The Snow Empress smiled at Shui Bing'er, her tone carrying a hint of staking her claim:
"Bing'er, the Firmament's assessment was very objective. It also said that you were an exceptionally gifted genius in your own right. Wuchen was fortunate to have taught a disciple like you."
At this point, the Snow Empress lifted her chin, casting a gentle, profound glance at Ye Wuchen beside her:
"Still, I am a master myself, and I know my own disciple inside and out. Just how outstanding this child Wuchen is, how much painstaking effort he has devoted to you-your grandmaster... knows that better than you do."
The Snow Empress deliberately emphasized "inside and out" and "better than you do."
Her affectionate, fiercely protective manner seemed to tell Shui Bing'er:
However good your master is, I was the one who taught him. I am the one who understands him best and is closest to him.
Seeing her grandmaster, the Snow Empress, holding Ye Wuchen tightly, Shui Bing'er's little face flushed even redder.
Watching from a short distance away, Gu Yuena took in every subtle interaction between the three generations of master and disciple.
Confusion flickered through her enchanting purple eyes before turning into a faint smile.
As the Soul Beast Co-Ruler, Gu Yuena had slept for hundreds of thousands of years and did not understand much about such complex, subtle emotional entanglements between humans.
But she did not interrupt, merely finding the scene rather interesting.
This human girl named Shui Bing'er certainly has astonishing talent. But the one who intrigues me more is this man named Ye Wuchen.
Gu Yuena's gaze traveled over Ye Wuchen as she pondered, To be judged the "best master" by the Firmament, and to win the wholehearted protection of the Snow Empress of the Far North-just how many abilities is he hiding?
The Firmament high in the heavens changed once again.
The frozen image dissipated, and a line of even more eye-catching golden words appeared as a preview of the next ranking:
[Coming soon: a ranking of the finest masters and disciples on the Douluo Continent.]
Just then, the space ahead twisted, and Di Tian's burly figure stepped out of it.
He held two treasures in his hands.
In his left hand was a right leg bone, crystalline and translucent throughout, radiating cold.
An ice-blue wolf's shadow faintly roared across its surface, and the surrounding air condensed into fine ice crystals upon touching it.
In his right hand was a piece of metal only the size of a fist, its entire surface a vibrant emerald green.
The piece of metal was small, yet it contained an ocean of life force.
"My lord, I have retrieved the Soul Bone and the gold of life." Di Tian respectfully approached Gu Yuena and presented the two treasures.
Gu Yuena nodded, signaling for Di Tian to hand the items to the Snow Empress and the others.
Di Tian first held out the right leg bone to Shui Bing'er and said in a deep voice:
"Little girl, this is a hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Ice Wolf King right leg bone."
"The Heavenly Ice Wolf King is an exceedingly rare ice-attribute overlord of the Star Dou Great Forest. This Soul Bone contains pure ice-attribute origin power and also provides powerful boosts to speed and explosive power. It is highly compatible with your ice phoenix martial soul."
Shui Bing'er accepted the Soul Bone with both hands and thanked Gu Yuena and Di Tian once again.
Afterward, Di Tian handed the fist-sized piece of gold of life to Ye Wuchen.
"Ye Wuchen, this is the gold of life you wanted." Di Tian looked at Ye Wuchen.
Then he turned to report to Gu Yuena, "My lord, I searched our entire stockpile but found no Soul Bone suitable for Ye Wuchen. Our Star Dou Great Forest is not the Far North, after all. The environment here is unsuitable for ice-attribute Soul Beasts, so high-age ice-attribute Soul Bones are scarce."
"Of the few we have, either their attributes are impure or their ages are insufficient. They truly are not fit to offer."
After hearing Di Tian's report, Gu Yuena frowned slightly.
As the Soul Beast Co-Ruler, having agreed to an ally's conditions only to be unable to produce the corresponding items left her feeling that she had lost face.
She turned toward the Snow Empress and Ye Wuchen, a helpless look appearing on her exquisitely beautiful face as she said sincerely:
"Snow Empress, Ye Wuchen, I am terribly sorry. Though the Star Dou Great Forest has deep reserves, we are lacking in ice-attribute Soul Bones. For now, I cannot fulfill my promise of a high-age Soul Bone."
To make amends, Gu Yuena looked at Ye Wuchen and solemnly promised:
"However, since we have already become allies, I will not go back on my word."
"Ye Wuchen, aside from an ice-attribute Soul Bone, if there is anything else you need, whether treasures nurtured by heaven and earth or something like a Soul Ring, I will do everything I can to satisfy your request, provided it can be fulfilled."
Hearing Gu Yuena's seemingly generous but actually empty promise,
Ye Wuchen remained outwardly composed, but inwardly he could not help grumbling.
What good is painting a grand feast? Ye Wuchen sneered inwardly.
Do everything you can to satisfy me? I want to become a god. Can you give me a divine seat? Or... if I wanted a child with the silver dragon king bloodline, would you personally bear one for me?
Of course, Ye Wuchen only entertained these outrageously disrespectful words in his mind. There was no way he would say them to this Soul Beast Co-Ruler's face.
He fell silent for a moment. Since the Star Dou Great Forest had no high-age ice-attribute Soul Bone suitable for him, what should he ask for to make up for this loss?
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration crossed Ye Wuchen's mind.
He raised his head and stared intently at Gu Yuena.
He remembered!
There was also a special, heaven-defying being imprisoned in the Star Dou Great Forest.
An unfortunate fellow used as a "power bank" by the Star Dou Great Forest's high-ranking Ferocious Beasts, who ravenously drained his life force and origin power-the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was the only Soul Beast in the history of the Douluo Continent whose cultivation had reached the million-year level.
Although his combat ability was pitifully weak, the tremendous spiritual power and ice-attribute origin power within him were priceless treasures that any spiritual-type Soul Master would dream of obtaining.
If he could kill the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, not only would he obtain the Douluo Continent's one and only Million-Year Soul Ring,
he would also get an unprecedented million-year Head Soul Bone as a drop.
For Ye Wuchen, who possessed the ice attribute and needed the support of spiritual power, this was nothing short of an unparalleled opportunity.
Ye Wuchen met Gu Yuena's profound purple eyes and said earnestly:
"Gu Yuena, there is indeed something I desperately need. And it is something found only in your Star Dou Great Forest."
Gu Yuena asked curiously, "Oh? What do you need? Speak freely."
Ye Wuchen uttered the name: "Sky Dream Ice Silkworm."
Gu Yuena knitted her delicate brows, looking puzzled.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm?
The fellow she, Di Tian, and the other Ferocious Beasts drained like a "power bank"?
That useless Soul Beast who claimed to possess a million years of cultivation yet did not have a single decent means of attack, possessing nothing but vast energy?
Only a few Ferocious Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest knew this secret. The outside world had no way of learning about it.
"This is your first visit to the Star Dou Great Forest. How do you know about the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm?" Gu Yuena's expression turned scrutinizing and wary.
Meeting Gu Yuena's gaze, Ye Wuchen calmly asked in return, "Gu Yuena, you seem to have forgotten. The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm may be imprisoned by you in the Star Dou Great Forest now, but the place where he was originally born was the Far North."
Before you continue