Deep within the ice cavern.
This was likely the place where the ice element was most concentrated in the entire Far North.
Wherever one looked, the surroundings were filled with translucent Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice, crisscrossing like veins throughout the cavern.
They gathered the purest ice element in the world, drawing it here in an endless stream.
And at the very deepest part of the ice cavern,
a magnificent, grand ice palace stood tall.
The entire palace was built from Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice, crystalline and peerlessly beautiful.
If a high-tier Soul Beast from the Far North saw this scene, it would recognize the place at once.
This was where Snow Empress had once slept and cultivated.
And at that very moment, in the center of the palace,
an ice-blue orb of light several meters across floated quietly in midair.
The orb was like a divine sun forged from ice and snow.
Dazzling, yet sacred.
The terrifying aura of Ultimate Ice spread continuously, enveloping the entire palace in a bitter, bone-deep cold.
All around the orb lay countless rare treasures of ice attribute.
Ice Marrow, Snow Lotus, Cold Jade, Ice Soul Essence...
Each was a treasure worth making Titled Douluo fight over, yet now they filled the entire palace as if they cost nothing.
The energy within them was being absorbed continuously by the ice-blue light.
Looking closely, a stunning figure could be seen flickering within the orb.
Silver-white hair fell to her waist, her skin was as crystalline as snow, and her features seemed like the finest work of the heavens.
Noble, cool, sacred—the figure seemed to embody all the ice and snow in the world, flawless and without blemish!
{I prefer the second picture in the manga}
And that figure was none other than the renowned leader of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North.
The seven-hundred-thousand-year-old Heavenly Snow Woman—Snow Empress!
At that moment, her eyes were closed, and her body had begun to fully transform into human form.
Vast quantities of her original power were being compressed, refined, and condensed within the orb.
She had entered the most crucial stage of her human transformation and cultivation.
Success meant a new life. Failure meant her soul would scatter.
Yet just then, a faint tremor came from the distant entrance.
Two auras intruded into the palace's domain without warning.
Snow Empress, immersed in her transformation, instantly snapped awake.
How could there be people here?!
The next second, two figures passed through the ice-covered passage, broke through the Ice Seal Snow Empress had left behind, and appeared at the palace entrance.
The intruders were none other than the two Evil Soul Masters from the Holy Spirit Cult.
When they broke through the seal and saw the scene before them, they were struck dumb with shock.
Time seemed to stop. The brown-haired man sucked in a sharp breath, nearly choking on it.
"My god..."
"We found it!"
"We actually found it!"
His voice turned hoarse with excitement and the cold.
The white-robed old man beside him was also staring intently at the peerless beauty within the orb.
"A transformed Soul Beast!"
"And a top-tier transformed Soul Beast at that!"
"This aura..."
"It definitely surpasses an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast! It might even be a Ferocious Beast!"
Their breathing grew increasingly ragged, and the greed in their eyes nearly became tangible.
They could clearly sense the terrifying life force and vast Soul Power contained within the orb.
That was not power an ordinary Ferocious Beast could possess.
"We've made a great contribution!"
"If we take her back to the Holy Cult, the cult master will reward us handsomely!"
"Maybe even that plan could succeed!"
The black-robed old man was just as ecstatic.
"Enough talk. Let's check her condition first."
The two cautiously approached the orb. As the distance between them shrank, the ice-blue light showed no reaction at all.
Seeing this, they exchanged glances and finally relaxed. It seemed she had fallen asleep.
Within the orb,
Snow Empress was already frantic.
Damn it! Why now of all times?! Why did these wretched humans have to show up at the most critical moment?!
Under normal circumstances, trash like this wouldn't even be allowed within a hundred miles of her.
A single casual strike from her would have frozen them into ice sculptures.
But of all times, they had to come when her transformation was at its most critical!
Snow Empress desperately tried to summon the power within her, hoping to end her transformation early and force an attack.
But it was useless. The intense weakness continued to eat away at her body.
Most of her power had already been converted into her origin, and her body was at its most vulnerable.
She couldn't fight, or even move.
All she could do was watch helplessly as the two men drew closer.
A sense of helplessness unlike anything she had ever known surged through her.
After hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation, as the Far North's foremost overlord, Snow Empress was powerless to do anything. For the first time, she felt despair.
At the same time, the white-robed old man took a special device from his Storage Soul Tool.
It was a strange, pitch-black metal platform, its surface densely engraved with intricate arrays of soul-tool runes.
"The God Sealing Platform!"
"Finally, we get to use it!"
The white-robed old man sneered as he activated the God Sealing Platform according to the instructions.
"A transformed Soul Beast in this state won't be able to resist at all."
"Let's do it together!"
The two men activated their Soul Power at the same time. Driven by their vast Soul Power, the God Sealing Platform blazed with light and shot up into the air.
Countless golden runes lit up, and a massive barrier unfolded from thin air.
It completely enclosed the ice-blue orb.
Snow Empress watched the scene before her, her pupils suddenly contracting.
This is bad! What kind of power is this?!
She struggled with all her might, but her body wouldn't obey her.
Then the God Sealing Platform erupted with an extremely strange and powerful suction force. It didn't target her body, but went straight for her soul and origin.
"No!"
Snow Empress screamed soundlessly, but to no avail. Her soul-body was forcibly torn out of the transforming orb.
Her ice-blue spirit was dragged out against her will.
It quickly shrank, turning into a streak of light that the God Sealing Platform swallowed in an instant.
With a click, the top of the platform sealed shut. Every rune lit up at once, and time seemed to freeze in that moment.
Snow Empress's soul-body was completely immobilized inside, trapped at the most crucial moment of her transformation.
With Snow Empress gone, the entire palace plunged into darkness. Boundless silence and cold enveloped the two men.
After a brief silence, the two Evil Soul Masters burst into frenzied laughter.
"Success!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"We really did it!"
"We've captured a transformed Soul Beast!"
The brown-haired man clutched the God Sealing Platform tightly, his face contorted with a feverish delight.
He held it as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.
Inside the God Sealing Platform, Snow Empress floated quietly. She could see the outside world and hear the voices, and her consciousness remained clear, but her body was completely sealed.
She couldn't move or fight back. She couldn't even self-destruct.
The sensation of being imprisoned filled the ice-and-snow emperor who had ruled the Far North for countless years with a deep fear for the first time.
All she could do was watch herself fall into the hands of human Soul Masters.
And wait for an unknown, terrifying fate.
Yet just as the two Evil Soul Masters were lost in their joy.