The Ice Empress and the Snow Empress fell into thought. As Qian Chongling had said, their road was essentially a dead end: they would either die beneath a heavenly tribulation or be hunted down by humans. There was no other choice.
Yet now, it was as though a pie had fallen from the sky. Still wary of humans, the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress did not immediately believe Qian Chongling.
"How can we trust you? Who knows whether these people you claim have the talent to become gods actually exist? Becoming a god is hardly that easy," the Snow Empress said.
"You can judge for yourselves when the time comes. Assessing a human's talent shouldn't be difficult for you."
After a pause, Qian Chongling continued, "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't need to go to all this trouble."
The two soul beasts fell silent. If Qian Chongling wanted them dead, they would never have survived this long. If they agreed to his request, they could at least live another eighty to a hundred years. If his words were true, they could even strike a deal with humans and ascend to godhood in a single bound.
This choice was not actually difficult to make!
The Snow Empress and the Ice Empress exchanged a glance and declared resolutely, "All right, we agree!"
"Excellent. Here's to a pleasant partnership, you two!"
Qian Chongling smiled. At the same time, he took two feathers with a jet-black sheen from his Soul Tool and handed them to the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress.
"What are these?" the Snow Empress asked in puzzlement.
"Little trinkets I made. I can sense it when you crush them," Qian Chongling said.
"What do you mean?"
"Simply put, I'm worried someone might kill you ahead of time."
The Snow Empress and the Ice Empress: Listen to him! Is that any way for a human to talk? One of us has the strength of a rank ninety-nine Peerless Douluo, and the other a rank ninety-seven Super Douluo. Would we really get killed out of nowhere?
Though the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress wanted to throw those pitch-black things away, they decided to keep them after some consideration. After all, having witnessed an existence like Qian Chongling, they were a little nervous about another one crawling out of some obscure corner.
"Until we meet again, then, you two. Don't get yourselves killed."
With the deal successfully concluded, Qian Chongling had no desire to keep gulping down the northwest wind in the Far North. Wouldn't returning to Skywater Academy to admire the lovely young ladies be much nicer?
With those words, phantoms of eight pairs of black-and-white wings appeared behind Qian Chongling. He beat his wings and flew away, his figure vanishing in an instant.
I want to seal that mouth of his shut!
Little sister, I support you. Go for it!
Those were the thoughts running through the Ice Empress's and the Snow Empress's minds. Neither of them could really stand Qian Chongling's mouth anymore.
Meanwhile, Qian Chongling flew brazenly straight toward the outermost edge of the Far North, the formidable aura unique to a Titled Douluo reverberating high in the sky.
After flying for over two hours, just as he was about to leave the Far North, he was somewhat surprised to spot an extremely familiar group.
Round Mirror Lake, in the outer reaches of the Far North.
Named for terrain that closely resembled a frozen round mirror, it was a place frequented by fish and shrimp soul beasts, as well as soul beasts that fed on them.
Beside Round Mirror Lake, ice and snow swirled as a soul beast over three meters long, resembling a Boston Giant Lobster, brandished its claws on the ice.
Five delicate young women wielded ice swords, continually unleashing sword techniques and soul skills to gradually wear down the Boston lobster's stamina and soul power.
Despite the giant lobster's swaggering air of "I rule the world, and none can rival me," it was actually on its last sliver of health. Its blue-green shell, which had originally gleamed with a cold light, was densely covered in wounds.
Its eyes, in particular, lacked the protection of its shell and were the young women's primary targets. One of them was already splattered with blood.
"Qin Yan, now!"
Zhao Ziyi, who had the highest cultivation among the five young women, broke through the giant lobster's defenses with her fourth soul skill. The lobster faltered, leaving a massive opening.
After several months of honing their skills, the young women had developed fairly good coordination. Before Zhao Ziyi had even finished speaking, Qin Yan's third Soul Ring lit up.
"Third soul skill, Extreme Cold Erosion!"
Extreme Cold Erosion, a soul skill originating from the thousand-year soul beast Ice-Congealing Sparrow, erupted from Qin Yan's index finger. A bone-piercing chill that penetrated the soul formed a clearly visible, slender white line, shooting through the giant lobster's right eye in an instant and freezing it into a lifelike ice sculpture.
Thud!
With its head pierced straight through from its right eye, the giant lobster could not have been any deader. Its enormous body crashed to the ground, never to rise again.
Qian Chongling naturally took all of this in. A mere soul beast just over a thousand years old hardly warranted such an elaborate effort. Two Soul Ancestors could have killed it instantly with ease, especially with the two Soul Saint teachers leading the group standing by the entire time.
Their intention was therefore obvious: they did not want a high-level Soul Master's soul skills to damage the giant lobster's flesh. In short, they wanted to eat it.
Sure enough, once the five young ladies finished fighting, Chen Xiaoxue, one of the teachers leading them, flicked a finger and shattered the ice crystals covering the giant lobster. Then she said, "Freezing it at the very instant of death preserves the quality of its flesh as much as possible."
The tone abruptly shifted, giving the scene the unmistakable feel of a cooking anime.
"All right, all right, Sister Xue. Teacher Qian already told us all of this, so stop showing off." Chen Xiaoxue's moment of glory lasted less than three seconds before Qin Yun interrupted her.
"The real question is, do you know how to cook this giant lobster?"
Chen Xiaoxue was struck speechless. She had only been putting on an act. Asking her to cook this giant lobster would be worse than asking her to fight a hundred-thousand-year soul beast outright. At least then she would know how she died.
It had all started with Qian Chongling. First, the seven women in Skywater Academy's team discovered that he had not brought any dry rations. Kindhearted Qin Yun had even offered to share some of hers with him.
Those dry rations consisted of black bread costing one Copper Soul Coin apiece, along with some drinking water. They ate only this food not because Skywater Academy lacked funds, but because this black bread was easy to preserve.
So Qian Chongling went out and caught a fish soul beast. After returning to camp, he took a stove and a stew pot out of his Soul Tool before the seven young women's dumbfounded eyes.
Then he slit the fish's belly and removed its innards, scraped off its scales with a small knife, sliced its flesh, and simmered its bones into broth. With a few spices added, he had a fish hot pot ready for them to cook and eat on the spot.
As the fragrance spread through the camp, the young women looked at Qian Chongling's fish hot pot, then at the black bread in their own hands. The rations that had seemed edible a moment earlier suddenly became impossible to swallow.
The young women of Skywater Academy: (╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻ (Flip! The! Table!)
Only then did they understand why Qian Chongling had not brought dry rations. If he could eat and drink well, why would he eat something so dry, hard, black, and foul?
The ever-kind and approachable Qian Chongling naturally would not leave the young women staring longingly. With a quick change of roles, he became their chef. Of course, he still gave them pointers while cooking. After all, working with your own hands kept you well fed and clothed.
Before you continue