The snowy night of the Far North shrouded the earth, leaving the sky dim and lusterless.
As fierce winds swept past, great swathes of snowflakes fluttered down onto the ground.
This was a paradise of ice and snow, and a kingdom of snow.
Into this boundless expanse of snow, a boy of only ten quietly stepped.
The boy's footsteps were light, each step leaving footprints of varying depths in the snow.
As the boy walked onward, his eyes surveyed his surroundings, weariness showing in his expression.
"I finally reached the Far North Snowfield. All that time walking wasn't wasted. I'm finally here."
The boy sighed softly as he spoke, but his footsteps never paused as he swiftly ventured deeper inside.
The Far North Snowfield was undoubtedly dangerous. As one of the forbidden lands, it was far more dangerous than other places; being here could almost be described as ten deaths and no chance of survival.
Yet as the boy entered the snowfield and reached its central region, not a single Soul Beast came to attack him.
Aside from the polar night making Soul Beast appearances less frequent, this was more due to the changes around the boy.
A faint, cool ice-blue glow surrounded him.
His body was encased in ice crystals, particularly in this dim environment.
Whatever kinds of power refracted toward him were deftly split apart by the ice crystals.
Thus, he was like a transparent presence. Unless a Soul Beast could get right up against him, ordinary Soul Beasts would have difficulty detecting his existence.
As he ventured deeper-or rather, as he drew closer-
A trace of deep ice-colored Qi around the boy began to merge into the wind and snow, continuously spreading into his surroundings.
This power spread very quickly, yet was so faint that it was almost imperceptible.
Not long after the boy found a snowdrift and buried himself in it, a figure drifted over.
It was an exquisitely beautiful figure.
She wore pure white everyday clothing that covered her body, but her face was beautiful to the utmost.
Her cool eyes lowered slightly as she looked at the boy who had buried himself in the snow.
There was puzzlement in her eyes, as though she were scrutinizing him. "It's you. You actually came to find me. How can you be certain that everything you said back then was true?"
The woman's voice held a soft gentleness, but her tone was more calm and detached.
She looked down at the boy before her, her eyes filled with puzzlement as she drifted to the ground.
She did not know who this boy was, but his Martial Soul Awakening four years ago had triggered an astonishing phenomenon across heaven and earth.
In the sky, golden and silver dragons converged between heaven and earth, their terrifying presence filling the air.
Two extremely terrifying powers first converged, then entwined with each other, before finally collapsing and scattering.
Even from the Far North Snowfield, she had seen that phenomenon with perfect clarity.
She had made a trip there then and seen this boy with her own eyes.
And not only had this boy been able to call out her name directly, he had also told her something.
When she underwent her tribulation a few years later, she would face an immense calamity.
A calamity that was almost impossible to escape.
Originally, she had not believed any of this. Although she knew she had a heavenly tribulation awaiting her, she had already thought of another way to circumvent it.
But just a few days ago, when she was preparing to undergo her heavenly tribulation, she had taken precautions in advance because she remembered the boy's words.
Only then had she discovered several figures at the place where she intended to undergo her heavenly tribulation, and none of their presences were weak.
Those figures were very far away, perhaps afraid she would discover them, but they had indeed made their preparations.
They intended to take her away, and among them were several human Level 9 Soul Engineers.
Severely wounded, she would have had no way to handle such a situation.
That was precisely why she had chosen to flee, avoiding that heavenly tribulation, but it had also caused her body to gradually deteriorate.
It had deteriorated to the brink of death, so the Snow Empress's expression was extremely complicated when she saw the boy now.
Seeing the Snow Empress arrive, the boy finally let out a long breath, his expression relaxing slightly.
He slowly sat up, lifting his head out of the snow.
"Since you've come, it seems everything I told you has come true, one thing after another. You can't escape this heavenly tribulation."
"The outcome of this heavenly tribulation will be you being taken away by those people."
"And in the end, you'll become someone else's Soul Spirit, enslaved-or rather, controlled-by him for all eternity."
The boy's voice was soft, his tone carrying a rare gentleness, as though he were merely stating something commonplace.
But hearing that she would be imprisoned, the Snow Empress frowned. She wanted to kill this boy outright.
Yet remembering his words, she forcibly restrained her emotions and stood there in silence.
"I need an explanation. Explain why this would happen, and why you know all of this."
"I can't explain it clearly, and I don't intend to explain it either. You only have two choices now."
"One, continue undergoing your heavenly tribulation, then be taken away and imprisoned by those people. Later, you'll lose your memories and ultimately become someone else's Soul Spirit."
"Two, willingly protect me, and I can give you the status of a partner."
The boy stood as he spoke and brushed the snow off his body.
His expression had remained utterly composed throughout-or rather, casual, even somewhat indifferent.
Because he did not care whether the Snow Empress survived. He only needed a hired fighter, one who could simply protect him in the early stages.
As long as he could get through the early stages, nothing in the later stages would be particularly difficult for him.
The boy looked at the Snow Empress and could see her hesitation.
So he raised his hand, and a small blade of grass, pale silver from end to end, quietly appeared in his palm.
The silver grass wound around his arm, turning it into a silver dragon claw in an instant.
As he reached into empty space, an ethereal space appeared.
"You can go inside and try it. Entering this space can help you evade the lightning tribulation."
"You should be able to judge that for yourself. What I want is actually very simple: stay by my side."
"When I face mortal danger, save me-or rather, keep me alive."
"And in return, when I become a god in the future, I'll take you to the Divine Realm with me."
The boy raised his hand and pointed at the empty space as he spoke. Listening to his words, the Snow Empress looked at him.
A flicker of hesitation passed through her eyes, but she felt her own essence draining away.
She fell silent for a moment, then hesitated no longer and finally entered the space.
There was nothing within the illusory space, and the space itself seemed to be contained within the boy's body.
It could neither be detected nor captured, but just as the boy had said, this space was indeed very safe.
This can indeed help me escape the heavenly tribulation for a time. With that thought, she hesitated no longer.
The Snow Empress leaped out of the space and looked at the boy, her expression still extremely complicated.
Finally, after a moment of silence, she nodded. "I'm willing to help you, and I'm willing to be your hired fighter."
"I don't ask that you take me to the Divine Realm. I only hope you can help me escape this heavenly tribulation."
The Snow Empress sighed as she spoke. In truth, she no longer had any choice.
She could not change any of this, so all she could do was go along with it and accept it.
Either she became someone else's Soul Spirit, or she retained all her strength and served as someone else's hired fighter.
Rather than have someone completely control her life and lose her freedom, being this sort of hired fighter really was better.
Seeing the Snow Empress like this, the boy smiled at her, then extended his hand toward her.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Li Mu. You can also call me the Dragon God."