You and the Snow Empress engaged in your final battle. She held nothing back, while you, weighed down by your reservations, held back at every turn.
The Snow Empress couldn't help but berate you. All those years of teaching might as well have gone to the dogs. She began fighting to kill and even unleashed the Three Absolutes of the Snow Empress.
Under the Snow Empress's relentless assault, you finally made up your mind. You stopped holding back as well, using every skill she had taught you against her.
Even the Three Absolutes of the Snow Empress came easily to you, with your Ultimate Ice attribute. And thanks to the Soul Skill granted by the Ice Empress's Soul Ring, you even gave the Snow Empress a hard time.
A look of gratification gradually appeared on the Snow Empress's face, but she failed to notice the tenderness and resolve deep in your eyes.
Your palms met the Snow Empress's, but to her utter surprise, she felt no trace of Soul Power in your strike. She was aghast, but it was too late to pull back.
As she watched in disbelief, your body flew backward and slammed heavily into the ground.
The Snow Empress rushed over, worried for your safety. You had taken an Emperor's Palm head-on, and even as a Titled Douluo, you were now completely spent.
Only then did you reveal the truth to the Snow Empress. You knew that if you told her outright that you were giving up the divine seat, she would never accept it. So you had no choice but to do it this way. When your palms had just met, you had passed a sliver of the divine power you'd mastered to the Snow Empress. From then on, she would never again have to worry about heavenly tribulations. Whether it was the 800,000-year tribulation or the 900,000-year one, she would overcome it with ease.
This was the last thing you could do for her.
Watching Yu Tianjue cough up blood again and again, the Snow Empress's eyes brimmed with tears. She couldn't help but pull you into her arms.
Though she was a Heaven-born Snow Woman, Yu Tianjue found the Snow Empress's embrace especially warm, just as it had been when she first brought him back.
"W-why? Why did you do this?"
The Snow Empress's usually cool eyes were vacant now. She sat on the ground like a helpless young girl, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Don't... don't leave me... Bing'er is already gone."
"It shouldn't have ended like this... You should have become the Ice God and ascended to the Divine Realm... It shouldn't have ended like this!"
The Snow Empress held Yu Tianjue, trembling all over.
She had indeed achieved what she had set out to do: heavenly tribulations were no longer a worry. But the price was losing both the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress forever.
Yu Tianjue coughed hard twice, spitting up two mouthfuls of scarlet blood. He managed a faint smile.
"To kill you and claim the divine seat by stepping over you and the Ice Empress... I couldn't do that. Though it means I've let down the Ice Empress, who sacrificed herself, it's still better than sacrificing you too."
"After I die, I'll go apologize to the Ice Empress."
"Cough, cough..."
After saying this, Yu Tianjue seemed to have used up the last of his strength. He went completely limp in the Snow Empress's arms, and his vision gradually blurred.
The Snow Empress refused to accept this ending. Holding you, she made her way step by step to the ice cave at the Ice God Inheritance Site and begged for someone to save you, even if it meant sacrificing herself.
But this was your own choice. Though the Ice God had thought highly of you as her successor, she was just as powerless to change it.
You died in the Snow Empress's arms.
Simulation ended.
In the final moment of the simulation, you chose to sacrifice yourself and give the Snow Empress a sliver of the divine power you had mastered, freeing her from the torment of heavenly tribulations forever. The only regret left in your heart was the Ice Empress, but this was already the best possible ending.
Though you could have chosen to kill the Snow Empress, claim the Ice God's divine seat, and achieve a more perfect simulation, you believed you had made the right choice.
Simulation ended. Evaluating results...
Simulation rewards generated. Please choose...
Host consciousness returning...
Yu Tianjue's mind felt like a tangled mess. It took him a good while to fully come to his senses.
The frozen world of ice and snow was gone, along with the endless white. Before his eyes was a tidy, antique-style room.
Yu Tianjue lowered his head and looked at his still-tender hands and his body, which had yet to develop. He nodded thoughtfully.
He had spent all those years in the simulated world, yet his real self hadn't changed at all.
Good.
Now it was time to see what the system had rewarded him with.
Simulation summary: You hadn't completely wasted your talent. Through your own efforts and good fortune, you had made up for the flaws in your Martial Soul, evolved the Ultimate Ice attribute, and even touched the threshold of the divine seat.
In the end, though, all your efforts came to naught. You still made what you believed was the right choice.
Final evaluation of the first simulation: S
Generating rewards...
Host, choose three of the following five rewards. They will be granted immediately after your selection.
1. Increase Soul Power Level by ten.
2. Ice Dragon King Martial Soul bloodline; gain the Ultimate Ice attribute.
3. Three Absolutes of the Snow Empress.
4. The location of the Ice God Inheritance Site.
5. An Ice Crystal Necklace that would never melt, crafted together by the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress.
The system's rewards were clear enough. Even without any prompts, Yu Tianjue could immediately judge the value of each one.
The Ice Dragon King's Martial Soul bloodline was an obvious pick. With the bloodline filling in the gaps, his Martial Soul, which seemed to be Luo Sanpao, would undergo a complete transformation. He would also gain the Ultimate Ice attribute.
The next obvious choice was the Three Absolutes of the Snow Empress.
With the Ultimate Ice attribute, he would certainly be able to unleash the Three Absolutes of the Snow Empress to their fullest.
As for the final choice...
Yu Tianjue hesitated briefly. If he chose the first reward, his Soul Power Level would be no different from someone with Innate Full Soul Power. Once his grandfather learned of it, he would surely pour the entire clan's resources into raising him.
If he chose the fourth reward, he would have a divine seat to fall back on in the future—a path to godhood with practically guaranteed success.
But he could cultivate Soul Power on his own later, and godhood was still far beyond his reach. That left the fifth reward.
An Ice Crystal Necklace that would never melt, crafted together by the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress...
Even now, Yu Tianjue could still feel the regret he'd experienced in the Life Simulation—the regret of being forced to bear the Ice Empress's sacrifice.
A necklace like this must be one of a kind in the entire world, right?
It might be useless, and he might never have any use for it, but Yu Tianjue still wanted to keep it as a memento.
A memento of the bond he had shared with the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress in the Life Simulation.