Within the Ice God Temple, the Icebound Throne!

The magnificent dome buried beneath solid ice was completely exposed to the air. Ancient, mysterious totems stretched along the walls and converged upon the enormous plaque at the very center.

The three words "Ice God Temple" gleamed with an eternal chill. Every stroke contained the oppressive power of laws capable of freezing one's soul.

Snow Empress stood at the bottom of the pit, her sky-blue eyes contracting sharply. Her originally aloof and noble face was filled with disbelief.

She had been conceived and born upon this Extreme North ice plain, ruling this land for hundreds of thousands of years.

She had believed she understood every snowflake and every inch of frozen earth here.

Yet only today, only after this human youth had his senior brother forcibly excavate this layer of ten-thousand-year mystic ice, did she learn that beneath the core region where her kind had lived for generations lay a palace belonging to a god.

It was also the source of faith for all ice and snow creatures of the Extreme North, generation after generation.

The Ice Empress beside her was equally dumbfounded.

Her yellow diamond-like eyes were fixed on the plaque. Her two fair little hands had unknowingly clenched the hem of her skirt, and she had even stopped breathing.

The inheritance site of the Ice God's divine position was actually beneath their feet!

Yun Yi could not be bothered with the stunned Ice and Snow Empresses behind him.

Stepping over shattered ice fragments, he walked toward the towering, heavy doors of the temple.

The doors were forged from some unknown silver metal and polar mystic ice. Their surfaces were covered in thick frost, exuding an unyielding coldness that kept others at a distance.

Yun Yi stopped and raised both arms, pressing his palms flat against the icy, bone-piercing doors.

The source power of the Ice Yi Divine Spear accelerated through his body, protecting his meridians from the temple's frigid aura.

He exerted strength through his waist and abdomen, tensing the muscles in his arms as he shoved forward with all his might.

Accompanied by a dull, teeth-grinding scrape, the temple doors, sealed for countless ages, slowly retreated to either side.

Ice crystals swirling through the air poured out through the opening and settled upon Yun Yi's white boots.

The opened doorway was wide enough for several people to pass abreast. Yun Yi withdrew his hands and calmly stepped over the high threshold, entering the temple.

Seeing this, Mu En immediately activated the Radiant Holy Dragon Soul Power within him, forming a shield around his body before following close behind.

Only then did the Ice and Snow Empresses snap out of their daze. They hurried forward, stepping into this sacred land they had worshiped for countless years with devout reverence and awe.

The interior of the temple was astonishingly vast. Its dome soared into the clouds, while dozens of thick ice-carved pillars supported the entire hall.

The surrounding walls were completely bare, without any unnecessary decorations or murals. Empty, vast, and desolate—this was the first impression the Ice God Temple gave.

The temperature within the hall was several times lower than even that of the outside core region.

This chill had already surpassed mere physical cold and struck directly at the soul.

As Mu En walked through it, even with the cultivation of an Ultimate Douluo, the golden shield around him crackled with fine fractures from the frost, forcing him to continually increase his Soul Power output to resist the invading cold.

Yet this extreme cold, enough to kill an ordinary person instantly, was an utterly invigorating cleansing for Yun Yi and the Ice and Snow Empresses.

Yun Yi took a deep breath and felt incomparably refreshed.

The Ice Yi Divine Spear within his sea of consciousness let out a cheerful cry. The surrounding extreme ice aura continuously flowed into his body through his pores, nourishing his ice-element source.

The Ice and Snow Empresses wore equally intoxicated expressions. Nourished by this pure aura of the Ice God, both of them gained considerable benefits.

The footsteps of the group echoed through the empty hall.

Their gazes crossed the long corridor and converged upon the very front of the hall.

There stood nine tiers of ice steps, and atop them rested an Icebound Throne exquisite beyond compare.

The throne's back resembled a sword pointed straight toward the heavens, while two ice phoenixes spreading their wings as if about to fly were carved into its armrests.

The entire throne emitted a gentle, pure ice-blue radiance. It was the core of the entire temple and the source of all extreme ice aura.

When they reached the foot of the steps, everyone stopped.

Before they could carefully examine this peerless divine throne, an ethereal, indistinct voice that could not be identified as male or female suddenly descended from the empty dome above.

"Welcome to the Ice God Temple."

The voice seemed to ring out from all directions at once, drilling directly into everyone's sea of consciousness.

"I am the temple guardian spirit. This is the inheritance ground of the Ice God's divine position. Only a being truly acknowledged by the Icebound Throne may begin the Ice God's Nine Trials. Once the Nine Trials are completed, one may inherit the Ice God's divine position and rule the Extreme North ice plain."

The temple guardian spirit's voice echoed through the hall for a long time before finally becoming a direct question. "Which of you will accept the trial first?"

Upon hearing this, the Ice Empress was so excited that she nearly jumped up. She gripped Snow Empress's sleeve tightly, her little face flushed red.

A divine inheritance!

They had searched so bitterly for it, even falling into such despair that they chose to rebuild themselves through transformation just to escape the dead end of heavenly tribulations. Yet now, such a path to heaven had appeared before them!

So long as they gained the throne's recognition, they could become gods on the spot and cast off the shackles of lifespan forever.

Snow Empress's heart also surged with emotion.

Unprecedented fervor and anticipation ignited in her sky-blue eyes.

After hundreds of thousands of years of devout faith and day-and-night cultivation in the Extreme North, she firmly believed that she was the inheritor most suited to the Ice God's requirements.

But Snow Empress was, after all, the ruler of the Extreme North. The upbringing and broader perspective ingrained in her bones suppressed the impulse to rush up the steps at once.

She turned around, her gaze landing on Yun Yi beside her.

This temple had been discovered and unearthed by this human youth.

By all reason, he was the one holding the initiative.

