His gaze returned to the God-Sealing Platform, which lay half-buried in the ice, emitting unstable energy fluctuations. He walked over and carefully dug it out. One side bore obvious damage and dents, clearly caused by an impact, but the array at its core seemed reasonably intact. Intricate runes flickered into view beneath its icy material.
"A Level 9 Soul Tool, the God-Sealing Platform..." Dai Youheng brushed the ice shards and bloodstains from its surface, his eyes gleaming with analytical interest. "It's damaged, but the structure of its Core Array has tremendous research value. I'll take it back. It might prove useful someday. If I sell it to a high-ranking Soul Engineer, they might even reverse-engineer quite a few of the Sun Moon Empire's most advanced Soul Tool technologies, especially those involving energy sealing and spatial confinement."
He carefully put the damaged God-Sealing Platform into his storage ring as well.
Once he had finished, he stood where he was and once again sensed the dormant black pill Martial Soul within him, along with the blood-red, gold-patterned Soul Ring resting upon it, heavy as a mountain. The wind and snow of the Far North battered him, but an invisible layer of warmth kept them at bay.
"Snow Empress." He suddenly spoke in his mind, his voice returning to its earlier calm. "What exactly is your condition now? How much power can you use? How far does your perception reach? Are there any especially powerful Soul Beasts nearby?"
The Snow Empress's voice carried profound exhaustion, yet retained the cool aloofness of a sovereign. "The power of the hundred-thousand-year snow lotus preserved my soul origin and kept it from dispersing. But the sacrifice took an enormous toll. Less than a hundredth of my strength remains, and I must slowly recuperate within your body, nourished by your Soul Power. My perception currently... reaches only about eight hundred meters in every direction, and even that is very hazy."
"Eight hundred meters in every direction? That's enough." Dai Youheng nodded calmly and began planning his route. "My Soul Power is weak right now. I must leave the Far North as soon as possible. Snow Empress, we now share one body with two souls, sharing honor and disgrace alike. Please lend me a hand. Guide me and help me avoid powerful Soul Beasts we cannot handle."
"Of course I'm willing to help with that." The Snow Empress's voice sounded in his mind, though there was something odd in her tone. "But... I suspect you may not really need that help from me."
Dai Youheng paused, slightly startled. "Why is that? The Far North is full of Soul Beasts, including plenty at the ten-thousand-year and even hundred-thousand-year level. With my current strength, encountering one would mean certain death."
"Walk around a little, and you'll see." The Snow Empress seemed unsure how to describe it precisely herself. "I'll point you toward the way out of the Far North. Just keep moving."
Though puzzled, Dai Youheng chose to trust the Snow Empress. Following the directions she gave him in his mind, he set off southward. The wind and snow continued unabated, and the bitter cold pierced to the bone, but under the protection of the Snow Empress's Soul Ring, he felt little discomfort.
He had traveled only a few li before, just as the Snow Empress had said, he began encountering Soul Beasts.
The first was a herd of Icefield Yaks digging for food on the snowy plain. Although these Soul Beasts were relatively gentle, there were many of them. The bull leading them was enormous, with a single horn on its forehead, and appeared to be at least ten thousand years old. Dai Youheng's heart tightened, and he instinctively looked for cover.
Yet something strange happened. The herd of Icefield Yaks seemed not to see the human who had abruptly appeared on the icefield at all.
They continued grazing on moss beneath the snow with their heads lowered. A few young yaks even bounded past less than a meter from him without so much as lifting their eyes. The yak king raised his head, his huge eyes sweeping over Dai Youheng's position as though passing over an ordinary rock. He showed no reaction and promptly lowered his head again.
Dai Youheng froze in astonishment.
He continued onward. Along the way, he encountered a lone Snow-Soul Demon Bear prowling about with a vicious gaze. Judging by his size and the aura he gave off, he possessed at least five thousand years of cultivation. This kind of Soul Beast had a keen sense of smell and a brutal temperament, making them renowned hunters in the Far North.
Dai Youheng held his breath, his body taut. But the Snow-Soul Demon Bear merely twitched his nose, as though he had caught some scent, and an almost human look of bewilderment appeared on his face. He shook his enormous head and snorted, then actually skirted around Dai Youheng's position and ambled away.
Once could have been coincidence, but twice was certainly no accident!
Over the next stretch of his journey, he encountered several more groups of Soul Beasts, ranging from small ones ten or a hundred years old to predators thousands or tens of thousands of years old. Once, he even spotted an enormous scorpion in the distance, its entire body seemingly cast from ice crystals, weaving among the icy mountains while radiating a terrifying pressure. It was unquestionably a powerful creature more than fifty thousand years old!
Yet every one of these Soul Beasts, without exception, treated him as though he did not exist. It was not that they could not see his physical body. Rather, his presence seemed utterly incapable of registering in their perception as "a target worth noticing."
"This is strange," Dai Youheng finally could not help asking in his mind. "Snow Empress, have the visual and sensory systems of all the Soul Beasts in your Far North malfunctioned at once? Or are they all blind?"
"I think the issue lies with you." The Snow Empress's voice was thick with curiosity and disbelief. "I've lived for hundreds of thousands of years, and I've never seen anything this bizarre. Soul Beasts are far more sensitive than humans to auras, Soul Power fluctuations, and signs of life. Yet they seem to ignore you completely. It's as though your presence falls below the threshold of their perception, or your aura instinctively repels them and makes them unwilling to investigate. Still, this is a good thing. It will let you leave the Far North in absolute safety."
After a pause, the Snow Empress seemed to remember a crucial question. "There's something else I forgot to ask. Your Martial Soul is that strange pill. What exactly is it? What does it do? Food-type Martial Souls usually lack the ability to protect their users in the early stages."
Dai Youheng opened his palm, and with a thought, the black pill, dark as an abyss, appeared once more. Around it, the blood-red seven-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring slowly revolved, radiating heart-quaking fluctuations of power.
"It's called the Demon Pill," Dai Youheng murmured as he sensed the information coming from his Martial Soul. "Its main effect is enhancement."
"Enhancement?" A hint of disappointment entered the Snow Empress's voice. "That isn't an especially good attribute for a Food-type Martial Soul. The value of food-type Soul Masters lies in broad, sustained battlefield assistance and support, such as recovery, amplification, detoxification, and so forth. An enhancement effect alone often has a narrow range of applications. It cannot compare to true enhancement-support Martial Souls like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."
"My Demon Pill seems a little different." Dai Youheng carefully sensed the more detailed information emerging from the depths of his Martial Soul, and an unusual gleam flashed through his eyes. "Its full name is the Fate-Reversing Heavenly Demon Pill."
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