The Divine Spear Shows Its Might, A High Priest's Duty!

The Ice God Temple was vast and empty, the solid ice walls reflecting the faint glow emanating from the throne.

Ice Empress tugged at Snow Empress's sleeve, her head lowered, her emerald twin ponytails stripped of their usual vitality.

The threshold for inheriting a divine position was despairingly high. After nearly seven hundred thousand years as the ruler of the Extreme North, all she had gained was the status of a high priest.

Snow Empress stood where she was, her sky-blue eyes fixed on the ice beneath her feet. Her pure white gown swayed gently in the cold wind within the hall.

She accepted the outcome. A god's judgment could not be questioned, yet the pride she had accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years had ultimately been dealt a crushing blow by reality.

Crisp footsteps shattered the silence.

Yun Yi strode forward, ascending the nine-tiered ice steps.

The soles of his white boots struck the crystalline steps, producing a rhythmic sound.

Snow Empress and Ice Empress raised their heads, their gazes following that tall, straight-backed figure.

Mu En stood at the foot of the steps with his hands behind his back, anticipation shining in his eyes.

Upon reaching the top, Yun Yi did not hesitate. He turned around and sat directly upon the Icebound Throne, which symbolized the highest authority of the Extreme North.

The instant he sat down, a deep hum came from within the throne.

The icy-blue formation patterns beneath its base activated in full, spreading upward along the armrests and backrest as they attempted to envelop Yun Yi.

This was the test of laws left behind by the Ice God. It was meant to examine the challenger's innate constitution, comprehension, and affinity with the ice and snow elements.

Just as the blue light was about to touch Yun Yi's meridians, a sudden change occurred.

Yun Yi's right arm rose uncontrollably, and a deep blue radiance flared from before his palm.

The Ice Yi Divine Spear did not need its master's summons at all. It broke free from the restrictions of the martial soul space on its own and materialized directly within the temple.

The spear, over ten feet long, appeared in Yun Yi's hand. The phantom image of raging rivers within its shaft surged to its limit at that moment.

Facing the incoming divine power of the Ice God, the Ice Yi Divine Spear displayed none of the obedience expected from one being tested.

Its spear tip slammed heavily against the throne's armrest.

The testing divine power was severed the moment it approached, intercepted by the overwhelming suction force radiating from the spear's body.

The Ice Yi Divine Spear was like a bottomless black hole, greedily devouring the icy-blue energy released by the throne.

That gentle divine power, originally meant to probe his meridians, was forcibly transformed by the spear into the purest ice-element origin energy, which in turn nourished the framework of laws within the spear.

The Icebound Throne sensed the challenger's insolence. The two ice phoenix statues carved upon its backrest instantly lit up with blinding brilliance.

The entire throne shook violently as a vast amount of ice and snow divine power was frantically drawn forth.

A blue pillar of light shot into the sky, swallowing Yun Yi and the throne together.

The throne attempted to use a greater, more majestic force of laws to forcibly subdue this presumptuous spear.

The Ice Yi Divine Spear let out an earth-shaking cry.

Not only did it refuse to retreat, it intensified its devouring.

The deep blue edge erupting from its tip pierced directly into the core of the throne's pillar of light.

Two ultimate powers of the same origin, yet unwilling to yield to each other, violently clashed within that tiny space.

The balance within the great hall was completely shattered.

Visible rings of icy-blue energy rippled outward.

Dozens of thick ice-carved pillars creaked under the strain, massive cracks winding up their surfaces.

Frost fell from the dome in showers, smashing into powder against the floor.

The entire Ice God Temple trembled unceasingly amid this tug-of-war of energy.

Snow Empress and Ice Empress, below the steps, were forced back again and again by the leaking energy shockwaves.

Snow Empress raised an arm before herself, her sky-blue eyes filled with horror.

More than anyone, she understood how vast the power contained within the Icebound Throne was. It was the Ice God's legacy, the core laws of the Extreme North.

Yet now, the spear in that young man's hand was clashing head-on with a god's foundation—and was even continuously absorbing and assimilating that divine power!

Mu En stepped forward, standing in front of the two Ice Empresses.

The Soul Power of the Radiant Holy Dragon within him erupted without reservation. A golden shield of light rose from the ground, firmly protecting the three behind it.

