"Could the Ice Dragon King's successor be not a Soul Beast, but a human Soul Master?!"
Recalling the wounds inflicted by a Soul Master on the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, Di Tian suddenly thought of a possibility.
Although he loathed the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, Di Tian acknowledged that this kind of Soul Beast was indeed powerful and could fight above its level. That Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, just over ten thousand years old, could probably have fought a forty- or fifty-thousand-year-old Soul Beast.
Even human Soul Masters would have needed a Soul Douluo or Titled Douluo to deal with it. Yet what still puzzled him was that, back at the Lake of Life, they had not sensed any Soul Master of that level arriving, and there were no traces of a human Soul Master's corpse here either. That meant a human Soul Master below level 80 had very likely killed the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. But an ordinary Soul Master with such low strength clearly could not have accomplished this. The only possibility was that a human Soul Master had obtained the Ice Dragon King's inheritance and then used the Ice Dragon King's power to kill the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
"Xiong Jun, take this back and store it properly. When the Lord wakes again someday, show it to the Lord."
Unable to make sense of it, Di Tian could only take the plant encased in Ultimate Ice back and leave the matter for another day.
Hearing Di Tian's instructions, the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear extended his sharp claws and uprooted the plant, then headed back to the Lake of Life carrying the great clump of earth.
Three days later, in Suotuo City, Balak Kingdom, Heaven Dou Empire.
The Heaven Dou Empire had four kingdoms and one duchy, each duchy possessing considerable autonomy. The Balak Kingdom bordered the Star Luo Empire directly to the south. Thus, among the Heaven Dou Empire's four kingdoms, the Balak Kingdom had the strongest military and could also be called the gateway to the Heaven Dou Empire.
Kundera, king of Balak, was the younger paternal cousin of the Heaven Dou Empire's emperor, Okula Xue Ye. There were two particularly important cities within the Balak Kingdom. One was its capital, Barak City, where King Kundera of Balak resided, the political and economic center of the entire kingdom. The other was Suotuo City, situated in the middle of the Lima Plain, the most fertile region within the Balak Kingdom, and known as Balak's granary.
Suotuo City was a large city, as could be seen from its Spirit Hall branch being a third-tier Spirit Hall Main Hall.
At noon, a carriage slowly entered Suotuo City's southern gate. Inside were two young people, a boy and a girl.
The boy had silver hair and wore black robes. His features were exceptionally refined, and his bearing was composed, with a hint of gentleness amid his coldness.
The girl had long hair and wore a long black dress. She had a sweet face, and a faint smile always lingered at the corners of her lips. Yet none of that was her most attractive feature. Her figure was simply unrivaled, though unfortunately, the boy was the only one in the carriage who could appreciate it.
"Ling, we're finally in Suotuo City. Are we going straight to the hotel, or...?"
As she spoke, the girl kept glancing out the window. How could the boy fail to understand what she meant? She simply wanted to stroll around outside.
"Since Qing'er wants to look around, let's get out and take a stroll."
Stroking the girl's head, the boy instructed the driver to go straight to the Forest Hotel and wait, then took the girl's hand and stepped out of the carriage.
The two were none other than Yu Tianling and Zhu Zhuqing, who had left the Star Dou Great Forest. After traveling without pause for three days, they had finally reached their destination at noon today.
As for why Yu Tianling, who had never been here before, had told the driver to go straight to the Forest Hotel rather than that Rose Hotel, it was naturally because he saw no need. He was used to staying at the Forest Hotel; there was no need to insist on visiting the Rose Hotel out of curiosity.
After they left the carriage, the handsome boy and beautiful girl unsurprisingly drew repeated sidelong glances from the street vendors. Neither Yu Tianling nor Zhu Zhuqing minded, and they happily began browsing.
Whenever she spotted something novel along the way, Zhu Zhuqing would curiously approach to take a look. Before long, both of them had their hands full of all sorts of food and toys, yet Zhu Zhuqing still kept buying things with tireless enthusiasm.
Looking at Zhu Zhuqing as she was now, Yu Tianling's heart brimmed with pride. Wasn't this Zhu Zhuqing better than her icy-cold self?
After browsing for a while and having lunch at a roadside stall, the two began wandering aimlessly to help digest their food.
Zhu Zhuqing hugged Yu Tianling's arm tightly, stealing a few glances at him every little while. Anyone looking at them would have seen a sweet young couple.
All of that changed the instant Zhu Zhuqing suddenly spotted someone.
As she walked, Zhu Zhuqing abruptly stopped and frowned at a blond youth diagonally ahead, with his arms around a pair of beautiful twins. Remarkably, the youth had double pupils.
"Hmm?"
Naturally, Yu Tianling quickly noticed Zhu Zhuqing's unusual reaction. Following her gaze, he too spotted the youth.
Could this be Dai Mubai?!
There was certainty amid his question. Yu Tianling thought it was almost certainly him. That feature was far too distinctive, and if it were not him, Zhu Zhuqing would not have suddenly stopped.
Although he knew why Zhu Zhuqing had reacted this way, Yu Tianling still pretended to know nothing and asked, "What's wrong, Qing'er?"
"Ling, I saw my former fiancé."
Zhu Zhuqing glanced at the blond youth ahead with disgust, then spoke softly to Yu Tianling with a normal expression, showing nothing unusual.
It made sense, after all. Not long after Dai Mubai left, Zhu Zhuqing had successfully escaped and spent several happy years with Yu Tianling in Spirit City, rather than enduring a miserable life within her clan as she had in the original story.
Now that her love for Yu Tianling had taken deep root, there certainly would no longer be a place for Dai Mubai in her heart. All that remained was disgust and contempt for his debauchery.
Perhaps because Yu Tianling and Zhu Zhuqing had made no effort to avert their gazes, Dai Mubai clearly sensed someone nearby watching him and looked toward Yu Tianling as well.
"Hmm?"
Dai Mubai looked at the boy and girl dressed in black with some confusion. He was certain he did not know either of them. He had no idea why they were looking at him, especially with the hint of disgust in the girl's gaze.
But that girl really does have a great figure.
Dai Mubai smacked his lips at the thought, feeling that even the beauties in his arms had lost some of their appeal.
If Zhu Zhuqing's Martial Soul had not undergone its second evolution, Dai Mubai might have recognized her upon seeing her because of their Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
But now, Zhu Zhuqing's Martial Soul had long since completed its evolution. There was clearly no possibility of Martial Soul Fusion between the Evil-Eyed White Tiger and the Hellfire Cat, so how could he possibly recognize her?
"Friend, have we met?"
Being timid when faced with a question was not Dai Mubai's style, so he approached Yu Tianling and Zhu Zhuqing with his arms around the two beauties, his eyes continually roaming over Zhu Zhuqing as he spoke.
"Heh, Prince Dai. I've long heard of your great reputation."
Seeing Dai Mubai behave like this, Yu Tianling gave a disdainful smile, his words dripping with mockery.
"What?! Who are you?!"
Hearing how Yu Tianling addressed him, Dai Mubai's expression changed sharply, and he hurriedly demanded an answer.
After secretly leaving the Star Luo Empire for the Heaven Dou Empire, he had never told outsiders his true identity. He had not expected a stranger he had never met to reveal it outright.