"Rise!"
Inside the Ice God's Temple in the Extreme North.
Complex array runes flooded the grand hall, layering over each other like a vast galaxy, leaving the soul beasts staring in astonishment.
At Chen Junting's soft shout, the array runes seemed to come alive, curling and twisting. And when the origin of the runes descended upon the Ice God statue at the center...
Swish—
A dazzling ice-blue radiance instantly bloomed.
Cold!
Unprecedented cold!
It felt like being stripped bare and trapped within ten-thousand-year profound ice.
Just moments ago, when the origin of the array runes was about to land on the Ice God statue, Chen Junting had already been ready to strike. Now, the Zhuxian (Immortal Execution) Array Diagram spread out rapidly like a massive net covering the heavens.
Streaks of killing intent, destructive aura, and chilling air... cascaded down one after another, enveloping both himself and Gu Tianchen. As for Huo Yuhao... this was also no small opportunity for him.
"The temperature dropped so low in an instant!"
Gu Tianchen looked around and found that the hall's walls, forged from ice-attribute materials, were actually coated in white frost. Even the stone statues were the same; nothing was spared.
One could imagine just how low the temperature outside the Zhuxian Array Diagram was at this moment.
If it weren't for the protection of the Zhuxian Array Diagram, the moment they came into contact with that ice-blue chill, everyone except for Yuhao—a true Ultimate Ice Soul Master—would have been frozen into solid ice.
Afterward, he shifted his gaze to the others: the people, the soul beasts, and the Spirit Souls. He discovered that they had all fallen into absolute silence, as if...
"They've all fallen into an epiphany." Chen Junting, with the Zhuxian Array Diagram suspended above his head, walked over to Gu Tianchen and said.
"An epiphany?"
Gu Tianchen frowned slightly. "How long will that take?"
They couldn't stay here for too long.
"It won't be long."
Chen Junting's Heavenly Eye, which he hadn't closed, looked toward the Ice God statue. Through the perspective of his Heavenly Eye, the wisp of divine nature within the Ice God statue, carried by the Power of Faith, was continuously radiating outward.
One could say this was a gift from the Ice God. Of course, this was only effective for ice-attribute Soul Masters, soul beasts, and even Spirit Souls.
Because of this, Huo Yuhao's two Spirit Souls—the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Imperial Tooth Sea Lion—emerged from his Spiritual Sea to hover outside.
And so, "Just wait. It will be over soon."
The facts were exactly as Chen Junting had predicted. Over the next half a day, the radiating divine nature and Power of Faith gradually weakened. It wasn't until the impact on Huo Yuhao, the Snow Emperor, and the others faded to almost nothing that they slowly opened their eyes.
Hiss— Huuh— "The temperature is so low."
The moment he opened his eyes, Huo Yuhao shivered from the cold within the temple. Of course, this wasn't because his Ultimate Ice constitution couldn't handle the cold, but rather because the temperature in the temple was simply too low, triggering Huo Yuhao's instincts as a human.
"You're awake."
Hearing the voice, Huo Yuhao looked over and saw Chen Junting.
"Brother Junting."
"Mhm."
Giving a slight nod as a response, Chen Junting then asked, "Did you gain anything from this epiphany?"
"Yes! And a massive harvest at that!"
Mentioning his gains, Huo Yuhao instantly grew excited.
"I'm confident I can condense a Soul Core now."
Hearing this, Chen Junting wasn't surprised at all, but Gu Tianchen looked over in astonishment. He truly hadn't expected that before he had even condensed his own Soul Core, Yuhao would beat him to it.
Chen Junting, however, just raised an eyebrow. "The Ultimate Ice."
"Right, the Ultimate Ice."
Previously, Huo Yuhao's original plan was to rely on the Evil Eye Tyrant Soul he obtained from his seventh Soul Ring, coupled with a 100,000-year Merfolk he planned to contract upon breaking through to level eighty, to condense his first Spiritual-type Soul Core.
After all, along his journey, his spiritual attributes were undoubtedly the most prominent. Even though his ice attributes had been guided by the Snow Emperor and taught personally by the Ice Emperor, they still fell slightly short. But the gift from the Ice God today had greatly improved his comprehension of the ice attribute—even if it wasn't a meteoric rise, it was still a substantial leap.
"Not bad."
He offered praise without hesitation, then suddenly changed the subject. "When do you plan to condense your Soul Core?"
"Uh..."
Huo Yuhao hesitated for a moment, looking around the grand hall. He actually had an idea, but he figured it was best to ask for an opinion first.
"Brother Junting, what do you think?"
"Me?"
A smile played on Chen Junting's lips as he looked at the Ice God statue.
