Nine Trials of the Ice God

After communicating with each other, Snow Empress and Ice Empress became even more dedicated to your cultivation, and your training grew increasingly rigorous. Your soul power progressed rapidly; you broke through to become a Soul Ancestor before fourteen, a Soul King before seventeen, and achieved the rank of Soul Emperor by twenty.

Moreover, you were not merely a high-level soul master lacking combat experience. Through sparring with various soul beasts in the Far North, your combat instincts became incredibly sharp. Furthermore, for the sake of your soul rings, Snow Empress and Ice Empress poured their hearts into meticulously selecting soul beasts that exceeded the optimal age limits to sacrifice themselves for you.

By the time you were a six-ringed Soul Emperor, your soul ring configuration was a terrifying two purples and four blacks.

You firmly believed that you would certainly achieve godhood and help Ice Empress and Snow Empress attain eternal life. But in truth, having outstanding talent alone was not enough to achieve godhood; you also required the inheritance of a divine position.

To obtain such an inheritance, you chose to bid farewell to Snow Empress and Ice Empress, setting off alone to find the place where a divine legacy resided.

Snow Empress and Ice Empress pretended to be reluctant as they said goodbye, but in reality, the moment Yu Tianjue left the Far North, Ice Empress took on human form and quietly followed in his footsteps.

As for Snow Empress, she, like Yu Tianjue, also embarked on a journey to find a divine inheritance.

The soul beasts of the Far North shared a common faith—the Ice God.

In Snow Empress's view, the divine position most suited for Yu Tianjue, who possessed the Ice Dragon King martial soul, was undoubtedly that of the Ice God. The soul beasts of the Far North already worshipped the Ice God; if Yu Tianjue could attain the Ice God's position, he would not only gain a vast amount of faith power but could also protect the soul beasts of the Far North. It was a win-win situation.

However, Snow Empress was actually uncertain whether the Ice God truly existed.

She could only do her utmost to search.

And so, Yu Tianjue and Snow Empress split into two paths, embarking on their quest to find a divine inheritance.

[This was your first time leaving the Far North to enter the human world. Yet, everything in the human world did not make you feel comfortable—the various sordid affairs here filled you with a sense of intense unease.]

[You saw the extravagant lives of the nobles in the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, witnessed the oppression of the commoners, and saw the Spirit Hall that spread across the entire world...]

[Although you made some human friends, you always felt that you were out of place among them.]

[And so, you eventually continued to search this continent alone and in silence.]

[Finding nothing on land, you went to search the vast seas. Not long after, you actually discovered an island called Sea God Island, and by this time, you had broken through to level seventy.]

[But before you left, Snow Empress had given you repeated instructions, so you did not rush to hunt for a soul ring, choosing instead to land directly on Sea God Island.]

[You had hoped to obtain information regarding a divine inheritance, but the guardian Douluo on Sea God Island told you with regret that you had arrived one step too late.]

[A group of people had already accepted the trials for the divine position bestowed by the Sea God.]

In search of a divine inheritance, Yu Tianjue spent two full years, yet those two years yielded nothing.

Having finally discovered Sea God Island and come infinitely close to a divine inheritance, he had ultimately been beaten to the punch by others.

Yu Tianjue did not feel regret, however, because through years of inquiry and learning, he knew that besides accepting a divine position, there was another way to become a god.

Creating one's own divine position.

Although this path was exceptionally difficult, the thought of Snow Empress and Ice Empress, who placed such high hopes in him, made Yu Tianjue decide to give it a try.

During these two years, Ice Empress had been silently guarding Yu Tianjue from behind.

With Yu Tianjue's strength, he was capable of handling the vast majority of trouble. But whenever a Titled Douluo in the shadows or a hundred-thousand-year soul beast in the ocean peered at him, Ice Empress would still choose to strike without hesitation, nipping the danger in the bud.

[Two years of searching ended in failure. But this journey was not entirely without gain for you. You enriched your experience and became even more convinced that you did not belong to the human world. For you, having grown up in the Far North, the endless white snow was your true home.]

[On the other side, Snow Empress's search also ended in vain. Although the Ice God had always existed in the legends of the Far North, neither the Far North nor the icy seas beyond it held any records of the Ice God, let alone a place of inheritance.]

[Although you told Snow Empress and Ice Empress about your plan to create your own divine position, they knew in their hearts that this method was far too difficult.]

[But seeing you so resolute, Snow Empress and Ice Empress decided to make one final attempt. Snow Empress persuaded a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, whose lifespan was coming to an end with no hope of survival, to sacrifice itself for you, granting you your first hundred-thousand-year soul ring.]

[It was precisely the commotion caused by this sacrifice that triggered the collapse of a snow-capped mountain—in the Far North, while avalanches were not common, they were certainly not rare. But this time, the situation was slightly different.]

[After the avalanche, a bottomless cave suddenly appeared before you.]

[You, Snow Empress, and Ice Empress entered the cave together. Only then did you realize that the divine inheritance you had been searching for so desperately was right before your eyes.]

[This cave was, in fact, the place of the Ice God's inheritance.]

The scene inside the ice cavern appeared before Yu Tianjue's eyes.

Massive icicles hung from the dome, casting a translucent and mysterious glow under the reflection of a faint blue light. In the very center of the cavern, a statue stood silently.

It was a statue of a woman, carved from a single, naturally formed piece of profound ice. She wore a light, gauze-like robe of ice crystals, her long hair cascading to her waist, every strand rendered in exquisite detail. She held a scepter also crafted from profound ice, her eyes filled with both compassion and majesty.

The moment he saw the statue, Yu Tianjue was certain that this was the statue of the Ice God.

The ice walls surrounding the statue were covered in dense, intricate patterns. The moment Yu Tianjue approached, these patterns suddenly erupted with dazzling light.

The lights intertwined, converging into an even more brilliant and massive beam.

A moment later, the beam of light descended upon Yu Tianjue.

[After a burst of light emerged, the gentle yet majestic voice belonging to the Ice God echoed within your mind.]

[Possessing outstanding talent and being the first to discover this place, you have successfully obtained the Nine Trials of the Ice God.]

[As long as you complete the Nine Trials of the Ice God, you will successfully achieve the position of the Ice God, take Snow Empress and Ice Empress to ascend to the God Realm, and attain eternal life.]

[At least, that is what you believe.]