The chilling silence that followed the Lightning Douluo's descent into the Spectral Demiplane was broken by the quiet, almost imperceptible sound of the snow-dusted ground settling. The battle was over. The hunters were gone. The valley, though scarred by their brief, violent passage, was once again a sanctuary.
Huo Yuhao, his body still swaying from the profound exhaustion of the necromantic ritual, took a deep, steadying breath. The cold, ancient power of his new Martial Soul pulsed faintly within him, a quiet and sorrowful echo. He looked at the sites where the Titled Douluo had been annihilated, their physical forms erased but their worldly possessions left behind, scattered on the frozen earth like forgotten trinkets.
He turned his gaze up, to the colossal, magnificent form of the Beast God who floated silently in the sky above, a living mountain of shadow and authority.
"Lord Di Tian," Huo Yuhao said, his voice quiet but clear in the still air. He bowed his head respectfully. "We are indebted to your swift arrival. Without you, we would not have survived."
Di Tian's golden eye blinked slowly, an gesture of acknowledgement. 'The boy is polite, even after wielding a power that unsettled even me.'
"But the work is not yet finished," Huo Yuhao continued, his mind, despite its fatigue, already moving with a sharp, strategic clarity. "These men… they were powerful, and well-equipped. Their Soul Tools, their storage rings… they should not be left to rust in this wasteland."
Jin Xi, who had been standing guard with her Golden Dragon Spear held at the ready, turned her head, a curious glint in her ruby eyes. "Looting their corpses? An excellent idea, Yuhao. A fine human tradition. Let's see what shiny things these old birds were carrying."
"It is more than just about treasure, Xi'er," Huo Yuhao explained, his gaze sweeping over the battlefield. "The tools they wielded… several were Class 7, and a few were even Class 8. These are advanced weapons, the kind our family in the Star Dou Great Forest rarely encounters. We should gather them all."
He looked back up at Di Tian, his plan unfolding with a calm logic. "If we take these tools back, the Soul Beasts there can study them. They can test their strength against them in controlled spars. They can learn their weaknesses, understand their power. It will give them a vital edge against human hunting parties. Knowledge is a weapon as much as any claw or tooth."
His gaze hardened, a cold fire entering his eyes. "And most importantly… the God Sealing Altar. It must be among the possessions of the Sky-Rending Roc Douluo. We must find it. We must take it back to the forest and show it to everyone. Show them the depths of human depravity, the profane tools they have created to enslave the Soul Beasts. They must understand the true nature of the threat. And then… we must destroy it. A tool that dangerous, that blasphemous, should not be allowed to exist in this world."
Di Tian remained silent for a long moment, his immense golden eye fixed on the small boy. The proposal was not born of greed, but of a deep, strategic, and protective concern for the Soul Beasts. The boy was not just their craftsman or their alchemist; he was becoming their strategist, their protector. He, a human, was thinking more like a king of beasts than some of his own Ferocious Beast comrades.
A low, rumbling sound, a vibration that felt like the purr of a contented volcano, emanated from Di Tian's throat. It was the sound of profound approval.
'This child,' the Dragon King thought, a genuine satisfaction warming his ancient heart. 'He truly sees himself as one of us. His loyalty is not just a promise; it is etched into his very actions.'
"A wise plan," Di Tian's voice echoed in their minds, carrying the weight of his royal assent. "It will be done."
He did not need to descend. He simply waved a single, colossal claw. The space around the valley floor rippled. From the site where the Sky-Rending Roc had been erased, a shimmering storage ring and a small, ornate, and deeply unsettling silver altar shot into the air. From the other sites, more storage rings, a pair of shattered gauntlets, a broken whip, and the remnants of the lightning spear all flew upwards, drawn by an invisible force.
The items floated before Di Tian. He encased them all in a sphere of pure, compressed darkness. "I will take these back to the forest. I will convey your plan to the others. They will be pleased."
He then fixed his gaze on them one last time, his eye holding a new depth of concern. "Today's battle has been… illuminating. It has shown me the growing power of human tools, and the depths of their despicable scheming. The world outside the forest is more dangerous than I had thought."
The spatial tear he had arrived through began to swirl again, reopening the gateway to his own domain. "Do not be reckless, you two. And do not hesitate to use the scale again. Your safety is paramount. The hopes of two races now rest upon your small shoulders."
