As Lin Yi swept the area with his spiritual power, he discovered the Snow Empress. At the same time, she seemed to sense something and looked in his direction.
The Snow Empress had been in seclusion, adjusting her state in preparation for a major undertaking. Now, she stopped.
Her expression turned icy cold.
Her current seclusion concerned whether she would succeed in taking human form.
And whether she succeeded in taking human form was closely tied to the Snow Empress's future.
For a human Soul Master to appear in the Core Circle of the Far North and sweep the area with spiritual power at a time like this was intolerable to the Snow Empress.
Especially when his target was clearly her!
The Snow Empress's face was icy as she transformed into a streak of snow-white light and shot from her place of seclusion toward Lin Yi.
Lin Yi was hovering in midair above the Extreme North Core Circle.
His position was conspicuous too, not in any special place.
So, in almost no time at all, the Snow Empress appeared before Lin Yi.
The two stood over a hundred meters apart. After a brief standoff, the Snow Empress spoke with a grave expression. "When did a figure like you emerge in the human Soul Master World?"
Given the Snow Empress's temperament, if a human Soul Master came to the Extreme North Core Circle, she would certainly kill them on sight.
After all, the Far North was a pure land for the Soul Beast Realm of the Far North. The Core Circle, in particular, was absolutely off-limits to human Soul Masters.
The human Soul Masters who could reach this place were all powerful, and nearly every group was led by a nine-ring Titled Douluo.
Whenever she discovered these human Soul Masters, the Snow Empress would wipe them all out.
She would not allow a human Soul Hunting party to succeed in hunting souls in the Extreme North Core Circle.
Once a precedent had been set for such a thing, it would be difficult to stop it again.
Normally, the Snow Empress would have been calling for blood, but now she sensed a deadly danger from Lin Yi.
If she forced a fight, she would die!
An instinctive sixth sense warned the Snow Empress that even here in the Extreme North Core Circle, in his own territory, if she clashed with the human Soul Master before her, she would surely lose!
There was even a high chance she would die!
The Snow Empress was shaken.
She had never expected someone like this to appear on the Douluo Continent.
After all, here in the Extreme North Core Circle, the Snow Empress was confident she could even cross swords with Di Tian.
Apart from the few who had become gods ten thousand years ago, there was really no one the Snow Empress feared.
But the feeling Lin Yi gave her now made her wary.
"If my calculations are correct, Snow Empress, your end should be near," Lin Yi said calmly.
Although the Snow Empress was wary of Lin Yi, she had not restrained her hostility.
Lin Yi, however, did not beat around the bush.
His absolute strength gave him confidence.
So he could speak frankly to the Snow Empress.
"Human, are you courting death?"
The Snow Empress was furious.
The human Soul Master before her had not only come to the Extreme North Core Circle, he had even learned when her heavenly tribulation would come due.
This was far more than simply wandering into the Far North by mistake.
This human Soul Master had been after her from the start.
How could someone as proud as the Snow Empress allow a human Soul Master to covet her?
However, the powerful sense of danger forced the Snow Empress to calm down.
"Tian Meng, come out!"
Lin Yi saw the Snow Empress calm down, but sensing that she might explode at any moment, he refrained from provoking her further and called Tian Meng out.
Platinum-gold light intertwined, coalescing into Tian Meng's form beside Lin Yi.
The moment Tian Meng appeared, the Snow Empress looked over.
At first glance, she recognized Tian Meng's true form: an Ice Silkworm!
The most ordinary Ice Silkworm in the Far North.
Yet the presence this Ice Silkworm gave off now was enough to shock even the Snow Empress.
A million years!
With the support of Lin Yi, a Peerless Douluo, Tian Meng's Soul Ring presence had been activated to its peak.
The presence he now gave off was that of a genuine Million-Year Soul Beast!
That was precisely why the Snow Empress was even more shocked.
"You're Tian Meng? When you left the Far North back then, you clearly hadn't reached a million years."
The Snow Empress recalled learning of Tian Meng's existence from the Ice Empress.
But the Ice Empress had clearly told her back then that Tian Meng had not yet reached a million years.
After these tens of thousands of years, Tian Meng had appeared again, and he had actually reached a million years.
It was simply inconceivable.
Tian Meng's gaze was complicated, and he put on a solemn air, like a wise man weathered by life.
"Yes. Back then, I hadn't reached a million years yet."
The only reason Tian Meng had been able to break through to a million years without drawing the million-year heavenly tribulation was that he was already half dead.
His vital signs were gone.
His vital essence had been stripped clean away by the Ferocious Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Only his Spiritual Origin remained, sustained by his powerful cultivation.
Thus, his breakthrough to a million years had been a spiritual one. It had transformed his essence without triggering the mechanism of the heavenly tribulation.
"Snow Empress, I'm in a special state now. I sacrificed myself to Lin Yi!"
After his moment of reflection, Tian Meng's expression turned solemn, and he began telling the Snow Empress about his plan to create a god.
As she listened to Tian Meng describe his plans for the Wisdom Soul Ring and the rest, the Snow Empress's expression kept changing.
Now she knew why Lin Yi had come looking for her.
Through the Heavenly Screen, all the Soul Masters in the Soul Master Worlds of Douluo I and Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King were shocked by this scene.
Douluo I.
Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Ning Fengzhi abruptly raised his head, casting the matter he had just been discussing with Gu Rong and the others to the back of his mind.
He stared fixedly at the image on the Heavenly Screen, watching Tian Meng's figure.
What?
What had he just heard Tian Meng say?
"A Million-Year Soul Beast can grant a Soul Master an entirely new Martial Soul?"
For a moment, Ning Fengzhi wondered if he had misheard.
But after recalling it carefully, he was certain he had not.
The barrage of comments flying madly across the Heavenly Screen reminded Ning Fengzhi all the more that, according to Tian Meng, after sacrificing himself, Tian Meng could provide a Soul Master with an entirely new Martial Soul!
"Fengzhi, our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect must obtain this Tian Meng!"
Gu Rong's eyes flashed.
Chen Xin nodded beside him.
"Yes. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's limit is seven rings. There's simply no chance of cultivating to Titled Douluo. But with Tian Meng's effect, that would be different."
A trace of worry appeared on Ning Fengzhi's face.
"Uncle Gu, Uncle Jian, I understand what you mean." He sighed. "But the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm is a Million-Year Soul Beast. How could a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master withstand his Soul Ring?"
At Ning Fengzhi's words, Gu Rong and Chen Xin fell silent as well.
But the silence lasted only a moment before Gu Rong spoke again.
"Absorbing a Soul Ring above one's level-didn't Lin Yi succeed at it?"
"Keep looking to Tian Meng for answers. As long as we find the secret to absorbing Soul Rings above one's level, it might not be impossible!"
Ning Fengzhi shook his head and said nothing more.
He knew there was almost no chance of that.
Absorbing a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring as the Seventh Soul Ring was already a fairy tale.
Even if they learned Lin Yi's secret to absorbing Soul Rings above his level, what then?
A thousand-year second ring, a ten-thousand-year fourth ring, and a hundred-thousand-year seventh ring were probably already the limit for a Soul Master.