"I suggest you condense it right here."
Setting aside everything else, an Ultimate Ice Soul Master condensing a Soul Core here would very likely win the instinctive favor of that wisp of divine nature.
For Huo Yuhao, this would be another massive benefit.
"Alright."
Hearing that Brother Junting's suggestion perfectly matched his own thoughts, Huo Yuhao naturally had no intention of objecting. Under Chen Junting's guidance, he walked beneath the statue and sat down cross-legged.
Seeing this, the awakened Ice Emperor, Heavenly Dream, and the other four Spirit Souls naturally showed their full support, instantly transforming into two streaks of flowing light and merging into Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Sea. At the same time, the Spirit-Gathering Array within the Guardian Grand Array suddenly accelerated its operation, beginning to draw in the Heaven and Earth Yuanqi at a faster rate and infusing it into him.
"Alright, since Yuhao is going to cultivate and condense his Soul Core here, let's go outside and set up the second core of the grand array."
Chen Junting's words instantly drew the attention of the soul beasts back.
"A second core? What do you mean?"
Regarding the Titan Snow Demon King's confusion, Chen Junting patiently provided an explanation. "It means I'm going to set up another grand array and link it to the current one to trigger them simultaneously."
"You don't think that this single array alone can block a Limit Douluo-tier expert, do you? That's underestimating them way too much."
The soul beasts thought about it for a moment and immediately felt it made sense, so they took the initiative to ask what materials were needed for this second core.
"Corpses. And they must be those that fell under a Heavenly Tribulation."
That's right, this second core array was the Heavenly Tribulation Array. Only this array could threaten an Ultimate-tier expert in terms of offensive power. In Chen Junting's blueprint, the Extreme Cold Array would handle control, while the Heavenly Tribulation Array would handle offense. Only by attacking on both fronts could the Extreme North remain worry-free.
Instantly, the soul beasts were in a bind.
Corpses were easy to talk about, but corpses that had fallen under a Heavenly Tribulation...
To put it bluntly, most of them were reduced to ash. Only soul beasts with incredibly robust physiques had a chance of leaving anything behind.
As a result, the soul beasts' gazes shifted to the Titan Snow Demon King.
In the Extreme North, if the Titan Snow Demon race claimed to have the second strongest physiques, absolutely no other race would dare to claim the first.
In this regard, even the Ice Emperor and the Snow Emperor were inferior.
"Uh..."
The Titan Snow Demon King scratched his head in difficulty. "I can only go dig around and see if I can find my father's intact corpse."
As he said this, the Titan Snow Demon King didn't show the slightest psychological barrier. In his eyes, anyway, the Titan Snow Demon race was forever loyal to the Extreme North. Being able to continue guarding the Extreme North even after death was the greatest glory for their kind.
As for the question of whether he could actually find it...
Ah Tai's father was the previous clan leader of the Titan Snow Demons. His cultivation had reached an astonishing five hundred-something thousand years. Unfortunately, when facing his six hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation, he had been heavily injured by another ferocious beast-tier soul beast right before it. Although he managed to kill that soul beast, he couldn't survive the tribulation.
Afterward, Ah Tai had buried him deep beneath the ice field.
Now, a hundred thousand years had passed. Times had changed, and under the heavy snow, whether he could actually find it was indeed no small challenge.
"Let's try looking first." Chen Junting didn't force it. "It's best if the corpse is intact, but if it isn't, it's not a big deal."
"Alright."
Seeing this, Chen Junting said to Gu Tianchen, "Old Gu, send us up. Also, please keep an eye on Yuhao."
"No problem."
After leaving the temple, which could affect spatial powers, a ripple appeared in the void, and the Void Gate opened.
Afterward, everyone except for Huo Yuhao and Gu Tianchen, who was watching over him, was transferred out—Chen Junting and the soul beasts.
Whoosh—Whoosh—
Above the ice field, a thousand miles were frozen, and ten thousand miles of snow drifted.
Under the influence of the earlier eruption of divine nature, snow had begun to fall in the core region of the Extreme North. The goose-feather snow obscured the view of the surroundings.
At this moment, the Void Gate opened wide.
Chen Junting and the others returned to the surface.
"You should all go back and search. If the Titan Snow Demon side can't find anything, maybe you all will have some luck. Remember, as long as it carries the aura of a Heavenly Tribulation, it will work."
"Okay." ×N
Hearing this, the soul beasts immediately dispersed.
Thus, only the Snow Emperor remained by Chen Junting's side.
"What are you planning to do next?"
"First, I'll look for a suitable location."
He stomped on the snow beneath his feet, producing a series of crunching sounds.