With a final, deep nod, the mighty dragon king turned and slipped back through the vortex of torn space. The rift sealed itself with a faint pop, and the crushing, absolute pressure of the Beast God vanished from the valley. He was gone.
The moment the last echo of his presence faded, the adrenaline that had sustained Huo Yuhao, the focus borrowed from Elder Yi, the sheer willpower that had held him upright, all evaporated at once.
His knees buckled. A wave of profound, bone-deep exhaustion washed over him, and the world tilted violently. He fell, not with a crash, but with a soft, boneless collapse.
He never hit the ground.
A pair of slender, impossibly strong arms wrapped around him, catching him and pulling him into a warm, supportive embrace. Jin Xi held him steady, her usual teasing demeanor completely gone, replaced by a genuine, fierce concern.
"Yuhao!" she cried, her voice sharp with worry. "You foolish boy! You pushed yourself too far!"
He leaned against her, his head resting against her shoulder, the scent of sunlight and wild freedom filling his senses. He was too tired to even feel embarrassed. He just felt… safe.
"I'm alright," he murmured, his voice barely a whisper. "Just… tired. So very tired."
She half-carried, half-dragged him over to a patch of the soft, glowing moss near the valley entrance, far enough away from the Snow Empress not to disturb her, but close enough to keep watch. She gently lowered him to the ground, propping his head up on her lap.
"Honestly," she chided softly, her fingers gently brushing the sweat-dampened hair from his forehead. "For a boy with so many powerful friends hidden in his soul, you have a terrible habit of trying to do his utmost even beyond his limits. Look at you. You look like a half-drowned kitten."
Huo Yuhao managed a weak, tired smile. He didn't have the energy to argue. He just closed his eyes, surrendering to the exhaustion and the comforting feeling of her gentle touch.
"My little craftsman," she whispered, her voice a soft purr. "So strong, and yet so fragile. Don't you worry. You rest. I will watch over you. I am your protector afterall."
He drifted off to sleep, lulled by the soft melody of her voice and the rhythmic, steady beat of her heart against his ear.
The next two days were a period of deep, healing rest. Huo Yuhao slept for almost a full twenty-four hours, his body and soul greedily soaking up the pure, ambient energy of the sacred valley to replenish his depleted reserves. Jin Xi never left his side, a silent, golden-haired sentinel. She would hunt for small ice-attribute beasts for them to eat, her Golden Dragon Spear making short work of any prey, and would sit with him, her presence a warm and constant reassurance.
His recovery was astonishingly fast. The alchemical pills had fundamentally reshaped his physique, and the Mysterious Heaven Technique was a marvel of restorative power. By the dawn of the second day, his Soul Power was not just full, but brimming, his meridians feeling wider and more resilient than ever before. His spiritual energy, which had been dangerously overdrafted, was now a calm, deep lake due to the cultivation of the Purple Demon Eyes and the presence of the new, grey orb of his third Martial Soul adding a strange, profound depth to it.
As he finally felt his strength return, his attention was drawn back to the center of the valley. The light around the Snow Empress was changing.
The brilliant, blinding white had begun to soften, to recede, coalescing around a single, humanoid form. The final, critical stage of her transformation was at hand.
Huo Yuhao and Jin Xi stood side-by-side, watching with bated breath. The last vestiges of light pulsed once, a gentle, cosmic sigh, and then faded completely, revealing what lay within.
The woman who knelt by the spring was a vision of pure, serene perfection.
If Jin Xi was the sun—radiant, golden, and full of a fiery, passionate life—then this new woman was the moon. Cool, silver, and possessing a quiet, untouchable, and ethereal grace.
Her hair was long, a cascade of pure, shimmering silver that seemed to capture the pale light of the northern sky. Her skin was as white and flawless as the freshly fallen snow of her namesake. Her features were delicate, elegant, and held a profound, regal calmness.
When she opened her eyes, they were the color of a clear, winter sky at dawn—a pale, luminous blue, holding a wisdom that was both ancient and startlingly clear. She was purity itself, an empress of ice and snow made manifest in human form. Her beauty was not a thing of fire and passion, but of serene, breathtaking elegance, just a fraction less startling than Jin Xi's, but no less profound.
As she slowly rose to her feet, a new power, immense and controlled, erupted from her.
One, two, three… seven brilliant red rings, each one pulsating with the unmistakable, terrifying power of a hundred-thousand-year-old spirit, materialized around her. They were a testament to her immense age and accumulated power.
And then, an eighth ring appeared.
