The Snow Empress's Mortal Crisis

The "Ice Jade Scorpion" brandished its claws, giving off an even stronger icy chill as it tried to frighten Li Jin away with these gestures too.

As Li Jin drew closer, the corners of his mouth curved into something almost like a smile, and he fully lit up his first soul ring.

Platinum light shone out like countless sharp swords, piercing the outer shell the ice silkworm had disguised itself with.

Like a deflating balloon, the "Ice Jade Scorpion" turned back into a plump ice silkworm.

Sensing the presence of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, an ancestor among ice silkworms, the ice silkworm was already trembling with fear, squeaking out pleas for mercy.

Unmoved, Li Jin pulled a handful of steel needles from Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges. Each was a centimeter long and as thick as a little finger, with both ends honed to an incredible sharpness and blood grooves cut into them.

He knew no hidden weapon techniques, but he had Spiritual Telekinesis.

With a thought, his materialized Spiritual Telekinesis enveloped the steel needles, suspending them around his body like a peacock spreading its tail.

"Go!"

Li Jin pointed forward, and dozens of steel needles shot out together. In an instant, they riddled the ice silkworm with holes. After two final wriggles, it stopped breathing.

Soon, a deep purple soul ring floated out of the ice silkworm's corpse.

Li Jin walked over, took out a dagger, and cut open the ice silkworm's corpse, digging the Ice God's Pearl out of its belly.

Just holding the Ice God's Pearl, Li Jin sensed his second martial soul, the ice element, which was still only in its embryonic form, becoming more active than ever before. A layer of frost even formed over his body.

"It really is the Ice God's Pearl. Now I've secured an Ice God's position at the very least."

Li Jin put away the Ice God's Pearl and looked at the thousand-year ice silkworm again.

"This ice silkworm had quite a bit of luck to actually find and swallow the Ice God's Pearl."

"And it has five thousand years of cultivation, making it just right for my second soul ring. The Simulation skill is very practical too. It can help Xiao Wu conceal her soul beast presence in the future."

"I can't repeat Tang San's mistakes. It's decided-I'll absorb this ice silkworm's thousand-year soul ring..."

Li Jin sat cross-legged and summoned the soul ring. As it entered his body, a cool, icy power swept through him.

He felt little discomfort. His body had undergone multiple transformations, and his bones, sinews, and meridians had already become terrifyingly resilient.

Everything flowed as naturally as water into a channel. After four hours of absorption, Li Jin successfully absorbed the soul ring.

Li Jin opened his eyes as he awoke. Two soul rings, one platinum and one purple, pulsed up and down around him.

"As expected, my soul power is already at rank thirty. I'll finalize my second martial soul first, then prepare to absorb my third soul ring."

Li Jin sprang to his feet and retrieved all the steel needles from the ice silkworm's body.

He gathered some firewood, lit a campfire, toasted the dry rations he had prepared in advance, and boiled a pot of water.

After eating and drinking his fill, he rested briefly.

Only then did Li Jin continue deeper, braving the wind and snow as he crossed the Frozen Forest and reached the Far North, heading all the way into its depths.

The Far North!

The core region!

The Snow Empress had recently enjoyed a tremendous stroke of luck: she had actually found a hundred-thousand-year snow lotus in an ice cavern.

A heavenly treasure of this caliber could absolutely grant someone a second life.

The Snow Empress had always wanted to condense yin-yang complementary dual soul cores. With their support, she would be certain to survive her seven-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation.

Moreover, as a spirit born and nurtured by the Far North itself, she possessed an exceptionally high standing and limitless potential. Once she survived her seven-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation, even Di Tian might not be her match.

But yin-yang complementary dual soul cores were extremely difficult to condense, so the Snow Empress had yet to begin.

Now that she had found a hundred-thousand-year snow lotus capable of granting a second life, she felt the time had come.

It was as though a voice kept whispering in her ear, telling her to begin condensing yin-yang complementary dual soul cores.

The Snow Empress decided to follow the whisper's advice. To ensure nothing could go wrong, she called the Ice Empress over to guard her.

As the Snow Empress's number-one simp scorpion, the Ice Empress naturally accepted such a duty without hesitation.

With the Ice Empress guarding her, the Snow Empress began condensing her second soul core with peace of mind. Her first soul core was an ultimate ice soul core, and after careful consideration, she decided to make her second a space soul core.

Condensing yin-yang complementary dual soul cores was a matter of nine deaths and one chance at life.

The Snow Empress had originally believed that destiny favored her and that she would definitely succeed in condensing yin-yang complementary dual soul cores this time.

But reality made her take a tremendous fall.

The ultimate ice soul core and space soul core erupted into violent conflict. There was simply no room for them to coexist within her body. Terrifying spatial power tore through her, leaving her body riddled with wounds.

Terrifying fluctuations of power churned until the entire snowy mountain trembled, and widespread avalanches unleashed a disaster.

The Snow Empress's cold, aloof eyes widened. Furious, she felt she had been deceived.

Before she began condensing yin-yang complementary dual soul cores, a voice in her ear had kept urging her to hurry and begin, saying that she would definitely succeed in the end.

And what happened?

She had failed to condense yin-yang complementary dual soul cores!

The voice that had kept urging her on had also vanished without a trace.

How was this not fraud?!

The Snow Empress clenched her pearly teeth. Feeling her body gradually collapsing, she parted her thin lips, urgency seeping into her voice,

"Ice Empress, give me the hundred-thousand-year snow lotus."

The Ice Empress had long since been pacing in frantic circles. Hearing the Snow Empress speak, she raised her two great pincers and brought the hundred-thousand-year snow lotus before her, her voice carrying a sob,

"Snow Empress, hurry and eat it! You have to be all right!"

The Snow Empress consumed the hundred-thousand-year snow lotus. Its immensely surging life force stabilized her body, which had been on the verge of collapse.

I failed to condense yin-yang complementary dual soul cores this time, and succeeding next time will be difficult too. A soul beast's path to godhood is already fraught with difficulties and suppressed by the Divine Realm's rules. I might as well switch to cultivating as a human. With my foundation of six hundred and ninety thousand years, perhaps attaining godhood would be easier.

Decisive as ever, the Snow Empress immediately used the hundred-thousand-year snow lotus's immensely surging life force to gain a second opportunity to switch to cultivating as a human.

Her terrifying six-hundred-and-ninety-thousand-year cultivation began turning into an ice cocoon. Within it, the Snow Empress's originally mature, striking figure gradually regressed into an embryo.

But, unsurprisingly, something still went wrong!

The hundred-thousand-year snow lotus had already developed sentience. This had originally been its opportunity to switch to cultivating as a human, but the Snow Empress had now taken it away.

The resentment in the hundred-thousand-year snow lotus's soul began to revolt at that moment. Under the impact of ferocious power, the ice cocoon tore open from within, and the Snow Empress's six hundred and ninety thousand years of cultivation began leaking out continuously.

"Snow Empress!"

The Ice Empress let out a heart-wrenching cry.

The Snow Empress stared blankly, unable to recover her senses for a long time.

She had thought she had enjoyed a tremendous stroke of luck, finding a hundred-thousand-year snow lotus and gaining a second life.

Who could have known that this second life would take her first?

With her six hundred and ninety thousand years of cultivation leaking out, the Snow Empress could no longer control it.

The moment her cultivation drained away would be the moment of her death.

"Such is the hour, such is fate!"

"Ice Empress, I'm going to die. From now on, you'll have to protect the Far North. Stop crying and hurry up and absorb the cultivation leaking out of me. It will be enough to help you survive your fourth heavenly tribulation..."