The Snow Empress's thoughts showed not the slightest ripple at Dai Youheng's hunting of Soul Beasts in the Far North, as though she were discussing something utterly ordinary.
Soul Masters hunted Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings. This was a fundamental rule of the world, and as one of the sovereigns of the Soul Beasts, she had long since grown accustomed to it. So long as they did not slaughter indiscriminately to show off or plunder Soul Bones, she would not interfere.
Besides, when it came to killing, the number of Soul Beasts hunted by human Soul Masters probably fell far short of the rivals she, a Heavenly King of the Far North, had swept aside on her ascent to the throne.
Even her son Xiao Bai's favorite everyday pastime was catching fish to eat in the frigid Ice Sea. Nor were the fish she caught ordinary fish; most were fish-type Soul Beasts with some degree of cultivation. When it came to killing Soul Beasts, human Soul Masters might all be little brothers before her. They had not killed as many as Xiao Bai had eaten.
The weak were meat for the strong. This was an iron law branded deep into the world of Soul Beasts.
What the Snow Empress protected was the overall order and balance of the Far North, preventing large-scale, meaningless wars between species.
She would not, and had no need to, stop the inevitable hunting between individuals for survival and evolution. Viewed through seven hundred thousand years of life and the management of vast populations, the lives of a few scattered Soul Beasts seemed insignificant.
"Oh! Hunting Soul Beasts? I'm good at that!" Xiao Bai perked up at once and thumped her chest in assurance. "Don't worry, Mother. I'll behave myself. Once Uncle Youheng comes back,