Chapter 107: with translation of chapter title

The process of condensing the so-called poison pill was unusually smooth and easy.

The Ice Emperor possessed formidable strength; his ultimate ice soul power completely suppressed the Blue Phosphorus Snake Emperor's poison, and with the added activation of part of the 'Swan Heart,' besides Dugu Yan herself enduring considerable hardship, the Ice Emperor hardly needed to exert any effort.

In the end, the Ice Emperor couldn't help but remark to the three of them, Dugu Yan's mental fortitude is absolutely sufficient; the pain of the snake toxin being provoked to backfire on herself is no less than being flayed and having bones scraped, yet she managed to endure it on her own, and even in that state she could draw the toxin into her forming inner core—this is certainly not something an ordinary person could do.

After condensing the poison pill, her soul power broke through to rank fifty; the Ice Emperor, seeing it through, brought back a ten-thousand-year Blue Phosphorus Nine Absolute Flower to serve as her fifth soul ring, and upon completing its absorption, her soul power rose to rank fifty-two.

The Blue Phosphorus Nine Absolute Flower already possesses one of the highest-ranked poisons in the world; absorbing it as a soul ring likewise greatly amplifies the toxin carried by the soul ring's own martial soul, not to mention the close relationship between the Blue Phosphorus Snake Emperor and the Blue Phosphorus Nine Absolute Flower—it can be said that under heaven there is no plant-type soul beast more suited to the Blue Phosphorus Snake Emperor martial soul than this flower.

Shu Yan greatly anticipates what Dugu Yan will look like when she grows up; a nine-ring Title Douluo-level Dugu Yan, if she were to "mysteriously" appear on the battlefield of a future war, that would be a huge surprise for either side; perhaps Dugu Yan could reenact the classic scene "the whole city filled with green gloom"; one could say that Dugu Yan alone is comparable to a fully equipped soul engineer legion, and the terrifying strategic significance of the Blue Phosphorus Snake Emperor is perfectly embodied here.

……

After everything concluded, Shu Yan and his party of four once again arrived at Tian Dou City.

Dugu Yan seemed quite accustomed to the role of a maid, obediently following behind Xu Jiu Jiu; were it not for her strikingly dark-green hair and her own respectable bearing, she might even have become akin to the team's invisible member.

Recently, no news had come from the Star Luo side, and Xu Jiawei felt relatively at ease about their journey; in the capital of the Tian Hun Empire, they also hesitated to use the Empire's forces, for this is a sensitive matter—every empire has spies stationed in others, and before turbulent times, each nation senses it and makes similar preparations.

However, upon entering Tian Dou City, everyone instead discovered another interesting matter.

The Frost Star Duke of the Tian Hun Empire recently came from the empire's northwest to Tian Dou City.

The Frost Star Duke is one of the only two dukes of the Tian Hun Empire, holding high status within the empire; together with the duke guarding the eastern part of the Tian Hun Empire, they are known as the Twin Stars of the Empire, their standing even surpassing that of the White Tiger Duke of the Star Luo Empire. The reason is simple: both Tian Hun dukes carry a thin trace of the Tian Hun imperial bloodline, enjoy good relations with the imperial family, and are themselves veteran Title Douluo, reputations that are still respectable across the continent.

If it were merely this high-status duke coming alone to Tian Dou City, there would naturally be nothing to say, but unfortunately, accompanying him appeared another strong expert who drew the attention of several people.

That person was likewise a Title Douluo expert, though his soul power rank was not particularly high, his aura was somewhat strange—not that of a pure soul master; judging from his attire, he resembled a soul engineer of the Sun Moon Empire.

For some unknown reason, the Snow Emperor and Ice Emperor instinctively took a dislike to this person; moreover, the subsequent occurrence of another incident nearly caused them to lose control, which would have affected the entire Tian Dou City.

It was nothing else; merely as the convoy approached the hotel, both the Ice and Snow Emperors sensed a familiar aura emanating from those two individuals.

The Ice Emperor slammed his palm onto the huge jade stone table before him, shattering it, then seized the Snow Emperor's hand; his voice was heavy with grinding teeth and even carried a strong killing intent.

"Xue'er, I couldn't possibly be mistaken—this is Ah Lan's aura, indeed it is the aura of her drawing upon her origin to temporarily incarnate as an Ice Phoenix, overflowing… these damned bastards…" The Snow Emperor stood at the balcony's edge, his grip on the railing whitened, his expression grim and unclear; but those who know the Snow Emperor well understand this is clearly the prelude to an impending storm.

The attendants nearby had already been driven away by Shu Yan; Xu Jiu Jiu watched the two with some worry, having already guessed something from their earlier conversation—this is Tian Dou City, a metropolis no less grand than Star Luo City; if the Ice and Snow Emperors truly lost control, the consequences would be far worse than mere suffering of the populace.

Shu Yan let out a soft sigh, stepped forward, and asked quietly: "Snow Sister, could you tell me what exactly happened?"

The Snow Emperor closed his eyes, remained silent for a long while, then spoke: "Those two Title Douluo just now carried Ah Lan's aura; Ah Lan's true form is the Ice Jade Luan Bird, she is the current sovereign of the Ice Jade Luan Bird clan, having broken through to a hundred thousand years of cultivation for ten thousand years already."

The Ice Jade Luan is one of the oldest lineages in the extreme north; their veins run with the purest Ice Phoenix blood. When Ah Lan broke through to a hundred thousand years, her bloodline had already undergone atavistic regression once, leaving her only a step away from incarnating as the true Ultimate Ice Ice Phoenix; if no mishap occurs, she should be able to smoothly advance to the three-hundred-thousand-year level, and like Ah Tai Xiao Bai, she is the one I have designated as the next generation's guardian of the extreme north, destined to inherit my and Bing'er's positions.

No sooner had the Snow Emperor finished speaking than the Ice Emperor immediately continued in a low voice:

"Ah Lan's Ice Phoenix bloodline is sufficiently strong and rich, enabling her to draw upon her own bloodline in a short time to incarnate as a true Ice Phoenix; during this period, her bloodline aura will continually leak out. Once it contaminates something, unless one relies on vast soul power to spend time wearing it down or Ah Lan actively withdraws it, that aura will persist by absorbing the ice-water attribute heavenly earth energy from the surrounding space—in effect, this is her final desperate measure…"

"And on those two humans, there lingers the origin aura left behind after Ah Lan incarnated as an Ice Phoenix…"

The Ice Emperor's voice grew softer; it is evident that the Ah Lan they speak of, given their relationship, must be on relatively good terms—otherwise, their emotions would not have shifted so dramatically.

Beside them, Dugu Yan listened silently to the three's conversation; she is sharp, and from the Snow and Ice Emperors' words she had already inferred a fact hard to imagine, but before she could ponder further, Xu Jiu Jiu had already seized her hand.

"Since you've guessed the truth, you ought to know what to do; I believe you are a clever person…"

Xu Jiu Jiu's voice was kept very low; her azure eyes were deep as the sea, and the imperial princess's aura she exerted now fully burst forth, causing Dugu Yan to feel an unmistakable pressure for a moment; she lowered her gaze and then whispered: "Your Highness the Princess, I understand."

Seeing her obedient demeanor, Xu Jiu Jiu felt somewhat relieved and then continued:

"Be good; we've never mistreated our companions, but if you harbor malicious intent… I can tell you plainly that even if a Limit Douluo came in person, they could not protect you…"

Dugu Yan nodded obediently, without the slightest doubt in everything Xu Jiu Jiu had said…

(End of chapter)