Di Tian displays his might, the Ice God's true face
"Gentlemen, imparting the Nine Profound Art to you is only one of my purposes in coming here. There is another matter."
Ice Empress frowned slightly and asked in a cold voice, "What else is there?"
Zhao Ming raised his hand and pointed to the dark corridor deep inside the Ice Palace.
The end of the corridor was hidden in a deep blue light, making it impossible to see exactly where it led. However, the aura emanating from the depths caused the Treasure-Dropping Coin within Zhao Ming's body to tremble slightly.
I want to explore the depths of this palace.
Before the words were even finished, the atmosphere in the Ice Palace suddenly froze.
The expressions of the Ice and Snow Emperors changed drastically at the same time.
"Human, how dare you!"
Ice Empress didn't even give Zhao Ming a chance to explain. In a flash, his right hand was instantly covered with a layer of crystal-clear ice armor.
This attack was none other than the Ice Empress Ice Empress's Pincer, one of the most powerful attacking Soul Skill of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, capable of freezing and shattering all matter.
Zhao Ming's pupils contracted, and he cursed inwardly. Why did he attack without warning? He only wanted to explore the depths of the palace; was such a strong reaction necessary?
But there was no time to think about it anymore.
At the critical moment, Zhao Ming had a thought, and the Mustard Seed Space instantly unfolded.
His figure became ethereal just as the Ice Empress's Pincer was about to touch him, as if he had been detached from this world, his entire being transforming into a blurry phantom.
Ice Empress's seemingly inevitable punch actually passed right through his body and landed on empty air.
"Hmm?" Ice Empress's attack missed, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
She hadn't expected this human to be able to dodge her Ice Empress's Pincer.
But she was, after all, a super Soul Beast with 380,000 years of cultivation, and her combat experience was incredibly rich. If her first attack missed, her second attack was already poised to strike.
Zhao Ming was certain that he was no match for Ice Empress. He made a quick decision, took out Di Tian scale from his Storage Soul Tool, and frantically poured his Soul Power into it.
The next instant, a vast and ancient dragon's might swept across the entire ice palace like a storm.
The space in front of the dragon scales began to distort violently, as if torn apart by an invisible hand, and a pitch-black Spatial Rift appeared out of thin air.
A foot wearing a black boot stepped out from the Spatial Rift.
The Beast God Di Tian descended upon the Far North.
Di Tian still looked like a middle-aged man, dressed in black as ink, with his black hair flowing down his shoulders, standing with his hands behind his back.
Di Tian's golden vertical pupils swept over Ice Empress without any emotion.
With just a glance, Ice Empress felt as if a towering mountain was pressing down on her, the terrifying pressure surging from all directions.
Her body froze on the spot, and she couldn't even muster the slightest thought of resistance.
This is the absolute pressure of the Beast God Di Tian, Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King.
Although Ice Empress is a 380,000-year-old Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, and the undisputed overlord of the Far North, in front of Di Tian, her bloodline, her cultivation, and her power all seem so insignificant.
Snow Empress's expression changed as well. She stood up, took a step forward, and stood in front of Ice Empress.
Her aura was released without reservation at this moment, colliding head-on with Di Tian's dragon might.
Two terrifying auras clashed in the air, causing the entire ice palace to tremble violently. The ice pillars on the dome cracked with a "crackling" sound, and countless tiny ice crystals fell from the dome.
"Di Tian," the Snow Empress spoke coldly, her voice as cold as ten thousand years of ice, "Do you intend to wage war against my Far North?"
Upon hearing this, Di Tian's lips curled up slightly, revealing a meaningful smile.
"Snow Empress," his voice was deep and calm, yet carried an undeniable confidence, "You don't actually think you can defeat me in the Far North, do you?"
Snow Empress fell silent; that was indeed what she thought.
The Far North is her home ground; every inch of ice and snow here is her source of strength.
Here, her strength can be amplified to the greatest extent, while Di Tian Di Tian, although known as the Beast God, will inevitably be suppressed by the environment here.
With the balance of power shifting, she believed she could at least fight Di Tian to a draw, or even have a slight advantage.
Di Tian read Snow Empress's thoughts from her eyes and shook his head slightly.
He didn't say anything more, but slowly raised his right hand.
The hand changed the moment it was raised; fine black scales appeared on its skin, and its five fingers became long and sharp, with a cold, eerie light gleaming at their tips.
In the blink of an eye, a dragon claw covered in black dragon scales appeared before everyone.
