Emperor Tian once again visited the Yin-Yang Ice and Fire Eyes.
He wrapped the Sacred Soul Grass with spatial power, dove into the Blazing Sun Spring, and fused it with the remains of the Fire Dragon King.
As the Sacred Soul Grass slowly merged, under Emperor Tian's astonished gaze, the remains at the bottom of the Blazing Sun Spring suddenly disintegrated completely, turning into tiny particles and disappearing into the spring.
A red light emerged from the remains, flashed in front of Emperor Tian's eyes, and instantly entered his spiritual sea.
Looking inward with his spirit, he saw a blurry red ball of light floating above his spiritual sea, spinning and transforming into a faint beastly face.
"Lord Fire Dragon King, congratulations on your escape. Are you alright?"
"No, my body has long deteriorated due to energy exhaustion. This Sacred Soul Grass is still not old enough for my soul. I will recuperate temporarily in your spiritual sea.
Be sure to find a fire-attributed soul beast with dragon blood. It would be best if the Silver Dragon King could give me a drop of her blood essence. Then I will borrow your body to be reborn."
"In that case, I must return and ask the Silver Dragon King for guidance."
"Go. I can feel a lucky beast from the soul beast clan has been born on this continent. You must protect it."
"Yes."
The soul of the Fire Dragon King gradually returned to its red light orb form and fell into complete silence.
His words deeply moved Di Tian's heart. He no longer hurried toward the Extreme North but instead rushed toward the Great Star Dou Forest. The recent changes had actually involved a lucky beast, which was beyond his expectations.
The lucky beast was far too important for the Great Star Dou Forest. It could accelerate the cultivation speed of soul beasts across the entire forest and even have the same effect on powerful soul beasts like Di Tian.
With the vast number of soul beasts in the forest, their overall strength would increase at a terrifying rate.
When Di Tian returned to the depths of the Great Xingdou Forest, he saw the small lucky beast — a three-eyed golden lion — playing under Bi Ji's care.
"Di Tian, you're back. How did it go?"
"It's done. The soul of the Fire Dragon King now resides in my spiritual sea."
Before Di Tian could speak more with Bi Ji, he turned to look at the Silver Dragon King. She had summoned him and wished to see the lucky beast.
Seeing the three-eyed golden lion playing in the grass, Di Tian used the gentlest strength in his life to carefully lift it.
The golden lion became angry and bit back, but to no avail. Instead, its mouth hurt a little, and it cried loudly in Di Tian's arms.
"Di Tian, where are you taking this child?"
"Lord wants to see it, so I'm bringing it over."
"Alright. You must take good care of it."
After bringing the three-eyed golden lion into the cave, Di Tian placed it on the ground. Seeing it attracted to the life aura emitted by the Life Gold and running freely inside the cave, even the stern Di Tian couldn't help but smile.
He quickly regained his serious demeanor, looked at the Silver Dragon King within the Life Lake's essence, and informed her about the Fire Dragon King.
"So, the remaining soul of the Water Dragon King cannot be revived?"
"Yes."
"Then go find the soul beast the Fire Dragon King needs. I won't give him any blood essence."
In the Silver Dragon King's eyes, the Fire Dragon King would be of little help to her after revival. Giving him a drop of her essence and blood would only delay her own recovery — a loss not worth taking.
Although Di Tian held a different opinion, seeing that the Silver Dragon King had taken the lucky beast cub and was carefully observing it, clearly unwilling to discuss the Fire Dragon King further, he said nothing more.
If soul beasts wished to return to the Divine Realm, they still had to rely on the Silver Dragon King. Moreover, as the co-ruler of soul beasts, her word was final — no soul beast dared to object.
"Di Tian, take the lucky beast away. Remember, it must not be harmed in any way."
"Understood."
After Emperor Tian returned the lucky beast to Bi Ji, he personally began searching for the soul beast that the Fire Dragon King needed in the Great Star Dou Forest.
Fire attribute, dragon bloodline, the older the better — combining all these conditions wasn't easy.
Most soul beasts derived strength from their physical bodies. Emperor Tian wanted the Fire Dragon King to carry the banner of the soul beast clan, so he wouldn't let his chosen vessel be too weak.
If the Silver Dragon King had agreed, the matter would've been perfectly resolved. Now Emperor Tian had no choice but to slowly search on his own.
Unfortunately, even after searching the entire forest, he found no suitable soul beast. Only a 100,000-year-old Red Flame Snake barely met the requirements, but its age was still too young.
Having no better option, Emperor Tian turned his attention to the seas around the Douluo Continent.
The Great Star Dou Forest was already the largest soul beast gathering place on the continent. The only remaining place that could meet the Fire Dragon King's needs was the sea.
Before heading out to sea, he took the time to visit the Far North.
Upon seeing the woman in white standing atop the snowy mountain, Emperor Tian sensed the terrifying energy within her body.
If he were to battle the Ice and Snow Maiden here in the Far North, he might not win. Even if he did, it would be a hollow victory.
"Emperor Tian, why have you come to my Far North?"
"Snow Empress, you must have heard about the soul beast wave launched by my Great Star Dou Forest recently."
"I have."
"Then you must know the extent of our power. Even if I took action myself, I couldn't do anything about those humans. Don't you feel threatened by them?"
"The Far North is freezing. Humans can't survive here."
"Heh, the Star Dou Forest is shrinking year by year. Do you really think the Far North can remain isolated and untouched?
Let me tell you — the Fire Dragon King will soon return. It's up to you to decide your stance."
Emperor Tian turned and left toward the ocean. The Snow Empress watched his back as snowflakes fell from the sky, and endless sighs echoed across the ice fields.
How could she not understand the human threat?
She also knew she likely wouldn't survive the 700,000-year catastrophe in the next ten thousand years.
And the Ice Emperor might also perish under the 400,000-year tribulation. When that time came, what would become of the Far North?
"Lord Ice God, what should I do? Even if the Fire Dragon King is revived, he clearly isn't a match for the gods in the heavens."
A snowstorm blew over the Snow Empress, unable to touch her. No one could understand the sorrow in her heart.
As the true ruler of the Far North, she could only display a cold and powerful demeanor.
All creatures in the Far North were her subjects. They worshipped her as their queen. How could she lead them down a path of no return?
Even if they had waited so long, what they awaited was still a dead end — but what else could they do?
How many soul beasts had a lifespan of only a hundred years?
Allowing them to live peacefully for the next ten thousand years — wasn't that also a kind of kindness?
The Snow Empress looked at the white snow in the distance and raised the Emperor's Sword in her hand.
Until she saw real hope, she would never act against humans.
But if anyone dared invade the Far North, she would never tolerate it.