The first to step forward for today's assessment was none other than Huo Yuhao.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile curled Dai Youheng's lips. Of course he knew what "surefire winning method" Huo Yuhao had learned from the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm: using the terrifying aura of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's ultimate ice to indiscriminately suppress the soul beasts through their bloodlines, frightening every soul beast in the cages into collapse in one fell swoop.
Without a score, Dai Huabin would naturally lose without even fighting. This tactic was a masterstroke: simple and brutal, yet extremely effective.
Without a score, Dai Huabin would naturally lose without a fight. This tactic was like pulling the firewood from beneath the cauldron-simple and brutal, yet extraordinarily effective.
When Gong Changlong asked what age of soul beast Huo Yuhao intended to challenge, Huo Yuhao immediately chose the lowest tier: a hundred years.
The soul beasts for this assessment ranged from a hundred to a thousand years old. The older the soul beast a student chose to challenge, the higher their base score would be upon success.
This immediately drew an undisguised sneer from Dai Huabin. "A hundred-year beast? Huo Yuhao, is that all you've got? Looks like you know you're certain to lose, so you've simply given up on yourself."
Huo Yuhao ignored him and merely focused his mind, steadying his breathing.
When the hundred-year Wind Wolf was released from its cage and lunged at him with a roar, Huo Yuhao's eyes suddenly blazed. An indescribable, absolute chill and terrifying pressure, originating from the very pinnacle of life itself, erupted around him like a storm!
"Awooo-!" The hundred-year Wind Wolf bore the brunt of it. With a wretched howl, its legs buckled, and it collapsed unconscious, foaming at the mouth.
But that was only the beginning.
That cold, domineering aura of a ferocious beast swept through every beast cage in the Beast Arena District like a tide!
In an instant, the entire arena fell into a deathly silence, only to be filled moments later with the terrified, despairing cries and wails of soul beasts as they prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling uncontrollably!
Whether hundred-year soul beasts or thousand-year soul beasts, all of them lay limp on the ground, losing control of their bowels and bladders. Their eyes brimmed with the most primal terror, as though they had encountered the most dreadful natural enemy engraved in their bloodline memories!
"What?"
"What's going on?"
"All the soul beasts... they've..."
In the stands, Yan Shaozhe and Qian Duoduo sprang to their feet, their faces filled with shock and bewilderment. Gong Changlong's expression changed even more drastically. As the Beast King, his understanding of soul beasts far surpassed that of ordinary people. He could clearly sense that supreme ice-attribute pressure that compelled every beast to submit!
Yet the greatest reaction came not from these three Titled Douluo, but from the Snow Empress within Dai Youheng's Sea of Consciousness!
"This aura? It's Bing'er! Bing'er's aura!" The Snow Empress's spectral soul form fluctuated violently, her voice brimming with incredulous alarm and excitement. "Bing'er... how could she be inside this human boy? And this feels like the aura of her soul origin! Could she have...?"
Dai Youheng answered calmly in his mind, "That's right, Sister Snow Empress. The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion is inside Huo Yuhao now, in a situation similar to ours. But it isn't just the Ice Empress. There's another fellow in there too-the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm."
He briefly explained the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's "god-making plan" to the Snow Empress.
To escape the limits of his lifespan, the million-year soul beast Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had chosen to become Huo Yuhao's Wisdom Soul Ring, pouring all his resources into raising Huo Yuhao into a god in the hope of becoming a companion divine beast and gaining eternal life.
The Ice Empress, meanwhile, knew she would struggle to survive her four hundred thousand year tribulation. Persuaded by Tian Meng and enticed by the prospect of "creating a god," she had also chosen to join the plan, becoming Huo Yuhao's second martial soul.
"So that's how it is." After listening, the Snow Empress fell silent for a long time. Her voice was filled with complicated emotions, both understanding and wistfulness. She had never imagined that her close friend of many years, her neighbor in the Far North, would take a path so similar to hers and yet so utterly different.
A moment later, the Snow Empress spoke again, a hint of gravity in her voice. "Youheng, you want to become a god someday too, don't you?"
Becoming a god was the ultimate dream of almost every top-tier soul master and soul beast.
"Of course!" Dai Youheng answered without hesitation.
"Then you and this Huo Yuhao will eventually become rivals on the path to godhood." The Snow Empress's tone grew somewhat heavy. "In the future... will you strike against him?"
Dai Youheng fell silent for a moment, then gave a cold, realistic answer. "I don't know."
He could sense the Snow Empress's worry and continued, "Sister Snow Empress, I know what you mean. You and the Ice Empress have been close friends for years. You're worried that if I kill Huo Yuhao to clear an obstacle from my path, the Ice Empress will die along with him, aren't you?"
"..." The Snow Empress did not deny it. She merely fell silent, offering her unspoken confirmation.
"But I can't guarantee anything." Dai Youheng's voice was calm yet firm. "For your sake, I can promise that as long as there's no enmity between us, he can walk his broad, sunlit road while I cross my narrow wooden bridge. I can't be bothered to go after him unprovoked. But-"
His tone abruptly turned icy, carrying an unquestionable resolve. "If one day Huo Yuhao's existence, his growth, his choices, or the will of those beings behind him poses a threat to me, then I'll slaughter him without hesitation."
"Nothing in this world matters more than my own survival and becoming stronger. I hope you can understand that."
Within the Sea of Consciousness, the Snow Empress's spectral soul form trembled slightly before she finally let out a soft sigh. Gazing at the cold, unwavering core of Dai Youheng's will, she knew this was his true nature.
"I understand." The Snow Empress's voice regained its cool composure. "I'm already very grateful that you're willing to make such a concession for my sake. This... is enough."
She paused, and a trace of the ruthlessness befitting the sovereign of the Far North entered her voice. "If, in the future, Huo Yuhao or the beings behind him truly fail to appreciate your restraint and insist on becoming your enemies, then Bing'er will have only herself to blame for choosing the wrong person."
She truly was a ruler of the Far North. Although the Snow Empress was a woman, she certainly was not someone bound by softhearted mercy.
It was true that the Ice Empress's fate was now bound to Huo Yuhao's, but was her own fate not equally bound to Dai Youheng's? If something happened to Dai Youheng, she would fare no better.
That was why she was instead deeply relieved that Dai Youheng valued his own life above all else.
By cherishing his own life, Dai Youheng was, in fact, cherishing hers as well.
The storm of the Ice Empress's ultimate ice unleashed by Huo Yuhao had disastrous consequences. Throughout the entire Beast Arena District, every soul beast, regardless of age, lay limp on the ground, spirits broken, and utterly incapable of recovering its fighting strength anytime soon. Clearly, today's assessment could no longer continue.
After his brief shock, Yan Shaozhe, dean of the Martial Soul Department, had no choice but to an-
nounce that today's assessment was suspended and would be postponed for several days. The exact date would be announced once the soul beasts had recovered.
Before you continue