Shen Hanyu gazed intently at the Snow Empress, and the Snow Empress was likewise sizing up Shen Hanyu.
For a moment, the scene fell into an inexplicable silence.
The Ice Empress stomped her foot in some anger. She liked the Snow Empress, so naturally, she disliked any woman appearing by the Snow Empress's side. But unfortunately, this person was Shen Hanyu; she held almost no advantage, and if she wasn't careful, she might even lose her life.
"Human..."
"No, you carry the aura of a deity. You are someone chosen by a god..."
"And... the aura of the dragon clan..."
The Snow Empress propped her chin with one hand, a trace of indescribable interest appearing in her sky-blue eyes. Her posture was lazy yet icy cold as she spoke softly.
In the next moment, Shen Hanyu's figure suddenly retreated violently, and at the spot where he had just stood, a tall figure was already there. Terrifying soul power fluctuations emanated from her pure white, jade-like palm.
If this palm landed on Shen Hanyu, it would probably take several years of careful recuperation before he could recover.
The Snow Empress lightly stepped forward, her steps very light and slow, but each one seemed to tread directly on the void. A terrifying pressure descended upon Shen Hanyu's head, causing the ground made of ten-thousand-year profound ice beneath his feet to collapse a large chunk, and it continued to sink.
The Ice Empress did not dare speak from the side. Although she and the Snow Empress had a friendship spanning hundreds of thousands of years, she had never seen the Snow Empress in such a state, and for a moment, she surprisingly did not dare to speak.
Shen Hanyu's brows furrowed slightly. Although this pressure was powerful, it did not cause him any real harm; instead, it only seemed intent on restricting him.
But Shen Hanyu was still very unaccustomed to this feeling of being restrained. Blue and red dual-colored energies surged in his arms, accompanied by two low dragon roars emanating from within. Behind Shen Hanyu, the illusory shadows of two majestic giant dragons suddenly appeared, letting out faint roars toward the Snow Empress.
Feeling his body lighten, Shen Hanyu twisted his muscles and bones, looking at the Snow Empress who continued to approach calmly without any change in expression. Shen Hanyu felt somewhat puzzled; he sensed that something was off about the Snow Empress before him.
"Snow Empress, you should understand my purpose in coming..."
Shen Hanyu looked at the extremely noble and coldly beautiful woman before him and still spoke softly.
The Snow Empress's footsteps suddenly paused for an instant, then her pace quickened instead as she continued walking toward Shen Hanyu.
From behind, the Ice Empress anxiously nearly squeezed a Tian Meng in her hand into mush. Tian Meng's face turned red, and his neck thickened from being squeezed; his entire body deformed, yet he did not dare make a single sound.
"What exactly do you want to do, Snow Empress?"
Shen Hanyu felt somewhat helpless. He detected no killing intent from the Snow Empress; that earlier strike had seemed merely a probe, otherwise he would not have remained so calm.
Shen Hanyu retreated step by step, while the Snow Empress pressed forward step by step, until she approached closely, then slowly spoke:
"Give me the thing..."
Shen Hanyu was stunned and subconsciously asked:
"What thing?"
Then Shen Hanyu suddenly realized and took out the bead representing the Ice God's inheritance.
The Snow Empress snatched this unremarkable bead away in one grab. Their tender, cool skin touched, and both were simultaneously startled. Then their gazes toward each other were filled with astonishment.
Shen Hanyu did not mind the bead; it had already been imprinted with his aura and mark. With a thought, it could directly return to his spiritual sea.
What moved him so deeply was that in the instant their skin touched just now, his and the Snow Empress's soul power had almost instantly fused. This was different from the fusion in martial soul fusion skills derived from elemental attributes or martial soul quality; it was a fusion originating from the source.
In other words, the Snow Empress's soul power was almost identical to his in certain aspects, even sharing the same root and origin.
He possessed the Ice God's inheritance within his body, and the inheritance had already bestowed one reward, yet unlike other god trials, it provided no affinity or soul power rewards, only relentlessly strengthening Shen Hanyu himself.
Both the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King had left their remnant souls in god-level soul bones. The martial souls transformed from them retained the purest divinity, and these residual divine powers had gradually merged into Shen Hanyu's bones and blood over time. His soul power had accordingly gained divinity.
But in this light, although the Snow Empress was a pure ice and snow spirit, even unable to be considered a soul beast, but rather a special lifeform of the spirit category, such lives were almost always favored by heaven and earth, just like the so-called children of destiny in the human world.
The bead showed no resistance in the Snow Empress's hand. Shen Hanyu could even sense that the Snow Empress seemed able to control this bead as well.
The grand hall fell silent for a moment. Skydream struggled free from the Ice Empress's hand. Just as he was about to take further advantage and climb onto the Ice Empress's shoulder, in the next moment, he was ruthlessly thrown out by the Ice Empress, embedding into the wall beside them.
The Snow Empress's white hair was gently lifted by a breeze. Those eyes were incredibly clear, yet seemed filled with the traces of ages. At first glance, the initial reaction was not to evade, but a terrifying attraction, as if they could pierce straight into the heart.
"Hehe... As expected, the path to godhood for soul beasts has been completely blocked. Even if it responded to, what of it? In the end, it is merely futile..."
The Snow Empress lightly uttered these words, her eyes filled with endless confusion and bewilderment, along with a trace of pain.
Shen Hanyu remained silent. He sensed the helplessness and hatred emanating from the Snow Empress, and roughly understood why the Snow Empress could receive a response from the already acknowledged Ice God inheritance token.
First, the Ice God was a neutral deity, belonging neither to the human camp nor the soul beast camp.
The Snow Empress's origin, qualifications, and talent were all sufficient for her to become the best inheritor of the Ice God. No matter how humans elevated and mastered the ice element, how could they compare to a lifeform condensed from the purest ice-attribute heavenly and earthly elemental forces from birth?
"You don't need to think this way. There may not be only one path to godhood for soul beasts. Cooperating with me is undoubtedly your best choice."
Shen Hanyu spoke slowly.
"I have received acknowledgment from three deities. If you sacrifice yourself to me, preserving your soul, after I become a god, I can resurrect you. This is currently the only viable path."
"Moreover, you felt it too, didn't you..."
The Snow Empress did not erupt in anger, but listened quietly to Shen Hanyu's words, then softly said:
"In the inheritance, I saw everything about you. It made me choose you, or rather, long ago it foretold that many things happening to me would be completely changed. Fate had long ago destined that I could only choose you. The moment I saw you again, in my hundreds of thousands of years, for the first time, I felt such intense palpitations. It was a kind of calling, making it hard for me to raise any hostility, or perhaps, in my long years, for the first time it felt as if I had found a sense of belonging and peace..."
"I tried to attack you, but discovered that at the final step, I could not bring myself to do it. From that moment, I confirmed you would be my choice..."
As she spoke, the Snow Empress took out a bead almost identical to that blue one, except it had completely lost its energy and now could only be considered a fine-quality jade stone.
At the Snow Empress's current cultivation level, she already possessed an extraordinary perception of many things. This perception, originating almost from destiny, was absolutely infallible...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"Don't forget there are 30 early chapters available on Patreon
[email protected]/facficmax10--------(@→a)