A Ten-Thousand-Year Dominion, Ended by One Claw

At the edge of the Extreme North Land lay a transitional zone the locals called the "Gray Realm."

To the north stretched the endless Eternal Icy Plains, where life had vanished.

To the south lay forested land where cold-resistant vegetation gradually appeared, eventually extending into vast coniferous forests.

The climate here was strange and unpredictable.

One moment, a blizzard might be raging; the next, thin sunlight would barely pierce the clouds, casting shifting patches of light across the snow and blackened trees.

At that moment, several Soul Beast corpses lay piled within a sheltered ice hollow, long frozen stiff with all their Soul Power dissipated.

Judging by their lingering auras, there were wolves, deer, and even an Ice-backed Lizard whose cultivation was close to a thousand-year.

At the center of the corpses, a dense shadow that seemed impossible to dissolve slowly writhed and contracted.

"Crunch... gulp..."

The teeth-grinding sounds of chewing and swallowing came from within the darkness.

Moments later, the shadow receded like a tide, revealing a Soul Beast larger and more powerfully built than an ordinary tiger, its entire body shrouded in an ominous aura.

Its fur was black as the deepest night. Only a ghastly white bone spur ran from its skull to the base of its tail, gleaming with a metallic chill.

Where its shoulder blades should have been covered in fur were two folded, resilient wing membranes, as though woven from obsidian and shadow, with dark purple patterns faintly flowing along their edges.

A scorpion-like tail tipped with a cold, vicious barb swayed lightly behind it without conscious intent.

Most striking of all were its eyes: a pair of pure vertical pupils burning with blood-red savagery and cunning, like two pools of boiling blood.

It extended a barbed tongue and leisurely licked the ice slurry and blood foam caught between its claws.

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.

A Dark Demon Evil God Tiger whose cultivation had already stabilized at several hundred years.

It raised its head and looked toward the gray sky beyond the ice hollow. Within those blood-colored vertical pupils was none of the ignorance of a low-level Soul Beast, only coldness, greed, and a clear intelligence that seemed capable of calculating everything.

Devouring, evolving, growing stronger—these were the instincts and mission carved into the deepest part of its bloodline.

The flesh, blood, and Soul Power of Soul Beasts, as well as the souls and cultivation of Soul Masters, were all exceptional nourishment on its path to power.

It also knew perfectly well about its "fine reputation" as a Lone Star of Calamity.

Whether in the Soul Beast world ruled by the Law of the Jungle or in the eyes of greedy humans hunting it down, it was an absolute aberration and public enemy.

Once exposed, it would inevitably face encirclement and suppression.

Thus, it was exceedingly cautious.

It stayed far from the forest's core, where powerful Soul Beasts gathered, and avoided the edges frequented by humans, hiding instead within this barren and desolate "Gray Realm."

This was the "Newbie Hatchery" it had carefully selected.

"Several hundred years... still too weak." A cold, aggressive thought roared through its mind.

"A thousand years! I must break through to the thousand-year level as soon as possible! Then I can head south into those forests rich in Soul Beast resources to hunt and evolve!"

"If fortune favors me, I can devour a few lone Soul Masters and absorb their unique Soul Power..."

It paced to the edge of the ice hollow and overlooked the faint southern treeline. A surging ambition nearly burst from its chest.

It could feel the immense power within its body, far surpassing others of the same level.

Wind and lightning rumbled quietly within its bloodline, darkness and Evil Power lingered around its claws and fangs, and an incomparably domineering potential born of Ancient Heritage was awakening.

It even dared to dream of a more distant future...

"When I ascend to the ten-thousand-year realm, even glimpse the Supreme Realm of the hundred-thousand-year... the vast southern forests shall become my hunting ground! Even the frigid, lifeless Icy Plains to the north—if any dare block my path, I shall crush them beneath my feet!"

To dominate the forests and covet the Icy Plains!

Ambition woven from pride and savagery burned fiercely within the evil tiger's heart.

It seemed to see the sight of countless beasts prostrating themselves and trembling beneath its pressure. Unable to restrain itself, it slightly opened its mouth, a low Tiger Roar declaring its ambition rolling in its throat, ready to erupt—

At the very instant before it could exhale!

Without any warning, without even stirring a trace of wind.

A gigantic Scorpion Claw formed entirely from emerald green Extreme Cold Air, so crystalline and pure that it struck fear into the heart, descended from the space almost flush above its head. As casually as swatting an annoying insect, it lightly... pressed down.

"Pff—!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only an incomparably muffled boom, as though Earth's Innards had been squeezed.

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's half-formed roar was forcibly shoved back down its throat.

Its surging Evil Power, its imposing might that could make Soul Beasts of the same level tremble, its grand plans for ten thousand and hundred thousand years—all of it became laughably insignificant before that emerald green scorpion claw that had appeared from nowhere.

It was directly embedded into the incomparably hard frozen earth below, like a nail brutally hammered into a wooden board.

Its entire skeleton let out a dense series of cracking sounds under unbearable strain. All its Soul Power and all its attribute power were instantly Ice Sealed and shattered by an even vaster, purer Extreme Cold Air carrying the meaning of absolute dominion.

The boiling ambition in those blood red vertical pupils was completely frozen over and replaced by utter bewilderment and terror it could not comprehend.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

A tall emerald green figure seemed to condense from the spreading icy aura, silently landing beside the tiger head, which was nearly level with the ground.

Ice Empress stood with her arms crossed. She lowered her head to glance at the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger in the pit, its eyes unfocused and its body twitching only by instinct, then swept her gaze over the Soul Beast corpses nearby and curled her lip.

"No wonder the disturbance you sensed was so intense, kid." She turned to Xue Lingyun, who was approaching from behind.

"This thing is called a Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. It's the ancestor of all things wicked, growing by devouring other Soul Beasts and unlucky Soul Masters. Its potential is terrifying, but it also draws a lot of hatred."

"Forget humans—even in the Soul Beast world, anyone capable of killing it would never plan to let it survive until the next day. The fact that it reached several hundred years means smoke rose from its ancestral graves, and it was good at hiding."

Xue Lingyun walked to the edge of the pit and looked at the "Black Cake" below. Just moments ago, it had been brimming with ambition to conquer the forests and even the Icy Plains, but now even its tail hook lay limp on the ground. His feelings were truly complicated.

The contrast... was a little too great. But more than that, he felt the reassurance and faint excitement of having confirmed the target.

This is it.