The dragon claw made no fancy moves; it simply reached out towards the Snow Empress.
The Snow Empress dared not be negligent and immediately unleashed his ultimate technique— Emperor's Palm: Great Cold Without Snow.
In an instant, Snow Empress's palm became crystal clear, as if it had been carved from ten thousand years of mysterious ice. A ball of extremely cold power condensed in her palm, and wherever that power passed, even the space itself was frozen and cracked.
The palm and the dragon's claw collided with a deafening roar.
Snow Empress originally thought that this palm strike should at least be evenly matched.
However, the moment her palm touched Di Tian's dragon claw, her expression changed instantly.
The power emanating from the dragon's claws far exceeded her expectations.
Di Tian's dragon claw carried a higher level of power, as if it were a crushing force from another dimension.
Her Emperor Palm: Great Cold Without Snow, was as fragile as paper before that power, crumbling instantly.
"Bang!" Snow Empress was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string, tumbling dozens of meters in the air before crashing heavily into the wall of the Ice Palace.
She smashed into the hard ice wall, creating a human-shaped dent, and spiderweb-like cracks spread in all directions.
"Snow Empress!" Ice Empress exclaimed and rushed over to support her.
Snow Empress steadied herself, raised her head to look at Di Tian, her icy blue eyes filled with disbelief.
In the Far North, she believed she possessed the strength of a human Limit Douluo.
According to her own judgment, among the human Limit Douluo of this era, the one from Sea God Island and the two from the Spirit Hall, if they did not use their divine power, were roughly equal to her.
As for that brute from the Clear Sky Sect, even if she used his ultimate techniques, the Grand Sumeru Hammer and the Ring Detonation, she had hundreds of ways to win. That brute couldn't even touch her.
However, Di Tian forced her back with just one strike.
Doesn't this mean that Di Tian possesses strength far exceeding that of Limit Douluo?
"Di Tian, you..." Snow Empress's voice trembled slightly; it was the first time in thousands of years that she had felt such a strong shock.
Di Tian did not answer her question, but instead raised his right hand again.
This time, a faint seven-colored light appeared on his dragon claws, and an aura that made all things in heaven and earth tremble followed.
The Ice and Snow Emperors turned pale. What kind of Soul Skill was that?
They clearly did not recognize the Dragon God Claw, nor did they know that it was a secret technique personally taught by the Dragon God, and Di Tian's trump card.
If that claw strikes, not only will the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress be wiped out, but the entire Ice Palace, along with this iceberg, will likely be erased from the map of the Far North.
A feeling of powerlessness, unlike anything seen before, welled up in Snow Empress's heart.
Di Tian, if you're so capable, you should have said so earlier! If you had, I would have sent your men into the Ice God Temple directly. Would things have come to this?
Yes, the direction Zhao Ming just pointed was the entrance to the Ice God Temple.
The Ice God, the former ruler of the Far North, left behind this temple after his fall.
For the Ice and Snow Emperors, the Ice God Temple was the most sacred place in the Far North, a forbidden land they had guarded for countless years.
If any outsider dares to set foot in the temple, they will kill him without hesitation.
But now, facing Di Tian's Dragon God Claw, Snow Empress knew that she had no other choice.
"Di Tian," Snow Empress took a deep breath, her voice tinged with bitterness, "I concede."
Di Tian glanced at her, then slowly withdrew his Dragon God Claw. The golden light gradually dissipated, and his right hand returned to its human form.
He didn't actually intend to strike with the Dragon God Claw. He and the Snow Empress didn't have any deep-seated hatred, so there was no need to kill him.
Moreover, he actually quite admired the Snow Empress. As an ice and snow elf born of heaven and earth, she was able to govern the vast Far North in an orderly manner, allowing countless ice-attribute Soul Beast to thrive here. This ability and sense of responsibility were extremely rare in the Soul Beast Realm.
"Snow Empress," Di Tian said, his hands behind his back, his voice regaining its calm, "I'll spare you and the Ice Empress this time. Remember, Zhao Ming has done me a favor; fulfill his needs as much as possible."
After saying that, he raised his hand and gently made a gesture in front of him, and a Spatial Rift appeared out of thin air.
Di Tian glanced at Zhao Ming one last time, nodded slightly, and then stepped into the Spatial Rift.
The Spatial Rift slowly closed, and Di Tian's figure disappeared into the ice palace.
After Di Tian left, a long silence fell over the Ice Palace.
The Ice and Snow Emperors looked at Zhao Ming with clear eyes.
