. Even the next one, and the one after that, Xue'er and I could come through safely..."

The moment the words left her mouth, Ice Empress realized something was wrong.

Both she and Snow Empress had already made the Ice and Snow Great Oath with Shu Yan. They were all striving toward the same goal. Saying something like this now, even if it was not an overt declaration of her intentions, would leave her explanation laughably weak if he read too much into it.

Regret rose in Ice Empress's heart. She hated herself for blurting out that extra sentence. Now, she could only pray that Shu Yan would not take her impulsive words to heart. Otherwise, things would truly become awkward for everyone...

The expressions of Snow Empress and Xu Jiujiu changed slightly as well. Both looked toward Shu Yan. Unexpectedly, Shu Yan merely smiled and waved a hand, seemingly unconcerned by Ice Empress's words.

"What use is surviving Heavenly Tribulation after Heavenly Tribulation? Ten thousand years ago, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King relied on Devouring to gain a million years of cultivation despite being only a little over three hundred thousand years old in actual age. He had even completed the transformation of Soul Power into armor and was only one step away from becoming a true Sea God Dragon. Yet he could never cross that final threshold. Was it because he lacked talent? Or because he did not work hard enough?"

When no one responded, Shu Yan smiled and shook his head before revealing the truth. "Neither. The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was an overlord of his generation. There was only one reason he could not become a god: the God Realm did not permit any soul beast to become a god. That is an iron law of the God Realm. The specific reason traces back to a world-shaking Divine War from a very long time ago. The plane suppresses both humans and soul beasts that reach their limits, but the suppression imposed upon soul beasts is far greater than that imposed upon humans. All of this is real. If you don't believe me, you can ask Snow Empress..."

After hearing this, Ice Empress instinctively looked at Snow Empress. Snow Empress's expression did not change. She merely sighed softly and nodded.

At the sight, Ice Empress suddenly became somewhat dejected. She said in a dispirited voice, "I admit I was wrong. I won't say things like that again. I was just used to it, and I got a little excited. I'm sorry..."

Seeing Ice Empress's aggrieved expression, Shu Yan instinctively reached out and rubbed her head. Then he said, "It's nothing serious. I understand how you feel. Adapting to reality takes time, so don't keep it in your heart."

Feeling the gentle touch atop her head, Ice Empress's brain instantly shut down. Snow Empress's lips twitched, and she seemed unable to bear watching as she turned her head away. Xu Jiujiu clenched both fists in an instant. Her gaze at Shu Yan gained a touch of jealousy, as though invisible flames were burning in the depths of her eyes...

Shu Yan's hand stiffened strangely in midair. He seemed to realize just how bold his actions had been. Feeling the two scorching gazes upon him, Shu Yan suddenly found the room a little stuffy. He swallowed, stood up, and headed for the door, saying as he went, "I suddenly remembered that I still need to cultivate. You all have fun. I'll be leaving first..."

But before he had taken more than two steps, a tremendous force suddenly struck from behind him, accompanied by Ice Empress's voice, seemingly laced with ice chips. "Leave? Where else do you think you're going?"

"Shu Yan, you're getting bolder and bolder. You actually dared to touch my head. Do you really think I'm easy to bully? Heh heh, after what you just did, I'm going to have a proper spar with you today..."

Shu Yan turned around with tears in his eyes. Ice Empress was not going to spar with him at all. She clearly intended to seize the chance to pin him down and beat him senseless to vent her personal grievances. Was there any justice in this?

Just as Shu Yan was preparing to lie down and play dead, Xu Jiujiu suddenly spoke from behind him. "Wait!"

Shu Yan's eyes lit up. He knew it—Jiujiu still cared about him. Yet before his smile could fully form, Xu Jiujiu's next words made him stiffen once again.

"Ice Empress Sister, feel free to spar with A Yan without holding back. The empire has Medicine Immortal, the greatest healing-type Soul Master of this age. As long as A Yan doesn't die, nothing can possibly happen to him..."

Ice Empress flashed Xu Jiujiu a brilliant smile, then said softly, "Don't worry. I'm a professional when it comes to training juniors. I guarantee Little Shu won't have a single complaint..."

With that, Ice Empress forcibly dragged Shu Yan toward the Combat Training Ground behind the Princess Mansion. Shu Yan looked up at the sky, feeling as though the heavens themselves had come crashing down...