Chapter 137 Coercion
Even the three Soul Douluo elders felt their souls tremble, their strength suppressed by at least 30%!
"I will indeed go with you." Qian Renxue slowly stepped towards the study door, "but not now."
With each step she took, a footprint burning with golden holy flames was left on the ground. The holy flames did not die out, scorching deep dents into the stone floor.
"Tell Emperor Xue Ye," Qian Renxue's voice, amplified by divinity, was like the sound of judgment, resounding throughout the entire palace, "the Crown Prince Xue Qinghe of the Heaven Dou Empire, from this day forward... ceases to exist."
"I, Qian Renxue, the young master of the Spirit Hall's Hall of Elders, inheritor of the Angel God—"
She stopped at the door, glancing back.
That glance was dazzling with golden light, like a god looking down upon the mortal world.
"I will be at the Spirit Hall, waiting for him to come and demand an explanation."
As her voice fell, the six-winged phantom behind her reappeared, fluttering gently.
"Boom—!!!"
Golden holy flames shot into the sky, completely blasting the dome of the study away!
Qian Renxue's figure transformed into a golden streak of light, breaking through the encirclement of the imperial guards, breaching the palace's barrier, and soaring into the clouds, hurtling towards the direction of Martial Soul City.
"Stop her!"
The elders finally reacted and hurriedly gave chase.
But how could their speed keep up with Qian Renxue, who had activated her Angelic Domain and was empowered by divinity?
They could only watch helplessly as the golden streak of light disappeared into the horizon.
Inside the Heavenly Dou Imperial Palace, Emperor Xueye, gazing at the blown-away dome and the direction Qian Renxue had gone, finally collapsed, spitting out a mouthful of blood and fainting.
"Your Majesty! Quickly summon the imperial physician!"
"Block the news! Block the news!"
"The young master of the Martial Soul Hall has escaped... The Heavenly Dou Empire is about to descend into chaos..."
Chaos descended completely.
And this chaos had only just begun.
Qian Renxue's rise to power and subsequent escape were like a key that opened Pandora's box.
The fragile balance that had held sway over the continent for decades was shattered in this moment.
A full-scale confrontation between the Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire was inevitable.
And Seagod Island, the Far North, the Deep Sea Demon Whale… all the various forces would make their own choices in this chaos.
The storm had arrived.
In the Far North, outside the Ten Thousand Year Ice Cave.
Blizzards were a constant theme here, but today's snow was exceptionally strange.
It was no longer a chaotic, disorderly descent, but rather swirling and condensing with a mysterious rhythm, forming enormous whirlpools of ice and snow above the icy plains.
At the center of the whirlpools, the faint, icy-blue phoenix phantom could be seen flashing by, emitting a clear and melodious cry that pierced through the wind and snow, echoing across the vast icy plains.
The Ice Emperor stood atop an ice cliff, his azure eyes fixed on a distant direction, his brow furrowed.
"This aura…it's not my sister's ice and snow laws, nor is it my extreme cold power," she murmured to herself, her voice tinged with rare confusion. "It's more like…an ancient power, a power that dances with the sky and snow."
Behind her, on the icy plains, tens of thousands of Arctic spirit beasts prostrated themselves, bowing in the same direction.
Titan Snow Demons, Ice Jade Scorpions, Snow Leopards, Frost Giant Bears…these powerful beings, who dominated their respective regions in the far north, all displayed instinctive awe.
It was a suppression at the level of bloodlines.
It was as if something superior to all Arctic creatures was awakening in that region.
"Is it there..."
The Ice Empress gazed towards the area where the blizzard raged most fiercely—one of the most famous forbidden areas in the far north, "Ice Phoenix Valley."
Legend has it that in ancient times, a divine beast-level ice phoenix perished here, its divine blood spilling across the icy plains, creating this forbidden land of perpetual blizzards.
No spirit beast in the far north dared to set foot here easily, for the lingering pressure of the ice phoenix within the valley possessed absolute suppression over all avian spirit beasts, and a similarly strong deterrent against other spirit beasts.
But at this moment, that pressure was undergoing a change.
From a deathly stillness, it transformed into... vibrant life.
"Could it be..."
The Ice Empress's pupils constricted slightly, "...that girl?"
She remembered a human girl who had ventured alone into the far north, kneeling before Ice Phoenix Valley for seven days and seven nights, ultimately gaining the recognition of a wisp of ice phoenix remnant soul within, and fusing with the legendary "Extreme Cold Ice Phoenix" martial soul.
At the time, the Ice Empress had happened to be cultivating nearby, sensing that aura, and had observed it from afar.
The girl was only fifteen or sixteen years old, her soul power merely at the Soul King level, yet she had withstood the fusion impact of the remnant soul of the Ice Phoenix, her unwavering will even drawing her attention.
Later, the girl spent two years training in the far north, hunting for soul rings, and her cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.
The Ice Emperor occasionally sensed her aura, knowing she was growing rapidly, but didn't pay much attention—after all, human soul masters cultivating ice and snow attributes in the far north, though rare, had historical precedents.
But now it seemed…
"The Goddess Ranking… even she has been drawn to it?" A complex emotion flashed in the Ice Emperor's eyes.
She knew the girl's name—Shui Bing'er.
Deep within Ice Phoenix Valley.
Here, there was no raging blizzard outside, but rather an eerie tranquility.
At the bottom of the valley was a vast ice lake, its surface smooth as a mirror, reflecting the sky.
But the sky held neither sun nor moon nor stars, only an eternal ice-blue canopy, emitting a faint glow.
In the center of the lake, a lotus platform entirely carved from ten-thousand-year-old black ice floated in the air.
On the platform, a figure sat cross-legged.
It was a girl who looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, with a cold and exquisitely beautiful face, skin as white as snow , and long, ice-blue hair that reached her waist, the ends of which were naturally adorned with tiny ice crystals.
She wore a simple ice-blue long dress, the hem embroidered with phoenix wings, the patterns now emitting a faint blue light. It was Shui Bing'er.
Her eyes were closed, her breathing long and deep, with each exhale and inhale, ice-blue air currents flowing between her mouth and nose.
Behind her, a huge phantom of an ice phoenix silently floated, its wingspan exceeding ten zhang, each feather composed of exquisite ice crystals, refracting a dreamlike luster under the fluorescent light.
The Extreme Cold Ice Phoenix Martial Soul, fully manifested!
Even more astonishing was her Soul Ring configuration—black, black, black, black, black, black, red!
Seven Soul Rings, six black and one red, silently hovering around her. The single red spirit ring was vividly bright, radiating the terrifying aura of a 100,000-year-old spirit beast, while the six black spirit rings were all so deep they were almost purple, clearly high-quality 10,000-year spirit rings.
In the history of Douluo Continent, no one at the Spirit Saint level had ever possessed such a terrifying spirit ring configuration.
This was thanks to the opportunity she obtained three years ago in Ice Phoenix Valley—the fusion with the Extreme Cold Ice Phoenix Martial Soul. This not only granted her a divine beast-level Martial Soul but also caused a fundamental transformation in her body, enabling her to withstand spirit ring ages far exceeding those of other spirit masters of the same level.
And now, these seven spirit rings were resonating in some way.
(End of chapter)