"You're an hour late."
As the Snow Empress spoke, a blizzard swept up from the ground. The temperature between heaven and earth plummeted by more than ten degrees Celsius. Even the moisture in the air froze, forming palm-sized ice blossoms that drifted in midair.
Compared with the Snow Empress's petite, delicate figure, the hundred-meter-tall Titan Snow Demon King resembled a divine tower reaching into the heavens. His head pierced the clouds, and his massive shadow stretched across the ground. He looked imposing beyond measure.
Yet before the Snow Empress, the Titan Snow Demon King dared neither complain nor argue. He bent his knees and sat cross-legged on the ground, rubbing the back of his head with a broad palm. A sheepish smile actually appeared on the face humans found so hideous, and he said:
"Sorry, sorry. I live too far away, so the journey took a little longer."
"Forget it. Since you didn't do it deliberately, I'll let you off this time."
The Snow Empress shook her head almost imperceptibly, then looked toward her dear friend, the Ice Empress. At the same time, she raised her slender arm. Her fair, lotus-root-like arm resembled an ice sculpture, gleaming translucently in the sunlight. She opened her right hand, revealing something in her palm that made every Soul Beast's breath quicken. It looked like a six-sided crystal, shimmering with rainbow light.
It was godhood.
Something the gods of the Divine Realm had specifically created to keep Soul Beasts' ascension to divinity in check.
Tens of thousands of years ago, a catastrophe had swept through the Divine Realm. Numerous Beast Gods, led by the Dragon God, had attempted to overthrow the rule of the five Supreme Gods. Unfortunately, they had ultimately failed.
In the end, the gods of the Divine Realm issued a decree