By the time Sky Dream Ice Silkworm finished explaining the Three Great Heavenly Kings-Snow Empress, Ice Empress, and Titan Snow Demon King-and they looked up again, the sun was already setting.
Unlike ordinary ice plains, this place had neither polar day nor polar night. The sky followed much the same cycle as the Douluo Continent, with mornings and evenings too.
They could not ride a snowmobile, walking consumed too much Soul Power, and they also had to evade the Titan Snow Demon King's search. The two agreed to find a cave for the night and work out their next move afterward.
An ice cellar.
Having almost completely lost his sense of direction, he could only infer through Spiritual Detection that he was somewhere in the western Far North.
Only after sitting on a bed made of ice did Lin Qian finally understand what it meant to feel a chill rise from below, piercing his heart and sending it soaring.
Fortunately, wearing Tian Meng's Shed Husk, he did not feel cold at all.
Hum!
He used Soul Power to heat the room, and it instantly became pleasantly warm.
Still perched on his shoulder, Tian Meng whispered mysteriously, "Little Qianqian, have you ever heard this saying-the bolder the man, the greater the land's yield? Our first target this time is the second of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North-Ice Empress!"
Without saying anything further, Lin Qian glanced at him.
Tian Meng immediately cleared his throat, looking utterly righteous. "It's definitely not what you're thinking. She may be my goddess, but I haven't reached the point of losing my mind."
Lin Qian continued smiling. "I seem to remember someone saying he fled the Far North for the Star Dou Great Forest because Ice Empress was hunting him down. Don't go serving yourself up on a platter again if the plan fails~"
Tian Meng planted his hands solemnly on his hips. "Of course... I won't. Having learned my lesson over all these years, I've decided to learn from you. After all, you could even handle that terrifying mother and daughter. I can't drag you down!"
Lin Qian was deeply skeptical. "Really? I don't believe you."
Tian Meng thumped his chest thunderously. "If we keep heading north, we'll pretty much enter the true core region. From now on, we slow down and use spiritual power to conceal ourselves properly. We absolutely cannot be discovered!"
The next morning, having replenished his Soul Power, Lin Qian set out.
The wind and snow raged.
In this godforsaken place, even the snowflakes were frozen hard. Driven by the biting wind, they rivaled a Soul Master's thousand-year Soul Skill.
The extremely low temperature warped the sky, refracting a rainbow of dazzling colors.
After two days of traveling in fits and starts, even someone as tough as Lin Qian could no longer take it.
He did not need to eat, of course; cultivating Soul Power replenished his energy. But during the long days of trekking, he dared not even stay in an ice cellar for fear of being discovered by patrolling Soul Beasts.
When tired, he sat down to meditate on the spot; when sleepy, he simply lay flat. Waking from dreams at midnight, he missed Spirit Hall's luxurious bed so much!
Another day of crossing mountains and rivers.
Lin Qian sat in the snow, his head swimming. "At this rate, I'll be the one served up on a platter."
He casually scooped up snow from the ground and stuffed it into his mouth. Only this way could he clear his head a little.
"All right, this is the place. Rest a while, then we'll set the trap."
Tian Meng was brimming with energy, climbing up to survey the distance one moment and inspecting the terrain the next, a stark contrast to his master.
This was his home ground, after all, so Lin Qian did not mind him turning the hierarchy upside down a little.
They were already in the heart of the Far North. Aside from the ever-falling temperature, every Soul Beast passing nearby was at the ten-thousand-year level. Not a single thousand-year Soul Beast was in sight.
The only benefit, perhaps, was that they had not encountered the Titan Snow Demon King again.
After quickly replenishing his Soul Power, Lin Qian brushed off the accumulated snow and stood up again. "Let's begin!"
Tian Meng returned to his normal height and looked down at him. "Little Qianqian, without my Shed Husk, how long could you last in this blizzard?"
Lin Qian patted his shoulder through the air. "Don't worry. I have immortal arts at my disposal and can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for my own use. So go ahead. You don't need to worry about me."
"With those words from you, even dying would be worth it... If, and I mean if, Bingbing kills me, don't avenge me. Try to spare her life!"
Wouldn't that mean I'm the one who dies?
Admiring his ability to keep fawning even at death's door, Lin Qian cut him off. "Relax. With me here, neither of you will come to harm. Go!"
And so things went much as they had in Douluo II. The only difference was that Lin Qian was powerful enough to simply take off the Shed Husk and return it to Tian Meng, skipping all the trouble Huo Yuhao had gone through building an ice house and finding a fire striker to keep warm.
Hum-
Tian Meng activated his spiritual power, sending it surging outward in all directions like a boundless sea.
The million-year fluctuations instantly warped the air, draining the color from heaven and earth.
The platinum First Soul Ring emerged from his body, radiating a lustrous glow as it slowly rose into the air and illuminated heaven and earth.
Under its influence, Lin Qian felt as though he, too, were floating. His body remained in place, but his consciousness expanded without limit, taking in everything in the Far North.
Across the boundless land, the light dimmed, and day became night. Majesty took tangible form, and Lin Qian became the embodiment of that utter terror. With a mere wave, he could turn his palm up to summon clouds and turn it down to bring rain. Heaven and earth lay entirely within his grasp.
Rumble!
As that energy was fully unleashed, lightning split the dark clouds, and muffled thunder rolled faintly across the sky.
Since absorbing his First Soul Ring, Lin Qian had done nothing but disguise it, never truly unleashing its power.
Only now, amid the bitter cold of the Far North Ice Plains, did this Million-Year Soul Ring reveal its might for the first time.
For the people far away on the Douluo Continent, however, the experience was even more immediate.
Whether in Spirit Hall, Heaven Dou, or the Star Luo Empire, they all saw the strange phenomenon in the distant sky.
Powerful figures turned north one after another, all speculating about the source of that light.
With sun and moon in hand, I pluck the stars; none in this world is like me.
At that moment, Lin Qian underwent an instant sublimation and understood something more important than becoming a god.
One day, he would fight his way into the Divine Realm, make the gods bow their heads and myriad worlds submit, and shatter the chains binding the mortal world!
Through their Soul-Body Connection, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm also sensed his master's emotions and cast him an encouraging look.
Compared with humans, Soul Beasts faced greater restrictions. They had to survive a heavenly tribulation every hundred thousand years, and the road to godhood stretched endlessly ahead. Even reaching a million years did not qualify them to attain godhood automatically.
If Lin Qian succeeded, he would surely benefit all Soul Beasts. Perhaps he could reverse their fate in a single stroke!
Orbs of golden light drifted out of Lin Qian's body, continuing until the ninth, layering upon one another in an endless cycle.
Hum!
With that golden light, his Body Martial Soul appeared behind him once more. Bolstered by spiritual power, it radiated boundless might comparable to a god's.
Fortunately, he had dressed decently for this trip.
In the original story, Huo Yuhao had run out of Shrek, and even the manifestation he condensed was wearing a school uniform. It was too funny.
If Ice Empress saw that from afar, all his imposing grandeur would be gone!
With the preparations complete, Tian Meng projected his voice into the void-
"Ice Empress, I know you've sensed my presence. I, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, the strongest beast in the Far North, have returned to take my revenge on you. Do you dare meet me?"
Whoosh-
The instant after he transmitted his voice, an equally terrifying aura spread toward them from another direction.
It blotted out the sky and sun.