"What are you doing?!" Di Tian's expression flickered between gloom and brightness, his tone somewhat icy as he asked.
"You're the one who wanted evidence, right? I'm showing you the evidence!" Zhu Ziyang said helplessly, waving his hand. "Do you still want the evidence or not?"
"..." Di Tian was momentarily at a loss for words and could only remain silent.
Zhu Ziyang had no intention of continuing to toy with Di Tian. He directly summoned the Snow Empress. This was actually the first time he had summoned the Snow Empress through a soul ring. Normally, his soul spirits resided directly in his mental sea and basically did not return to their respective soul rings. When Zhu Ziyang summoned them, they appeared directly from his mental sea.
Four red soul rings shimmered, emanating white radiance. A figure of unparalleled grace and beauty appeared before Zhu Ziyang, Wu Huan'er, and the five great ferocious beasts. It was none other than the Snow Empress.
"The Snow Empress?!" Di Tian was instantly stunned. As fellow members of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, he was very familiar with the Snow Empress's aura. He had never imagined that this overlord of the Extreme North, a peerless ferocious beast with cultivation approaching 700,000 years, would actually become a human's soul ring, no soul spirit!
This left Di Tian momentarily unable to believe it. Although his relationship with the Snow Empress was ordinary, he understood her temperament very well, a soul beast king who was extremely proud and utterly despised humans. For her to become a human's soul spirit was something no one could accept immediately!
"It's been a long time, Di Tian, Bi Ji, and the other three!" The Snow Empress greeted Di Tian faintly. She had long known the purpose for which Zhu Ziyang had called her out, so she was willing to restrain her cold personality and greet these former kin.
"Snow Empress, how did you...?" Bi Ji covered her chest, her beautiful face full of disbelief as she asked.
"How did I become a soul spirit? Right?" the Snow Empress said faintly. "This is a long story, but in short, Daddy let me see the hope of ascending to godhood!"
"Daddy?" Bi Ji's expression immediately turned strange, her gaze shifting between Zhu Ziyang and the Snow Empress, as if pondering some unusual plot.
"Ahem!" Zhu Ziyang coughed to attract their attention, then spoke to Di Tian. "Lord Di Tian, you should see it now. The Snow Empress is the first soul spirit in the world, and these four soul rings are provided to me by her."
"Mm!" Di Tian nodded. He still couldn't understand why the Snow Empress would willingly give up her 700,000-year cultivation to become a human's subordinate. Could it really be, as she said, that this Zhu Ziyang had shown her hope of becoming a god? Unlikely. He admitted that the world favored the human race, but that didn't mean ascending to godhood was easy!
"According to our research, a soul spirit transformed from a 100,000-year soul beast can provide a soul master with at least two soul rings, and at most four soul rings. A soul spirit transformed from a ten-thousand-year soul beast will definitely provide two soul rings. As for soul spirits transformed from thousand-year soul beasts, hundred-year soul beasts, and ten-year soul beasts, since they haven't been verified, it's unclear for now whether they can provide additional soul rings." Zhu Ziyang explained.
"It works, but it's not enough!" Di Tian nodded and said. What he truly cared about now was the latter matter: Could soul spirits really become gods? To the gods of the God Realm, were soul spirits truly soul rings and not soul beasts? He couldn't just listen to Zhu Ziyang's side of the story; he needed evidence.
"Hehe." Di Tian's reaction was within Zhu Ziyang's expectations. He just smiled, then his martial soul changed. The Purifying World Resting Life Scythe appeared in his hand, followed by the emergence of the Death God Mark. The aura unique to a god immediately made Di Tian's eyes widen.
"God position aura!" Di Tian stared wide-eyed, fixating on Zhu Ziyang. He was all too familiar with this aura; the god war from ten thousand years ago still lingered in his memory!
"I was lucky enough to gain the favor of a god and obtain the inheritance of a god position." Zhu Ziyang said with a faint smile on his face, his tone very calm, without the slightest hint of boasting. However, to the five great ferocious beasts, this was blatant showing off!
"..." Di Tian fell silent. After a long while, he slowly spoke. "You surprise me greatly. Although I am very unwilling to admit it, soul spirits are indeed a useful path for us soul beasts."
