Ruler Over All, the Guidance of the Imprint!

Mu En nodded silently.

Then he took half a step forward with his right foot and dropped vertically from the steep ice cliff.

Within the ice valley below, the two Titled Douluo from the Sun Moon Empire were fully focused on controlling the Sealing God Platform's closing process, completely unaware that death was descending from above.

By the time a black shadow entered their vision, the surrounding space had already been completely sealed off.

Mu En clenched his right hand into a fist and casually swung it downward.

Ruler Over All.

When this self-created ultimate technique, which fused both spiritual and physical attacks, was unleashed by an Ultimate Douluo, the surrounding space became severely distorted.

The various triggered defensive Soul Tools on the two Titled Douluo sensed the lethal threat and instantly deployed more than a dozen layers of differently colored energy shields.

Yet before absolute power, these costly shields did not last even half a second. They shattered layer by layer beneath the crushing fist pressure, releasing a rapid series of crisp explosions.

The fist wind did not slow, directly locking onto the two Titled Douluo before they could even release their martial souls.

The greed in their eyes was instantly swallowed by boundless terror. Before they could even force out a scream, their bodies and souls were annihilated beneath that single punch, becoming cold dust that scattered in the wind.

Mu En landed steadily and swept out with his left hand, catching the intact ninth-rank Soul Tool, the Sealing God Platform, in his palm.

Yun Yi leaped down along the cliff face and landed on the floor of the ice valley.

Before he could steady himself, a faint blue glow flickered beside him, and the Ice Empress impatiently emerged from his sea of spiritual consciousness.

She still maintained the form of a twin-tailed little girl, her feet hovering above the ground as she spun anxiously in circles.

She glanced at the trembling mass of pure white embryo within the Sealing God Platform's light screen, which could explode at any moment, then urgently turned toward Yun Yi.

Yun Yi lifted his chin slightly, silently granting her permission.

Faint blue light lit up in the Ice Empress's hands. The ultimate chill belonging to the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion gathered in her palms as she fiercely smashed them down upon the Sealing God Platform's outer shell.

Crack!

The metal shell let out an overloaded snapping sound. This ninth-rank Soul Tool, designed to imprison energy forms, was violently dismantled from the outside, and its restraining light screen instantly collapsed.

The instant the light screen shattered, the pure white embryo abruptly contracted inward.

This was the sign that the Snow Empress was preparing to perish together with her enemy by detonating her origin.

Yet the energy fluctuations within the embryo suddenly halted in the next moment, as though it had sensed a familiar aura close at hand.

White light flared brilliantly, and pure white energy stretched and took shape in midair.

As the light faded, a girl's bare feet gently stepped onto the solid ice.

She appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years old, with an aloof, noble temperament, like an ice-and-snow goddess untouched by the mortal world.

Her long snow-white hair fell smoothly to her ankles, tiny ice crystals occasionally condensing among the strands.

She wore a pure white long dress without any unnecessary adornments, formed entirely from condensed ice-and-snow elemental energy, light and translucent.

Her sky-blue eyes were deep and clear, holding the solitude and majesty of the entire Extreme North ice fields frozen within them.

Her skin was luminous white, almost translucent, carrying a faint icy-blue sheen, flawless in every way.

"Bing'er?" The girl's ethereal voice echoed through the ice valley, carrying a hint of uncertainty and...

The Ice Empress lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the girl's slender waist.

"Xue'er! You fool! How could you undergo such a major transformation without notifying me to protect you?" The Ice Empress looked up at her, her eyes reddening.

The Snow Empress lowered her head to look at the little girl in human form in her arms. Only after sensing that familiar origin fluctuation, familiar to the bone, did the wariness in her heart fully recede.

She raised a hand and gently stroked the Ice Empress's emerald-green hair, her gaze passing over the Ice Empress to settle on Yun Yi and Mu En ahead.

She knew better than anyone how desperate her situation had been just now. Had these two not intervened, she would either have become a prisoner today or been forced to self-destruct her origin.

