Chapter 159: The Snow Empress is Terrified
A patch of scorched earth in the Ice-Sealed Forest sizzled with golden lightning. The Snow Empress lay prone on the ground, her entire body equally blackened. Unlike Tang Hao or Tang Xiao, though, her long hair—which extended down to her feet—hadn't been fried into a standing mass of frizz.
Despite lying there, the Snow Empress hadn't lost consciousness. She struggled to clench her fists, trying with all her might to stand and absorb the icy snow energy of the Ice-Sealed Forest. Her face was filled with unwillingness, with relentless defiance. She refused to accept it, to accept dying at the hands of these despicable, shameless humans!
"A soul beast surpassing a hundred thousand years. Spirit Hall's treasury is about to gain its rarest soul bone. Jier, kill this beast."
Qian Daoliu couldn't hide his regret over the Snow Empress's soul ring. It was indeed of a level far beyond a hundred thousand years, but it would dissipate after about an hour if left in the open air. Who could possibly absorb such a ring? A Title Douluo's ninth ring at a hundred thousand years was already the limit—anyone trying to absorb this one would be courting death. Even if the body endured, what about mental strength? Could it withstand the beast's powerful resentment?
"Father, please seal this soul beast's soul power with the Angel God power. I want to bring her back to Spirit Hall."
The Snow Empress had been nurtured for countless years, a being formed from the purest ice-attribute elemental energy of the Extreme North, gradually developing sentience and wisdom until she became an intelligent lifeform. Her very essence was that of the purest elemental body. Methods that would abolish a regular human's or soul beast's cultivation—such as sealing meridians—were useless on her. She was, after all, living ice. Only divine energy, specifically Angel God power, could purify her from within and prevent her from recovering her strength.
Upon hearing this, Qian Daoliu gave Qian Xunji a strange look and sent him a mental message. "You brat, have you become addicted to sleeping with soul beasts? This one is ice-attribute, completely incompatible with your Six-Winged Angel, and she has a deep grudge against our Spirit Hall."
"What are you thinking? She's lived so many years. Her knowledge of this continent alone is a precious treasure. And her understanding of cultivation, her perspective on soul power—who's to say it isn't more advanced than ours at this stage? If we tap into that, it could benefit our future generations immeasurably. If she's truly worthless, we can always kill her then."
Qian Xunji threw Qian Daoliu a look of disdain. The Snow Empress was basically a piece of living ice that had taken human form, akin to a being of pure cold—there was no chance of reproduction with humans. He wanted her for research into her soul core cultivation methods, and perhaps to experiment with yin-yang balance and twin soul cores. Such an excellent subject would be a tremendous waste if killed on the spot.
Qian Daoliu's eyes still showed distrust as he gazed at Qian Xunji. After all, the idea of "sleeping with soul beasts" was practically unheard of, and the Snow Empress's beauty and temperament were superior even to Bo Saixi's. He couldn't entirely dismiss the possibility Qian Xunji had other ideas.
"Once back at Spirit Hall, you'll immediately finish the Angel's Eight Trials."
After a moment's hesitation, Qian Daoliu agreed to Qian Xunji's plan. He trusted absolutely that Qian Xunji was acting in the best interest of Spirit Hall. No matter what ulterior motives might exist, if the Snow Empress remained an enemy, she would be executed without hesitation. Killing her now would only waste a soul ring no one could absorb and a soul bone unsuited to the Angel Clan. Even giving it to someone else in Spirit Hall felt like a shame, so it would just gather dust in the treasury. If they could learn anything from her, keeping her alive was far more valuable.
Still, Qian Daoliu insisted that Qian Xunji finish the Angel's Eight Trials so he'd possess Angel God power and keep the Snow Empress firmly under control. If this all went south, losing a genius in a disaster would drive Qian Daoliu to a fury, and slaughtering the Extreme North afterward wouldn't bring him back.
Qian Daoliu raised his hand, gathering golden light in his palm. This energy held a divine, indescribably sacred quality, warm to the touch as if it could purify everything unclean. This was a higher-dimensional power beyond mere soul power—divine power.
That small handful of divine power contained more energy than if Qian Xunji compressed all his angelic soul power five times over. When Qian Daoliu channeled this Angel God power into the Snow Empress's body, she felt no pain, but her own energy was completely purified, leaving her unable to accumulate even a trace. If she wanted to regain strength, she would have to painstakingly dispel the divine power bit by bit using vast reserves of soul force.
At the same time, her injuries began to heal under the influence of that Angel God power. Her body regained some strength.
"A calamity in female form," Qian Daoliu commented, cautioning Qian Xunji again.
"I really have no such intentions."
Qian Xunji felt resigned. Men liked soft, warm places—yet the Snow Empress was cold enough to kill, practically walking air conditioning. No matter how high the temperature might get, she'd never rise above zero degrees. Who would ever want to "drive" such a vehicle?
After Qian Daoliu left, the Snow Empress struggled to her feet and spoke icily, "Shameless human, what do you plan to do?"
Just then, she saw a fair hand enlarge before her eyes. She tried to dodge, but her body was too weak to budge.
"Ah!"
The Snow Empress was sent flying, rolling across the snow like a frail woman without strength to truss a chicken—utterly wretched.
"Watch your words. If your soul beasts in the Extreme North weren't so cohesive that they'd keep trying to save you, I wouldn't have needed to go to all this trouble to lure you out of the Extreme North. Otherwise, they would've thrown themselves at us in waves, causing massive soul beast casualties and wasting all those resources.
"I caught you because I need your help with something."
Qian Xunji shot her a glance, then swept his spiritual power over the area, quickly locating the ice-blue blood she had coughed up. He gathered it together. This ice-blue blood was the purest essence of the ice element, much like the ice-blue fluid in the budding Ice Lotus of the Heavenly Profound realm. Even that small amount of blood was more than enough to evolve someone like Shui Bing'er's martial spirit from Condensing Water Flying Luan into the Ice Phoenix. Naturally, someone who abhorred wasting resources like Qian Xunji wouldn't let it go unused.
Again, the Snow Empress managed to force herself upright. Her ice-blue eyes held no sign of submission, only hatred. "I would rather die than help you shameless humans!"
"In that case, I'll just leave you here. I imagine more than a few soul beasts in the Ice-Sealed Forest would love to devour a body with so much energy. They wouldn't be able to digest you in one go; they'd have to take a bite, then wait a while, then another bite, and so on. Imagine what would happen to you. Like an Iceworm, being gnawed to death piece by piece."
"Stop it! Don't say another word!"
Her resolute, ready-to-die facade disintegrated in an instant. She clutched her head in terror. Her best friend, the Ice Empress, survived by feeding on iceworms, biting them chunk by chunk. The Snow Empress knew exactly how gruesome that kind of death was—she would never choose to die so miserably, so humiliatingly.
Walking behind her, Qian Xunji grabbed her by the collar, saying calmly, "If you don't want such a horrible death, don't act all high and mighty in front of me. Cooperate, and maybe you'll find a chance to regain your strength and escape."
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