Far North Core! The Ice Empress Descends and Skydream's Bargaining Chip

"Boom—!"

A dazzling blood-gold beam of light, as though it connected the two poles of heaven and earth, erupted within a deep, deathly silent ice valley in the Far North.

Enhanced by the Sword Star God Battle Armor, which had overdrawn its power to the limit, Mu Yunye himself transformed into an unparalleled heavenly sword capable of tearing through space-time.

Under the utterly shocked gazes of Zhang Lexuan and the other Shrek prodigies, the Elemental Sword in Mu Yunye's hand pierced straight through Nether Thunder Douluo's chest!

"No... That's impossible..."

Nether Thunder Douluo's bloodshot eyes bulged wildly as a hoarse, leaking scream like a broken bellows emerged from his throat.

The next instant!

With a dull bang, his remaining body exploded directly in midair into a bloody storm, before Qian Renxue's sacred flames, arriving close behind, thoroughly incinerated it into nothing but ashes.

"Phew..."

Mu Yunye slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

The Sword Star God Battle Armor upon him, glowing with blood-gold light, also quietly receded into his flesh amid faint mechanical contraction sounds.

"Yunye, are you all right?"

The six wings behind Qian Renxue slowly folded away as she flew over to Mu Yunye's side and concernedly offered him a thread of warm sacred soul power.

"I'm fine, Sister Xue."

Mu Yunye smiled faintly, reassuring her.

The two did not linger in the ice valley that had become ruins. Mu Yunye glanced toward the depths of the Far North, then turned to Qian Renxue.

"The commotion here was too great. We should leave quickly. Skydream can't wait any longer."

"Alright."

Qian Renxue nodded.

However, just as the two were about to vanish into the blizzard, Mu Yunye's Double Pupil suddenly shifted slightly without warning, accurately fixing upon something several miles away.

"Buzz—!"

Standing atop an icy outcrop, Zhang Lexuan felt as though an invisible sledgehammer had viciously struck her mind.

Mu Yunye had discovered them!

"Pant... Pant..."

"H-He discovered us?"

Ma Xiaotao swallowed, her voice trembling.

Zhang Lexuan's face was pale as she nodded with grave solemnity.

"He not only discovered us—he likely knew of our arrival long ago. It was simply that they could not be bothered to have anything to do with us."

"Senior Sister, then... what do we do now? Should we keep tracking them?"

Ma Xiaotao glanced toward the depths of the Far North and asked with lingering fear.

"No, we're going back..."

Zhang Lexuan took a deep breath and made her decision without hesitation. "Nether Thunder Douluo and the other evil soul masters have already been wiped out. Our mission can be considered complete."

Guided by the familiar route of the Skydream Ice Silkworm, Mu Yunye and Qian Renxue braved the terrifying storm and finally reached the true core of the Far North.

"What terrifying cold. Soul power is being consumed at more than ten times the rate outside."

Qian Renxue frowned slightly, spreading the six wings behind her and releasing the purest sacred radiance. She tightly enveloped herself and Mu Yunye within it, resisting the bitter cold that could freeze even souls.

"Hehe, naturally. This is an absolute forbidden zone where only soul beasts over a hundred thousand years old are qualified to reside for long."

The Skydream Ice Silkworm's plump white-gold figure slowly appeared, its voice carrying barely concealed excitement and nervousness.

"Yunye, let's stop here."

"Here?"

Mu Yunye looked around. Aside from the boundless Myriad-Year Profound Ice, there was no sign of life whatsoever.

"Watch me!"

The Skydream Ice Silkworm took a deep breath. The next moment, its terrifying million-year spiritual origin completely blossomed without reservation!

"Buzz—!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any rampaging soul power. Instead, an incomparably pure, nearly tangible surge of heaven-and-earth essence, radiating a faint white-gold glow, erupted with a roar.