Snow Empress straightened her robes, which had been disheveled by Di Tian, took a deep breath, and walked up to Zhao Ming.
Her face still wore that icy expression, but her tone had softened considerably.
"Human, follow me!" The Snow Empress turned around and personally led the way, guiding Zhao Ming toward the depths of the Ice Palace.
Ice Empress followed behind Snow Empress, head bowed and silent, still reeling from the shock she had just experienced.
Di Tian's gaze, his dragon claw strike, and finally, the Dragon God Claw poised to strike, all left an indelible mark on her heart.
They soon arrived at a huge ice gate.
The ice gate was ten zhang tall, and its entire body was made of a deep blue ice that Zhao Ming had never seen before.
An ancient and sacred aura emanated from behind the door, causing the Treasure-Dropping Coin within Zhao Ming's body to tremble once more.
"This is the entrance to the Ice God Temple." The Snow Empress stopped, looking at the ice door, a complex expression flashing in her eyes. "After the Ice God's fall, this temple has remained closed, and only the Ice Empress and I are allowed to enter."
She paused, then turned to look at Zhao Ming, her tone carrying a hint of solemnity. "You are the first human to step into the Ice God Temple."
After saying that, she raised her hand and placed her palm on the center of the ice gate.
The ice gate slowly opened, and an extremely cold aura surged out from within. That aura was colder than anywhere else in the Far North, as if it could freeze even time and space.
Zhao Ming took a deep breath and stepped inside.
The interior of the Ice God Temple was completely different from what he had imagined.
Here, beneath your feet lies a crystal-clear ice surface, above you is a clear, azure sky, and all around you stretches an endless snowfield.
In the center of this icy world stands a high platform, upon which rests a divine throne carved from black ice.
As Zhao Ming stepped in, the Treasure-Dropping Coin within his body automatically appeared, hovering above his head and spinning rapidly.
The Fortune-Gathering Domain unfolded, and golden light spread in all directions like a tide, enveloping the entire temple.
The Treasure-Dropping Coin" (落宝金) is a powerful Fortune-Gathering Domain that gathers the Fortune, fortune, and faith of heaven and earth.
Within this Ice God Temple, the power of faith left behind after the Ice God Ice God's fall remains—the power condensed from the devout worship of countless Soul Beast from the Far North over thousands of years.
Driven by the power of Fortune-Gathering Domain, the dormant forces of faith have begun to awaken.
Countless golden specks of light emerged from beneath the ice, from the sky, and from every inch of the mysterious ice of the throne, dancing like fireflies in the temple before converging into a golden river that surged upwards toward the throne.
A phantom figure slowly emerged from the divine throne.
It was a woman, a woman of breathtaking beauty.
She wore an ice-blue long dress, the hem of which was adorned with countless snowflake-shaped patterns. Her long, silver-white hair cascaded down like a waterfall, the ends of which were slightly curled and shimmered with a faint blue light.
Her face was exquisitely beautiful, like the most perfect masterpiece of heaven. Her brows carried a cool and noble air, and her eyes were like two ice-blue gems, deep and mysterious.
Most strikingly, her appearance bears a striking resemblance to Snow Empress, measuring seven or eight parts similarity.
The moment Zhao Ming saw this figure, the question that had troubled him for so long finally found its answer.
In his previous life, he had read countless speculations about the Ice God's identity on forums, with many different opinions.
Some speculate that the Ice God was actually the Ice Dragon King, and that the Ice God perished after the Ice Dragon King's fall.
Some speculate that the Ice God is a naturally born ice and snow spirit, just like the Snow Empress, a deity formed from the spiritual energy of heaven Far North.
Some speculate that the Ice God, like the Sea God and the Angel God, is a human who gained godhood by collecting the faith power of the Soul Beast from the Far North.
And now, the answer is right in front of him.
The Ice God was the ice and snow spirit who existed before the Snow Empress.
She was the first being formed from the very essence of ice and snow in the Far North, the oldest and purest being on this icy plain.
She was born at the beginning of time and cultivated herself into a god over a long period of time, becoming an object of worship for all the Soul Beast in the Far North.
She later perished in the Dragon God War, her divine position shattered, and a wisp of her divine soul slumbered here.
After her fall, the ice and snow essence of the Douluo Continent condensed again, giving birth to a new ice and snow elf, who is now the Snow Empress.
That's why the Snow Empress's appearance is so similar to the Ice God.
They are beings born of the same origin, both naturally formed ice and snow spirits.