Plans Never Keep Up with Change

Deep beneath the Lake of Life, in the heart of Star Dou Forest.

A pair of molten-gold slit pupils slowly lit up in the dark water.

Across the once-quiet Core Area of Star Dou Forest, every bird and beast fell silent.

A heavy, oppressive presence slowly spread outward from the Lake of Life.

A colossal black dragon raised his massive head, golden eyes turning toward the source of the presence.

"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast embryo?!"

"Humans..."

A low dragon's growl sounded beneath the lake.

In the central reaches of Star Dou Forest.

Jing Hongchen's actions left everyone frozen in place.

Song Que's expression changed. Damn it. Jing Hongchen's going to upend the whole game.

Du Busi, who had activated his Martial Soul Avatar, was not far from Jing Hongchen. He hurriedly channeled his Soul Power and forcibly knocked the God-Sealing Platform back into the air.

"Attack together!" Jing Hongchen roared.

"Even if we destroy it, we can't let the Body Sect have it!"

At his command, more than a dozen Soul Engineers from Virtue Hall activated their Soul Tools at once.

Rank-nine and rank-eight Soul Cannons charged in succession. Beams and explosive shells poured out in waves, all converging on the God-Sealing Platform in midair.

The relentless barrage battered the sealing barrier, and cracks spread across the platform.

Du Busi tried to withstand the firepower with his formidable body and reach the God-Sealing Platform, but the dense bombardment drove him back step by step. For the moment, he could do nothing.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the God-Sealing Platform shattered.

Just then, the sky above the battlefield began to tremble violently. A pitch-black fissure split the space overhead.

The next instant, a tall, imposing figure in black tore through space and descended onto the battlefield.

His golden eyes swept across the scene. When he saw Du Busi only a few steps from the God-Sealing Platform, fury surged within him.

"Damned humans!"

A huge black dragon claw swept out.

Du Busi's expression changed sharply. He hastily channeled his Soul Power and threw a full-force punch at the claw.

Boom!

The force of the dragon claw sent Du Busi flying dozens of meters.

With Du Busi out of the way, everyone from Virtue Hall aimed their Soul Cannons at the God-Sealing Platform.

Taking advantage of Di Tian's brief pause, the barrage rained down and slammed into the already fragile platform.

A sharp crack rang out.

The rank-nine Soul Tool, the God-Sealing Platform, shattered completely.

A wisp of white vapor slipped quietly through the cracks in the God-Sealing Platform.

A little girl who looked only two or three years old appeared out of thin air. Her skin was snowy white and pink, and a white gauze dress wrapped around her plump little body.

Di Tian's golden eyes narrowed slightly. He exclaimed in shock, "The Heavenly Snow Woman..."

"The Snow Empress?!"

At those words, Du Busi, Jing Hongchen, and the others all looked stunned. Their gazes fell on the little girl in the air.

The Snow Empress? Could she be the King of the Far North, ranked third among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts? Du Busi struggled to process it.

He had never imagined that the so-called 100,000-Year Embryo inside the God-Sealing Platform would be her.

Di Tian looked at the Snow Empress and frowned.

"You've chosen to cultivate anew?"

The Snow Empress gave Di Tian a cold glance but did not answer.

She turned toward Du Busi, Jing Hongchen, and the others, her eyes filled with bitter cold.

She suddenly raised a small, pale hand and gave it a gentle wave. A vast surge of freezing air roared out.

The temperature plummeted, and heavy snow began falling over Star Dou Forest out of nowhere.

The little girl flashed forward and struck at Jing Hongchen with her palm.

Jing Hongchen hurriedly activated his Soul Tool shields. Several layers shattered in succession before he was sent flying backward.

Farther away, even the poisonous aura surrounding Du Busi froze in the cold. He retreated to the other members of the Body Sect.

Jing Hongchen's eyes darted. Using the force that had sent him flying, he turned and fled.

The other Virtue Hall members scattered and fled as well.

The Snow Empress snorted and was about to pursue them, but her unstable core energy suddenly flared up. She faltered and stopped.

Di Tian frowned and lashed out with a black dragon claw.

Several Virtue Hall Soul Engineers who failed to escape in time were crushed into clouds of blood.

But Di Tian had acted a moment too late. Jing Hongchen and several others had already escaped with the speed of their flying Soul Tools.

Di Tian snorted. Recalling what Jing Hongchen had shouted earlier, he looked toward the Star Luo Empire.

"The Star Luo Empire, is it? Very well."

Song Que stood at the back of the Body Sect group, watching Di Tian and the Snow Empress in the air with a deep frown. Damn it. Why did Di Tian show up? This is bad.

Plans never keep up with change.

Song Que sighed softly.

Suddenly, Song Que sensed an unusual fluctuation of Soul Power coming from Huo Yuhao beside him.

He turned to look, surprised. Right, the Ice Empress is here too. If she and the Snow Empress can talk, there might still be a way through this.

The Snow Empress seemed to sense the Ice Empress's presence on Huo Yuhao. She turned her gaze toward him.

Du Busi noticed something amiss. Frowning, he took Jinpeng with him and flew upward.

Di Tian also saw that something was wrong with the Snow Empress and moved directly in front of her to block the way.

The three sides became locked in a fight, with no clear victor in sight.

The Snow Empress seized an opening and flashed to Huo Yuhao's side.

The Body Sect members immediately tensed, ready to stop her.

Huo Yuhao quickly said, "Elders, please wait. I want to speak with the Snow Empress."

Hearing him, the Body Sect members held back their attacks but remained on guard.

Song Que added, "Yuhao and the Snow Empress have a connection. Let them talk."

Only then did the others ease their guard a little and allow the Snow Empress to approach Huo Yuhao.

Lang Ya and Yu Tao stood on either side of Huo Yuhao, shielding him between them and ready to act at any moment.

The Snow Empress approached slowly. She looked at Huo Yuhao with a complicated expression and spoke softly. "Bing'er?!"

The Gray Soul Ring behind Huo Yuhao lit up. The next moment, the Snow Empress, the Ice Empress, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, and Huo Yuhao entered a strange space together.

"You can talk here." Electrolux's voice slowly echoed through the space.

Huo Yuhao and the Ice Empress answered together, "Thank you, Elder Electrolux."

The Snow Empress looked around the space with curiosity before beginning to speak with the Ice Empress.

Outside, Song Que watched the motionless Huo Yuhao and Snow Empress, his heart full of worry.

He quietly connected with the Hōgyoku, preparing to summon Aizen's duplicate at a moment's notice.

Will they reach an agreement?

The Snow Empress and Ice Empress are talking now, and with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm helping to persuade her, nothing should go wrong...