A Titled Douluo Enters the Extreme North

Lin Yaoyang rubbed his face and nodded heavily.

He truly had confidence.

Because his martial soul was Apollo.

Apollo's standard weapon was a sword—the Corona Sword!

It was just that after his martial soul awakened, that sword had not appeared along with it.

Lin Yaoyang guessed that the Corona Sword would only truly manifest once he reached a certain Soul Power Level, such as Soul Elder or Soul King.

Before then, he had to build a solid foundation.

Swordsmanship was one part of that foundation.

Over the past few days, aside from training, he had been continuously exploring Apollo's abilities.

The first was the enhancement brought by Martial Soul Possession.

Ordinary beast martial souls provided an increase of between ten and fifty percent after possession.

Top-tier beast martial souls, such as the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, could reach eighty to one hundred percent.

Yet after possessing his Apollo martial soul, his enhancement was two hundred percent!

A full twofold increase.

What did that mean?

It meant that while in Martial Soul Possession, his strength, speed, defense, and Soul Power output were all twice those of soul masters at the same level.

And that was without factoring in soul skills.

"At the very least, it's a God-level Martial Soul."

Lin Yaoyang thought to himself.

Besides that, he had also tried another form of Apollo.

Planetary Form.

That day, on a sudden whim, he had tried condensing the power of his martial soul into a sphere and wrapping himself inside it.

Unexpectedly, he had actually succeeded.

In Planetary Form, his defense was astonishing. He had specifically asked the Ice Empress to help test it.

The Ice Empress suppressed her strength and launched a full-force strike with power one major realm above his.

The result was that he did not budge in the slightest.

The Ice Empress tried several more times, going from one major realm above him to two. In the end, she even used Soul Elder-level power before finally knocking him back and sending him sliding some distance.

"Good boy," the Ice Empress had said, her eyes lighting up. "That turtle shell of yours is tough!"

Lin Yaoyang did not know whether to laugh or cry.

But he had also noticed another function of Planetary Form.

While in Planetary Form, a special force field formed around his body. That force field could actively absorb external energy, convert it into pure Soul Power to replenish his consumption, and could even be used to strengthen his attacks.

He had tested it, and the effect was quite good.

"With this ability, my endurance will be greatly improved," Lin Yaoyang calculated inwardly. "When it comes to prolonged battles, who would I fear?"

Seeing him frown one moment and grin foolishly the next, the Snow Empress could not help shaking her head.

"What are you thinking about now?"

Lin Yaoyang came back to his senses and chuckled. "I was thinking about how to become stronger in the future."

"Have you figured it out?"

"A little," Lin Yaoyang said seriously.

"Sister Xue'er, six years from now, I want to go to the human world..."

The Snow Empress's smile paused slightly.

She lowered her head to look at the boy before her, at the expectant light in his eyes, and a complicated feeling suddenly rose in her heart.

Six years.

From that infant in the wind and snow to the articulate youth he was now. She had watched him grow up, watched him learn to call her "Sister Xue'er," watched him walk for the first time, speak for the first time...

Before she knew it, he had become an indispensable part of her life.

And now, he was thinking of leaving.

"Sister Xue'er?" Seeing her lost in thought, Lin Yaoyang called out in confusion.

The Snow Empress came back to herself, smiled faintly, and reached out to ruffle his orange-red hair.

"Yes. When the time comes, you can go to the human world."

She paused, then added another sentence.

"But before that, you must lay a solid foundation. Soul Power, combat skills, survival ability—you cannot neglect a single one."

Lin Yaoyang nodded heavily. "I know!"

"Next, let Bing'er train you properly!"

The Snow Empress said quietly.

Lin Yaoyang, "..."

Time flew by.

Six years later.

Far North, at the edge of the core region.

Biting winds swept fine ice crystals through the pale world with a howl. Two figures tore through the air from the south at tremendous speed, leaving two long trails through the blizzard.

The jade-green figure in front was petite and delicate—it was the Ice Empress. Beside her was a youth of around twelve. He had grown considerably taller, and his orange-red short hair was especially eye-catching beneath the gray sky, like the only trace of warmth in this frozen land.

It was Lin Yaoyang.

Over the past six years, he had spent most of his time cultivating within the Dou Ling Empire.

For no other reason.

Only because.

He had discovered an extremely special physical trait: basking in sunlight could slowly increase his Soul Power.

The discovery had startled even him.

In the Far North, especially in the core region, the sky remained gray year-round. Blizzards came every few days, and sunlight was pitifully scarce.

By comparison, the Dou Ling Empire had a mild climate, abundant sunlight, and was close to the Far North.

So after discussing it with the Snow Empress and Ice Empress, he had gone to cultivate in the Dou Ling Empire.

Neither woman objected. Since they had nothing better to do anyway, they took turns accompanying him out—one stayed with him while the other remained behind to guard the Extreme North.

At this moment, the Ice Empress was bringing him back from the Dou Ling Empire to Snow Palace.

Just then, the Ice Empress suddenly halted, stopping sharply in midair.

Lin Yaoyang asked in confusion, "What is it?"

The Ice Empress looked ahead, her brows knitting slightly.

There, amid the wind and snow, a black figure was slowly walking across the ice plains.

That person wore a broad black robe, with the hood pulled low enough to conceal their face. But in a place like this, such attire alone was suspicious enough.

"Why would a human appear here?" the Ice Empress said quietly, wariness in her tone.

Few humans set foot in the Far North throughout the year. Occasionally, reckless adventurers appeared on the outskirts, but this was the edge of the core region, where the true rulers of the Extreme North resided. Ordinary humans could never possibly make it here.

Yet this black-robed person had already reached the edge of the core region.

Lin Yaoyang narrowed his eyes and carefully studied the figure.

Traveling alone, venturing deep into the Extreme North Core Area...

Could this be that Level-Nine Soul Engineer from the Sun Moon Empire?

If it really was that person, how many good things must he have on him?

Lin Yaoyang's eyes brightened slightly.

"Sister Bing'er," he said in a lowered voice, "this person showed up near the core region. Maybe he's after you and Sister Xue'er, or perhaps he has designs on Xiao Bai and A-Tai."

"Why don't you go take care of him first?" Lin Yaoyang pointed at an ice mound not far away. "I'll wait here."

The Ice Empress nodded. Just as she was about to rush forward, Lin Yaoyang added another sentence.

"Oh, right, Sister Bing'er, be careful. Anyone who can make it here should be quite strong—at least a Titled Douluo. And he might very well be a Level-Nine Soul Engineer."

"A Level-Nine Soul Engineer?"

The Ice Empress froze for a moment, but quickly relaxed.

Level-Nine Soul Engineers were indeed formidable. The Soul Tools on their bodies emerged one after another, making them extremely troublesome to fight.

But where was this place?

This was the Extreme North—her home ground.

With nearly four hundred thousand years of cultivation behind her, she did not consider a Level-Nine Soul Engineer worth worrying about.

What was more, she was the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion.

No matter how one looked at it, the advantage was hers!