"Fate-reversing... heavenly demon?" The Snow Empress repeated the name, sensing a trace of menace and tyranny within it.
"Yes." Dai Youheng continued explaining, "The pills' core effect is indeed enhancement, but they seem to undergo highly specific changes depending on the Soul Rings attached. Moreover, according to the information from my Martial Soul, if an attached Soul Ring is at least a hundred thousand years old, each ring will grant two Soul Skills. The first will invariably produce some kind of enhancement pill, while the second will have an entirely different effect based on the species and traits of the Soul Beast absorbed. That effect isn't limited to enhancement. It could be healing, an attack, or some other special effect."
"In other words, one enhancement pill and one special-effect pill."
He paused, focusing his consciousness on the seven-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring and carefully examining it. "For example, the two Soul Skills your seven-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring granted me are..."
"First Soul Skill: Enhancement Pill, Snow-Soul Ice Condensation Pill." Above Dai Youheng's palm, beside the phantom black pill, a translucent image of an ice-blue pill seemed to coalesce. It was flawless and crystal clear, with wind and snow seemingly swirling inside. "Once this pill is refined, whoever takes it will gain the 'Snow-Soul Ice Body' state. It grants an extremely high degree of immunity to physical attacks and ice damage, while greatly enhancing control over ice elements and temporarily granting the attribute of ultimate ice."
The Snow Empress nodded lightly. This effect was already tremendously powerful, a top-tier combination of single-target defense and enhancement. The added ultimate ice attribute, in particular, would be worth a king's ransom to any Soul Master. This pill could temporarily enhance any Soul Master into one with an ultimate attribute.
Dai Youheng continued, a hint of disbelief creeping into his voice. "Second Soul Skill: Special-Effect Pill, Snow Woman Sacred Heart Pill."
As he spoke, the phantom image of another pill appeared. This pill was not round, but shaped like an exquisitely delicate, flawless snowflake. Its entire surface radiated a soft, pure, life-filled chill, as though it combined the essences of the utmost cold and the utmost vitality between heaven and earth.
"This pill contains the source energy of the life at the heart of the Far North, which you absorbed as the Heavenly Snow Woman. Its effect is..." Dai Youheng took a deep breath before slowly continuing. "It can be given to anyone gravely injured and on the brink of death, or even someone who has only recently stopped breathing. The pill melts upon entering the mouth, instantly releasing the purest life-infused cold to perfectly 'freeze' the recipient's entire state of life-including soul fluctuations, bodily injuries, and dissipating energy-at the exact instant they take it!"
"This is an absolute protective freezing that forcibly locks down their final thread of life, preventing them from vanishing completely from heaven and earth. Then the Ice-Snow Spirit's life essence contained within the pill, along with the heart of the hundred-thousand-year snow lotus you absorbed, begins to take effect. Like the world's most precise carving knife, it uses ultimate ice as its material and the laws of life as its mold. Starting at the tiniest cellular level, it rapidly reconstructs the damaged body, repairs every injury, reattaches severed limbs, and purges all toxins and foreign energies. In theory, as long as the soul hasn't completely dispersed, it can pull someone back from the edge of death and rebuild their body!"
"How is that possible?" Even the Snow Empress, who had lived for nearly seven hundred thousand years and weathered countless storms, cried out in shock. Her soul fluctuations surged violently. "In short... this is a divine pill capable of bringing the dead back to life! No wonder... no wonder this Martial Soul is called the Fate-Reversing Heavenly Demon Pill. It truly is a demonic pill that defies heaven, changes fate, and overturns all common sense!"
This effect had completely exceeded the limits of her imagination. It was simply not something an ordinary food-type Soul Master could accomplish. It was nothing short of a miracle!
"Of course, this second Soul Skill, the Snow Woman Sacred Heart Pill, has limitations too." Recovering his composure, Dai Youheng added, "First, it can only resurrect beings at the same level of life as me. In other words, I'm a mortal right now, so it has absolutely no effect on divine beings-unless I reach the divine level myself and evolve this Soul Skill into a divine skill. Second, it's extremely difficult to refine. I can only produce one every two years. But they can be stockpiled."
"No effect on divine beings? That hardly matters. Where would you find a divine-level powerhouse on this continent anyway? As for one every two years, and being able to stockpile them..." The Snow Empress immediately understood what that meant. This Soul Skill would automatically refresh its available use once every two years, but if the pill refined that year went unused, it would not disappear. It could be saved! After ten years, he could possess five heaven-defying divine pills capable of bringing the dead back to life!