Snow Empress was someone who clearly distinguished gratitude from resentment. The other party had just saved her life, and faced with an opportunity as heaven-defying as a divine inheritance, she could not bring herself to seize the spotlight and take it by force.

Snow Empress quietly looked at Yun Yi, waiting for his decision.

Meeting Snow Empress's gaze, Yun Yi casually slipped both hands into his pockets and gave a slight shrug, his attitude easygoing.

"Why are you looking at me? If you want to try, go up and try."

His completely unconcerned response made Mu En, standing nearby, unable to resist frowning.

Mu En stepped forward to stand beside Yun Yi and lowered his voice in warning. "Junior Brother, this is a divine inheritance. Snow Empress herself is favored by the fortune of the Extreme North, and her nearly seven hundred thousand years of cultivation are right there for all to see. Her elemental compatibility with the Ice God is extremely high. If you let her try first, and she truly gains the throne's recognition and begins the Ice God's Nine Trials, then this opportunity will be handed over to someone else completely."

In Mu En's view, since the Ice God Temple had been established in the Extreme North, its selection standards would surely heavily favor native creatures of the region.

No matter how he looked at it, Snow Empress was the candidate most likely to come out on top.

Good fortune should not be given to outsiders. His junior brother clearly possessed an ultimate ice martial soul as well and was fully qualified to contend for this divine position. How could he give up the advantage of going first so generously?

Yun Yi turned his head and gave Mu En a reassuring look, signaling for him not to be impatient.

Seeing this, although Mu En still had many doubts and concerns, he ultimately remained silent out of trust in Yun Yi. He stepped back to his original position and watched the situation unfold.

Hearing Yun Yi's consent, a solemn expression appeared on Snow Empress's cold face.

She took half a step back and gave Yun Yi a proper bow.

"Thank you for yielding this to me."

After expressing her thanks, Snow Empress turned to face the lofty Icebound Throne.

She took a deep breath, calming the turbulent Soul Power within her.

As the ruler of the Extreme North, her understanding of the ice element had long reached the pinnacle.

She believed that the foundation accumulated over nearly seven hundred thousand years was absolutely worthy of the Ice God's favor.

Snow Empress controlled the pure white embryonic form containing her source, stepping lightly onto the nine ice steps.

With every step she took, the confidence in her eyes grew stronger.

Upon reaching the throne, she respectfully held up the energy embryo with both hands and carefully placed it upon the throne's broad seat cushion.

The instant the embryo settled onto the throne, the aura within the entire Ice God Temple suddenly changed.

The core within the Icebound Throne activated. A layer of gentle yet incomparably pure ice-blue light rose from beneath the throne, spreading rapidly like ripples of water and completely enveloping the pure white embryo.

The light flowed and scanned over the embryo's surface, every flicker accompanied by the resonance of laws.

Standing beneath the steps, the Ice Empress raised her head, clasping her hands tightly before her chest as she stared without blinking at the throne.

Her heart was in her throat, and she was so excited that sweat even formed in her palms.

Xue'er will definitely succeed!

She is not only the pride of the Extreme North, but the embodiment of ice and snow itself. The Ice God would never reject an inheritor like her!

The intertwining light continued for the time it took to burn an incense stick.

As the final beam of blue light entered the embryo, the radiance emitted by the Icebound Throne gradually began to recede.

Above the throne, Snow Empress's soul projection, resembling a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl, appeared once more.

The Ice Empress was just about to cheer loudly in celebration, but the instant she saw Snow Empress's face clearly, the sound caught in her throat.

A complex, exquisite hexagonal snowflake mark had appeared upon Snow Empress's smooth forehead, emitting a faint blue glow.

Yet rather than granting her the supreme majesty of being crowned with a divine position, this mark made her expression incomprehensibly complex. Deep in her eyes lay an unerasable disappointment and bitterness.

She stood before the throne in silence for a long time.

Sensing that something was wrong with the atmosphere, the Ice Empress could no longer suppress the anxiety in her heart. She rushed up the steps two at a time and ran to Snow Empress's side.

"Xue'er! What was the result? Did the Icebound Throne acknowledge you? Did you receive the Ice God's Nine Trials?" the Ice Empress demanded in rapid succession, her voice filled with hope.

Snow Empress lowered her head and looked at the expectant Ice Empress. Her fingertips gently brushed over the snowflake mark on her forehead.

She shook her head, drawing a helpless, bitter smile.

"I failed."

Those four words crashed into the Ice Empress's heart like a heavy hammer.

"How could you have failed? This mark is clearly the symbol of a god's blessing!" The Ice Empress pointed at the snowflake on Snow Empress's forehead and loudly refuted her, unable to accept the result at all.

Snow Empress turned around and glanced at the Icebound Throne, which still radiated cold air, her tone filled with deep regret.

"This mark represents only the Ice God's Eight Trials."

Snow Empress closed her eyes, hiding the loneliness within them as she revealed all the information the throne had conveyed to her.

"The throne judged that although my ice and snow source is powerful, it contains too many impurities and lacks the true purity capable of freezing all things and reshaping the rules. I have not gained the Icebound Throne's complete acknowledgment. The limit of the Ice God's Eight Trials is for me to become the Ice God's representative in the mortal world—the High Priest. I will never be able to break through the boundary of level one hundred in my lifetime, much less inherit the Ice God's divine position and ascend to the God Realm."

Upon hearing this, the hope on the Ice Empress's face instantly crumbled.

She let her arms fall weakly, her heart filled with grievance and unwillingness on Snow Empress's behalf.

Hundreds of thousands of years of bitter cultivation and the supreme achievement of ruling the Extreme North ice plain had, before a god's selection criteria, earned only the status of a High Priest who could never become a god.

For the proud Snow Empress, this was undoubtedly a cruel blow.