Chapter 357: The Future of the Extreme North is Destined to be Trodden by Humans and Soaked in Greed.
Chapter 357: The Future of the Extreme North is Destined to be Trodden by Humans and Soaked in Greed.
Extreme North.
In an ice cave hidden deep beneath the glaciers, the Snow Empress and the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion stood side by side.
The Snow Empress had rushed here the moment she sensed a new member joining the Chat Group.
She had an intuition.
The structure of this group was about to change.
And as Lin Qingmo’s messages popped up one by one, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s expression sank bit by bit.
"Creak!"
Her scorpion tail carved deep marks onto the ice surface; it was an unconscious leakage of power.
As one of the three great heavenly kings of the far north, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion had seen countless life-and-death battles, seen blizzards swallow entire Spirit Beast tribes, and seen her own kind wail miserably during the hunts of human Spirit Masters.
Yet, the cold words on the Light Screen right now made her whole body colder than the blizzard.
Seeing the end, she slammed her tail fiercely against the ice wall beside her.
"Boom!"
Ice chips splattered everywhere, and fine ice crystals exploded in the air, reflecting a cold, sharp light.
Cracks spread from the point of impact in all directions, and the entire ice cave trembled slightly under this blow.
"Two 100,000-Year Soul Beasts, just hunted by humans like that? Slaughtered like livestock, their Spirit Bones and spirit rings taken!"
The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s voice was full of suppressed rage.
That anger was like a volcano about to erupt, forcibly suppressed within her chest.
Her chest heaved violently, and every breath carried a chill, turning into thick white mist in this sub-zero, extremely cold ice cave.
In the Spirit BeastWorld, 100,000-Year Soul Beasts were existences standing at the top of the pyramid.
Each one was the pillar of the Spirit Beast tribes, a sedimentation of countless years, a legend struggling to survive in endless wind and snow.
They proved their strength with their long lives.
The existence of one 100,000-Year Soul Beast was enough for a Spirit Beast tribe to continue in a harsh environment.
Yet in that distant human World, someone was actually able to easily hunt 100,000-Year Soul Beasts.
And hunt two at once?
Like hunting the most humble Spirit Beast, harvesting two existences standing at the top of the food chain so nonchalantly?
"Humans are truly hateful!"
The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion gritted her teeth.
She had lived for hundreds of thousands of years and had seen human greed and cruelty, but she had never felt such bone-chilling coldness as she did now.
The Snow Empress’s silvery-white long hair fluttered slightly in the cold air, and in her beautiful profile, her eyes were as deep as a cold pool.
The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion had known her for hundreds of thousands of years and had never seen this Dominator of the Extreme North show such an expression.
That was not anger, not fear, but something deeper—like seeing an bottomless abyss slowly cracking open, and the entire Spirit Beast tribe was already standing on the edge of the abyss.
After a long while, she finally spoke, her voice so calm it made people feel cold.
"Ice, did you see clearly?"
The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion was startled.
"See clearly what?"
"See clearly that humans have grown to a terrifying point."
The Snow Empress’s gaze was fixed on the Light Screen, and in those eyes that seemed to see through everything, a deep worry arose.
"Humans in the past couldn’t face a 100,000-Year Soul Beast at all."
"How many years have passed now? Humans are already able to kill two 100,000-Year Soul Beasts."
"That human is named Bibi Dong, the Supreme Pontiff of Spirit Hall."
"The fact that she can lead people to hunt two 100,000-Year Soul Beasts shows that the top powerhouses of humanity have become strong enough to easily hunt 100,000-Year Soul Beasts."
"This is by no means accidental, nor is it the limit."
"Today she can kill the two overlords of the Star Dou Great Forest, and tomorrow more human powerhouses will follow suit."
"Human desire will never be satisfied; the value of a hundred thousand year spirit bone is enough to make the Titled Douluo of the entire continent crazy."
She paused, and her voice became a bit colder.
"We have lived in peace in the Extreme North, thinking that as long as we don’t set foot in human territory, we will be safe."
"But since that Supreme Pontiff can hunt the 100,000-Year Soul Beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest, she will cast her gaze on us sooner or later."
"By then, no matter how thick the ice of the Extreme North is, it won’t be able to block human greed."
"Ice, this is not alarmist talk."
"The footsteps of humans will sooner or later trample over this ice field."
"!!!"
The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s face finally changed.
Anger was replaced by a deeper fear.
