The Far North.
Inside the Ice Crystal Palace, built from Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice, the chill pierced to the bone, yet a rare warmth filled the air.
The enormous Titan Snow Demon Bear—Xiao Bai—lay sprawled across the mirror-smooth ice. Though he had shrunk in size, he was still massive.
He deliberately restrained his ferocious aura. His huge bear eyes were gentle as he stared without blinking at the little human figure in the middle of the hall.
The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, Ice Empress, had taken human form as a pretty green-haired girl with a fierce presence. She folded her arms, a curious, expectant smile playing at the corners of her lips.
Standing at the very center was the true ruler of this Far North: the Heavenly Snow Woman, Snow Empress.
Her blue hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her beauty was peerless. A chill that made heaven and earth solemn swirled around her, but when she looked at the child before her, her ice-blue eyes held only boundless tenderness.
The one being watched by the three kings of the Far North was a human child of about six, named Xue Chen.
Today was the day of his Martial Soul Awakening.
Snow Empress's voice was ethereal and warm as it broke the silence of the palace:
"Chen'er, remember not to be nervous when your Martial Soul Awakening begins."
Ice Empress chimed in, her tone carrying its usual crisp sweetness:
"That's right, Chen. Relax.
I'm curious, too, to see what kind of Martial Soul you'll awaken after growing up here in the Far North."
She wondered what kind of mark an environment nurtured by the world's most frigid power would leave on the child.
Xiao Bai's voice was deep and resonant, full of unshakable conviction:
"Exactly, Xiao Chen!
No matter what Martial Soul you awaken, you'll still be Xue Chen, and you'll still be my little brother. That will never change!"
Hearing their words of concern, Xue Chen looked up at Snow Empress, who was like a mother to him; Auntie Ice Empress, who acted tough but was softhearted; and the honest, dependable Xiao Bai.
He drew in a breath of cold air. The nervousness he had felt eased considerably, and he nodded obediently.
Today marked the sixth year since Xue Chen had transmigrated to Douluo Continent, and it was the day of his Martial Soul Awakening.
Ever since he had become conscious, Snow Empress had taken him in, and he had called her Mom.
He knew nothing about his origins or who his parents were. He had only heard Snow Empress say that he had fallen from the sky onto this Ice and Snow Wasteland.
Seeing that he was ready, Snow Empress said no more. In a gentle voice, she began:
"Let's begin, Chen'er. Hold out your right hand."
Xue Chen did as she asked and slowly raised his small right hand, palm up, waiting for the fateful moment that would determine the path of his future.
Snow Empress lightly touched him with a jade finger. A strand of pure, frigid Soul Power, infused with an irresistible, immense will, slowly flowed into Xue Chen's meridians.
The instant this foreign Soul Power entered him, Xue Chen felt no bone-piercing cold as he had expected. Instead, a warm, gentle force immediately spread through his limbs and body, leaving him warm all over.
He could clearly feel that, guided by this external force, something long dormant deep within him was being roused, gently but firmly.
Just then, a sudden transformation occurred!
A complex, profound blue pattern appeared without warning on Xue Chen's smooth forehead. It looked like a dragon, yet not quite like one, winding and coiling as it shimmered faintly, appearing and disappearing.
At the same time, tiny blue arcs of electricity, like mischievous electric snakes, began crackling and leaping around him.
"Hmm?"
Snow Empress's gaze sharpened. She kept the flow of Soul Power steady, but watched every change within Xue Chen with even greater focus.
"Roar!!!"
A low yet piercing dragon's roar shook out from within Xue Chen and echoed through the silent ice palace.
At the sound, Ice Empress, who had been standing with her arms folded, relaxed and at ease, abruptly changed expression. Her delicate body tensed instinctively.
She felt an invisible pressure from the very source of her bloodline. It made her, a forty-thousand-year-old Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, feel the urge to bow her head!
"Bloodline suppression?"
Ice Empress cried out, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief:
"How is this possible? What kind of origins does Chen have for his Martial Soul to suppress my bloodline?"
It completely overturned everything she knew.
Could a Martial Soul awakened by a human child really possess a bloodline superior to hers, a top-tier Soul Beast?
Nearby, Xiao Bai also raised his enormous bear head. His deep voice carried the same astonishment and shock:
"I felt it too!
The Titan Snow Demon Bear bloodline inside me is stirring... This feeling... can only mean that Xiao Chen's Martial Soul bloodline is far superior to ours!"
His gentle bear eyes now held nothing but shock.
Ice Empress suddenly recalled what had happened six years ago. Her voice grew graver than ever:
"Snow Empress and I sensed something strange when we found Chen back then. How could a human infant withstand the bitter winter of the Far North? Now it seems..."
Her gaze locked onto Xue Chen, as though she wanted to see right through him. "Chen, where did you come from?"
While their hearts surged with emotion, Snow Empress finished guiding his Soul Power.
As she gently directed the force within him, the blue dragon pattern on Xue Chen's forehead suddenly blazed with light, becoming perfectly clear, like a living brand!
Next, immense blue thunder surged from within Xue Chen, gathering wildly and taking shape in the empty space behind him!
In the blink of an eye, a gigantic blue dragon silhouette formed, coiling above Xue Chen.
It was not solid, yet it radiated a suffocating pressure.
Its body was traced in countless dancing bolts of blue lightning. Its scales were fierce, and it contained destructive power.
Its head was majestic, and its eyes were like two miniature suns of thunder, gazing down coldly from above.
The extreme cold and the raging thunder fused strangely within the dragon's shadow, forming an air of sovereignty over all heaven and earth!
Under the dragon's complete might, Ice Empress and Xiao Bai couldn't help holding their breath.
Ice Empress stared at the dragon shadow behind Xue Chen, her jade-green eyes filled with uncertainty as she asked:
"Is this... the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, the Beast Martial Soul acclaimed as a top-tier one in the human world?"
She had heard of the Martial Soul's renown, but the sensation it gave her was somehow different from the dread she felt before her now.
Snow Empress slowly withdrew her Soul Power. She studied the coiling dragon, a flicker of memory and comparison in her peerless features, then gently shook her head and replied with certainty:
"No, it isn't the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
Several years ago, a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Master ventured deep into the Far North. I felt the aura of his Martial Soul.
It was fierce and domineering, but the essence of its dragon might and the quality of its bloodline were far inferior to the Martial Soul Chen'er is displaying now."
Her words carried unquestionable authority. As the Lord of the Far North, her perception of energy and bloodlines far surpassed that of ordinary people.
Ice Empress grew even more puzzled. Her willow brows furrowed. "If it's not the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, then what Martial Soul is it?
I've never seen or even heard of such a powerful dragon-type Martial Soul!"
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