Despite its limitations, this effect was enough to drive any faction or powerhouse mad with desire!
The Snow Empress seemed to glimpse boundless hope. This boy named Dai Youheng possessed potential and a future that were utterly unfathomable! Her sacrifice might truly have turned misfortune into fortune, bringing her face-to-face with a heaven-sent opportunity!
Since the Soul Beasts completely ignored Dai Youheng, their journey became exceptionally smooth. Before long, they crossed the Core Circle and outer reaches of the Far North, arriving in territory frequented by humans.
In the distance, the outline of a sturdy-looking town built against a mountain range came into view.
Although it was considered the town closest to the Far North, it was actually still several hundred li away. After all, aside from places like Shrek City, where monsters gathered in droves, ordinary towns did not dare to establish themselves near Soul Beast habitats. A single small beast tide would be enough to raze them.
Yet just as Dai Youheng prepared to follow the sparse stream of people into this town called Northwind Town, something even stranger happened.
The guards leaned against the city gate, yawning lazily and barely bothering with those coming and going, though they occasionally swept their gazes over the crowd.
But when Dai Youheng walked past them, the two guards' gazes seemed to pass straight through him and land on an old farmer pushing a cart behind him. One even urged impatiently, "Hurry up, hurry up!"
People bustled along the town's streets, vendors hawked their wares, and pedestrians hurried past.
Walking through the crowd, Dai Youheng nevertheless felt as though he were watching a silent film.
No one spared him a glance. No one looked at his unfamiliar face with curiosity. Even people walking straight toward him would move around him with perfect naturalness, as though he were merely a human-shaped patch of air. The entire process was so seamless that they showed not even an instinctive reaction to avoiding him.
Could it be... that I'm invisible? An absurd thought rose in Dai Youheng's mind. He tried waving a hand in front of a vendor selling dried meat, but the man did not react at all. Then he simply walked into the middle of the street and stood there.
What followed was an eerie sight.
Whenever pedestrians approached him, they altered their paths in almost instinctive, imperceptible arcs, avoiding him perfectly. Yet not one realized why they were doing so, and no one raised their head to look at him. He was like an invisible reef, the stream of people automatically parting and coming together again.
At last, he could no longer hold back.
Seeing a well-dressed man who looked like a merchant approaching with his head lowered over a sheet of parchment, Dai Youheng
took a deep breath and, just as the man reached him, suddenly shouted, "Hey!"
"Waaah!" The merchant jolted from head to toe in fright, dropping the parchment in his hand. Still shaken, he looked up and finally saw Dai Youheng standing before him. Instantly furious, he pointed at Dai Youheng's nose and cursed, "What the hell are you doing? Popping out of nowhere and howling like a ghost! Are you insane? You scared me half to death!"
After berating him, the merchant picked up the parchment in a huff, muttered, "Just my rotten luck," and hurried away.
Dai Youheng stood rooted to the spot, stunned.
The man could see him, hear him, and touch him. He was not invisible!
But why? Why did everyone unconsciously and completely ignore his existence unless he actively, forcefully drew their attention?
It was as though his presence had dwindled to an outrageously low level!
"So that's how it is!" Dai Youheng murmured. Rather than looking dejected, he wore a strange smile of understanding. He recalled certain works he had seen in his previous life.
Mai-senpai's Adolescence Syndrome, for instance, or Kuroko from Kuroko's Basketball.
The Snow Empress in his mind finally understood as well. Her voice held unprecedented astonishment and a hint of helpless amusement. "It seems you've noticed too! I finally understand, Youheng. You aren't invisible. The reason others don't notice you is that your 'presence' is so faint it's practically nonexistent!"
"I've lived for hundreds of thousands of years and seen all kinds of living beings-Soul Beasts, humans, even human-beast hybrids-but I've never seen anyone whose presence was as faint as yours! This is practically an exclusion imposed at the level of the world's rules."
Perhaps even the Snow Empress would never have noticed him under ordinary circumstances.
But the way he had arrived in this world had been far too spectacular. A meteor had fallen from the sky and crushed a Titled Douluo to death. With the Snow Empress so close and her senses so keen, it would have been difficult for her not to notice.
Before you continue