One day later.
On the outskirts of the Far North.
As the first ray of sunlight fell upon the boundless icy wilderness, Long Xiaoyao and Long Yaochen suddenly appeared on the snowy plains.
Long Xiaoyao and Long Yaochen suddenly appeared amid the snowy plains.
The moment he arrived, Long Yaochen felt a chill seep into his body.
But it was instantly neutralized by the Martial Soul within him.
"We'll rest for half a day. This afternoon, we'll prepare to venture deeper into the Core Area."
With that, Long Xiaoyao waved his hand.
A black dragon claw condensed in midair, then reached into the snow. A crude yet sturdy snow hut was forcibly shaped from the snow.
"Teacher, I can tell you've got plenty of experience wandering around." Long Yaochen said with a smile.
"Stop talking nonsense and get some rest." Long Xiaoyao rapped Long Yaochen on the head and replied irritably.
Though he was a Limit Douluo, carrying this brat across more than half of Douluo Continent in a single day had still drained him considerably.
Not to mention that he would have to face Ferocious Beasts tonight. He had to ensure he was at his peak.
By evening.
Long Xiaoyao slowly opened his eyes, the trace of weariness between his brows completely gone.
"You're sure Snow Empress can't make a move, right?"
"I wouldn't joke around with our lives." Long Yaochen nodded and answered seriously.
Although he could not remember when Snow Empress had been taken away in his previous life.
One thing was certain: before then, she had definitely already been driven into a desperate situation. Either she was in seclusion, or she had chosen to rebuild her cultivation.
Considering that Huo Yuhao had been able to complete his fusion with Ice Empress in the Core Area of the Far North without Snow Empress interfering, there was a high chance that Snow Empress had already been unable to act normally by that point.
The current time was not far from then.
With Long Xiaoyao there to guarantee their safety, he had to take this chance and gamble.
Otherwise, if he waited until the point in the original story, Long Yaochen felt there would be some risk in competing against an acquaintance like Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
Besides, he did not want Long Xiaoyao to have too much contact with Huo Yuhao.
What if Little Scoundrel still had some backup plan... Long Xiaoyao was his greatest trump card right now.
"You learned this from that Demigod opportunity of yours as well?" Long Xiaoyao asked.
"Of course. Otherwise, how could I know about something this secret?" Long Yaochen directly pinned the blame on Electrolux.
On the way here, Long Yaochen had seen that Long Xiaoyao simply refused to believe the plan had been devised by him.
So he could only roughly explain Elder Yi's existence.
When Long Xiaoyao heard the title Demigod, he had even thought Long Yaochen was messing with him.
But after Long Yaochen laid out the detailed plan and revealed a trace of Electrolux's aura.
Long Xiaoyao had reluctantly believed him.
After all, that level of power really was far stronger than his own as a Limit Douluo.
"Ice Empress and Snow Empress are nearing the end of their lifespans... If you really pull this off..."
Long Xiaoyao shook his head and did not continue.
He merely felt once more that his momentary act of kindness back then had truly been the right choice.
Do I really need to do more good deeds?
A bizarre thought surfaced in Long Xiaoyao's mind, only for him to forcibly suppress it.
He glanced at the sky outside and said, "It's getting late. Prepare to set out."
"Oh, right. Wear this next to your skin." Long Xiaoyao took out a suit of silver-white light armor from his storage Soul Tool and handed it to Long Yaochen.
The armor looked somewhat like metal and somewhat like cloth, and it carried a strange warmth when held.
"What is this?" Long Yaochen asked as he put it on.
"I swiped it from some junior. It's not much use, but it can keep you warm."
Long Xiaoyao released a pulse of Soul Power, and the temporary snow hut instantly exploded into ice crystals that filled the sky.
"It really is quite warm."
Long Yaochen felt his body temperature and found that he was indeed warmer than before.
His Martial Soul itself meant he was not afraid of ordinary cold at all.