"That's inevitable." Zhu Ziyang said with a smile. "In fact, soul spirits can grow together with the soul master. For some soul beasts that can never break through their bottlenecks, it might just be a path to advancement. For soul beasts whose lifespans are reaching their end, becoming a soul spirit is also a way to extend life, perhaps even ascending to godhood."
"Hehe, perhaps." Di Tian said faintly. "Alright, since you've come to us, Shrek Academy must be prepared to promote soul spirits to all human soul masters, right?"
"Indeed." Zhu Ziyang nodded. "But relying solely on Shrek Academy and the soul masters' willingness, the soul spirit system cannot be established. The birth of a soul spirit requires the mutual agreement of both the soul master and the soul beast; otherwise, the soul spirit contract is just empty words."
"So, you plan to cooperate with us soul beasts to jointly establish the soul spirit system?" Di Tian said.
"Of course, this is a win-win situation, isn't it?" Zhu Ziyang said with a smile, waving his hand.
"I can agree to cooperate with you, but I need a guarantee!" Di Tian's expression turned serious, his eyes flashing with icy light.
"Please speak." Zhu Ziyang felt a sigh of relief in his heart; at least the other party had agreed to cooperate.
"I need you to guarantee that after the soul spirit system is successfully established, you humans will never hunt a single soul beast again!" Di Tian said, his tone filled with determination and killing intent. "If you cannot do this, then our soul beast clan would rather fight to the death than cooperate with you!"
"This..." It was Zhu Ziyang's turn to fall silent, but after thinking for a moment, he still spoke. "I can guarantee to you that after the soul spirit system is successfully established, no soul master within Shrek Academy's scope will enter the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt soul beasts."
"Hm? Not enough!" Di Tian was very dissatisfied with Zhu Ziyang's guarantee.
"Di Tian, I know what you're thinking, but I hope you can understand." Zhu Ziyang's expression also turned cold. "First, humans are not a monolith. I can restrain Shrek Academy's soul masters, but for soul masters from other forces, I am beyond reach.
Second, you are only the leader of the soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest. Whether the soul beasts in other gathering places are willing to acknowledge your rule, you know in your heart.
Finally, establishing the soul spirit system is not something that happens overnight. Promoting it across the entire continent and making it mainstream among soul masters will take time. I cannot guarantee that during this process, not a single case of a soul master killing a soul beast will occur!"
"Then your meaning is, you want us soul beasts to cooperate with you while also tolerating your soul masters continuing to kill us?" Di Tian's expression turned cold upon hearing Zhu Ziyang's response. "Then you humans are being too greedy!"
"Then what do you want?" Zhu Ziyang had no intention of compromising. Even though Wu Huan'er was desperately tugging at his sleeve, his attitude remained very firm. "For problems that need time to resolve, I cannot guarantee it to you!"
"Alright, then let's each take a step back!" Rarely, Di Tian compromised first. The four ferocious beasts behind him, including Bi Ji, all showed surprised expressions, but they understood Di Tian's helplessness. In truth, soul spirits were merely icing on the cake for soul masters, but for soul beasts, they were a lifeline in the snow. Though the coal would eventually burn out, it could delay the arrival of winter and buy them more time, and that was enough. What their soul beast clan needed most was time!
"Alright." Seeing Di Tian compromise first, Zhu Ziyang also softened his stance. "I can guarantee that as long as I am on the Douluo Continent for a day, I will do my utmost to accelerate the acceptance of soul spirits in the soul master world and do my best to prevent all soul masters from wantonly killing soul beasts!"
"I believe you!" Di Tian looked deeply at Zhu Ziyang, then said, "I will do my best to subdue all the soul beasts on the Douluo Continent and have them join the establishment of the soul spirit system. At the same time, for those from Shrek Academy who enter the Star Dou Great Forest, as long as they do not provoke us, we will let them go."
"I believe you, too!" Zhu Ziyang smiled upon hearing this and extended his palm.
Di Tian, seeing this, also extended his palm. Then, the two palms struck each other three times in the air. This represented the initial achievement of cooperation!
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Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"The novel is already finished on Patreon."
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