Life in the Core Circle of the Extreme North Land was rather monotonous and dull.
Although Shu Yan felt that his manipulative words had successfully touched the Snow Empress's obsession with becoming a God and achieving eternal life, the Snow Empress was still who she was. In her hundreds of thousands of years of life in the Extreme North Land, she had witnessed too much.
A moment of weakness and stirring were not enough to fully sway her. Shu Yan had anticipated this; his initial plan was simply to plant a seed in the Snow Empress's heart, not to expect her to foolishly believe him immediately.
Life in the Ice Palace
Although Shu Yan's final action that day was somewhat provocative, the Snow Empress seemed not to care. She completely proved that her words weren't empty promises. As long as Shu Yan stayed put, she would provide him with as many precious cultivation resources from the outside world as he desired, even including three valuable thousand-year Ice Marrows.
Shu Yan accepted everything. After absorbing his fourth Spirit Ring, his cultivation soared straight to level forty-three. In just three days, with the aid of abundant resources, he had already stabilized his cultivation and started advancing toward level forty-four.
The Snow Empress would occasionally come to see him. The two would sit opposite each other at an ice table. Neither would rarely start a conversation, but once someone did, they could chat for a bit. After some time, they gained a better understanding of each other.
Shu Yan's current cultivation hadn't reached the level of abstaining from food, but this place was located in the core area within the Core Circle of the Extreme North Land. Fresh fruits and vegetables were out of the question. At most, the Snow Empress would bring back a few small Spirit Beasts like snow rabbits from the outside world each day to barely satisfy his appetite.
As for why he didn't hunt himself, the reason was simple: such weak Spirit Beasts were almost never seen in the Core Circle. His range of activity was limited to this palace. Once he stepped outside the palace's boundaries, his human aura would dissipate, and trouble would surely follow.
Unexpectedly, the aloof Snow Empress, who acted like royalty, was quite interested in the simple food Shu Yan roasted. At first, she seemed to come because of the smell, but later, as they spent more time together, when the time came, the Snow Empress would proactively wait at the fixed spot.
Her expression also changed from the initial stiffness and coldness to the current familiarity, and she would even occasionally show a faint smile when listening to Shu Yan talk about interesting things from the outside world.
Although the smile was fleeting, Shu Yan could always detect it accurately. The Snow Empress's changes were visible. This was exactly the situation Shu Yan wanted to see. As long as he brought the Snow Empress into his plans, many things would instantly become simpler.
Shu Yan sometimes regretted why his patience in his previous life was so poor, resulting in him transmigrating with only a rough understanding of the plot, unable to even sort out the general storyline.
But this wasn't important anymore. His transmigration was destined to break the original plot development. The Snow Empress was the best example. In this increasingly chaotic situation, only one's own strength was the absolute truth.
Shu Yan didn't consider himself a good person; he could even become a complete villain to achieve his goals. Good or evil, everything was just a single thought away. Rules and restraints existed for people like him, but their existence was only shaped by his inner self. The rules and constraints in the eyes of the world seemed particularly ridiculous to him.
Cultivation and Connection
Unknowingly, three months passed in the blink of an eye. Shu Yan had also been cultivating peacefully in the Core Circle for three months. His Spirit Power had already broken through to level forty-four. Benefiting from the environment, his cultivation speed was also much faster than before. Of course, the Snow Empress's provision of resources must also be included as a reason for the increased cultivation speed.
The cultivation speed of Extreme Attribute Martial Souls between level thirty and seventy is significantly slower than that of ordinary attribute Soul Masters. Each level increase makes the subsequent breakthrough even more difficult. This is why Extreme Attribute Soul Masters, despite their exceptional talent, fall behind others in cultivation speed during the early stages.
But everything in this world always emphasizes balance.
Ordinary attribute Soul Masters do cultivate much faster than Extreme Attribute Soul Masters before level seventy, but once a Soul Master's cultivation exceeds level seventy, this situation will be completely reversed, evolving into Extreme Attribute Soul Masters cultivating more easily, advancing more readily, and even having a much higher ceiling than other ordinary attribute Soul Masters.
The Ice Sky Snow Woman naturally wields Extreme Ice and is a Spirit of heaven and earth truly born from ice and snow. However, if one were to truly focus on the Ice Sky Snow Woman's attribute issue, the Ice Sky Snow Woman clan should actually possess the Extreme Ice-Snow attribute, not just pure Extreme Ice.
Undoubtedly, Extreme Ice-Snow is stronger than Extreme Ice. This also means that those with the Ice Sky Snow Woman Martial Soul will have a more difficult path in cultivation than those with general Extreme Attributes. Shu Yan deeply agreed with this point.
The daily interactions with the Snow Empress were still in the process of becoming familiar and slowly warming up. Shu Yan had ample patience in this regard. Before gaining sufficient power, influencing the heart was always the best strategy. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a bit touched deep down.
The birth and budding of feelings all have prerequisites. Whether it was the affinity and stirring between their bloodlines or the bits and pieces of their interactions over the past three months, Shu Yan had clearly sensed a difference in the Snow Empress.
She was slowly adapting to this change, and her mindset was gradually shifting and sinking. How could someone who had experienced warmth and happiness be willing to plunge back into coldness and solitude? Subtly changing is the most terrifying because it is a reflection of a person's inner desires. The Snow Empress's change was like this, and Shu Yan's efforts were not in vain.
The Alliance
In the fifth month in the Extreme North Land, Shu Yan still had no way of knowing anything about the outside world. His world was buried by the endless wind and snow, isolated from the outside, but it also had a unique flavor.
The Snow Empress once again began discussing the matter of becoming a God with Shu Yan. Unlike last time, this time they exchanged many different opinions. Shu Yan almost fully revealed his thoughts. The stirring in the Snow Empress's eyes was genuine; she was clearly extremely moved.
At the same time, the Snow Empress also told Shu Yan her thoughts.
She had a premonition that she definitely wouldn't be able to survive the seven hundred thousand year Heavenly Tribulation, but her desire for life made her think of another path, which was to transform into a human, climb the peak again in human form, and fight for that elusive eternal life.
But having said that, the actual bitterness and suffering were probably only understood by the Snow Empress herself.
Spirit Beasts cannot become Gods; this is an iron rule. Even if they transform into humans, to some extent, they are still Spirit Beasts. Wanting to become a God is nothing more than a pipe dream. Conversely, Shu Yan's path of 'God creation' had a greater chance of success.
Perhaps due to her profound understanding of her own situation, after careful consideration, the Snow Empress finally formed an alliance with Shu Yan.
Rather than sitting idly and waiting for death, it is better to give it one last fight before death arrives. This was the Snow Empress's idea, and it also matched her personality.
After mutually swearing the Great Ice and Snow Oath with Shu Yan, at this moment, the two were truly bound together on the same log boat. From then on, they would share prosperity and decline together, until their lives completely perished.