The Last Chance

Qian Xunji retracted the wings behind his back and hovered in the air, his gaze fixed upon her, profoundly deep and clear:

"Snow Empress, you have lived for seven hundred thousand years; you should see things more clearly than any other creature on this continent. What is the current situation of your soul beast kin?"

"Spare me the nonsense," the Snow Empress said coldly. "Humans and soul beasts have always been mortal enemies."

"Mortal enemies? Don't flatter yourselves," Qian Xunji sneered, tearing away her final shred of dignity without mercy. "Ever since the War of the Dragon God, soul beasts have been forbidden from ever becoming gods. In the eyes of the deities, you are nothing more than livestock kept in a pen, consumable materials meant to provide spirit rings and spirit bones for humans."

"Do you think you can stay out of it just by hiding here in the Far North? When will your next heavenly tribulation arrive? Do you truly believe that these Far North winds and snows alone are enough to help you endure it? If not for the Companion Profound Ice Marrow from Douluo Planet I gave you last time, how much longer could you have held on? And even if you achieve the status of a million-year soul beast, so what? Will your spirit ring look prettier?"

The Snow Empress's delicate body trembled slightly, and a flash of undisguised desolation crossed her eyes. The heavenly tribulation—it was the death warrant hanging over the head of every soul beast.

"Perhaps you are still pinning your hopes on that master sleeping deep within the Star Dou Great Forest? That Silver Dragon King?"

The three words uttered by Qian Xunji caused the Snow Empress to jerk her head up, her face full of shock. The Far North and the Star Dou Great Forest had no quarrel, but as a top-tier fierce beast, she naturally knew of that common sovereign's existence.

"Don't be naive."

Qian Xunji ruthlessly shattered her illusions: "Not to mention how severely injured she is, even if she were to truly awaken in the future, do you think she would care about a Heavenly Snow Woman birthed from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth?"

"She is the other half of the Dragon God; what she seeks to revive is the Dragon Race! It is for fierce beasts like Di Tian who possess pure dragon bloodlines! What are you, Snow Empress? In her grand scheme of hegemony, at best, you are merely high-level cannon fodder meant to sacrifice your life for the dragons. When she goes to contend with the God Realm, the first ones she will look after are the dragons. What on earth does that have to do with your Far North?"

These words were brutally realistic, like a sharp blade piercing precisely into the Snow Empress's soft underbelly.

It was true... the Dragon God only cared about dragons. To the Star Dou Great Forest, the creatures of the Far North were nothing more than outsiders.

"What exactly are you trying to say..." The Snow Empress's voice carried a trace of hoarseness and helplessness for the first time.

"I am saying that the soul beast race currently has no hope. Not 'a little hope'—there is simply! No! Hope!"

Qian Xunji looked directly into her eyes, his tone icy: "The Sea God, the Asura God, the Angel God... the inheritance of every deity is entirely in the hands of humans! The gates of the God Realm have long since been welded shut against you. If you continue to isolate yourself, clinging to this ridiculous dignity of a forbidden zone, your only final outcome will be the total annihilation of your body and soul in the lightning tribulation."

Qian Xunji lifted his chin slightly. "I, Qian Xunji, may be a human, but my future path will absolutely not be confined to this continent."

"The Profound Ice Marrow I left for you last time was a gesture of goodwill from This Seat; it will help you survive your next heavenly tribulation."

Qian Xunji turned around, the wings of light behind him manifesting once more. "I do not need a tamed pet; what I need is a companion... who can watch my back."

He tilted his head slightly. "Snow Empress, I will return to the Far North to find you again."

"However, that will be the last time."

"Whether you come with me or stay here in the Far North waiting for the heavenly tribulation to reduce you to ash—give me your answer next time."

"BOOM!"

A piercing sonic boom tore through the sky. Without a hint of hesitation, Qian Xunji transformed into a streak of golden light and vanished into the horizon.

Within the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Abyss, the howling winds gradually subsided.

The Snow Empress stood alone on the shattered Profound Ice Platform, looking up in the direction the man had departed, unable to pull her gaze away for a long time.

Her mind kept replaying the cold, cruel, and bloody truths Qian Xunji had just spoken.

No hope.

High-level cannon fodder.

Total annihilation.

The Snow Empress lowered her head, looking at her own trembling, fair jade hands. For the first time in seven hundred thousand years, she felt that the wind and snow of the Far North were chillingly cold and lonely.

She slowly closed her eyes, yet the image of that man before he left remained etched in her mind.

"The last time, is it..."

The sovereign of the Far North murmured to herself, and the heart that had been frozen for seven hundred thousand years finally cracked open a fissure.

Racing forward with sparks and lightning trailing in his wake, Qian Xunji only slammed on the brakes atop a hidden, desolate mountain peak once he had flown beyond the endless expanse of wind and snow on the outskirts of the Far North.

The moment his feet touched the ground, the power within his body—that of a level ninety-nine Limit Douluo, a strength that felt as if it could trample the entire world beneath his feet—receded like a retreating tide.

The time limit for that [Peerless Douluo Experience Card] had just expired.

"Whew—"

Qian Xunji let out a long breath. Feeling his cultivation level drop back down to level ninety-five, he felt a sudden, massive sense of loss, as if he had been forced to trade a Rolls-Royce Phantom for a shared bicycle.

"The power of level ninety-nine... it is truly intoxicating."

Qian Xunji clenched his fists and smacked his lips, still feeling a lingering sense of satisfaction:

"What a pity. The cheat I bought for three thousand Subversion Points only lasts for half an hour of 'true manhood.' The time is too short, but the money was well spent. The Snow Empress must have been so shaken by my peerless, unrivaled aura that she's questioning her entire existence."

Having experienced the invincible scenery of a Limit Douluo, Qian Xunji's desire for power became even clearer and more urgent.

He knew that an experience card was ultimately an external crutch. If he wanted to remain firmly in control in this insane world where a reincarnator or transmigrator could pop up at any moment, he not only had to break through his own limits quickly but also had to forge Martial Soul Hall, his home base, into an impenetrable fortress.

"I need to get back and start building infrastructure. In the future, I'll be roaming the world to intercept opportunities and harvest Subversion Points. If I go out for a romp and come back to find my home base stolen, that would be a massive joke."

Qian Xunji did not linger. The twelve wings of light on his back gave a violent flap, transforming him into a streak of golden light as he headed straight for Martial Soul City.

Upon returning to Martial Soul City, Qian Xunji acted with lightning speed, immediately convening a top-secret, high-level assembly of Cardinals at the Pope Hall.

During this meeting, Qian Xunji cast aside his previous style of acting like a charlatan and a swindler, fully displaying the formidable iron-fisted methods of a ruthless Pope.

"This Seat does not care how you lined your pockets or formed cliques in the past. From this day forward, internal discipline within Martial Soul Hall will be tightened across the board! Anyone who dares to defy this and oppress civilian soul masters will, upon verification, have their cultivation crippled and be thrown into the Inquisition!"

Qian Xunji sat upon the high papal throne, his fingers tapping against the armrest as his cold gaze swept over the trembling bishops below.

"Furthermore, we will comprehensively increase subsidies for civilian soul masters and low-level soul masters. Distribute all our idle resources and establish soul awakening stations in every remote village and town across the continent. Not only will the awakening be free, but for anyone with potential, Martial Soul Hall will fully fund their enrollment in a primary Soul Master Academy!"