The Ice God's Summons? The Gods Truly Favor Me!

Seeing that the Snow Empress did not strike at him directly, nor did she offer a refusal, Xu Tianyao felt a secret joy in his heart; it seemed the fish had already taken the bait.

"I know of an entirely new path."

"It is not about cultivating as a human again."

"Nor is it about forcibly resisting the Heavenly Tribulation."

"It is a path that can truly break the shackles of soul beasts and even provide a chance to touch the Godhead."

A ripple finally appeared in the Snow Empress's eyes.

Godhead!

For any existence approaching the limit, this word was an irresistible temptation; it represented infinite lifespan!

"By your hand?"

The Snow Empress spoke coldly, looking as if she held him in utter contempt.

Xu Tianyao nodded. "By my current self, naturally not. Even if I were to boast about how powerful or how exceptional I am, you wouldn't believe me."

"But you have no choice, because you know very well that for all these years, apart from humans, there has never been a soul beast that achieved godhood. If you want to survive now, you can only cooperate with humans. This is your only option!"

Xu Tianyao looked up at the Snow Empress, his attitude shifting from his previous composure to something bordering on arrogant and conceited.

The Snow Empress frowned slightly; she had to admit, what this human said was quite interesting.

Under normal circumstances, how could a child like this know such things?

Unless he had come into contact with them, or perhaps, someone in his family had once encountered them.

If that were truly the case, what if he really did have a way?

Asking wouldn't hurt, after all, she truly couldn't think of any other solution at the moment.

However, just as she was about to press him for more, a strange bell toll suddenly rang out across the vast, empty world, long and lingering, echoing without end.

This bell toll carried no pressure and no energy fluctuations, yet it seemed to come from the ancient primordial era, causing one's heart and soul to tremble.

The entire Far North seemed to fall silent at that very moment.

The wind ceased, the snow stilled, and even the aurora in the sky seemed to freeze in place.

The Snow Empress's body trembled slightly; she actually felt a call from the depths of her bloodline within that bell toll.

In a trance, she seemed to see a towering figure.

It was a deity standing at the end of heaven and earth.

Surrounded by ice and snow, with all races bowing in submission, a mere glimpse of that back was enough to make the entire world lose its luster.

The ancient Ice God!

The next second, a vague consciousness descended directly into the Snow Empress's mind.

There was no sound, no words, yet the Snow Empress understood the meaning in an instant.

Deep in the Far North, head north, keep heading north.

There lay her destiny, the hope to change her fate.

The divine sense came as quickly as it went, dissipating without a trace in mere moments.

But the Snow Empress remained immersed in it, unable to recover for a long time, because she knew that the aura she had just felt could not be wrong.

That was the true will of a deity; it was the Ice God, the true faith of the Far North!

At the same time, a stormy sea was raging in Xu Tianyao's heart.

Because just a moment ago, an ice-blue rune had quietly lit up deep within his sea of consciousness.

He did not know what this was; it was his first time seeing such a thing, and his first time entering his own sea of consciousness.

His spiritual power was not that strong, and he had never reached the level required to develop a sea of consciousness before.

Therefore, everything was caused by this mysterious rune.

The Snow Empress's gaze fell upon him once more.

Only this time, the bone-deep killing intent from before was gone, replaced by a complex, scrutinizing look.

After a long while, the Snow Empress finally spoke slowly.

"Human, come with me."

Kong Deming did not know what had happened between the two, nor why they had both fallen silent just now, but his expression changed drastically upon hearing the Snow Empress's words.

"Snow Empress! What are you doing!"

However, the Snow Empress ignored him entirely.

Her ice-blue eyes remained fixed quietly on Xu Tianyao.

"I do not trust humans, but I trust the Father God!"

"Come with me. I will not harm you."

Father God? Xu Tianyao was slightly stunned. Could it be that what just happened was the work of this Father God whom the Snow Empress spoke of?

The Snow Empress's Father God? Who could that be?

There was a legend in the Far North that the faith of this land was the ancient Ice God. Could it be that everything just now was the doing of this Ice God?

Had he gained the favor of a god? For what reason? His Ultimate Ice? His Moon Martial Soul?

Xu Tianyao was filled with doubt. He did not know, but he wanted to get to the bottom of it; he wanted to find the answer.

Therefore, faced with the Snow Empress's invitation, Xu Tianyao did not refuse. He turned around and glanced at Kong Deming, who stood behind him with a face full of worry and confusion.

Facing Kong Deming's anxious and concerned gaze, Xu Tianyao slowly shook his head.

"Grandfather, wait for me here."

The young man took a deep breath of the bone-chilling air, his gaze fixed firmly on Kong Deming.

"I will be fine."

"If she truly wanted to kill me, with her strength, she wouldn't need to go to such great lengths."

"You must not be impulsive, and do not act rashly. If you were to truly provoke her and draw out the soul beasts here, I fear none of us would make it out of this Far North."

Although Xu Tianyao appeared calm and collected, he was actually quite panicked inside.

Facing a Beast King capable of going head-to-head with Kong Deming, and perhaps even holding the upper hand, he found it impossible to remain truly composed.

But his reason told him that the Snow Empress had no motive to harm him.

From that sudden, mysterious rune to the ancient bell toll that resonated deep within his soul, nothing could be explained by conventional logic.

If all of this was truly related to the legendary Ice God, then the Snow Empress must have been guided by the Ice God as well.

She had no need to use any schemes or tricks against a human youth who had not even reached the level of a Soul Elder.

Kong Deming fell silent. The howling wind whipped his silver-white hair and caused his wide Soul Engineer robes to snap loudly.

He, too, had heard that bell toll.

That sound which struck directly at the heart—even with his experience and knowledge, he had never encountered such a bizarre event.

Observing the reactions of Xu Tianyao and the Snow Empress, Kong Deming had likely guessed something; these two were probably following some kind of guidance, or perhaps they had reached some sort of agreement.

He wanted to uncover these secrets, but the current situation was already beyond his control.

While he did not fear a fight, if it truly came down to a life-or-death struggle against the ruler of the Far North, the Snow Empress, the final outcome would likely be something neither of them could bear.

After a long while, Kong Deming sighed softly and ultimately chose to trust Xu Tianyao.

He raised his right hand, and a ring as crystalline as snow, its surface engraved with complex Soul Tool patterns, appeared in his palm.

Kong Deming stepped forward quickly, personally placing the ring on Xu Tianyao's hand, and solemnly instructed him.

"Tianyao."

"Inside are several top-tier instant-activation Soul Tools."

"If you encounter danger, do not hesitate; activate them immediately."

Xu Tianyao looked up to see that Kong Deming's eyes, usually as calm as an ancient well, were filled with worry.

"Remember, no matter what happens, save your own life first. We will discuss everything else once I arrive."