Ice Blade Mantis

With that thought, Tian Chen put away his Blood Emperor Body.

As the Blood Emperor Body dissipated, the pressure weighing on the Ice Empress and Snow Empress vanished instantly.

Feeling the pressure disappear, the two empresses hurried over to Tian Chen.

The Ice Empress immediately scooped him up, all but ready to strip him bare and inspect him from head to toe. "Little Chen, are you all right? Does anything feel wrong?" she kept asking.

Startled by her actions, Tian Chen said, "Sister Ice, put me down first."

Only then did the Ice Empress calm her panicked emotions a little.

Just then, a system notification sounded. "Douluo SSR-grade goddess Snow Empress and SSR-grade goddess Ice Empress detected. Would you like to check in?"

Check in! Tian Chen said silently.

[Congratulations, host. You have checked in with the goddesses Snow Empress and Ice Empress and received bed-sized life gold ×1 and the low Earth-tier movement technique Three Thousand Thunder Movement.]

Tian Chen's face instantly lit up with joy.

Then he said to the two empresses, "Sisters, I'm fine. Oh, right, Sister Snow, could we test my innate Soul Power first?"

The Snow Empress finally remembered that they had yet to test his innate Soul Power. She took a blue crystal ball from her robes and told Tian Chen to place his hand on it. To make absolutely certain nothing went wrong, she had brought a Soul Elder-grade crystal ball.

The crystal immediately blazed with blue light, and the number 20 appeared on its surface.

"Innate Soul Power at rank twenty?" both empresses exclaimed.

After that brief cry of surprise, the Snow Empress pulled Tian Chen into her arms.

"Little Chen, you must work hard at cultivating from now on. Don't waste such wonderful talent."

"Yes! Sister Snow, Sister Ice, don't worry. I'll cultivate diligently, become a god as soon as I can, save the Soul Beast Clan, and take you both to the Divine Realm." Tian Chen nodded and spoke with resolve.

Finding his words both adorable and amusing, the Ice Empress covered her mouth and chuckled. "Oh, you. Listen to yourself! Ascending to the Divine Realm is hardly that easy. Besides, the Soul Beast Clan has been suppressed for so long. You can't save them just by saying you will."

"Ice!" The Snow Empress stopped her, then turned to Tian Chen. "Little Chen, I believe in you. But remember, whether you succeed in the end or not, both of us will stay by your side. All we ask is that you grow up happy!"

The Ice Empress nodded in agreement beside her.

"Thank you both for believing in me. I won't let you down." Deeply moved, Tian Chen wrapped his arms around the two empresses and seized the chance to kiss each of them on the cheek.

Neither the Snow Empress nor the Ice Empress had expected Tian Chen to do that. As they felt the touch on their cheeks, an unfamiliar emotion stirred in their hearts.

Coming to her senses, the Ice Empress said in feigned anger, "You little rascal! How dare you take advantage of your sister? Just watch how I deal with you." She grabbed Tian Chen back and vigorously kneaded his cheeks with her fair, jade-like hands.

Meanwhile, the Snow Empress touched her cheek, seemingly lost in thought.

A few minutes later, the Ice Empress and Tian Chen stopped playing around and turned to more serious matters.

"Little Chen, tell us about your Martial Souls."

"Sister Ice, I awakened two martial souls: the Emperor-Slaying Ghost Blood Blade and the blood emperor body. My first martial soul, the Emperor-Slaying Ghost Blood Blade, has several attributes: blood, ultimate destruction, and ultimate attack. My second has the lightning and blood attributes." In truth, Tian Chen had left out one other attribute: devouring. Like the attribute of Tang Ya's Bluesilver Grass, however, it was latent. As long as he left it alone, it would not activate.

The Snow Empress stroked her chin. "That makes things a little difficult. Most soul beasts in the Far North have the ice attribute, and lightning-attribute soul beasts are almost nonexistent. But I do know one that would suit your first Martial Soul's ultimate attack."

"Hehe." Tian Chen gave her an adorable smile. "Sister Snow, what kind of soul beast is it?"

Looking at his cute expression, the Snow Empress could not resist stroking his head. She smiled and said, "Fifty years ago, a seven-thousand-year Ice Blade Mantis happened to obtain a thousand-year Ice-Snow Spirit Fruit. But after he ate it, the ultimate ice energy within the fruit proved too overbearing. He couldn't absorb it and suffered a backlash. Although he used the fruit to advance repeatedly over just a dozen or so years, reaching nine thousand years of cultivation, his body deteriorated further afterward. I doubt he has many years left."

At this point, the Snow Empress could not help sighing. The Ice-Snow Spirit Fruit was an exceptionally rare innate spiritual treasure, and many soul beasts had fought over it. Yet a treasure of that sort was virtually useless to a soul beast at her level, so she had left the other soul beasts of the Far North to compete for it. She had never imagined that the eventual winner would end up harmed by his prize.

"Little Chen, would this soul beast suit you? If you don't think so, we can wait a little longer. I have other soul beasts for you to choose from," the Snow Empress asked.

Tian Chen shook his head. "There's no problem. This one's age and attributes are just right."

After awakening the Blood Emperor Body, his physical strength had increased by hundreds of times, if not more. He could even contend with an ordinary Soul Emperor. Absorbing a nine-thousand-year Soul Ring would pose no problem at all.

The Snow Empress nodded. After six years together, she knew that Tian Chen was firm in his convictions and would not readily change a decision he had made. She therefore respected his choice.

"All right. I'll take you there now."

Five minutes later, the Snow Empress brought Tian Chen to a mountain.

The summit was unusually shaped, as though it had been carved with blades. Just then, a thunderous noise came from a cave entrance.