The Ice Empress took the Snow Empress's hand and quickly recounted everything that had happened during this time in full detail.

From Yun Yi revealing the imprints of three gods to her own transformation into a new form of soul spirit, she omitted nothing.

The Snow Empress listened quietly.

Emotions flickered unpredictably in those sky-blue eyes.

When she looked at Yun Yi again, her expression had become exceedingly complicated.

"Thank you for saving me, sir. Snow Maiden will remember this kindness." The Snow Empress nodded slightly, perfectly courteous yet carrying an innate pride.

She released the Ice Empress's hand and met Yun Yi's eyes directly.

"The soul spirit contract Bing'er mentioned is indeed a shortcut to avoiding the heavenly tribulation. But I still need to consider this matter." The Snow Empress's voice was cool, neither servile nor overbearing.

"I was nurtured in this Extreme North for hundreds of thousands of years. I have my own pride. Rather than entrusting my life and everything I possess to a human, relying on another's protection to climb toward the God Realm, I would rather transform and cultivate anew. Even if the road ahead is perilous, I want to walk this path to godhood step by step on my own."

The Ice Empress grew anxious and tugged at the Snow Empress's sleeve, wanting to persuade her.

That was a god's inheritance. If she relied on transforming and cultivating anew by herself, the chance of success was pitifully low. If she failed, both soul and spirit would be destroyed.

Yun Yi stood where he was, showing no frustration at the Snow Empress's refusal.

He did not even respond to her words.

At that moment, all his attention was focused deep within his sea of spiritual consciousness.

The faint blue water vortex that had always hovered quietly at the dome of his sea of spiritual consciousness—the Water God divine position imprint—was now trembling more violently than ever before.

An intense sensation of resonance traveled along the ends of his nerves, pointing directly at the solid ice beneath his feet.

Yun Yi looked down at the ice beneath him, a guess surfacing in his mind.

This was the core of the Extreme North, where ice and snow elements were most abundant. For the Water God imprint to react so intensely here, something closely connected to a god had to be buried underground.

"Senior Brother." Yun Yi lifted his foot and stomped heavily on the ground. "Dig beneath here. Dig in the direction I point."

Mu En did not understand why, but he had always trusted Yun Yi's judgment.

He walked to the spot Yun Yi indicated, slightly raised his right leg, and violently drove his heel into the ice.

Boom!

The Ultimate Douluo's control over his power was exquisite to the utmost degree.

A terrifying shockwave penetrated deep underground. The hard layers of black ice peeled away and shattered like tofu.

Large chunks of ice were lifted by Mu En's Soul Power and flung to both sides, forming a deep pit that continued downward.

The Snow Empress and Ice Empress stood off to the side, exchanging baffled looks.

"What is he doing? There's nothing beneath here but ice. I've lived here for hundreds of thousands of years—I know that better than anyone." The Snow Empress frowned slightly as she watched the ever-expanding pit. As the ruler of the Extreme North, she knew every inch of this land intimately.

Yun Yi did not turn around, merely staring into the bottom of the pit.

"You have lived here for hundreds of thousands of years, but that does not mean you understand all of it. Some things can only be sensed by certain people."

As Mu En continued digging downward, the color beneath the ice began to change.

The originally dark-blue black ice gradually took on an ancient, mysterious silver-white sheen.

The temperature deep underground was unexpectedly several times colder than at the surface. Even the light shield Mu En had released began to emit faint cracking sounds under the strain.

Bang!

Mu En drove down his final step, and a dull impact sounded beneath his foot.

He waved his hand, transforming his Soul Power into a gale that swept away the final layer of ice debris.

At the bottom of the deep pit, part of a magnificent building's frozen dome was revealed.

It was a massive structure forged from some unknown metal mixed with black ice, its surface carved with intricate and obscure divine patterns of ice and snow.

Though only the tip of the iceberg had been exposed, the ancient weight accumulated over countless years and the immense pressure it exuded still made everyone present catch their breath.

On the plaque at the front of the building, three ancient characters radiated an everlasting cold gleam.

Ice God Temple!