Snow Empress hadn't attacked him outright, nor had she refused.
That reaction filled Xu Tianyao with quiet delight. It seemed the fish had taken the bait.
"I know of an entirely new path."
"It doesn't involve reincarnating as a human."
"And you don't have to face a tribulation head-on."
"It's a path that can truly free Soul Beasts from their shackles, and might even offer a chance to claim a godhood."
At last, a ripple crossed Snow Empress's eyes.
Godhood!
For any being nearing the limits of their power, the word was an irresistible temptation. It promised an endless lifespan!
"You?"
Snow Empress spoke coldly, her expression one of obvious disdain.
Xu Tianyao nodded. "Naturally, I can't do it as I am now. Even if I told you how powerful or exceptional I was, you wouldn't believe me."
"But you have no other choice. You know very well that in all these years, no Soul Beast has ever become a god. Only humans have. If you want to survive, you can only work with humans. It's your only option!"
Xu Tianyao looked up at Snow Empress, his earlier calm giving way to a hint of arrogance and audacity.
Snow Empress frowned slightly. She had to admit, this human's words were intriguing.
Under normal circumstances, how could a child like him know about such things?
Unless he'd encountered them himself—or someone in his family had.
If that were true, what if he really did have a way?
There was no harm in asking. After all, she truly couldn't think of any other solution.
But just as she was about to press him further,
a strange bell suddenly rang out across the empty world, distant and lingering, its echo never fading.
The chime carried no pressure and released no energy, yet it seemed to come from the dawn of time, making everyone's soul tremble.
The entire Far North seemed to fall silent in that instant.
The wind died. The snow stilled. Even the aurora in the sky seemed to freeze.
Snow Empress shuddered. From the bell's toll, she felt a summons rising from the depths of her bloodline.
In a daze, she seemed to glimpse a towering figure.
A god stood at the very end of the world.
Surrounded by ice and snow, worshipped by all races, the mere sight of his back made the whole world pale.
The ancient Ice God!
The next moment, a hazy thought descended directly into Snow Empress's mind.
There was no voice, no writing, yet she understood its meaning at once.
Deep in the Far North, head north—keep going north.
There lay an opportunity meant for her, a hope of changing her fate.
The divine thought came and went in an instant, vanishing without a trace.
But Snow Empress remained immersed in it, unable to come back to herself for a long while. She knew that the aura she had just felt could not have been mistaken.
It was the will of a true deity—the Ice God, the true object of worship in the Far North!
At the same time, Xu Tianyao's heart surged like a storm-tossed sea.
For just then, deep in his Sea of Consciousness, an ice-blue rune had quietly lit up.
He didn't know what it was. He had never seen anything like it before, and this was also his first time entering his Sea of Consciousness.
His spiritual power wasn't strong enough, and he'd never reached the level required to develop a Sea of Consciousness.
So it had to be this mysterious rune that had caused everything.
Snow Empress's gaze returned to him.
But this time, the killing intent that had seemed to hate him to the bone was gone. In its place was a complicated, assessing look.
After a long while, Snow Empress finally spoke.
"Human, come with me."
Kong Deming didn't know what had happened between them, or why they had both fallen silent just now. But when he heard Snow Empress's words, his expression changed dramatically.
"Snow Empress! What are you going to do?"
Snow Empress didn't even acknowledge him.
Her ice-blue eyes remained fixed on Xu Tianyao.
"I don't trust humans, but I trust Father God!"
"Come with me. I won't hurt you."
Father God? Xu Tianyao froze. Had the things that just happened been the work of this Father God Snow Empress had mentioned?
Snow Empress's Father God? Who could that be?
There were legends in the Far North that the ancient Ice God was its object of worship. Could everything that had just happened have been the work of the Ice God?
Had he earned a god's favor? Why? Because of his Ultimate Ice? His Moon Martial Soul?
Xu Tianyao was full of questions. He didn't know, but he wanted to get to the bottom of it. He wanted to find the answers.
So when Snow Empress invited him, Xu Tianyao didn't refuse. He turned and looked at Kong Deming, whose face was full of worry and confusion.
Meeting Kong Deming's anxious, worried gaze, Xu Tianyao slowly shook his head.
"Grandfather, wait for me here."
The boy drew a deep breath of air so cold it stung his lungs, then looked at Kong Deming with unwavering resolve.
"I'll be fine."
"If she really wanted to kill me, she wouldn't need to go to all this trouble."
"Please don't act rashly, and don't attack her. If you really provoke her and draw the Soul Beasts here, I'm afraid none of us will make it out of the Far North."
Xu Tianyao looked calm and composed, but he was actually rather unsettled.
He couldn't keep his composure in the face of a king of Ferocious Beasts who could stand against Kong Deming and even seemed to have the upper hand.
But reason told him Snow Empress had no reason to harm him.
From the sudden appearance of that mysterious rune to the ancient bell toll that had rung through the depths of his soul, none of it could be explained by common sense.
If all of this truly had something to do with the legendary Ice God, then Snow Empress must have received guidance from the Ice God as well.
There was no reason for her to scheme against a human boy who hadn't even reached the Soul Elder rank.
Silence fell over Kong Deming. The howling wind stirred his silver-white hair and snapped at the broad sleeves of his Soul Engineer's robe.
He had heard that bell too.
The chime had struck straight at his heart. Even with all his experience and knowledge, he had never encountered anything so uncanny.
Seeing how Xu Tianyao and Snow Empress had reacted, Kong Deming could more or less guess what had happened. Those two had likely received some kind of guidance—or struck some kind of deal.
He wanted to learn their secrets, but the situation had already slipped beyond his control.
He wasn't afraid of a fight, of course. But if he truly fought to the death against Snow Empress, the ruler of the Far North, the consequences would be too terrible for anyone to bear.
After a long while, Kong Deming let out a quiet sigh and chose to trust Xu Tianyao.
He raised his right hand. A ring as crystalline as snow, its surface covered in intricate Soul Tool designs, appeared in his palm.
Kong Deming hurried forward, slipped the ring onto Xu Tianyao's finger himself, and solemnly reminded him,
"Tianyao."
"There are several top-grade instant-use Soul Tools stored inside."
"If you're in danger, don't hesitate. Activate them immediately."
Xu Tianyao looked up and saw concern filling Kong Deming's eyes, usually as still as an ancient well.
"Remember, no matter what happens, keep yourself alive first. We'll talk about everything else when I get there."
Before you continue