Chapter 32: Life Gold, Shu Yan

A dense, chilling aura suddenly erupted from the carving knife. A cyan light illuminated the entire hall in an instant. The sound of angry, ghostly wailing echoed, as if countless lonely souls and wild ghosts were shrieking beside them. A gloomy sensation shrouded the hall.

Xu Jiujiu let out a muffled groan of discomfort. She made a startling discovery: these chilling energies were almost impossible to block. In just a split second, a small portion had breached the defense of her soul power and entered her body.

Seeing the cyan light appearing on the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife, the Snow Empress basically understood the situation. She waved her hand, and the aura belonging to a peerless fierce beast erupted. In an instant, it completely suppressed the pressure of the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife. After trembling a few times, the object returned to stillness.

The Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife itself was extremely dangerous, but when faced with a fierce beast, its own threat was still too insignificant—one could even say they were not in the same league at all.

Waiting for the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife to become completely calm, the Ice Empress turned her head to look at the Snow Empress and asked with some curiosity, "Xue'er, what did you see?"

The Snow Empress rubbed the teacup with her jade-like hand, thought for a moment, and then said, "The evil Soul Master who created this carving knife indeed left a trace of soul within it. This trace of soul has been continuously growing by absorbing the soul power and life energy of its successive masters. Using this carving knife will be influenced by this soul; those with weak wills will be affected and eventually fall into darkness and evil. Simply put, this carving knife truly lives up to its name as a 'fierce blade'."

"But after a deep analysis with my spiritual power, I discovered something different beneath this layer of chill. That familiar energy reaction... it looks like life energy...?"

Shu Yan raised his eyes slightly. He was not surprised that the Snow Empress could see the mystery within; after all, she possessed spiritual power at the Limit Douluo level. If she couldn't discover even a hint of mystery, that would truly be unreasonable.

The Ice Empress scratched her head and stared at the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife for a while longer, but still found nothing special. The only difference was perhaps that strange feeling in her heart.

Shu Yan reached out and closed the jade box, then said softly, "Sister Xue is not wrong. This carving knife is forged from a special metal called Life Gold. The life energy contained within it is so vast it is almost unimaginable."

As the unfamiliar term appeared again, a look of surprise appeared on the faces of the Snow Empress and the others.

Xu Jiujiu tugged at Shu Yan's arm and asked curiously, "A-Yan, what kind of metal is Life Gold? Why have I never heard of it?"

The Snow Empress and the Ice Empress also cast curious gazes, seemingly waiting for Shu Yan's explanation.

But to this, Shu Yan only shook his head gently and then said:

"You will know later. For now, you only need to know that this is a supreme treasure that ranks among the best in the entire plane. It is just currently obscured by appearances. With it, even if you wanted to die, I'm afraid it would be difficult..."

Hearing this, the Ice Empress was stunned, then suddenly slapped the table and stood up, her eyes glowing as she said:

"Vast life energy—isn't this exactly what Xue'er and I need? If we have sufficient life energy, let alone surviving this heavenly tribulation, even the next one, or the one after that, Xue'er and I can pass through safely..."

Once the words were out, the Ice Empress instantly realized something was wrong.

She and the Snow Empress had already sworn the Ice and Snow Oath with Shu Yan, and they were all striving for a common goal. Now that she said such things, even if she didn't explicitly reveal her thoughts, if the other party overthought it, her explanation would seem laughably pale.

A sense of regret surged in the Ice Empress's heart. She hated herself for being so loose-lipped. Now, she could only pray that Shu Yan wouldn't take her impulsive words to heart; otherwise, it would be truly awkward for everyone...

The expressions of the Snow Empress and Xu Jiujiu also changed slightly. Both looked at Shu Yan. Unexpectedly, Shu Yan just chuckled and waved his hand, not seeming to care much about the Ice Empress's words. "What is the use of surviving one heavenly tribulation after another? Ten thousand years ago, the Deep Sea Demon Whale King relied on devouring to possess a million years of cultivation at the actual age of only three hundred thousand years. He even completed the armor-forming stage of soul power and was only one step away from becoming a true Sea God Dragon. Yet, he could never cross that final hurdle. Was it because his talent was insufficient, or was it because he didn't work hard enough?"

Seeing that no one reacted, Shu Yan smiled and shook his head, then revealed the reality:

"Neither. The Deep Sea Demon Whale King was a hegemon of his generation. There is only one reason he could not become a god: the God Realm does not allow any soul beast to become a god. This is an iron law of the God Realm. The specific reason can be traced back to a world-shaking divine war from a long, long time ago. The plane suppresses both humans and soul beasts who reach the limit, and the suppression recognized for soul beasts is far stronger than that for humans. All of this is real. If you don't believe me, you can ask the Snow Empress..."

After these words fell, the Ice Empress subconsciously looked at the Snow Empress. The Snow Empress's expression remained unchanged; she just sighed softly and nodded.

Seeing this, the Ice Empress suddenly felt somewhat decadent. She said with a hint of frustration:

"I admit I was wrong, okay? I won't say such things again. I was just used to it and got a bit excited for a moment. I'm sorry..."

Looking at the Ice Empress's aggrieved appearance, Shu Yan subconsciously reached out and ruffled her hair, then said, "It's no big deal. I can understand your thoughts. Adapting to reality takes a process. Don't take it to heart."

Feeling the gentleness on her head, the Ice Empress's brain went into a state of shutdown for a moment. The Snow Empress's mouth twitched, and she turned her head away, seemingly unable to bear it. Xu Jiujiu clenched her fists instantly, and the gaze she cast at Shu Yan held an extra portion of jealousy, as if invisible flames were burning in the depths of her eyes...

Shu Yan's hand froze awkwardly in mid-air. He seemed to realize how bold his recent action had been. Feeling the two scorching gazes, Shu Yan suddenly felt the room was a bit stuffy. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, stood up, and walked toward the door, saying in passing, "I suddenly remembered I still need to cultivate. You guys have fun, I'll take my leave first..."

But before he had taken two steps, a great force suddenly struck from behind, and at the same time, the Ice Empress's voice, which seemed to be tempered with ice shards, rang out: "Leaving? Where else do you want to go?"

"Shu Yan, your courage is really getting bigger and bigger, daring to touch my head. Do you really think I'm easy to bully? Hehe, just for that move you made, I'm going to properly spar with you today..."

Shu Yan turned around, wanting to cry but having no tears. The Ice Empress wasn't "sparring" with him; she was clearly taking the opportunity to pin him down and beat him up to settle a private grudge. Is there any justice in this world? Just as Shu Yan was preparing to lie down and play dead, Xu Jiujiu behind him suddenly spoke:

"Wait!"

Shu Yan's eyes lit up. He knew it—Jiujiu must still feel sorry for him. But the next moment, before his smile could fully form, Xu Jiujiu's words made him stiffen again.

"Sister Ice Empress, feel free to spar with A-Yan. No need to hold back. The Empire has Senior Medical Immortal, the world's number one healing-type Soul Master. As long as he doesn't die, A-Yan will never be in any real danger..."

The Ice Empress gave Xu Jiujiu a brilliant smile and then said softly:

"Don't worry, I am a professional at training juniors. I guarantee little Shu won't give a bad review..."

Saying this, the Ice Empress forcefully dragged Shu Yan toward the actual combat training ground behind the Princess's Mansion. Shu Yan looked up at the sky, feeling for a moment that the sky had collapsed...

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 33 =====