A thick, chilling aura suddenly burst forth from within the carving knife. A cyan light illuminated the entire hall in an instant. A fierce, ghostly wind howled through the room, as if countless lost souls were wailing at their sides. A gloomy pressure enveloped the hall.
Xu Jiujiu groaned softly in discomfort. To her shock, the icy energy seemed to penetrate every possible gap. In just a split second, a small stream had bypassed her soul power's defense and seeped into her body.
Xue Di's eyes focused on the cyan glow radiating from the Soul-Devouring Carving Knife. Her heart was already clear on the matter. With a wave of her hand, she unleashed the overwhelming aura of a top-tier fierce beast. Instantly, it suppressed the oppressive force emanating from the knife. The knife trembled slightly, then quickly returned to calm.
The Soul-Devouring Carving Knife was indeed extremely dangerous, but before a true fierce beast, its threat level was still far too insignificant. In fact, they weren't even in the same league.
Only when the knife fully quieted did Bing Di turn her head toward Xue Di and ask curiously,
"Xue'er, what did you see?"
Xue Di gently stroked her teacup, thought for a moment, and replied:
"The evil soul master who created this knife did, in fact, leave behind a wisp of their soul within it. That soul fragment has grown stronger over time by absorbing the soul power and life force of its past owners. Using this knife means being influenced by that soul. Those with unsteady minds will be led into darkness and evil. Simply put, this knife has rightfully earned its name as a cursed blade."
"But after a deep analysis with my spiritual power, I discovered something else layered beneath that icy darkness. That familiar energy reaction... It feels like... life force?"
Shu Yan looked up slightly. He wasn't surprised Xue Di had caught onto some of its mystery after all, she possessed the spiritual power of a Limit Douluo. If she hadn't noticed anything, that would've been the real surprise.
Bing Di scratched her head and stared at the carving knife for a while longer, but still found nothing special — aside from that odd, unsettling sensation in her heart.
Shu Yan reached out and closed the jade box, then said softly,
"Xue-jie wasn't wrong. This carving knife is forged from a special metal known as Gold of Lifeforms. The life energy contained within it is so vast it's nearly unimaginable."
The unfamiliar term caught all three women off guard. A trace of surprise appeared on each of their faces.
Xu Jiujiu tugged at Shu Yan's arm and asked curiously,
"A-Yan, what kind of metal is Gold of Lifeforms? Why have I never heard of it before?"
Both Xue Di and Bing Di turned their curious gazes toward Shu Yan as well, clearly waiting for an explanation.
But Shu Yan only shook his head lightly and replied,
"You'll find out in time. For now, all you need to know is that this is one of the most priceless treasures in this entire plane. Its current state is just a facade. With this... even wanting to die might be difficult."
Bing Di froze, then suddenly slammed the table and shot to her feet, her eyes glowing with excitement.
"Vast life energy? That's exactly what Xue'er and I need! With enough life force, forget surviving this tribulation we could survive the next one, and the one after that, completely unscathed!"
But as soon as the words left her mouth, Bing Di realized something was off.
She and Xue Di had already sworn an Ice and Snow Oath with Shu Yan. They were working toward a shared goal. Saying something like this now while not openly betraying anything could easily be misinterpreted. And if he did read too much into it, trying to explain herself would only make things worse.
Regret welled up in her heart. Why had she blurted that out? Now, all she could do was pray Shu Yan didn't take it to heart… otherwise, things would get really awkward.
Xue Di and Xu Jiujiu expressions shifted slightly, both glancing at Shu Yan. To their surprise, he merely smiled and waved it off, not seeming to care much about what Bing Di had said.
"What's the point of surviving tribulation after tribulation?" he said lightly.
"Ten thousand years ago, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King devoured countless beings and, by the time he was just over 300,000 years old, had already reached the cultivation of a million-year soul beast. He even managed to materialize a soul power armor — just one step away from becoming a true Sea God Dragon. Yet he could never cross that final threshold. Was it because he lacked talent? Or didn't work hard enough?"
Seeing no one respond, Shu Yan shook his head with a smile and revealed the truth:
"Neither. The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was a peerless overlord of his time. The reason he couldn't become a god was simple: the Divine Realm forbids any soul beast from ascending. That's an iron rule. The reason traces back to a world-shaking divine war long ago. The planar laws suppress both humans and soul beasts once they reach their limits, but the suppression on soul beasts is far harsher than that on humans. This is all real. If you don't believe me, you can ask Xue Di…"
As his words faded, Bing Di instinctively looked at Xue Di. Her expression unchanged, Xue Di simply sighed and nodded.
Seeing this, Bing Di suddenly slumped, her energy fading. She mumbled dejectedly,
"Fine, I admit I was wrong. I won't say stuff like that again. I just got carried away for a second… I'm sorry."
Seeing her so downcast, Shu Yan instinctively reached out and rubbed her head, saying,
"It's not a big deal. I understand how you feel. Adjusting to reality takes time. Don't dwell on it."
The moment Shu Yan's hand touched her head, Bing Di's mind blanked. Xue Di turned her head away with a twitch of her mouth, seemingly unable to bear watching. Xu Jiujiu clenched her fists on instinct, her eyes brimming with jealousy, flames of invisible rage flickering in their depths.
Realizing what he had just done, Shu Yan's hand froze awkwardly midair. He now understood just how bold his action had been. With two searing gazes locked on him, he suddenly felt the room grow stuffy. Swallowing nervously, he stood up and quickly excused himself:
"Uh… just remembered I need to train. You all go ahead and hang out. I'll head out first…"
But he had barely taken a few steps when a massive force suddenly yanked him back. At the same time, Bing Di's frosty voice, as if laced with ice shards, echoed behind him:
"Leave? And where exactly do you think you're going?"
"Shu Yan, you've grown quite bold, haven't you? You actually dared to pat this empress on the head? You really think I'm easy to mess with? Heh… just for that, I'll personally give you a very thorough training session today…"
Shu Yan turned around with a face full of grief. "Training session"? This was clearly a beating disguised as a sparring match! Was there no justice left in the world?
Just as Shu Yan prepared to play dead, Xu Jiujiu suddenly spoke up behind him:
"Wait!"
A gleam of hope lit up in Shu Yan's eyes. He knew it Jiujiu must still care about him! But just as his smile began to form, her next words froze him solid:
"Bing Di-jiejie, don't hold back when sparring with A-Yan. Go all out. With the Imperial Medical Sage here the greatest healing-type soul master alive as long as he doesn't die, he'll be totally fine."
Bing Di gave Xu Jiujiu a dazzling smile, then said sweetly,
"Don't worry this empress is very experienced in training juniors. I guarantee Little Shu here won't have any complaints afterward~"
And with that, she dragged Shu Yan toward the training grounds behind the princess's residence. Shu Yan looked up at the sky, and for a moment, it truly felt like the heavens were collapsing.