An ice-blue mantis slowly emerged. The ice blades on his arms gleamed with a chilling light, and his aura was no weaker than that of a ten-thousand-year soul beast. Yet he seemed frail, as though his life was nearing its end.

Upon seeing the Snow Empress, the Ice Blade Mantis silently lowered his head, his eyes filled with reverence and fear.

"I didn't expect you to force your way to ten thousand years of cultivation with your body in that condition. But looking at you now, I doubt you'll live another ten years," the Snow Empress remarked teasingly. "I'll give you two choices: sacrifice yourself to Little Chen, or die."

The Ice Blade Mantis glanced at Tian Chen beside her and nodded. Regardless of whether he was willing, he could not possibly disobey the Snow Empress. Besides, he only had a few years left. Whether he sacrificed himself or not, his end would be the same.

He approached Tian Chen, lowered his head, and began the sacrifice.

Watching this, Tian Chen pressed his forehead against the Ice Blade Mantis's head. "Thank you for being willing to sacrifice yourself to me. Don't worry. I won't let your efforts go to waste. Once I become a god, I'll revive you immediately."

As the sacrifice progressed, a pale black Soul Ring emerged. It appeared to have only just passed the ten-thousand-year threshold. The ring circled Tian Chen, and he sat cross-legged to absorb its energy.

Two hours later, Tian Chen awoke with a pale black soul ring circling him.

"How do you feel, Little Chen? Everything all right? What soul skill did you obtain?" the Snow Empress asked with concern.

In answer, Tian Chen swung the Emperor-Slaying Ghost Blood Blade toward a huge ice pillar nearby.

Several blood-red blades danced through the air. A moment later, dozens of them crashed down, and the ice pillar collapsed with a thunderous crash.

"This is my first soul skill, Blood Blade Frenzy. It creates multiple blood blades, with the number depending on my Soul Power. They can attack or defend, and when the skill is used, each blade's power increases by fifty percent."

Even the Snow Empress was impressed. The effects of this first soul skill rivaled an ordinary soul master's fourth or even fifth soul skill.

"Very good. I never expected your first soul skill to be so powerful," the Snow Empress praised.

"Hehe, do I get a reward, then?" Tian Chen asked with a guileless grin.

The Snow Empress smiled gently, letting her actions speak for her, and softly kissed his cheek.

"Ah, only once?" The soft, warm touch vanished in an instant, leaving Tian Chen a little disappointed.

Seeing her little brother's cheeky expression, the Snow Empress tapped him on the head. "Enough. Hurry up and stabilize your Soul Power rank. I'll take you to hunt for your second Soul Ring in a little while."

"Okay!" Tian Chen said, rubbing his head.

Suddenly, he caught sight of what looked like a layer of light on the Ice Blade Mantis's corpse nearby.

"Huh? What's this?" Tian Chen picked it up curiously and examined it.

It was a pair of ice blades, closely resembling the Ice Blade Mantis's arms.

"An external Soul Bone?" the Snow Empress exclaimed.

Tian Chen was startled as well. The Ice Blade Mantis's sacrifice had actually yielded a Soul Bone—and an external one at that.

"Little Chen, you can decide what to do with this soul bone yourself!" Understanding him well, the Snow Empress left the decision to him.

After much hesitation, Tian Chen chose to put it away.

After all, this Soul Bone did not suit him very well. If he absorbed it rashly and later encountered a higher-quality Soul Bone, it would be a waste.

The Snow Empress offered no comment on Tian Chen's decision to store the Soul Bone. She simply stayed by his side, quietly protecting him.

Her silence carried unspoken support. Her presence was like a sturdy fortress, putting Tian Chen at ease.

Six hours later, the Snow Empress had another soul beast, this one thirty thousand years old, sacrifice itself to Tian Chen.

Yet after absorbing these two Soul Rings, Tian Chen suddenly felt that his Soul Power cultivation had slowed. He had only reached rank twenty-four.

"What's going on? Absorbing two ten-thousand-year Soul Rings should have given me a huge boost. Why did I only gain four ranks?" Tian Chen asked in confusion. Suddenly, within his consciousness, he saw a towering giant standing behind him. That giant was himself, and terrifying Blood Demon Heart-devouring Thunder radiated from his body, continuously devouring the Soul Rings' energy.

"The Soul Rings' energy... was devoured by the Blood Demon Heart-devouring Thunder," Tian Chen said in surprise.

"Could the energy level of the Blood Demon Heart-devouring Thunder be far above those so-called ultimate attributes, making the drawback of slower cultivation much more severe?" Tian Chen speculated.

Cultivation with an ultimate attribute slowed after rank thirty because the energy contained in each rank of Soul Power was many times greater than that of an ordinary Martial Soul. Since the energy of the Blood Demon Heart-devouring Thunder far surpassed Ultimate Thunder, did it require even more Soul Power to sustain it?

"Ah..." Tian Chen sighed. Although he was still puzzled, he reconsidered. Perhaps this was a good thing. After all, cultivation was never smooth sailing. The Blood Demon Heart-devouring Thunder might become the key to a future breakthrough.

"Little Chen, what's wrong? You look troubled." Noticing the change in his mood, the Snow Empress asked with concern.

Tian Chen told her what he had discovered within his consciousness. After pondering for a moment, the Snow Empress said, "Perhaps the Blood Demon Heart-devouring Thunder truly is a special kind of energy, one that requires stronger Soul Power to control. But that isn't a bad thing. It will make your Soul Power more stable and lay a firm foundation for your future cultivation. Besides, your soul skills are already powerful enough. Your progress has already left many soul masters far behind."

Tian Chen nodded, enlightened by her words. Indeed, the path of cultivation was full of unknowns and challenges. Perhaps this was simply a necessary part of his growth.