Yu Tianjue didn't answer, but the Snow Empress and Ice Empress hadn't actually expected him to answer their questions.
The Snow Empress fell silent for a moment and didn't press him for an answer. Instead, she gave the Ice Empress a meaningful look.
The Ice Empress immediately understood and followed the Snow Empress to one side.
No one knew what the two of them discussed. When they returned to Yu Tianjue, their expressions had both grown more complicated.
Yu Tianjue was also turning something over in his mind. If the Snow Empress and Ice Empress could experience his Life Simulation just as vividly as he did, then everything made sense.
That would explain why the Ice Empress hadn't even bothered to acknowledge his grandfather before abducting him. It would also explain the complicated expressions that kept flickering across the Snow Empress's and Ice Empress's faces.
Still, it was only a guess. He couldn't jump to conclusions.
"Why did you come to the Far North?"
The Ice Empress's voice was so cold it was almost inhuman, but Yu Tianjue caught a faint trace of anticipation in her eyes.
Until he understood what was going on, Yu Tianjue figured it was best to answer honestly.
"To obtain my First Soul Ring."
Obtain his First Soul Ring...
The Snow Empress and Ice Empress exchanged a glance. The Snow Empress said nothing, while the Ice Empress continued in a cold voice, "Release your Martial Soul. Let us see it."
Were they asking why I'd come and telling me to release my Martial Soul to confirm whether I was the Tian Jue from their Life Simulation?
Yu Tianjue made a guess, but didn't hesitate. He dutifully summoned Xiao Hei.
Although the Snow Empress and Ice Empress hadn't released their pressure, Xiao Hei still curled up at Yu Tianjue's feet as if facing a great enemy. Its wary eyes remained fixed on the two of them.
There was more wariness and hostility in those eyes than reverence.
This Martial Soul... was completely different from Tian Jue's Ice Dragon Martial Soul.
A trace of disappointment crossed the Snow Empress's face, but the Ice Empress kept her eyes on Xiao Hei, a thoughtful look appearing on her face.
The aura of Ultimate Ice emanating from Xiao Hei felt very familiar to her.
The Ice Empress gave Yu Tianjue a long look, then pulled the Snow Empress aside and whispered to her.
"Xue'er, judging by all the signs, he is the Tian Jue from our dreams, but he isn't entirely the same."
The Snow Empress nodded slightly.
Clearly, she felt the same way as the Ice Empress.
"He looks exactly like Tian Jue, but his Martial Soul, experiences, and temperament are different. And he's wearing an Ice Crystal Necklace stained with your and my auras... So I say he is Tian Jue, but also that he isn't."
"What do you plan to do?"
The Snow Empress's question left the Ice Empress at a loss.
The Snow Empress tilted her head, looking at the little figure. The corners of her mouth curved into a faint smile. "To me, he is Tian Jue."
The Ice Empress's expression shifted slightly.
As if struck by a thought, she asked in a low voice, "Xue'er, are you going to repeat the mistakes of our dream?"
"Repeat the mistakes?"
"No... I just want to make up for the regret in that dream."
The Snow Empress shook her head gently.
She didn't know why she and the Ice Empress had shared that dream, but for two peerless Ferocious Beasts to dream the same dream was already unbelievable.
What was more, the emotions from that dream had affected her in reality.
All she wanted was to make up for the regret in the dream.
"Find him a suitable Soul Beast to offer him a sacrifice, then send him out of the Far North."
A suitable Soul Beast?
The Ice Empress immediately thought of the dream. Tian Jue's First Soul Ring in it had come from a gravely wounded, dying dragon Soul Beast: the Mystic Ice Earth-Splitting Dragon.
It had just broken through the thousand-year mark and was recovering when its mortal enemy ambushed it, leaving it gravely wounded and on the brink of death.
Going by the timing, the Soul Beast should still be alive now.
Was this the suitable Soul Beast Xue'er meant—the Mystic Ice Earth-Splitting Dragon?
"That Mystic Ice Earth-Splitting Dragon would be perfect. Bing'er, sorry for the trouble, but go bring it back. Also... don't let that human Titled Douluo find us just yet."
So it really was that Soul Beast. They'd thought of the same one again.
The Snow Empress paused, then continued, "If A-Tai goes, he might beat that human to death. Better to have Xiao Bai hold him off."
The Ice Empress hesitated for a moment, but nodded. She also had a vague idea of what the Snow Empress intended.
Xue'er probably wanted to use this familiar Soul Beast to test Tian Jue's reaction and confirm once more whether he was the Tian Jue from their dream.
The Ice Empress sighed inwardly and turned to leave.
Before long, the Ice Empress returned.
Thanks to her memories of the dream, she easily found the dying Mystic Ice Earth-Splitting Dragon. Finding the Soul Beast only made the Ice Empress and Snow Empress believe in the dream even more.
When Yu Tianjue saw the Mystic Ice Earth-Splitting Dragon the Ice Empress had brought back, his expression turned a little dazed.
The Snow Empress and Ice Empress, who had been watching his reaction closely, exchanged a faintly knowing look.
After a moment, the Snow Empress's expression softened, and her voice grew gentler. "This thousand-year Soul Beast is gravely wounded and on the brink of death. If you try to absorb its Soul Ring yourself, your body will struggle to withstand it. But if it offers you a sacrifice, absorbing it will be easy."
"Once you've absorbed its Soul Ring, leave this place. I'll have Bing'er take you to the human nearby."
At that moment, Yu Tianjue was finally certain that the Snow Empress and Ice Empress could experience the events of his Life Simulation just as vividly as he could. Otherwise, there would be far too many coincidences.
As for the Mystic Ice Earth-Splitting Dragon, which had once become his First Soul Ring, one reason was that its Soul Ring suited his current Martial Soul perfectly. The other was that the Snow Empress and Ice Empress were taking this opportunity to test him.
Tsk.
In his Life Simulation, he'd lived without having to hunt Soul Beasts, just waiting for the Ice Empress and Snow Empress to find suitable Soul Beasts facing calamity or near death and have them offer sacrifices. He hadn't expected to be kept by the Snow Empress and Ice Empress even in the real world...
But honestly, being kept wasn't bad at all.
Without the Snow Empress and Ice Empress, with his current physical constitution, he could only manage a Hundred-Year Soul Ring at best.
Now, though, he could get a thousand-year First Soul Ring... Sure, a thousand-year First Soul Ring was practically commonplace for transmigrators by now, but if you could get a thousand-year first ring, who'd want to settle for a hundred-year one?
Yu Tianjue took a deep breath and instinctively looked at the Mystic Ice Earth-Splitting Dragon lying on the ground, his heart full of emotion.
In the Simulation, the Mystic Ice Earth-Splitting Dragon had been his First Soul Ring. And, by an even stranger coincidence, his Second Soul Ring had come from the mortal enemy that had ambushed the dragon and brought it to the brink of death.