Chapter 182 - Chapter 182 Illusion

As the voice fell, a door on the side of the Ice God Palace suddenly opened.Inside was a brand-new space, entirely forged from Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice. Every inch of the icy surface reflected shifting brilliance, as if countless stars were floating within it.The moment the Ice Empress, the Snow Empress, and Ao Yao stepped into this space, an ice mirror three zhang tall appeared directly in front of the Ice Empress—the mirror surface was as smooth as a whetstone, yet the figures of the Snow Empress and Ao Yao were not upon it; only the Ice Empress's own reflection remained."Go ahead, Bing'er. I believe you can do it."With the Snow Empress's encouragement, the Ice Empress took a deep breath and walked slowly toward the ice mirror. With every step closer, she could feel a strange power pulling at her Soul.Her gaze was locked tightly onto the ice mirror, yet a trace of unease inexplicably surged in her heart.She had taken Ao Yao's guess to heart—if this third trial truly was a Heart-Questioning Illusion, then the test would no longer be about her strength, but her inner heart.Therefore, the Ice Empress truly felt uncertain.But the God Trial would not give her a chance to escape.In an instant, the mirror surface rippled like a lake into which a stone had been thrown. The Ice Empress felt an irresistible suction coming from the mirror, and her consciousness was instantly pulled into a completely unfamiliar World.When she opened her eyes again, she had become a human girl.She looked down at her hands—slender, fair, with distinct knuckles; they were the hands of a human girl. She wore an ice-blue long dress and stood on the street of a bustling city. Traffic flowed like water, skyscrapers stood tall, and the glow of neon lights wove into a brilliant tapestry in the night sky.This was... the human World.Perhaps, not just an ordinary human World.The Ice Empress looked at the vehicles suspended in mid-air, the buildings covered in energy shields, and the pedestrians of various styles coming and going on the streets; her heart suddenly shuddered.This was definitely not the World she knew.The scenes before her eyes gave her a strong sense of disconnection."Bingbing, what are you dazed for? Let's go, we're going to be late!"A crisp voice came from behind. The Ice Empress turned around and saw a girl with a high ponytail looking at her with a beaming smile. The girl wore a capable professional suit, and pinned to her chest was a badge shimmering with a faint glow—the mark of a spirit tool engineer."You are..." the Ice Empress asked subconsciously."Are you okay?" The girl blinked and reached out to touch the Ice Empress's forehead. "No fever. I'm Xue'er, your best friend! You haven't worked yourself silly with overtime, have you?"Xue'er...The Ice Empress silently repeated the name in her heart, and a strange feeling welled up.Along with this name, the entire setting of this World flooded into her consciousness—this was an era where spirit tool technology was highly developed, humans and Spirit Beasts had reached a peaceful coexistence agreement, and countless cities where humans and Spirit Beasts lived together had been established on the continent.And she, the Ice Empress, was the youngest Genius spirit tool engineer in the human World, currently participating in a spirit tool project that could further the cooperative symbiosis between humans and Spirit Beasts.After realizing this, the Ice Empress couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.So, this illusion believes that her deepest heart's desire is for humans and Spirit Beasts to live in harmony?Perhaps she did indeed have such a wish in her heart...But as long as she could become a God, everything could be changed!If a Spirit Beast becomes a God, even if those humans don't want to live in harmony with Spirit Beasts, they would be forced to do so!The Ice Empress's eyes suddenly sharpened, and all the scenes before her instantly vanished into thin air.In the next instant, the surrounding scenery underwent a World-shaking change.This time, she stood on a boundless ice field.The cold wind howled, and snowflakes fluttered; the World was a vast expanse of white. She was too familiar with this ice field—it was the Extreme North Land, the home where she had lived for hundreds of thousands of years.But what made her freeze was not the ice field, but a person standing in front of her.It was a woman in a long white dress, her long hair like a waterfall, her face cold and peerlessly beautiful. Piercing cold winds swirled around her, and the ice beneath her feet condensed into intricate ice flower patterns.The Snow Empress.No, that's not right.The Ice Empress's gaze moved past the woman and saw countless figures standing behind her. Some of those figures had taken human form, while others remained in their Spirit Beast forms, densely covering the entire ice field. And at the very front of these figures, besides the Snow Empress, there were several figures she was extremely familiar with.Di Tian, the Myriad Demon King, Brigitte, Bear Lord, and the Evil Eye Tyrant Overlord.Almost all the top powerhouses of the Spirit Beast World were present.And the way they looked at the Ice Empress was not with their usual scrutiny or wariness, but with a kind of... respect that made her skin crawl."Your Majesty Ice Empress," the Snow Empress spoke first, her voice clear and respectful, "please give your orders."The Ice Empress opened her mouth, but before she could speak, she felt an unprecedented power surging within her body. That power was as vast as the sea and as majestic as a mountain, as if the Law of the entire World was under her control.She looked down at her hands—no, they could no longer be called hands. Her entire body was covered in a layer of crystal-clear ice crystals. Those ice crystals were not external objects, but a part of her body. She could feel herself merging with this ice field, feel the falling trajectory of every snowflake, and feel the flow direction of every trace of cold wind.She was the Dominator of this World.No, she was the Dominator of the entire continent.Countless memories flooded into her consciousness like a tide—she had succeeded, she had completed all the trials of the Ice God and inherited the Ice God's God Position. She had become the first Divinity in the history of Spirit Beasts, the most powerful existence on the entire continent. Under her leadership, Spirit Beasts were no longer objects to be hunted by humans, but a race on equal footing with humanity. Those once-arrogant human powerhouses could only bow in submission before her.And at this moment, she was standing on the ice field of the Extreme North Land, having summoned all the Spirit Beast powerhouses, preparing to launch the final decisive battle against the human World.Everything seemed so wonderful.To be honest, the Ice Empress almost indulged in it.Except for one thing.Xue'er.Even if she successfully completed all the Ice God's trials and achieved the position of the Ice God, her Xue'er would never be so distant and polite to her, let alone be so respectful.Nor did she need Xue'er to be respectful toward her.Therefore... an illusion is, after all, just an illusion.Furthermore, even if she truly achieved the Ice God's God Position, such a thing was destined not to happen.Ao Yao's figure suddenly surfaced in the Ice Empress's mind.Though she didn't want to admit it, the Ice Empress knew in her heart that as long as Ao Yao was there, such a thing in the illusion could never happen.Ao Yao would absolutely never be willing to see such a scene.