Even more heart-palpitating was that a majestic and vast Soul Power pressure erupted simultaneously from these sixteen figures.
Without exception, they had all reached the level of Titled Douluo.
Several of those auras were obscure and deep, like an abyss, and were only slightly inferior to Snow Empress's cultivation of nearly seven hundred thousand years.
The leading aura was even more like a Vicious Beast—majestic, heavy, and carrying a sense of oppression that made one's Soul tremble, actually standing on equal footing with the terrifying prestige emitted by Snow Empress herself.
Snow Empress waved her jade-like hand, and a soft yet cold white light flashed. The hundred thousand year snow lotus in the center of the Cold Pool was carefully collected by her and placed into a jade box condensed from Ultimate Ice for safekeeping.
She could not allow the upcoming battle to affect this divine object, which was related to her future destiny.
Battle was now inevitable.
From these uninvited guests, she felt an undisguised, bone-chilling killing intent.
"Leader of the three heavenly kings of the far north, Snow Empress, I have long heard of your great name."
The leading black-robed man slowly lifted the hood of his cloak that concealed his appearance, revealing a handsome face that bore a sense of the vicissitudes of life.
He looked like a human male in his thirties or forties, with brilliant short golden hair and a pair of strange pupils like molten gold.
A seemingly gentle smile played on his face, and his tone was quite polite, as if he were greeting an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time.
However, Snow Empress's brow furrowed tightly, and a hint of doubt and deeper vigilance flashed through her ice-blue eyes.
"Human? No..."
Her keen perception told her that although the beings before her looked no different from humans, they completely lacked the vibrant vitality that a living person should have.
Instead, they were permeated with a thick, inseparable aura of deathly stillness belonging to the deceased.
This feeling was strikingly similar to the Soul Beasts she had sensed in the Extreme North region over the past few years, which had been resurrected by an unknown power.
Moreover, for some reason, this middle-aged man with golden hair and golden eyes gave her a faint sense of familiarity, as if she had seen him somewhere or heard of him before.
It was just that too much time had passed, her Remembrance was already blurred, and she couldn't recall it for the moment.
"Just who are you people?"
Snow Empress asked coldly, her voice sounding like ice crystals clashing.
The smile on the golden-haired middle-aged man's face remained unchanged, still gentle: "That isn't important, is it, Snow Empress Your Excellency?"
Hearing this, the chill around Snow Empress grew even stronger, and the air at the mountain peak seemed as if it were about to be frozen solid.
"True."
She stopped questioning; the other party's killing intent already explained everything, and probing into their origins was meaningless.
"Have you come here for this hundred thousand year snow lotus in my hand?"
She guessed their motive; mobilizing such a large force and sending sixteen experts comparable to Titled Douluo to sneak into the Far North Core, she could think of no other reason besides such a treasure of heaven and earth.
Hearing this, the seemingly gentle smile on the golden-haired middle-aged man's face deepened, but there was no warmth in his golden eyes.
He slowly shook his head and said in a steady voice:
"Snow Empress Your Excellency has misunderstood. From the beginning, our target was you."
His gaze swept over the ice-jade box, his tone carrying a hint of surprise.
"As for this snow lotus... it is merely an unexpected surprise outside of the plan."
The target was her from the start?
Snow Empress's slender willow-like brows suddenly locked tight, and the chill in her eyes intensified.
She had lived for nearly seven hundred thousand years, spending most of her time sleeping or cultivating in this eternally frozen World, much like the Extreme North Ice Plain itself—ancient, aloof, and almost isolated from the outside World.
Even the so-called "War of the Three Gods" ten thousand years ago, which swept across the continent and could be faintly sensed even as far away as the Extreme North, failed to make her leave the Extreme North Land.
Human Soul Masters? In her long life, they were merely brief and tiny passers-by who occasionally stumbled into the peripheral areas. Even during the peak of the Spirit Hall, which claimed to be the continent's number one power ten thousand years ago, no expert had ever dared to venture deep into this human forbidden zone where even sunlight could be frozen.
She had no past grievances with the outside World, nor had she ever taken the initiative to make enemies.
Why would these eerie beings with deathly auras and human appearances view her as their primary target?
Was it to hunt her down and obtain the seven hundred thousand year spirit ring and Spirit Bone that would drive any Soul Master in the World mad?
This reason seemed sufficient, but her intuition told her that things were definitely not that simple.
There was no greed in that golden-haired man's eyes, but rather a kind of conviction she couldn't understand.
Thoughts flashed through her mind like lightning.
However, her pride as the Ruler of the Far North and the absolute strength brought by seven hundred thousand years of cultivation allowed her to quickly suppress these doubts.
Can't figure it out? Then stop thinking about it.
"It doesn't matter anymore."
Snow Empress's cold voice rang out, carrying an indifference that looked down upon the World.
"A mere dozen or so Titled Douluo—I'll just kill them."
The moment her words fell, a chill far more severe and pure than before erupted violently, centered on her delicate body.
It was no longer a simple pressure, but absolute control over ice and snow.
The residual moisture in the air was instantly stripped away and solidified, turning into visible pale blue ice crystal dust suspended in the air.
Even light seemed to be frozen and distorted, making the scenery of the entire mountain peak appear blurry and unreal.
The ten-thousand-year mysterious ice beneath her feet made an overburdened "creak," and cracks spread rapidly in all directions from her like a spider web.
If she were in the outside World and encountered such a lineup for an ambush—sixteen Titled Douluo, most of whom had reached the level of Super Douluo, with a leader capable of standing on equal footing with her—she might have temporarily avoided their sharp edge, choosing to kite or retreat.
But here was the Far North Core, her absolute home field where she was born, grew up, and ruled for countless years.
She was the Ice Sky Snow Lady, a child nurtured by this World of ice and snow.
Here, every snowflake was her eyes and ears, every gust of cold wind was her assistant, and endless ice elemental energy was hers for the taking.
Here, her strength could be exerted at two hundred percent.
She had absolute confidence that even if the Beast God Di Tian of the Star Dou Great Forest dared to step into this place and make an enemy of her, she would be certain to use the power of heaven and earth to utterly defeat him, letting his Black Dragon blood dye this boundless snowfield red.
Moreover, in this Extreme North Land, she was not the only Vicious Beast.
"Bing'er..."
"A-Tai..."
"Xiao Bai..."
She silently recited those names in her heart.
The Ice Empress and the Titan Snow Demon King, who were also part of the three heavenly kings of the far north along with her.
And then there was the Ice Bear King Xiao Bai, who seemed simple and honest but was actually incredibly powerful, not even much inferior to the Titan Snow Demon King; yet because he respected her and did not want to be ranked alongside her, he remained unknown to the outside World.
Once the battle began and the auras of the Titled Douluo level erupted without restraint, they would inevitably be alerted in an instant.
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