"Which one?"
Xuan Zi's voice became dry and raspy.
The Ten Great Vicious Beasts were the true emperors of the Soul Beast World, terrifying existences capable of standing on equal footing with—or even surpassing—the top human experts.
Any single one of them was enough to incite a massive upheaval.
And now, Zhang Lexuan said they had encountered... a dying Vicious Beast?
How could this be?! What kind of existence could drive a Vicious Beast into such a desperate corner?
Zhang Lexuan's gaze slowly swept across everyone present, and then, word by word, she spoke the name that was familiar to them all.
"The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion."
This name was like a bolt of thunder from the Nine Heavens, exploding within the Sea God's Pavilion.
Everyone's expression changed drastically upon hearing that name.
As Titled Douluo, they were all too familiar with the Ice Empress, ranked seventh among the Ten Great Vicious Beasts.
If the previous news had merely shocked them, then this news was enough to leave them utterly horrified.
"What... was its condition at the time?"
Mu En's aged voice finally spoke for the first time.
He slowly opened his eyes, and deep within those seemingly clouded pupils, it was as if stars were shifting.
"Heavily injured and on the verge of death."
Zhang Lexuan's reply was concise and firm.
"And then?"
Mu En pressed further.
Zhang Lexuan took a deep breath and spoke the words that completely set the room ablaze.
"Then... in its final moments of life, it chose Caelus."
"To preserve its own life and will, it used a method akin to sacrifice to completely fuse its nearly four-hundred-thousand-year cultivation, Origin, and Soul with Caelus..."
"It... became Caelus's... Second Martial Soul."
"Clang—"
With a crisp sound, the half-eaten chicken leg in Xuan Zi's hand dropped onto the mirror-smooth Golden Wood floor, becoming stained with dust.
But he didn't notice at all; he just stood there with his mouth agape and eyes wide, as if he had been turned to stone.
Beside him, the moment Yan Shaozhe heard the words "Second Martial Soul," he suddenly bolted upright from his chair.
Due to his violent movement, the chair beneath him was pushed back, scraping against the floor with a sharp, piercing screech.
But no one paid any attention to that.
Everyone's eyes were fixed intently on Zhang Lexuan, their faces filled with shock, horror, and disbelief.
"Lexuan... what... what did you just say?!"
Yan Shaozhe's voice trembled violently from extreme excitement.
"A Second Martial Soul?! The Ice Empress... became Caelus's Second Martial Soul?!"
"Yes, Dean Yan," Zhang Lexuan answered with certainty.
"Then... that means..."
Yan Shaozhe's breathing became incredibly heavy, his chest heaving violently and his fists clenched tight. His eyes, usually full of majesty, were now brimming with the light of pleasant surprise.
"That means Caelus... now possesses the Ultimate Ice attribute?!"
'Ultimate Ice.'
These two words were far too important to Yan Shaozhe.
How many years had he been searching?!
To suppress the increasingly violent Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul within his most prized Disciple, Ma Xiaotao, he had searched almost the entire continent.
He had mobilized all the resources of Shrek Academy and issued countless missions, all just to find a Soul Master with the Ultimate Ice attribute.
But how rare was an Ultimate attribute? It was a legend that might not even appear once among hundreds of millions of Soul Masters.
He had searched for so many years without finding even a single clue.
He had even been on the verge of despair, forced to watch helplessly as Ma Xiaotao's future slid step by step into the abyss of losing control.
But now...
The hope he had bitterly pursued and failed to obtain had actually delivered itself to his doorstep in such a dramatic and unbelievable fashion.
As one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, the Ice Empress was undoubtedly a provider of one hundred percent pure Ultimate Ice.
And Caelus, who had fused with the Ice Empress and gained a Second Martial Soul, must have inherited that attribute.
'Xiaotao... Xiaotao is saved.'
'Hahaha, the heavens haven't forsaken Xiaotao!'
Yan Shaozhe shouted in wild joy within his heart, his entire body trembling with excitement.
At this moment, he wished he could charge out of the Sea God's Pavilion immediately to find Caelus and verify everything.
The other elders didn't blame Yan Shaozhe for his loss of composure.
Ma Xiaotao's situation was no secret within the Sea God's Pavilion.
They all understood Yan Shaozhe's current feelings.
"A miracle... this is simply an unheard-of miracle..."
Cai Meier also stood up, her eyes brimming with tears as she murmured to herself.
"Using a Vicious Beast as a Martial Soul... this has already exceeded our understanding of Martial Soul theory..."
Elder Zhuang stroked his long beard and spoke in shock.
Among those present, only Mu En, sitting at the head, remained calm.
"Silence."
Mu En spoke indifferently. His voice wasn't loud, yet it seemed to carry a strange power that instantly calmed the ecstatic Yan Shaozhe and the shocked crowd.
Yan Shaozhe also realized his loss of composure. He took a few deep breaths and sat back down, but his eyes remained fixed on Zhang Lexuan, full of urgency.
"Alright, everyone sit down."
Mu En's gaze swept over the group.
"Now is not the time for excitement. Lexuan, continue."
After the brief commotion, another elder, Elder Lin, Lin Huiqun, raised a crucial point.
Her expression was much calmer than the others, and her focus was entirely different.
"Lexuan girl, never mind that boy Caelus for a moment. What I'm more concerned about is, why was the Ice Empress heavily injured and on the verge of death?"
Her voice was deep, carrying a hint of solemnity.
"To be able to drive a Vicious Beast with nearly four hundred thousand years of cultivation to a dead end, the opponent's strength must be extraordinary. What exactly happened in the Extreme North Land?"
Elder Lin's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone's heated heads.
It was true.
Behind a massive Opportunity often hides a massive crisis.
An existence capable of heavily injuring the Ice Empress could just as easily threaten Shrek Academy.
Everyone's hearts tightened once again.
However, faced with this question, Zhang Lexuan shook her head regretfully.
A trace of helplessness appeared on her face.
"Elder Lin, I cannot give a definitive answer regarding that point."
"After fusing with Caelus, the Ice Empress immediately fell into a deep slumber and has yet to wake up."
"Could it be the Snow Empress? Or the Titan Snow Demon King? Has internal strife broken out among the Soul Beasts of the Extreme North?"
Xuan Zi speculated.
"I cannot be certain."
Zhang Lexuan shook her head.
"But I have a premonition that this incident in the Extreme North Land likely has everything to do with the Nirvana Corpses we've been investigating."
"After all, the Nirvana Corpses were abnormally gathering in the Extreme North Land on a large scale. It's hard for me not to think of them."
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