The intense wind and snow grew more violent with each passing moment. The massive curtain of white severely restricted the trio's ability to perceive their surroundings.
Even the weakest among them, Xu Jiujiu, despite the protection from the ice crystal Shu Yan had given her, couldn't open her eyes against the blast. Only with Xingyun Douluo's continuous protective barrier could she keep herself from being swept away.
Suixing Douluo stood tall, completely unfazed by the blizzard. Looking at the magnificent, yet terrifying, scene that words could barely describe, he let out a genuine sigh.
"This forsaken place, the Extreme North Land, truly lives up to its name as a human forbidden zone," he remarked. "Besides those thick-skinned Soul Beasts, maybe only humans with immensely powerful strength or those with compatible Martial Soul attributes can stay here for long.
But this heavy blizzard, even a Soul King could easily get lost and disoriented without plenty of preparation. Not to mention the countless Soul Beasts lurking within the snow. This time, however, fate is on our side; this pervasive wind isn't just affecting us, it's also helping us."
Xingyun Douluo, while maintaining her protective shield over Xu Jiujiu, allowed a faint smile to cross her slightly aged face and nodded in agreement.
"You're right," she said. "This wind and snow greatly limits the perception of humans and even Soul Beasts in the vicinity. It's serving as a natural barrier for us right now."
Xu Jiujiu was panting lightly. The temperature was dropping fast. Despite the ice crystal shielding her body, she felt an intense, biting cold. Watching Shu Yan, who seemed completely unaffected, Xu Jiujiu couldn't help but marvel at the unique power and adaptability of his Ice Sky Snow Woman Martial Soul in the Extreme North Land.
The Ice Sky Snow Woman, a being formed from the purest ice elemental energy in the core of the Extreme North Land, is essentially a pure elemental spirit of this land. In a sense, the Ice Sky Snow Woman is the 'daughter of heaven and earth' for this region.
In the Extreme North Land, this power can even reach a level where it can mobilize the power of heaven and earth for its own use. Of course, that level of control is currently limited to beings like the Snow Empress.
The Complete Domain Awakening
Just as Xu Jiujiu was deep in thought, a wave of ice-blue spirit power suddenly spread out like a tide. The trio's attention instantly snapped to Shu Yan. Where his three purple Spirit Rings had been, a fourth, black, ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring had steadily settled into place. Clearly, the absorption process was over.
The three waited for another moment, but Shu Yan still didn't open his eyes. Just as they began to feel puzzled, a surge of ice-blue spirit power abruptly exploded from inside Shu Yan's body, followed by a terrifying aura.
Countless tiny ice patterns began crawling across Shu Yan's exposed skin, and his entire aura became incredibly unstable, as if something was about to burst forth. Ice began to spread from beneath him, and in just a short time, it actually froze the surrounding wind and snow completely in mid-air.
Xingyun Douluo's and Xu Jiujiu's pupils contracted sharply. They both immediately thought of the same possibility.
One of them had watched Shu Yan grow up, and the other had grown up with him. They were arguably the people who knew Shu Yan best. This exact situation had happened once before, during Shu Yan's Martial Soul awakening ceremony five years prior.
Very few people were still alive who knew the exact details of that Martial Soul awakening, but by coincidence, two of those informed individuals were standing here right now.
Xingyun Douluo's expression grew solemn. "This is a sign of a talent Domain completely awakening," she said in a deep voice. "Shu Yan already had a nascent Domain when he first awakened his Martial Soul. Only a few of us knew that secret. Given what's happening now, it looks like Shu Yan's talent Domain is about to fully manifest."
Suixing Douluo's astonishment was evident.
He had spent a considerable amount of time around Shu Yan, yet he had never known such a secret was hidden within the young man. Reflecting on it now, His Majesty must have gone to great lengths to protect information regarding Shu Yan, otherwise even he, a true veteran official of the Star Luo Empire, wouldn't have failed to detect any clues.
A Domain is no less important to a Soul Master than a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring or Spirit Bone. A Domain that perfectly complements one's Martial Soul and attributes can boost one's strength significantly.