"The dragon vein in your core region has its dragon head right here beneath my feet. So, I say we set up the core of the second array in this spot. One above, one below..."
Chen Junting spoke while demonstrating with his hands.
He held his palms parallel, one above the other, and then pressed down.
It was simple and easy to understand for those watching.
However, at this moment, the Snow Emperor revealed a thoughtful look, tapping her slender, jade-like forearms with her fingers.
"You say..."
"What?"
The howling wind and snow filled their ears. Chen Junting turned his head to look at the Snow Emperor, wanting to hear what she was about to say.
"If Ah Tai can find his father's intact corpse, could you transform it just like you did for Ah Bao?"
The "Ah Bao" the Snow Emperor mentioned naturally referred to Tyrant.
Understanding the Snow Emperor's intent, Chen Junting frowned slightly.
"You want me to transform his intact corpse into an undead creature, and then have this ferocious beast—which possessed nearly six hundred thousand years of cultivation in life—coordinate with the two grand arrays to guard the Extreme North together. Right."
The Snow Emperor nodded, indicating he was exactly right.
Chen Junting thought about it for a moment.
"It's not impossible. But will he agree?"
"Ah Tai won't refuse."
Just as the Titan Snow Demon King was willing to dig up his own father's corpse, as long as it could protect the Extreme North, the Titan Snow Demon race was willing to pay any price. One must not underestimate the Titan Snow Demons' bond with the Extreme North!
"Then I have no problem with it."
Transforming a ferocious beast's corpse into an undead creature held no drawbacks for Chen Junting, so why refuse?
Over the next two hours or so, Chen Junting continuously worked on setting up the second grand array. During this time, 100,000-year soul beasts returned one after another.
They all brought back some things, more or less. Everything carried the aura of a Heavenly Tribulation, but the auras contained within were frankly too thin, far inferior to an item like Di Tian's Reverse Scale.
Another half-hour passed...
"Forget it."
Seeing that the Titan Snow Demon King still hadn't returned, Chen Junting no longer held out much hope for whether he could actually find the corpse.
"If worse comes to worst, we'll just integrate these things. Although the effect will gradually deteriorate over time, it should still be sufficient for the Extreme North for the next few thousand years."
Saying this, Chen Junting prepared to make his final move.
Right at this moment, "Mm?"
Suddenly, Chen Junting and the soul beasts all sensed the aura of the Titan Snow Demon King approaching, along with the scent of a Heavenly Tribulation.
They looked in the direction the aura was coming from.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of heavy, powerful footsteps, accompanied by the crunching of snow, announced the arrival of a massive figure braving the wind and snow.
They saw the Titan Snow Demon King carrying a corpse twice his size on his back, appearing in the field of vision of Chen Junting and the soul beasts.
He slowly walked up to them. *Boom—*
He heavily dumped the corpse onto the ground, instantly denting the snow.
"I found it. Let's use my father's corpse as the array eye."
"Good."
After returning the materials found by the other soul beasts, Chen Junting began to set up the array on the previous Titan Snow Demon King's corpse. However, before making the final move, he explained the Snow Emperor's idea to the current Titan Snow Demon King—that they wanted to turn his father's corpse into an undead creature—and explained what being an undead creature entailed.
The Titan Snow Demon King's reaction was exactly as the Snow Emperor had predicted. "No problem. Like I said, being able to continue guarding the Extreme North even after death is an honor for us Titan Snow Demons."
Such loyalty!
Letting out a sigh of emotion in his heart, Chen Junting got to work.
After having the Titan Snow Demon King move his father's corpse to the array eye, Chen Junting closed his eyes and then suddenly opened them. In an instant, both of his eyes turned gray, and a deathly still aura began to spread outward from Chen Junting's body.
He clenched his right hand, and golden light gathered from the void.
Swish—
Grey light flickered as what seemed like endless radiance converged from the surroundings, forming a tri-colored interwoven staff.
The one taking action this time wasn't Electrolux, but Chen Junting himself. Clearly, under Electrolux's guidance, the quick-witted Chen Junting had grasped the basics of some necromancy.
Of course, it was literally just the basics.
Such as transforming undead creatures.
At this moment, he gently tapped the tip of his staff, resting it on the corpse.
@νウж…
As the incantation was chanted, many unknown runes spilled from his lips. A grey six-pointed star array instantly appeared beneath the corpse, entirely enveloping its massive form.
The next second, a stream of black airflow flowed out from the dazzling tri-colored light at the tip of the staff, wrapping the corpse in an aura of death.
It didn't take long before two clusters of eerie green flames ignited within the corpse's empty eye sockets, and a roar echoed out.
"Roar—"
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