Laying It Bare, First Steps on the Path to Godhood

Shu Yan looked up at Snow Empress's nearly flawless face, then actually let out a soft laugh and shook his head.

"Impossible, Snow Empress. Your disgust and hostility toward humans are plain to see. The only reason I have become someone special to you is because I possess the Heavenly Snow Woman Martial Soul and carry blood nearly identical in origin to yours. Without those things, there would probably be four more corpses at the edge of the Extreme North Land today..."

"Humans and soul beasts are natural enemies. Humanity's path of advancement is paved with the lives of soul beasts. You are the sovereign of the Extreme North Land. Compared to ordinary soul beasts, your hatred for humans can only be greater, never less."

At some point, Snow Empress's slender jade-like fingers began lightly tapping the throne beneath her, which was crafted from Thousand-Year Cold Ice Marrow. The crisp sound echoed continuously through the hall and reverberated in Shu Yan's heart as well.

The next second, Snow Empress's narrow phoenix eyes swept over Shu Yan. His scalp went numb, as though every secret he possessed had been laid bare before her. Yet he still forced himself to meet her gaze.

After a long while, faint ripples finally appeared in Snow Empress's eyes, which had been as placid as stagnant water. Her red lips parted, and she spoke each word slowly and distinctly.

"I will not permit a human who possesses the Heavenly Snow Woman Martial Soul to leave the Extreme North Land unless you can defeat me with your own hands."

There was no doubt that she felt conflicted about Shu Yan's existence.

On one hand, she was extremely disgusted by and repulsed by humans. Yet Shu Yan's aura and bloodline gave her an uncontrollable sense of closeness toward him. Even though she truly harbored killing intent, she could never bring herself to strike. The conflict in her heart left her utterly at a loss over how to deal with him, so she simply imprisoned him in the Extreme North Land, sparing herself the concern that he might one day rise in the human world and endanger the Extreme North Land.

As for the other reason, it was far more difficult to put into words.

Snow Empress had lived in the Extreme North Land for hundreds of thousands of years since her birth. She had climbed step by step from weakness to become the sovereign revered by all clans of the north. No one could imagine or understand the loneliness and pain in her heart. Even Ice Empress could only barely ease those feelings. A piece of her heart was missing, and what she lacked was the yearning for companions, warmth, and happiness. In Shu Yan, she saw a faint possibility of finding all that...

So Shu Yan had made the right bet. Snow Empress would not kill him. In some sense, she simply could not bear to kill him.

Shu Yan merely smiled faintly, without the slightest surprise.

Something as bizarre as transmigration had already happened to him. Few other things could now stir any major emotional upheaval within him.

Shu Yan looked earnestly at Snow Empress. After the complete awakening of his Talent Domain, his features had become even more refined than before, and he now carried a uniquely clear and ethereal air. Even by Snow Empress's standards, the elegance and composure Shu Yan exuded in every gesture remained captivating. No wonder Xu Jiujiu's feelings had gradually changed while growing up with him as childhood sweethearts, eventually spiraling out of control...

"Snow Empress, let's speak plainly. Perhaps, aside from this pointless talk, there is something else we are both more interested in discussing..."

Shu Yan coughed twice again. His voice was not loud, but Snow Empress clearly felt as though the youth before her had suddenly become a different person. His aura abruptly turned sharp and imposing.

Snow Empress slowly sat upright, with no visible change in her expression.

Shu Yan's gaze met hers once more. Both of them felt a faint tremor in their hearts. The next moment, Shu Yan spoke word by word.

"Your origin is damaged. You no longer have the strength to survive the seven-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation. Between life and death, it is time for you to make a choice. Am I wrong?"

Boom—

Snow Empress's aura erupted, shaking the surrounding palace. Countless shards of ice rained down. Shu Yan was forced back more than a dozen steps before barely steadying himself. Then Snow Empress's voice, as though laced with ice shards, rang out from above.