When a Soul Master's Domain is powerful enough, the enhancement it provides can even allow them to fight across major Spirit ranks. However, looking back at the history of the Douluo Continent, those who possessed Domains were all exceptionally gifted individuals. If a person's comprehension isn't sufficient, they might never awaken their own Domain, even if they reach the level of a Limit Douluo, the peak of human strength.
Talent Domains are the most unique kind. To possess one, a Martial Soul must be either extremely special or incredibly powerful. This also demands a great deal from the Soul Master's character and comprehension.
To put it simply, any Soul Master who can awaken a talent Domain before becoming a Titled Douluo is destined to become a powerhouse capable of dominating a region of the Continent, provided they don't die young.
Of course, Tang Yuehua from ten thousand years ago doesn't count in this calculation, Suixing Douluo thought briefly.
Returning to the reality of the situation, Suixing Douluo looked at the increasingly turbulent elemental energy around Shu Yan. He cautiously waved his hand and instructed:
"Step back a little. Don't disturb Shu Yan. The spirit power in his body is completely on the verge of erupting. The slightest mistake will ruin all his efforts. Whether he can get through this depends entirely on himself. If we intervene casually, I'm afraid we won't be helping him at all, but only causing him harm."
Regardless of anything else, nothing must disturb Shu Yan at this critical juncture. This was Suixing Douluo's most basic, logical judgment.
Xu Jiujiu and Xingyun Douluo wisely retreated a bit as well. No matter how worried they were for Shu Yan's safety, they could only wait for him to wake up on his own. Interfering and accidentally causing a disaster would truly be to his detriment.
Urgent Escape
As time passed, the temperature in the space immediately surrounding Shu Yan dropped to an extremely frightening level. Faint white frost began to coat Shu Yan's skin, and tendrils of cold air continuously erupted from him. At the core of his body, a powerful aura kept surging, seemingly impacting one final, internal barrier.
The next instant, an ice-blue membrane suddenly spread outward from Shu Yan's body, instantly covering an area of over fifty meters. An extreme low temperature descended. Wind and snow stopped. The ice crystal Xu Jiujiu was holding abruptly shattered.
A bone-chilling cold immediately invaded her senses, and the temperature of her body began to plummet. She tried to move, but her limbs felt incredibly stiff. The next moment, she fell forward without warning.
Xingyun Douluo's face changed slightly. Just as she moved to help, a figure was faster than her and caught the falling Xu Jiujiu.
The ice-blue Domain slowly dissipated. Xu Jiujiu coughed twice, then slowly opened her eyes.
Looking at the familiar, yet somehow different, face before her, Xu Jiujiu was slightly stunned. She tentatively opened her mouth and whispered:
"A... A Yan?"
Shu Yan nodded gently, but then his expression changed slightly. His handsome eyebrows furrowed, as if he had a serious concern, and his voice became slightly hurried.
"The awakening of the Martial Soul origin changed my appearance somewhat, but now isn't the time to talk about that," Shu Yan said. He stood up while holding Xu Jiujiu and quickly continued:
"Just now, when the talent Domain fully awakened, the Ice Sky Snow Woman bloodline in my body was briefly aroused. The bloodline awakening itself isn't a huge problem, but this is the Extreme North Land. I'm afraid that person has already sensed this aura. This is no longer a safe place to stay for long. Senior Suixing, I'm asking you to quickly take us away from here at full speed."
Suixing Douluo was stunned for a moment. A deep hint of fear flashed in his eyes. After a quick glance toward the depths of the Extreme North Land, his nine Spirit Rings reappeared beneath his feet. His Martial Soul's light erupted in a brilliant purple hue. The next moment, a deep purple vortex appeared before the four of them. Suixing Douluo approached it first and urged them on:
"Let's get out of here right now. If it's really as you say, then our trip has caused a lot of trouble."
With that, Suixing Douluo was the first to step into the purple vortex. Shu Yan's expression darkened slightly. After one final look back, he quickly carried Xu Jiujiu and jumped in. Xingyun Douluo followed close behind.
After the figures of the four completely vanished, the purple vortex instantly dissipated. The lingering human aura in the surroundings was quickly and completely buried by the wind and snow, leaving only the three damaged Soul Beast corpses to hint at everything that had occurred here.