It was not red. It was a breathtaking, luminous orange-gold. It was a color that spoke of a power that had transcended the hundred-thousand-year limit, a Soul Ring containing the very essence of her true, original power as the Heavenly Snow Woman.
Her aura solidified, the pressure of a true Soul Douluo, a being of the eighth ring, filling the valley. Behind her, the ethereal image of her Martial Soul took shape. It was her own form, a majestic, ethereal woman of ice and snow, radiating an aura of both Ultimate Snow and Ultimate Ice. The Heavenly Snow Woman.
She had succeeded. She had been reborn, not as a weak human, but as a powerhouse from the very start.
Jin Xi let out a low whistle of appreciation. "Well, she certainly didn't hold back. A Soul Douluo right from the start. Impressive."
Huo Yuhao simply smiled, a genuine happiness for her success filling his heart.
The Snow Empress—Xue'er, as her sister called her—looked at her new hands, her new body, a look of quiet wonder on her serene face. Then, her gaze fell upon the now-wilting Snow Lotus, its divine essence spent.
A vast, potent cloud of pure white origin energy, the accumulated power of her 700,000-year existence that she could not take with her into her new human form, began to dissipate from the flower, slowly bleeding back into the world.
It was a treasure beyond measure, an energy source that could create a new Ferocious Beast, given enough time. And it was simply… evaporating.
'It is time, disciple.'
Elder Yi's voice was a calm command in Huo Yuhao's mind.
Huo Yuhao nodded once, a silent acknowledgement. He closed his eyes and surrendered control.
The boy's youthful aura vanished, replaced once more by that deep, ancient, and sorrowful grey light. The new Snow Empress turned her head, her sky-blue eyes widening in shock as she felt the strange, divine pressure emanating from him. It was the same power she had felt when he had dealt with the Titled Douluo, a law that felt alien and absolute.
Elder Yi raised Huo Yuhao's hand. He did not need his staff. He focused his own immense spiritual will, now fully recovered and bolstered by the valley's pure energy.
"By my will, I bind thee. By my name, I claim thee," he chanted, the words ancient and powerful.
The dissipating cloud of pure white origin energy, the leftover essence of a 700,000-year-old empress, stopped its slow bleed into the atmosphere. It froze, held in place by an invisible, unbreakable will.
Then, the cloud began to move. It was drawn, pulled, siphoned towards Huo Yuhao. A torrent of pure, white-gold energy, carrying the profound essence of Ultimate Snow and Ultimate Ice, flowed into him. It did not harm him. It did not empower him directly. It flowed straight into his Spiritual Sea.
Inside that shimmering expanse, the torrent of ownerless energy, nearly 400,000 years' worth of pure, condensed power, was gathered by Elder Yi's necromantic arts. It was compressed, purified, and then sealed, forming a massive, quiescent sphere of brilliant, white-gold light that pulsed with a quiet, immense power. It settled beside the grey orb of his third soul, waiting. Waiting for the day Huo Yuhao would reach Rank 30, ready to be forged into his third Soul Spirit.
But the benefits were immediate. As the last of the origin energy was sealed away, a sliver of its purest essence, the very concept of the Snow Empress's cold, bled into Huo Yuaho's own Ultimate Ice Martial Soul.
The azure haze of his Ice Jade Scorpion Empress soul flared. The pure, white-gold energy fused with it, elevating it, purifying it. The quality of his Ultimate Ice underwent a second, profound transformation.
It was now colder, purer, and held a hint of the absolute, conceptual power of the Snow Empress's own attribute. It was now a power that in terms of purity could rival her own. It was a staggering, unimaginable gain.
The grey light faded from Huo Yuhao's eyes. Elder Yi relinquished control, his work done.
The Snow Empress stared, her serene face a mask of profound astonishment.
She had felt her own leftover power, a force she thought lost to the world, being claimed and sealed within the boy.
She had felt the surge of his own Ultimate Ice attribute, now resonating with a purity that was startlingly familiar. She didn't understand the strange, grey power he had used, but she understood the result.
He had taken a power that was being wasted and had preserved it, saved it. There was no malice in the act, only a strange, efficient, and powerful wisdom.
A small, genuine smile touched her lips. This boy… he was a creature of endless surprises.
Her transformation was complete. Her power was stabilized. And her future, once a path leading to a lonely, uncertain end, was now a wide-open road, shared with new and impossibly powerful friends.