Within that aura was the purest essence of life the Skydream Ice Silkworm had accumulated through a full million years of sleep!

"Bingbing! I came to see you! I brought you a grand gift, so hurry up and come meet me!"

The Skydream Ice Silkworm sent its annoyingly smug voice spreading outward along with the waves of essence.

Only a few dozen breaths after the Skydream Ice Silkworm released its aura, the entire Far North Core Region suddenly changed!

"Rumble—!"

The originally gray, frigid sky was instantly dyed a dazzling emerald green!

"Skydream! You damned useless fool, you actually dared to come back?!"

A crisp and pleasant yet utterly frigid feminine shout exploded across heaven and earth.

A soul beast around one and a half meters long, yet so perfect it resembled the finest work of art, descended abruptly before the two amid a sky full of ice crystals.

"Hehe, Bingbing!"

The Skydream Ice Silkworm cried out in delight.

The Ice Empress's eyes, brilliant as yellow gemstones, burned with undisguised murderous intent.

Her gaze swept over Mu Yunye and Qian Renxue like a blade before finally locking tightly onto the Skydream Ice Silkworm.

"Skydream, not only did you return to throw away your life, you even colluded with despicable humans to enter the Far North Core Region? I think you've grown tired of living."

A blinding emerald light erupted from the Ice Empress. Terrifying Ultimate Ice transformed into countless sharp ice spears aimed at Mu Yunye and Qian Renxue, ready to blast them to death at any moment!

"Hey, hey, hey! Bingbing, don't attack yet! We can talk this out! I came specifically to save your life!"

Facing the Ice Empress's overwhelming killing intent, the Skydream Ice Silkworm did not retreat in the slightest.

It emerged directly from Mu Yunye's Sea of Spirit, taking the form of an illusory white-gold silhouette and blocking the way before Mu Yunye.

"Save my life? With a useless coward like you, who only knows how to run away?"

The Ice Empress sneered, the contempt in her eyes entirely undisguised. Yet her charging figure still paused slightly.

"Hmm?"

She noticed that something was wrong.

Skydream clearly had only a pure spiritual body left, with not even its physical body remaining, yet it miraculously retained its complete self-awareness.

"Bingbing, your four-hundred-thousand-year limit is about to arrive. You know better than anyone that you simply cannot withstand that heaven-forsaken lightning tribulation!"

The Skydream Ice Silkworm put away its usual frivolous grin, its tone becoming more serious than ever before.

"Even if I die beneath the heavenly tribulation, I will never bow my head to fate!"

Having her sore point struck, the Ice Empress flew into a rage.

"But what if I told you that I've found a path where you can not only survive, but even truly obtain immortality and step into the domain of gods?!"

The Skydream Ice Silkworm's words were like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, crashing fiercely into the Ice Empress's heart.

"What..."

The Ice Empress's raised scorpion claw stiffened abruptly in midair, and a trace of incredulous shock appeared in her gemstone-yellow eyes.

She stared fixedly at the Skydream Ice Silkworm's illusory soul form.

"Immortality? What exactly did you do?!"

"I sacrificed myself!"

The Skydream Ice Silkworm proudly raised its head. Pointing at Mu Yunye behind it, it threw out a shocking bargaining chip that would drive any soul beast mad.

"I abandoned my physical body and turned my million years of cultivation into a Wisdom Soul Ring, forming a symbiotic contract with this human."

"Bingbing, take a good look at this human! Not only does he possess Twin Martial Souls capable of bearing our power, but the supreme bloodline of the Icefire Dragon Kings also flows through his body!"

The Skydream Ice Silkworm's voice was filled with extreme temptation.

"Come, Bingbing! Become his soul ring with me! Together... we'll forge an unparalleled god!"

Listening to the Skydream Ice Silkworm's earth-shaking description and sensing the noble dragon bloodline faintly emanating from within Mu Yunye—a bloodline that made even her heart tremble—she wavered slightly in that moment.