The Snow Empress and Ice Empress fell silent.
After a long pause, the Snow Empress shifted the topic and asked, "Ning Rongrong, what level soul master are you now?"
Ning Rongrong didn't answer directly. Instead, she gently raised her right palm, and as her aura condensed, the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda slowly materialized in her hand.
Black, black, black, black, black, black, radiant gold, deep red.
Instantly, even the Ice Empress and Snow Empress felt an oppressive aura. The Snow Empress's expression changed drastically when she saw Ning Rongrong's final soul ring.
They had known about the black soul rings preceding the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda two and a half years ago. They could also guess that the golden one was related to the Dark Devilgod Tiger. But this red soul ring wasn't an ordinary soul beast's ring—it carried an intensely ominous feeling.
And the age of this soul ring couldn't possibly be a standard 100,000-year ring.
"A red 100,000-year soul ring… that color… You humans… You slaughtered such a powerful soul beast over 100,000 years old. Humans are inherently evil!" The Ice Empress spat at Ning Rongrong.
For intelligent soul beasts, only those with comparable intellect were treated as equals, while those below were considered mere beasts. Of course, their own kind was an exception. Seeing that Ning Rongrong had killed a soul beast of 100,000 years—or even hundreds of thousands—the Ice Empress's expression darkened.
"It's not the usual soul beast soul ring you're thinking of," Ning Rongrong said, unfazed by the Ice Empress's harsh tone. Due to Tokisaki Kurumi's seclusion, some of that aura had leaked out. Ordinary soul masters wouldn't notice, but at close range, beings like the Ice Empress and Snow Empress, with their strength, could sense something unusual.
The Snow Empress murmured, "The impurity of that soul ring… It's not just from soul beasts but also carries human resentment."
What in the world…
The Snow Empress had never seen such a murky, almost malevolent soul ring.
"My eighth soul ring comes from the Nine-Headed Crimson Bat King in the City of Slaughter, the final test for the Asura God's chosen," Ning Rongrong explained. "It was the Asura God's trial, but he failed."
"The Asura God's chosen—Tang Chen?" The Snow Empress was stunned.
She wasn't ignorant of the continent's affairs and had some knowledge of them.
"Exactly," Ning Rongrong nodded. "Tang Chen was trapped in the eighth Asura trial, controlled by the Nine-Headed Crimson Bat King to become the King of Slaughter. When he tried to purge the bat king's attempt to possess me, I unexpectedly acquired it, and it became my soul ring. As for the human resentment, that comes from the sinners in the City of Slaughter—not killed by me! It might sound like an excuse, but the one who killed those humans and absorbed them was the Nine-Headed Crimson Bat King. I merely claimed it, and this soul ring is evolving to a higher level."
The Snow Empress, surprised, asked instinctively, "Like your seventh soul ring from the Dark Devilgod Tiger? But the Nine-Headed Crimson Bat King's ring shouldn't be as special as hers, right?"
The Snow Empress still couldn't figure out Tokisaki Kurumi's situation. It didn't seem like a sacrifice.
"Kurumi is like a tower spirit to me—completely incomparable to this soul ring," Ning Rongrong said. "She's helping me purify this ring, and she's currently in seclusion. As for when she'll emerge or what will happen, I don't know."
"I see…" The Snow Empress pondered, studying Ning Rongrong for a while. "Your aura feels strange. It's not just at the Soul Douluo level, is it?"
With only eight rings, she gave off a dangerous vibe—something only a Title Douluo could evoke.
"My cultivation method differs from yours. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but it's not a big deal," Ning Rongrong said, unwilling to reveal too many of her trump cards.
The Snow Empress nodded, sensing Ning Rongrong's reluctance and not pressing further.
Meanwhile, the Ice Empress suddenly grabbed the Snow Empress's hand, signaling her to step away together.
As the two left, Ning Rongrong didn't pay it much mind. She could have kept these details from them, but after some thought, it wasn't a big issue to share. Besides, she didn't want anything to go wrong with Dugu Yan's situation.
Her reason for pushing Dugu Yan to advance to Soul Douluo was her concern about the beast tide. The Far North had a decent ecosystem, with an immense number of soul beasts. But the ocean? The boundless sea was largely untouched by humans. No one knew the scale of a sea soul beast tide.
The withdrawal of the Sea Demoness clan from Sea God Island made Ning Rongrong faintly uneasy. With the Ice Empress, Snow Empress, Silver Dragon King, and even Hypnos, the God of Slaughter, now in play, it was better to be prepared. An extra trump card meant an extra layer of safety.
"However…" Ning Rongrong glanced at Dugu Yan, seated cross-legged in the venom pool, a trace of worry in her eyes.
Dugu Yan wasn't Dugu Bo. Did she truly have the mental fortitude for this?
Previously, Ning Rongrong had asked Ning Fengzhi if Dugu Bo could still use his ninth soul skill. Ning Fengzhi shook his head. In the battle against Star Luo, Dugu Bo had expended immense energy, especially mentally, to control the poison's spread and then clear it to restore the surroundings. His situation was now complicated. Using it once required one to two years of rest, and it would affect his soul.
In other words, for the next one to two years, Dugu Bo couldn't use his ninth soul skill, Jade Phosphor Divine Light, to clear large areas.
"Sorry, Sister Yan," Ning Rongrong said, a hint of guilt on her face.
If Kurumi were awake, there might be another way. For now, Ning Rongrong was worried about not having enough backup plans.
Like Di Tian, who planned to target Tian Qing and Tai Tan but intentionally spared Xiao Wu because of the gods above, Ning Rongrong faced uncertainty with the Sea God's situation. She didn't know how much he could interfere.
Until she had the power to challenge gods, she needed to work within the rules rather than targeting the divine test inheritor directly. Tang San, favored by both the Sea God and Asura God, was too risky to confront now. She might not even be able to kill him.
Ning Rongrong's goal was singular: prevent Tang San from gathering enough blood.
That guy was as evil as her—er, no, how could she compare herself to the pure and righteous Tang San? She and Kurumi devoured time, while Tang San devoured flesh and blood. Zhu Zhuqing, based on rumors and original story details, likely absorbed souls, explaining her rapid progress. Dugu Yan absorbed poison. As for Qian Renxue, Ning Rongrong had a vague sense she was falling into corruption. What was the Silver Dragon King doing? Could it be that dragons all had that innate… cough dragon nature?
In short, none of them seemed like normal soul masters.
And Ning Rongrong herself? She wasn't even a soul master.
As Ning Rongrong pondered, the Ice Empress and Snow Empress had arrived at the Ice Empress's palace.
The Ice Empress grumbled, "I don't get it. Why do you keep interrupting my questions?"
It wasn't the first time. Whenever she tried to say something, the Snow Empress would take over, leaving her to play the mascot.