That fear came from a sense of helplessness she hadn’t felt for hundreds of thousands of years.
She had always thought she was the supreme existence on this ice field.
She thought that as long as the severe cold of the Extreme North remained, no human could truly threaten her survival.
But now she suddenly realized how fragile this self-confidence was.
Humans had become stronger, even stronger than they had realized.
It wasn’t the rise of one powerhouse, but the evolution of the entire human Spirit Master system.
Spirit Hall was cultivating powerhouses, the major Sects were cultivating powerhouses, and Loose Cultivators were also forging ahead on the path to becoming stronger.
And humans would continue to grow and develop.
Today’s Bibi Dong could kill two 100,000-Year Soul Beasts.
Tomorrow, Tang San, who could kill Bibi Dong, might be able to kill three, four, or even more.
And this kind of growth meant a catastrophe for Spirit Beasts.
Once humans cast their gaze on the Extreme North—no, this "once" didn’t exist at all.
Humans would inevitably come, unstoppable, just like the cycle of the four seasons!
The number of Spirit Beasts in the Extreme North was huge, and although there were fewer 100,000-Year Soul Beasts than in the Star Dou Great Forest, it was still enough to make humans drool.
"Then what should we do?"
The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion’s voice carried a trace of uncertainty for the first time.
This Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, who had dominated the Extreme North for hundreds of thousands of years, was now like a child who had lost her way in a blizzard.
"Where else can we run?"
"The Extreme North is our last home; if we can’t even defend this—"
"..."
The Snow Empress did not answer.
She just quietly watched the Light Screen of the Chat Group.
She believed that she might be able to find the answer here.
In the Chat Group.
Lin Qingmo was clearly not finished yet.
[Daddy Douluo]: That was the first thing, now for the second. Hu Liena indirectly led to Bibi Dong’s great failure.
[Daddy Douluo]: The successor that the Supreme Pontiff poured everything into cultivating became the knife that stabbed the deepest into her heart in the end.
[Daddy Douluo]: How Bibi Dong treated Hu Liena was something everyone in Spirit Hall witnessed.
[Daddy Douluo]: She poured her heart and soul into training her, regarded her as the future heir to the Spirit Empire, and even treated her better than her own daughter.
Seeing this sentence, the teacup in Qian Renxue’s hand finally shattered.
With a crisp "crack," broken porcelain splattered everywhere.
Scalding tea splashed onto the back of her hand, but she didn’t even frown.
That hand was trembling slightly.
Not because of the heat, but because of the sharp pain that suddenly exploded in her chest.
"Treated her better than her own daughter... Hahahaha, so the whole World could see it, even A-Qing knows it clearly."
These words were like a rusty knife, stabbing fiercely into her chest, and even twisting it.
The blade was stained with all the unwillingness and resentment of decades, carving away at her heart, which was already riddled with holes, one cut at a time.
She certainly knew.
How could she not know?
The way that woman treated Hu Liena was seen by the entire Spirit Hall.
Teaching her to Cultivate hand-in-hand, personally hunting spirit rings for her, and insisting on making her the heir despite opposition from the Elders.
If Hu Liena suffered the slightest grievance, that woman would be thunderously angry.
If Hu Liena made any progress, that woman would be overjoyed.
That was how a mother should treat her own daughter, yet it was given to an outsider!
And what about her, the biological daughter?
She didn’t even have the qualification to be publicly acknowledged.
Sent away since she was nine, lurking in the Heaven Dou Empire for so many years.
Alone, surrounded by enemies, with no one to speak the truth to.
She had to play another person.
She had to be vigilant at all times to avoid revealing flaws.
She had to lick her wounds alone every deep night.
Every step was like walking on thin ice.
Every day was wearing a mask.
Did that woman ever ask her if she was tired?
Did she ever worry about whether she would be exposed, or if she would die in some unknown corner?
Did she think of her daughter, who was thousands of miles away, in her dreams at midnight?
"No! Not even once..."
Qian Renxue thought of all the past, and her breathing became rapid.
The sharp pain in her chest hadn’t eased, and an even more surging bitterness surged up.
That bitterness came from the grievances accumulated over too many years, like a giant rock sunk at the bottom of the sea; once pried, it could never be pressed back down.
She thought she had long since become numb, thought she didn’t care anymore, but when these facts were nakedly displayed on the Light Screen by a stranger, she realized that the thorn had always been stuck there, never pulled out.
(End of Chapter)
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