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As the night deepened, the Star Dou Great Forest fell into complete silence. Only the occasional crackling sound of the campfire illuminated the tired yet satisfied faces of the young men.
Everyone packed up their dishes and prepared to go back to their tents to rest. Xue Tianxing was helping Cao Qing tidy up his bedding when he suddenly heard two slight "thumps" coming from not far away - those were the sounds of a human body falling to the ground, and the direction was exactly where the two Soul Saints were on guard!
"Not good!"
Xue Tianxing's heart tightened, and he instantly increased his soul power to the extreme, and the aura of the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul quietly spread.
He was about to run towards the direction of the sound, but he found that Shui Bing'er beside him suddenly shook her body, her eyes became blurry, and she fell straight down the next second.
Soon after, Dugu Yan, Oscar, Ning Rongrong, Shui Yue'er, and Cao Qing also lost consciousness one after another, as if all their strength had been drained away, and collapsed at the door of the tent.
In just a few seconds, Xue Tianxing was the only one left standing in the originally bustling camp.
He looked at his unconscious companion on the ground, then looked in the direction where the two Soul Saints had disappeared. His heart was pounding wildly, and an unprecedented sense of panic surged in his heart - who was the other party?
He was able to knock down two Soul Saints and six Soul Masters silently without leaving even a trace of soul power fluctuation!
"What is that? Come out!"
Xue Tianxing suppressed the panic in his heart, shouted sternly at the dark forest, and gathered ice soul power in his hands, ready to launch an attack at any time.
But all he could hear in response was the faint chirping of insects from the depths of the forest. The surroundings were still deathly silent, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.
Xue Tianxing didn't dare to act rashly. He knew that the other party was much stronger than himself, and any rash action would only put his companions and himself in more danger.
He looked around vigilantly for a long time. Seeing that nothing unusual happened, he walked forward cautiously and carried his unconscious companions back to the tent one by one.
During this time, Xue Tianxing was also secretly checking his partner's condition - his breathing was steady, his pulse was normal, and he seemed to have just fallen into a deep coma and was not in danger of life.
When Xue Tianxing carried the last person, Cao Qing, back to the tent, gently closed the tent door, and turned to walk out, he suddenly stopped.
I saw a figure appear beside the half-extinguished campfire. It was a woman in a white dress with waist-length hair and a beautiful face. She exuded an indescribable mysterious aura, as if she had merged with the forest.
The woman was stirring the bonfire with a thin wooden stick. Seeing Xue Tian coming out, she raised her head, looked at him with clear eyes, and asked in a calm tone:
"Have you arranged all your companions?"
Xue Tianxing's pupils suddenly shrank, and the hairs on his body stood up instantly.
He could clearly feel that the woman was emitting an extremely powerful aura - a power that far surpassed that of a Titled Douluo, and was even more terrifying than the auras of the Ice Emperor and the Snow Emperor that he had felt before.
In front of this aura, his level 55 soul power was as small as an ant. He had no doubt that as long as the woman was willing, a glance from her could turn him into ashes.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
Xue Tianxing pretended to be calm, but there was a barely perceptible tremor in his voice.
His brain was working rapidly, thinking about the other party's identity - there were only a handful of people in the Douluo Continent who possessed such terrifying power, but he had never seen any description of the woman in front of him in the original book.
The woman smiled softly upon hearing this, with a hint of vicissitudes and loneliness in her smile:
"As for me, my name is Gu Yuena. You may not know this name, but you must have heard of my other name - Silver Dragon King."
She paused, her eyes fell on Xue Tianxing, and continued:
"The Ice God should have told you about the war in the divine realm, right?"
"Silver Dragon King...Gu Yuena!"
When Xue Tianxing heard this name, he felt like he was struck by thunder. He froze in place, and his heart was filled with turmoil.
Xue Tianxing never imagined that the woman in front of him was Gu Yuena, the Silver Dragon King of the Douluo Continent!
As someone who had read the original novel, he knew Gu Yuena's identity and strength better than anyone else - she was a part of the Dragon God after he split, controlling the power of elements and life, and was a true top powerhouse on the Douluo Continent.
But he never expected that he would meet her in this way, and he never expected that she would take the initiative to mention the war between the Ice God and the God Realm.
Xue Tianxing's heart was filled with turmoil, but he pretended to be ignorant on his face. With a blank look in his eyes, he said to Gu Yuena:
"I don't know what you're talking about... What's the Ice God? What's the Divine War? I've never heard of that."
Xue Tianxing clenched his hands hidden behind his back, his fingertips turning slightly white due to nervousness - he knew that in front of an existence like the Silver Dragon King, any lie could be easily exposed, but he still wanted to struggle a little longer and try his best to hide the fact that he knew the secret of the original work.
Gu Yuena looked at him, pretending to be innocent, shook her head slightly, and a knowing smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. She said to Xue Tianxing:
"Alright, stop pretending. You still carry the aura of the Ice God. Although faint, I can sense it. I never imagined the Ice God would choose to pass on the throne to a human. I thought she would leave this legacy to the two soul beasts in the far north—the Ice Emperor and the Snow Emperor. After all, they both belong to the ice element and have a deep connection with the Ice God."
These words exploded in Xue Tianxing's ears like thunder, and he knew that his cover-up had completely failed.
Xue Tianxing took a deep breath, suppressed the panic in his heart, stopped pretending, and said frankly:
"Lord Ice God did mention the inheritance, but he said that I would have to wait until my soul power reaches level 70 before he could begin the Ice God Divine Test for me. He didn't mention any mark now."
Having said that, Xue Tianxing frowned, his eyes full of doubts, and then continued to ask:
"I really don't understand why you can sense the aura of the Ice God on me?"
Gu Yuena raised her hand and poked the bonfire. Sparks danced in the night, causing a complex light to flash in her eyes:
"The Ice God is right. It's a rule to start the Divine Test at level 70, but that doesn't stop her from leaving a mark on you in advance.
The reason you can't feel it is that this mark can only be sensed by god-level beings. It won't affect your cultivation or your life in any way. It's more like an "identity mark."
Xue Tianxing was still puzzled and asked:
"Why did Lord Ice God mark me in advance? Since the Divine Test doesn't start until level 70, what's the point of leaving the mark now?"
Gu Yuena raised her eyes and looked at him, her gaze becoming deep, as if she could see through the mist of time and space:
"The purpose of this mark is far more important than you imagine. The Ice God is doing this to pave the way for you and to protect you."