Snow Empress

Douluo Planet.

Golden light fell onto a wasteland, smashing out a deep crater. The shockwave spread outward, startling countless birds and beasts into flight.

The Plane Consciousness manifested out of thin air and stood at the edge of the crater.

The golden light had already dimmed considerably. It finally saw what lay at the bottom of the crater.

It was not some meteorite from beyond the heavens.

Nor was it a fragment of a divine artifact.

It was a baby.

A sleeping baby wrapped in a faint golden glow.

He slept deeply. His tiny brows were slightly furrowed, as if he were having an unpleasant dream. His little hands were clenched into fists and pressed tightly against his chest. His skin was fair and tender, his features exquisite. If not for that layer of golden light, he would have looked no different from any human infant.

The Plane Consciousness froze.

For one reason only.

It saw that the golden light protecting the baby was instinctively and frantically devouring the energy around it.

The free Soul Power in the air was greedily drawn into the golden light, then transformed into gentle nourishment and delivered to the sleeping baby at its center.

That manner of devouring...

The Plane Consciousness's expression changed.

That instinct to disregard the rules and plunder directly, that bearing as though it had been born to stand above all things...

It was far too familiar.

This was an aura that did not belong to this world—greedy and invasive.

Outworld Heavenly Demon.

That was the first thought that surfaced in its mind.

He should be killed.

That was the second thought.

That golden light might have been strange, but it was still too weak. It only needed to use a trace of its origin power to erase this baby completely from existence.

The humanoid silhouette slowly raised a hand, a point of light gathering in its palm.

But just as it was about to bring down the attack, it suddenly stopped.

It looked at the baby.

The baby's brows furrowed even more tightly. His tiny mouth opened slightly, as if he were calling for something in his dream. His clenched little fists trembled gently, as though he wanted to grasp something.

The Plane Consciousness's hand hung in midair.

A thought suddenly flashed through its mind.

Tang San was also an Outworld Heavenly Demon.

Tang San was currently devouring it.

And this baby before it was also an Outworld Heavenly Demon.

What if...

What if it let this baby deal with Tang San?

The moment that thought appeared, it spread like wild grass, instantly occupying all of its consciousness.

Tang San was too powerful. The Children of Destiny it had nurtured were as insignificant as ants before Tang San, utterly unable to withstand a single blow. Tang San understood fate, understood rules, understood every power that living beings within a plane could possess.

But this baby was different.

He did not belong to this world. Tang San's methods of manipulating fate might not work on him.

And since they were both "Outworld Heavenly Demons," perhaps only power of the same origin could truly contend against each other.

A mad idea, so mad that even it was startled by it, rose from the depths of its heart.

Fight magic with magic.

Use an Outworld Heavenly Demon to defeat an Outworld Heavenly Demon!

The Plane Consciousness's gaze changed.

The way it looked at the baby gradually shifted from wariness and killing intent to something more complicated.

In the end, amid those complicated emotions, there was even a trace of... kindness.

This little fellow was no Outworld Heavenly Demon.

He was its most beloved visitor!

The Plane Consciousness waved a hand.

A dazzling light appeared out of thin air in the void, condensing into a golden-red sphere of light.

That was the last of Douluo Planet's Fortune Origin. Originally, it had intended to stake everything on this fortune and create a Child of Destiny capable of standing against Tang San.

But now, it had a better choice.

Half.

It separated half of the fortune, turning it into a streak of light that entered the baby's body.

After doing so, it faced another problem.

Where should it throw this little fellow to raise him?

Shrek? No, that was Tang San's territory.

The Four Great Empires? That did not seem very suitable either...

The Plane Consciousness pondered for a long time before its gaze settled on the northernmost part of the continent.

That place was the Far North.

Frozen year-round and rarely visited by humans. Even Titled Douluo did not dare venture deep into its core region.

I hope you can find a path that changes the relationship between humans and soul beasts...

The Plane Consciousness made its decision.

With a wave of its hand, the baby became a streak of light and flew toward the Far North.

The edge of the Far North Core Circle.

This place was covered in ice and snow all year round, with temperatures low enough to shatter an ordinary soul master's Soul Power barrier. Howling blizzards obscured all sight, reducing visibility to less than three meters.

Amid this bitter cold that could freeze all things, a ball of golden light descended from the sky and gently landed atop an ice mound.

Then, the golden light slowly faded away.

A baby who appeared to be no more than three months old lay quietly amid the snow and ice.

His brows were slightly furrowed, yet the corners of his mouth held a faint, barely perceptible curve.

Perhaps sensing the cold around him, his tiny body instinctively curled up. But soon, a warm aura spread from within him, melting the surrounding snow into a shallow ring of water.

Who knew how much time passed? The blizzards of the Far North had never ceased.

Yet at this moment, a figure stood quietly amid the wind and snow.

She was a graceful figure in white, as though she had merged with the ice and snow around her. Her snow-white hair trailed down her back all the way to her feet. Her sky-blue eyes were clear and ethereal, as though they could see through everything in the world. Her slender, delicate body was flawless, and though her white dress bore no adornments whatsoever, it made her appear so pure and peerlessly beautiful.

Snow Empress.

The true ruler of the Far North, an existence formed from a seven-hundred-thousand-year ice and snow spirit beast taking human form. In the world of soul beasts, her name signified absolute power and majesty.

Just moments ago, she had sensed a spatial disturbance.

At first, she had thought Di Tian had come to attack.

But when her spiritual power swept over that direction, her brows furrowed slightly.

There was no trace of Di Tian's aura.

Only a... baby?

Snow Empress's figure flashed, and she vanished into the wind and snow.

Before long, she arrived at the baby's location.

The baby was still where he had been.

That faint layer of golden light had grown very weak, yet it still wrapped tightly around the baby.

Moreover, all the snow around the baby had melted away, and even the ground had become dry and warm. This was the edge of the Far North Core Circle, permafrost that had never thawed in ten thousand years, yet it now looked as though it had been scorched by fire.

A trace of surprise flashed through Snow Empress's eyes.

A human baby capable of surviving in the Far North was already a miracle in itself.

Yet this baby had not only survived, but was living quite well.

She extended her snow-white hand and gently picked up the baby.

Her first sensation upon touching him was warmth!

It was an incredibly pleasant warmth. Not the scorching dryness of ordinary flames, but a gentle warmth, like spring sunlight falling upon one's body.

As a Heavenly Snow Woman, Snow Empress naturally loathed all things blazing hot. Yet the baby in her arms stirred not the slightest rejection in her.

She even vaguely found it rather comfortable.

The feeling was quite strange.

What exactly is this child's origin?

Snow Empress fell silent for a moment, then held the baby a little closer to her chest.

Perhaps sensing her goodwill, the baby instead nuzzled deeper into her embrace, as though he had found a comfortable nest.