The appearance of this crack seemed like some kind of omen, and the previously quiet cocoon of light began to tremble slightly.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Fine cracking sounds rang out incessantly from the cocoon of light. In just a few breaths, countless cracks covered its entire surface.
Bang!
When it reached a certain threshold, the entire cocoon of light abruptly shattered into countless motes of dust.
A completely naked youth slowly stood up from the cocoon of light that had turned to powder.
The youth's body was well proportioned. Though he had little in the way of powerful muscles, his physique was utterly flawless.
His lustrous, jade-white skin shimmered with a strange sheen in the reflection of the surrounding ice and snow.
As he slowly opened his eyes, green, red, yellow, white, and blue flashed through Xue Chen's eyes in succession, before an exceptionally brilliant milky-white light shone within them.
"Whew!"
Slowly exhaling a breath of stale air, Xue Chen abruptly clenched his fists.
Under an invisible fluctuation, even the wind and snow that had swept this snowy peak for who knew how long stopped at that moment.
A Soul Ring glittering with dazzling colors rose from beneath his feet.
Seven faintly visible golden patterns added a touch of nobility to the blood-red Soul Ring, which radiated boundless pressure.
A seven-hundred-thousand-year Snow Empress Soul Ring!
"Xue'er, you little brat, did you succeed?"
Just as Xue Chen was examining the Soul Ring the Snow Empress had sacrificed herself to give him, the Ice Empress's somewhat impatient voice suddenly came from nearby.
A beam of white light emerged from between Xue Chen's brows and transformed into the Snow Empress's breathtakingly beautiful figure upon landing.
"Bing'er, we succeeded!"
The Snow Empress's voice held a trace of weariness that was difficult to conceal, but it could not hide her joy no matter what.
"Wonderful, wonderful!"
After looking the Snow Empress up and down for a moment, the Ice Empress felt that, aside from her figure being somewhat more illusory than before, she did not seem to have changed much.
"Xue'er, your idea really was right!"
"To think we Soul Beasts really could turn into Soul Rings while retaining our intelligence and memories!"
This was the first time the Ice Empress had seen a Soul Ring that possessed intelligence and a spiritual body.
She knew that the Snow Empress had accomplished a pioneering feat for the entire Soul Beast Realm, and even the world of souls!
"Big Sister Xue'er, how do you feel?"
Hearing the weakness in the Snow Empress's voice, Xue Chen hurriedly asked.
"I'm fine."
The Snow Empress gently shook her head, her tone mild.
"Your Martial Soul is of extremely high quality, and it isn't compatible with my origin, so I expended a little more effort."
"But don't worry. I only need to sleep in your Sea of Consciousness for a while to recover."
Only upon hearing this did the Ice Empress and Xue Chen breathe sighs of relief.
Remembering the strange phenomena she had seen in heaven and earth when she looked up earlier, the Ice Empress could not help looking toward Xue Chen.
But the moment she looked, she suddenly realized something.
"You little brat, put some clothes on already! Who are you trying to show that stark-naked body to?"
She spat lightly. It was fortunate that she was currently in her true Soul Beast form, or she would have inevitably blushed.
Strangely enough, she and the Snow Empress had watched Xue Chen grow up, and she had seen him bare-bottomed countless times since he was little.
Yet seeing Xue Chen like this now stirred a strange feeling in her heart that even she could not describe.
Only then did Xue Chen notice his current state. With a startled yelp, he scrambled behind a huge boulder.
Over the years, the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress had killed quite a few Soul Masters who came to the Far North to obtain Soul Rings, acquiring some Storage Soul Tools as well.
Soul Masters who dared venture deep into the Far North to hunt for Soul Rings were certainly no ordinary figures, and they were often extremely wealthy.
Soul Beasts naturally turned their noses up at these human Soul Masters' belongings, so Xue Chen had reaped all the benefits instead.
Taking a garment from a Storage Soul Tool and casually draping it over himself, Xue Chen finally emerged from behind the boulder in embarrassment.
"Ahem!"
The Ice Empress gave two dry coughs and hurriedly changed the subject, as though trying to conceal that strange feeling of hers.
"Xue'er, weren't you going to become this brat's second Martial Soul?"
"In theory, if you became his second Martial Soul, you shouldn't have come into conflict with the origin of his first Martial Soul."
At the mention of this, the Snow Empress sighed somewhat helplessly.
"I underestimated this child's talent. Chen'er actually has twin Martial Souls, and neither of them is ordinary."
As she spoke, the Snow Empress looked toward Xue Chen.
"Chen'er, do you know what exactly your Martial Souls are?"
Xue Chen froze briefly, then abruptly clenched his right hand.
Golden light condensed in Xue Chen's hand into a long saber of a ghastly gold hue. The sharp killing intent upon it drew sidelong glances even from beings like the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress.
The instant the long saber appeared in Xue Chen's hand, an indescribably savage ferocity suddenly surged into his chest, until even his eyes grew faintly red.
"Chen'er!"
The Snow Empress, who had already become one with Xue Chen, immediately noticed something was wrong. Only after her soft call, carrying a spiritual tremor, did his eyes become clear again.
Without the slightest hesitation, Xue Chen immediately withdrew his long saber Martial Soul upon regaining his senses and gasped for breath.
"Such powerful blood fiendishness and ferocity..."
The Ice Empress's expression grew somewhat solemn, and her gaze toward Xue Chen became complicated.
"You little brat, just what is this Martial Soul of yours?"
"The Dragon Slaying Saber... my Martial Soul is actually the Dragon Slaying Saber..."
Clutching his chest, Xue Chen spoke almost word by word.
He knew this Martial Soul, but... but how could this Martial Soul have appeared in him?
Could he have become Sima Jinchi?
Could his true form be the Dragon Slaying Saber?
"The Dragon Slaying Saber?"
The Snow Empress and the Ice Empress both froze. Neither of them had ever heard of this Martial Soul.
"I don't know how to explain it either..."
Xue Chen gritted his teeth, his expression becoming extremely strange as well.
"The Dragon Slaying Saber is a saber of judgment the Dragon God forged from a dragon horn back then. It's a divine artifact used specifically to punish degenerates among the dragon race, and it has an innate suppressive effect on every dragon."
Hearing this, the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress exchanged a glance, both somewhat puzzled.
"A divine artifact?"
"The Dragon God?"
The Ice Empress could not help asking:
"Even a Soul Beast like me knows that a human Soul Master's Martial Soul mainly depends on their parents' Martial Souls. Even mutated Martial Souls mutate from Martial Souls passed down through their families."
"Leaving aside what sort of being the Dragon God actually is, how could a divine artifact with an innate suppressive effect on every dragon become a human Soul Master's Martial Soul and be passed down?"
Although the Ice Empress was not a Soul Master, her four hundred thousand years of cultivation had allowed her to accumulate considerable knowledge.
"You were born deep in the Far North, and you don't fear the bitter cold here. Surely your true form couldn't be the Dragon Slaying Saber... hmm?"
At this point, the Ice Empress started in alarm, and her expression became just as strange as Xue Chen's.