But the Core Area of the Far North was clearly not ordinarily cold.
Fortunately, Long Xiaoyao had thought things through.
"Let's go."
As soon as Long Xiaoyao spoke, he swept Long Yaochen up in a streak of black light and shot toward the Core Area of the Far North.
Night fell over the Core Area of the Far North.
"Huff..." Long Yaochen's breath instantly froze into icy mist.
The cold here was several times worse than on the outskirts.
The surroundings had also changed from the icy wilderness of the outer region, where a few pine trees could occasionally still be seen, into this deathly, pure white expanse.
There was not the slightest sign of life.
Even wearing the insulated light armor Long Xiaoyao had given him, he still shivered from the cold.
"Brat, are you ready?" Long Xiaoyao asked, glancing at Long Yaochen.
He looked completely unaffected, still dressed in nothing but a thin black robe.
Long Yaochen closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into the Sea of Spirit.
"Elder Yi, we're about to begin. How is that method you prepared coming along?"
"Rest assured. With the Holy Blade of Life, this method cannot fail." Electrolux replied steadily.
Over the past few months, Electrolux had not been idle either.
Continuously nourished by Life Gold, he had recovered faster than in the original course of events. That gave him the spare energy to study this world's power system.
Especially the relationship between Soul Beasts and Soul Masters.
The more he looked at it, the stranger it seemed.
So whenever he had time, he had Long Yaochen bring him to Shrek's Beast Arena to observe Soul Beasts up close.
Over time, a new idea formed in his mind.
Why not preserve a Soul Beast's consciousness and turn it into a new form of power?
After hearing that, Long Yaochen realized that this was the prototype of a Soul Spirit, was it not?
And today was the best opportunity to test that idea.
Because he simply could not absorb Ice Empress as in the original story.
After receiving Electrolux's affirmative reply.
Long Yaochen slowly opened his eyes, nodded to Long Xiaoyao, and said, "Let's begin, Teacher."
"Good! It's been a long time since I got serious. Time to stretch these old bones."
The instant his words fell, Long Xiaoyao slowly took a step forward.
Boom—!
This vast stretch of the Core Area of the Far North seemed to shudder violently at that moment.
The previously silent wind and snow suddenly swept backward. Dark Soul Power, black as ink, surged from Long Xiaoyao's body like a bottomless night sky, forcibly pressing down upon the pure white snowfield.
Soul Rings rose one after another from beneath his feet.
Yellow, yellow, purple, black, black, black, red, red, red!
Without any unnecessary movement, the very instant those Soul Rings appeared, the ice and snow for miles around began to crack under unbearable pressure.
Although Long Yaochen had grown up following Long Xiaoyao, this was the first time he had seen him get serious.
Even when they had gone to Shrek to make trouble, Long Xiaoyao had never displayed such might.
Standing behind him, Long Yaochen experienced the terror of a Limit Douluo so directly for the first time.
It was a majesty that seemed capable of bending even the will of heaven and earth.
"A Soul Master should aspire to this." Long Yaochen murmured instinctively.
The next instant, darkness Soul Power so dense it reached the extreme condensed in midair, and the enormous phantom of a Dark Sacred Dragon slowly emerged.
Its dragon head hung low, its dragon eyes icy, like an ancient monarch looking down upon all living things.
The seventh Soul Ring, the blood-red ring representing one hundred thousand years, suddenly lit up.
Dark Sacred Dragon, Martial Soul Avatar!
Accompanied by a deep dragon roar, the Dark Sacred Dragon phantom completely merged with Long Xiaoyao.
In an instant, even the night sky above the Far North seemed to be dyed black as ink.
Deep within the snowfield, countless Soul Beasts fell prostrate at that moment.
Long Xiaoyao did not advance further. He simply stood with his hands behind his back amid the wind and snow. His aged voice rolled across the entire Core Area like thunder.
"Ice Empress. Come out and speak with this old man."
Before you continue