Chapter 284 Overbearing Terms, Divine Power Appears.
"Xue'er, haven't you noticed that I'm no longer a physical being?" Ice Emperor didn't answer Snow Emperor's question but asked instead.
"Not a physical being? Impossible! I can still clearly feel the touch of your body." Snow Emperor exclaimed in surprise.
"And now?" As soon as Ice Emperor finished speaking, her physical body became transparent, finally turning into a ball of green light.
"Bing'er, Bing'er, what's going on? It's all my fault, it's all my fault. I should have waited, waited to help you through the tribulation four hundred thousand years later, and then I would have transformed into a human! Waaah~!" As Snow Emperor asked, she seemed to think of some bad outcome and suddenly burst into tears of self-reproach.
A soul beast without a physical body, only its spiritual essence, can only be in one situation: death. At that time, she only had a few decades left before her seven hundred thousand-year limit, while Ice Emperor had more than two hundred years left before her four hundred thousand-year limit. Her remaining time could not be allowed to wait any longer; if she didn't transform into a human, she would only die under the tribulation.
In Xue Di's calculations, after transforming into human form, she would use her primordial soul power, compressed for 700,000 years, to aid her cultivation. Within fifty years, she would break through to the Limit Douluo level, and then help Bing Di overcome her tribulation and find the path to godhood. There would be plenty of time. But she never expected to receive such devastating news today. Not only was Bing Di dead, but she too was about to die at the hands of humans.
"Good Xue'er, don't cry. Look, I'm alright now!" An unprecedented scene unfolded as Bing Di comforted Xue Di.
"Bing'er, how did you become like this?" After grieving over their shared misfortune, Xue Di asked the most crucial question.
Bing Di took a deep breath and began by recounting how Tianmeng Ice Silkworm had taken Wu Xuan to the far north to find her. She then introduced the God-Making Plan, the Wisdom Soul Ring, and described Wu Xuan's terrifying cultivation speed and his feat of defying a Title Douluo as a Soul Emperor. Finally, she revealed that when Wu Xuan broke through to Soul Emperor, he constructed his first Soul Core and, carrying their spiritual power, sensed the heaven-defying actions of the God Realm.
At first, Xue Di listened silently, but her emotions grew increasingly turbulent as the story progressed.
Finally, she let out a long sigh: "A sixteen-year-old Soul Saint is equivalent to a human completing in just ten years what a top-tier Soul Beast would take fifty or sixty thousand years to cultivate. Such talent is truly astonishing. I am not as good as him."
"Right, right! Xue'er, you also think highly of his talent, don't you?" Bing Di said with some delight.
The Snow Empress nodded slightly, then said meaningfully, "But Bing'er, have you considered whether that human is truly trustworthy? Humans have always harbored hatred towards our Soul Beast race. You've helped him become a god; what if he betrays you in the end? Besides, being able to sense the God Realm doesn't guarantee godhood. How many people in our long lives have reached the level of a god? Do you think that human has the qualifications?"
The Ice Empress retorted, "Xue'er, you have too many concerns. To accomplish great things, one must have the courage to do great things. There's nothing in this world that's 100% certain. At least I think he's trustworthy. If he's trustworthy, why can't I take a gamble? Moreover, I believe that in this era, there's truly no one whose talent can match that guy's. If even he can't succeed, then what's the point of you, Xue'er, transforming yourself into a human?"
"Besides, the price I pay is only about two hundred years of my life. If I gamble wrong, I can simply die early. But if I gamble right, the reward will far surpass those two hundred years of life—it's immortality." The Ice Empress's eyes were filled with unparalleled determination as she finished speaking.
Upon hearing this, Xue Di remained silent for a long time. The words that Bing Di had spoken to her touched her deeply. Her decision to embark on the path of human transformation and rebirth was also driven to desperation by reality. If she had another choice, she vowed that no matter how much pain she had to endure, she would never choose the path of human transformation.
The gamble she made by transforming into a human and rebuilding her cultivation was the three or four hundred years of life she would gain after that. Meanwhile, the Ice Empress gambled her remaining two hundred years of life with a human on a greater future. What was the difference between their actions?
"Bing'er! Perhaps your choice is right." The Snow Empress slowly uttered these words, turning her head away, her eyes devoid of their former brilliance.
Ten thousand years ago, the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, just one step away from becoming a million-year-old soul beast, the most likely soul beast to reach godhood, ultimately died at the hands of the Sea God's inheritor. Perhaps soul beasts truly cannot become gods; she chose the wrong path.
"Xue'er, actually, the reason that guy came to the vicinity of the Far North to find you this time was because of my request." The Ice Empress forcefully turned the Snow Empress's head.
"????" The Snow Empress was momentarily furious upon hearing this. So, all the beating she received was the Ice Empress's fault.
"Xue'er, don't look at me like that! Why would I come to you if there wasn't something beneficial?" The Ice Empress felt uncomfortable under the Snow Empress's gaze and quickly explained.
Benefits? Recalling the previous events, Xue Di was furious. This so-called benefit was that she, the ruler of the far north who had never suffered the slightest grievance, had been humiliated by a human? And now she was a prisoner.
Just as Xue Di was about to speak, a calm male voice suddenly rang out. "You've talked enough. Xue Di, can you calm down and listen to my plan?" Wu Xuan's voice came first from within the wind barrier, followed by his figure.
Xue Di's expression was still somewhat unnatural as she looked at Wu Xuan, but she nodded. "Go ahead!"
Seeing Xue Di's cooperative nod, Wu Xuan told her about the vacant martial soul slot brought by the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, and then about Xiao Xiao's situation and the destruction of her second martial soul.
"Second martial soul? Is this why you captured me?" Xue Di was intelligent enough to understand Wu Xuan's intentions without needing a full explanation.
But after the previous humiliation, Xue Di subconsciously didn't refute Wu Xuan's unreasonable demand.
"Good, I've explained the current situation fairly well. You now have two choices. First, you can voluntarily cooperate to become Xiao Xiao's second martial soul. Firstly, this second martial soul isn't something only you can do; if it weren't for the Ice Emperor's recommendation, I wouldn't have had the time to travel all over the far north to find you."
"Secondly, following me to achieve godhood and eternal life is no longer a gamble!" Wu Xuan didn't speak, but his eyes narrowed slightly, instantly turning a brilliant silver. Under the fluctuation of this strange power, the Snow Emperor and Ice Emperor's expressions changed, because they sensed a power from the silver light that didn't belong to this world.
"Divine power...this is divine power!" The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, who had been watching the scene unfold within his spiritual sea, trembled with excitement. Possessing divine power meant that becoming a god for Wu Xuan was no longer a matter of probability, but a matter of precise timing.
(End of Chapter)