Emperor Cold Heaven

"Are you Spirit Beasts?!"

Di Tian and the Snow Empress had none of Ye Qing's disguises. The faint yet unmistakable aura of Spirit Beasts around them was plain to see. Although Ye Qing carried no Spirit Beast aura, Qian Zhenggan did not believe Spirit Beasts of this caliber would live alongside humans. There was no doubt that this person was also a Spirit Beast.

The instant he was surrounded, he went all out. The phantom of a Six-Winged Angel rose behind him, eight black and one red Spirit Rings gleaming around him. Yet the strength that had allowed him to roam the continent freely brought him no sense of security now.

"Angel Martial Soul? Are you the Pope of this generation, or the Grand Elder? You came here alone. Don't tell me you came for that little Hall Master."

How does a mere Spirit Beast know so much about Spirit Hall? Could all of this be a conspiracy? Qian Zhenggan wondered. As a God-Bestowed Martial Soul, the Angel Martial Soul was the inherited Martial Soul of Spirit Hall's Popes and Grand Elders. Even people in remote cities might not know this, yet a Spirit Beast did.

Besides, while he could not claim to know Spirit Beasts exceptionally well, he understood their habits. Powerful Spirit Beasts, aside from mates and a few species, could hardly coexist within the same territory, let alone these top-tier Spirit Beasts before him. The auras he sensed from them far surpassed a hundred thousand years.

So the question was, why had so many top-tier Spirit Beasts gathered together, and why had they done so precisely when he arrived? Without question, their target was him, the Grand Elder of Spirit Hall.

It seemed someone wanted to use the Spirit Beasts' hands to eliminate him.

To be fair, his line of thinking was not entirely wrong. This was the normal conclusion to reach. The Ice and Snow Emperors of the Extreme North, Di Tian, Xiong Jun, and Ye Qing—these five stood at the pinnacle of Spirit Beast strength. If not for the anomaly that was Ye Qing, these figures would have been almost impossible to gather in the same place at the same time.

Spirit Hall had made no shortage of enemies over the years, but he had never imagined that the Spirit Beasts he usually considered free to slaughter would possess such terrifying reserves of power.

"That idiot... He fell into someone else's trap." In his eyes, that Hall Master had been manipulated from beginning to end without realizing it. He had even used his own life to set up such an open scheme, leading Qian Zhenggan into this deadly predicament.

"Angel Avatar!" If his opponents had been humans, he might have exchanged a few words with them, perhaps tried to recruit and persuade them to surrender, or uncover the mastermind behind it all. But he had no such interest in Spirit Beasts. To Qian Zhenggan, Spirit Beasts were merely unusual beasts, no different from pigs or dogs. The meat on his table was often Spirit Beast flesh. He did not believe the Spirit Beasts before him could be reasoned with. Even if they could speak human language and take human form, it could not change the gap between Spirit Beasts and humans.

After all, Spirit Beasts were still Spirit Beasts.

Likewise, apart from Ye Qing, none of the Spirit Beasts intended to speak further with this human who had rashly intruded upon this place. None of them had any favorable impression of humans.

As Qian Zhenggan unleashed his Martial Soul Avatar, the towering Angel appeared above the forest. To Di Tian and the others, this was undoubtedly a declaration of war. Qian Zhenggan was wary of the Spirit Beasts, but were they not equally wary of this human? Battle was about to erupt.

"Ninth Spirit Skill, Sword of Judgment!" He immediately used the Ninth Spirit Skill granted by his Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring. He knew that if the battle dragged on, he would certainly lose. Although he was a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo, he had only just entered level ninety-nine. He could sense that both Ye Qing and Di Tian were stronger than him. The Snow Empress was the weakest link among them, so he needed to quickly tear open an escape route before they understood his abilities.

Relying on the aerial attribute of the Angel Martial Soul, he was confident he could leave this place. A massive Lightsaber condensed in the Martial Soul's hand and swung toward the Snow Empress.

"Emperor Sword."

Sword and palm froze heaven and snow; Emperor Sword, Emperor Palm, Emperor Cold Heaven. The Snow Empress stood first among the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North not by empty reputation. As the strongest Spirit Beast of the Extreme North, she possessed her own pride. Qian Zhenggan's attempt to use her as a breakthrough point was clearly treating her like a soft target, and that displeased her greatly.

A colossal sword formed from ice and snow slashed toward the Lightsaber swung by the Six-Winged Angel. The two swords collided in midair. After a brief clash, the Angel's Lightsaber shattered first, while the enormous ice sword continued straight toward the Angel's incarnation.

"Shield of Justice!" At the instant before the blade struck him, a shield of energy appeared before him. This was the Second Spirit Skill of Qian Zhenggan's Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring. No matter what kind of attack it faced, it would weaken it to a level the shield could withstand. It could be used three times a day.

If this had been the Snow Empress of old, she would never have been able to shatter that Lightsaber. But the current Snow Empress had been strengthened by energy, and the power of her skills was no longer what it had once been. Even though that strike had been blocked, the frigid force within still passed through the shield's defense. Qian Zhenggan felt as though his meridians had been imprisoned by ice, cold spreading from within to every part of his body.

However, the Angel God possessed part of the sun's authority. As an Elder of the Angel God, Spirit Hall's Grand Elder and Grand Pontiff, his God-Bestowed Martial Soul naturally possessed such power. The warmth of the sun quickly dispelled the icy chill within him, but his heart remained cold. He knew that if he could not even severely wound the weakest among them with a single strike, his chances were even slimmer.

Di Tian and Ye Qing did not interfere, because this was the Snow Empress's battle. Interfering rashly would be disrespectful to her. But Ye Qing was not someone who cared about martial honor. He had never relaxed his vigilance. The moment the Snow Empress showed any sign of defeat, he would immediately enter the battle.

As the battle continued, the Snow Empress noticed that her opponent's Soul Power did not seem to have decreased much.

"Your energy seems to be replenished by the sun."

Qian Zhenggan did not answer. These Spirit Beasts were already difficult enough to deal with; he was not foolish enough to reveal his trump card. But it did not matter. The Snow Empress had already discovered that the sky was his domain, and that both the sky and the sun provided him with a certain boost.

"In that case... Snow Dance Shining Sun!"

This was the Snow Empress's Emperor Cold Heaven, Snow Dance Shining Sun, a domain-type skill. In the Extreme North, the place most suited to her battle, she could instantly transform everything within ten thousand meters into her own domain. Amid fluttering snowflakes, it would become a forbidden land for all living things. Even the sun's light could not shine within.

Although this was not the Extreme North, a hundred-meter radius was instantly engulfed by wind and snow. In the height of summer, goose-feather snow suddenly fell. The dancing snowflakes completely changed the battlefield's environment. This was no longer Qian Zhenggan's home ground.