"Huh?"
At her words, Xue Chen abruptly lifted his head from the Snow Empress's embrace and stared blankly at her.
He had, after all, read the original Douluo Continent in his previous life. Vaguely, he seemed to understand what the Snow Empress had in mind!
"A thousand years ago, I failed to condense a Yin-Yang Complementary Soul Core and damaged my origin."
The Snow Empress also raised her head then, gazing up at the sky shrouded in thick, dark clouds, a trace of indescribable bitterness in her voice.
"My seven-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation is imminent. No matter what I do, I won't be able to survive this one."
"I originally intended to take human form and cultivate anew, but that would mean integrating into the human world and experiencing the presence of humans to keep growing stronger."
At this point, the Snow Empress gave a bitter laugh.
"Before those human Super Douluos, a Soul Beast like me who has taken human form would have nowhere to hide. In the end, I'm afraid I would only become someone's Soul Ring and Soul Bone."
Hearing this, Xue Chen was left speechless as well.
A Soul Beast's heavenly tribulation doubled in strength every hundred thousand years.
Even at her peak, the Snow Empress had no confidence in withstanding her seven-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation. Otherwise, she would never have considered condensing a Yin-Yang Complementary Soul Core.
All the more so now, when her grave injuries had yet to heal and she had lost a considerable portion of the origin within her.
"Sister Xue, what do you plan to do, then?"
Pressing his lips together, Xue Chen asked.
"Chen'er, from what I've observed, it isn't that you have no Martial Soul."
The Snow Empress turned her gaze back to Xue Chen.
"Within your body, I can sense a formidable power that seems to have been sealed away."
"So I want to sacrifice myself to you, becoming your Second Martial Soul and Soul Ring, and use the power of the sacrifice to break the seal inside you!"
"Sacrifice!"
Even though he had already guessed what the Snow Empress intended to do, Xue Chen was still startled.
"You are a being born in the depths of the Far North, yet you are no different from a human. If you wish to become a god, it will be far easier for you than for Soul Beasts like us!"
A gleam of wisdom flashed through the Snow Empress's eyes.
"Ten thousand years ago, didn't those two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest ascend to the Divine Realm alongside that human precisely because they sacrificed themselves to him after he gained a deity's favor?"
"With my seven-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring and Soul Bone as your foundation, and another Second Martial Soul that I can grant you after my sacrifice, combined with your own innate talent, you will surely be able to win a divine seat!"
The Snow Empress's current idea was actually somewhat similar to the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's god-making plan.
However, although the Snow Empress had lost part of her origin, her genuine seven hundred thousand years of cultivation were far beyond what the nearly drained-dry Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could compare to.
"Sacrifice... I don't want Sister Xue'er to sacrifice herself to me!"
Xue Chen gritted his teeth, but shook his head under the somewhat surprised gazes of the Snow Empress and Ice Empress.
"But what if I don't become a god?"
"Wouldn't Sister Xue'er's sacrifice be worthless, then?"
The Snow Empress's expression softened, and even the Ice Empress's gaze grew complicated.
Not just anyone could refuse a seven-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring and a seven-hundred-thousand-year Soul Bone.
"Don't worry. I've already thought it through."
The Snow Empress reached out and stroked Xue Chen's head, an expression of having everything under control appearing on her face.
"When I sacrifice myself, I'll use my spiritual power to help you open up your Sea of Consciousness."
"I'll retain my intelligence and consciousness and dwell in your Sea of Consciousness in spirit form. I won't perish completely!"
The Snow Empress was not a purely spiritual-type Soul Beast, but her seven hundred thousand years of cultivation were enough to give her greater reserves of spiritual power than the vast majority of spiritual-type Soul Beasts.
If the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could accomplish it back then when his oil was nearly spent and his lamp was dying, naturally, she could too.
"But..."
Hesitation and conflict flashed across Xue Chen's face.
"Chen'er, don't overthink it."
The Snow Empress reached out to stroke Xue Chen's face and sighed softly.
"My sacrificing myself to you may not necessarily be a good thing for you."
"My seven hundred thousand years of reserves are immense. One careless mistake could burst your body apart."
"I'm being a little selfish, but Chen'er, are you willing to share life and death with me?"
The Snow Empress was, after all, ranked third on the Ferocious Beast Ranking. Her control over her own power was nowhere near as poor as she made it sound.
She only said this to dispel the misgivings in Xue Chen's heart.
"I am!"
Taking a deep breath, Xue Chen nodded firmly.
"As long as it can help Sister Xue, I'm willing to do anything!"
The Snow Empress was the first living being he had encountered after coming to this world, and she was also the one who had raised him. To him, she was both an elder sister and a mother.
If I don't accept the Snow Empress's sacrifice, am I supposed to let Tang San scheme against her, have her captured by a Level 9 Soul Tool, and finally become some bullshit Soul Spirit for Huo Yuhao?
What right does Huo Yuhao have?
Just because he's a dog Tang San keeps tightly leashed using that stitched-together freak, Tang Wutong?
"Snow Empress..."
The Ice Empress glanced at the Snow Empress, wanting to speak but holding back.
"My mind is made up. Say no more."
The Snow Empress turned to glance at the Ice Empress and said:
"Bing'er, for the sake of our hundreds of thousands of years of friendship, please stand guard for Chen'er and me!"
In the original story, it was precisely because the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had schemed to make the Ice Empress become Huo Yuhao's Second Martial Soul that the Snow Empress could find no one to stand guard for her when she changed to human form to cultivate anew.
In the end, an unknown Level 9 Soul Engineer ambushed her, and she was ultimately sealed inside the God Sealing Platform.
"Don't worry. I won't let anything living come near this place!"
The Ice Empress pushed Xue Chen aside and hugged the Snow Empress tightly.
"Since your mind is made up, I won't say anything more... but you have to succeed!"
"Mm!"
The Snow Empress said nothing more and merely returned the Ice Empress's embrace.
The Snow Empress had actually always known how the Ice Empress felt about her.
It was just that, rather than seeing her as a lover, the Snow Empress still thought of the Ice Empress more as family.
"Brat, when Xue'er sacrifices herself to you, you'd better hold on!"
Releasing the Snow Empress, the Ice Empress shot Xue Chen a fierce glare.
"If that causes Xue'er's sacrifice to fail, I won't let you off!"
The Ice Empress's feelings toward Xue Chen were complicated.
After so many years together, she had long since come to regard Xue Chen as her own younger brother.
Yet deep down, she also felt that Xue Chen had stolen the Snow Empress's care from her.
"Don't worry, Sister Bing'er!"
Xue Chen nodded firmly.
"If I can't hold on, I'll surely end up with my body shattered and my bones crushed. You won't need to come after me, Sister Bing'er."
Xue Chen's ironclad declaration left the Ice Empress momentarily speechless.
With a cold snort, the Ice Empress walked up to Xue Chen and pressed him into her embrace.
Hard!
So hard!
Xue Chen even knocked his chin against her.
There was none of the Snow Empress's all-encompassing softness.
"If possible... you must live on too!"
"Mm!"
Xue Chen relaxed and nodded with a muffled response.
Could this be what they call a tsundere?