"Human, tell me how you learned of these secrets, and I may leave you an intact corpse."

There was no panic on Shu Yan's face. He merely continued, "Rest assured. In all the world, only Ice Empress and I know of this matter. No one else does. As for how I learned it, that is something I cannot disclose..."

Snow Empress merely stared coldly at Shu Yan. Only after a long silence did she say, "I do not believe you."

Shu Yan raised his head to face Snow Empress directly and said, "As the Sea God's most devout believer, I swear by the great Sea God that every word I have spoken is true. If even one word is false, may my body and soul both be destroyed."

Snow Empress's pupils contracted slightly. She seemed to recall that scene from ten thousand years ago. Even now, it remained deeply engraved in her memory. Heaven and earth had changed color, while an aura so oppressive that no living being could raise its head spread across the entire continent. It had been a true god-level aura, unimaginably powerful.

And the deity who had emerged victorious from that later Divine War, if Snow Empress remembered correctly, had been the Sea God...

Perhaps Shu Yan's oath had been too decisive, but Snow Empress's expression eased slightly. An imperceptible curve lifted at the corner of Shu Yan's lips.

The Sea God... a figure portrayed as a savior in the continent's legends. Yet Shu Yan had never seen him that way. Right and wrong, good and evil—such things were decided by the victors. No one cared whether the defeated had been right or wrong. From the moment they failed, their fate was already sealed.

But what did any of that have to do with him?

He held no reverence for gods, much less faith in them. Without faith, the very basis of such oaths did not exist. What use were they, then? They were nothing more than tricks used to fool people.

Snow Empress looked at Shu Yan. The calmness in her eyes was gone, replaced by a trace of complicated emotion.

"What exactly do you want to say, and what do you want? Heh... Only now do I realize that, over such an endless span of time, I have never truly seen through you humans, this race favored by heaven and earth..."

The expression on Shu Yan's face gradually softened. Looking at Snow Empress, he spoke quietly.

"Whether human or soul beast, life is ultimately finite. In this era, even Plant System Soul Masters among humans, who are known for their longevity, can only live to around four hundred years at most, even if they successfully cultivate to the level of Limit Douluo. Soul beasts differ somewhat, but it is roughly the same."

"The shackles of bloodline prevent many soul beasts from even reaching ten thousand years. Even if they are fortunate enough to break through to the hundred-thousand-year level, they may still perish beneath a Heavenly Tribulation. To humans, the lives of soul beasts seem very long, but from your perspective? A single dream can span thousands of years. Hundreds of thousands of years may sound distant, yet when you look back, they seem pitifully brief."

"If you wish to shatter the limits of life and power, then you must break past the ultimate boundary and ascend to godhood. Only then will you have the right to transform from a chess piece into the one moving the pieces..."

Shu Yan's voice became gentle as a spring breeze, carrying a seductive undertone as it rang beside Snow Empress's ears. Snow Empress listened blankly, but her thoughts drifted away without her realizing it. She seemed to enter a state of deep contemplation, temporarily losing awareness of the outside world. Meanwhile, Shu Yan climbed the icy steps one by one, finally arriving at the first step beneath the main throne.

Before Snow Empress could recover, Shu Yan's voice sounded again.

"The dream of reaching level one hundred flows in the blood of every generation of powerhouses on this continent. You have at most a little over a hundred years left to live. We share the same obsession with immortality. In the time we have left, why not make one final fight for ourselves? Join hands with me. Use the Path to Godhood to gamble on that elusive god-level realm. If we succeed, immortality will no longer be a dream. If we fail, at least we will leave behind a brilliant mark upon this world. Countless successors will walk the path we once walked. We will live on in their memories, no matter what form that may take..."

The moment Snow Empress heard the words "creating a god," her mind seemed to clear instantly. She raised her head, and their gazes met in the air. For some reason, her heart trembled faintly. Those two words were like a curse, echoing by her ears...

PS: I finally got signed today, and the book's status has been updated too ovo

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