Mu En stared intently at the figure wrapped in blue light atop the throne. The wrinkles on his aged face relaxed, and his eyes were filled with admiration.

His little junior brother's trump cards always exceeded even his imagination.

The stalemate lasted only half an incense stick's time.

Endless divine power was drained and transformed by the Ice Yi Divine Spear. The deep blue gleam on its surface grew ever more profound, and the phantom rivers within it even began to exude the pressure of ice sealing the world for thousands of miles.

Not only had it withstood the Icebound Throne's entire test, it had also used a god's power to complete a transformation of its own foundation.

Yun Yi sat upon the throne, both hands gripping its icy armrests.

He exerted force through his waist and abdomen, rising directly to his feet against the towering blue pillar of light.

As he stood, the Icebound Throne released a piercing shriek that split the clouds and cracked stone.

Before everyone's eyes, that enormous and magnificent divine seat incredibly collapsed inward and shrank.

The icy-blue divine power filling the air transformed into a solid streak of light and shot directly toward Yun Yi's brow.

The stream of light entered his body and rushed straight into his spiritual sea.

Within the vast, boundless golden spiritual sea, the three divine seals of light, fire, and water that had originally floated beneath the firmament automatically moved aside.

A phantom throne radiating dazzling icy-blue brilliance descended forcefully and settled firmly in the fourth position.

The four divine seals echoed one another from afar, each guarding a section of heaven and earth, pushing the lawful structure of his entire spiritual sea to an unimaginable height.

Holy Necromancer Electrolux, recovering in a corner of the spiritual sea, stared blankly at the fourth divine imprint that had appeared beneath the firmament.

He reached up and tore out two hairs from his beard, unable to utter a single word.

In the outside world, an icy-blue throne mark emerged at the center of Yun Yi's brow.

The mark flashed with dazzling brilliance, illuminating his handsome face until he seemed like a god descending into the world. Then it slowly sank beneath his skin and disappeared.

The ice crystals swirling through the air froze in midair.

From all directions of the great hall, the ethereal yet majestic voice of the temple guardian spirit thundered out once more, its sound waves making the solid ice on the floor hum.

"Congratulations. You have obtained the Ice God's Nine Trials and become the inheritor of the Ice God's divine position."

With the declaration made, silence returned to the temple.

Yun Yi held the transformed Ice Yi Divine Spear and slowly opened his eyes.

A cluster of deep blue frost flashed through his black pupils and vanished.

His gaze did not linger anywhere. It locked directly onto the figure in the pure white gown below the steps.

Snow Empress raised her head and met Yun Yi's gaze.

Her heart was a jumble of emotions. There was reverence at witnessing the birth of a divine inheritor, but also disappointment at her own failure to be chosen.

Just as she was preparing to follow protocol and bow in greeting to this newly appointed inheritor of the Ice God's divine position, monstrous waves suddenly surged within her spiritual sea.

The immense will from the Icebound Throne—the Ice God's Eight Trials she had just accepted—forcefully imprinted the exact contents of the first trial deep into her soul.

It was an irresistible divine oracle, a destiny she was required to fulfill as a high priest.

The contents of the oracle became golden words, appearing in Snow Empress's mind one character at a time:

Ice God's First Trial: Become the second soul spirit of Yun Yi, inheritor of the Ice God's divine position.

Snow Empress froze instantly.

She remained in the posture of preparing to bow, her sky-blue eyes widened round as her pupils trembled violently.

The hem of her pure white gown stopped fluttering in the cold wind. She became like a genuine ice sculpture, completely unable to react.

Only half an hour ago, when faced with this human youth's proposal, she had rejected it with the pride and composure of the ruler of the Extreme North.

She intended to carve through the perils of taking human form, to pursue immortality and the God Realm through her own strength. She had never been willing to place her fate and freedom in another's hands.

Yet now, fate had played a joke so absurd it bordered on madness.

The god she worshipped, the Ice God she had sworn to serve for the rest of her life, had directly issued the first divine decree and personally pushed her onto the path she had just refused.

Submit, or defy the divine decree.

The role of a high priest was to assist the inheritor of a divine position.

Snow Empress stood there in a daze, her mind roaring.

At that moment, pride and faith collided with unprecedented violence.