After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the Snow Empress stopped examining Yinming's Fall. She used her spirit power to lift Yinming's Fall and returned it to Shu Yan's hand.
Shu Yan carefully put the item away, then sat opposite the Snow Empress. After a moment of silence, he spoke, "How is it? This Soul Tool should be considered a top-tier work among half-step Level 8 Soul Tools, probably only one step away from the most powerful Level 9 Soul Tools."
The Snow Empress pursed her lips and spoke after a long while, "It's not bad; it does show some ingenuity. However, the origin of this thing is mixed with the resentment of the Titan Snow Demon after its death, making it too evil. And its function... honestly, I can't quite explain it either."
Shu Yan shook his head with a light chuckle, then said, "You'll understand in the future. There's no rush. Tomorrow, a group of heinous Evil Soul Masters will be escorted by the imperial dark guards and will be waiting outside Star Luo City. At that time, we'll go directly to the Star Dou Great Forest."
"The Star Dou Great Forest?" The Snow Empress's expression changed slightly. She murmured softly, confused, seemingly not understanding why Shu Yan would go to that dreadful place, the Star Dou Great Forest, without a clear reason.
Shu Yan casually picked up the teacup in front of him and drank it in one gulp, then slowly said, "Yes, we must go. Everything I've been doing recently is to accomplish something big in the Star Dou Great Forest."
"Xue Jie, you must know that besides the Douluo Plane, there are other Worlds, right?"
The Snow Empress nodded gently and said softly, "A long time ago, Di Tian talked to me about this topic when he visited the Extreme North Land. He once wanted to see what was in the high heavens, but in the end, the conclusion he reached was astonishing.
When one's cultivation reaches its limit, they'll be suppressed and bound by the Plane, unable to advance even an inch further. Di Tian once suspected that the God Realm was just a higher-level Plane attached to our World, but unfortunately, I'm afraid no one can reach a definite conclusion on that point."
"As for other Worlds, I think they must also exist."
Shu Yan was slightly surprised. He pondered for a moment, then said, "Xue Jie, I might as well be direct. I'm doing all this because I know that a trace of the divine soul of a powerful being from another World remains in the Star Dou Great Forest. This powerful being, during his lifetime, was once known as the Scourge of Undead, the Saint Necromancer..."
"The Saint... Necromancer?" The Snow Empress's long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she subconsciously repeated Shu Yan's words.
Divine sense, Scourge of Undead, Saint Necromancer—these unfamiliar terms gathered in the Snow Empress's mind. She spoke with a slight tremor, "Is he a remnant soul of a god?"
Shu Yan played with the white jade teacup and chuckled lightly, "You could say that. He was a very interesting person, or perhaps, he was just a human who didn't want to become a god."
The Revelation and the Accident
The Snow Empress lowered her eyes and fell into thought. Shu Yan didn't disturb her. After a long while, the Snow Empress raised her head, complex emotions in her eyes. She sighed softly, then said, "You... how many secrets do you actually know?"
Regarding the Snow Empress's question, Shu Yan genuinely didn't know how to answer immediately. But after thinking about it, he still gave a reply. "Perhaps a lot, but also not that many. It's hard for me to say, but Xue Jie, you can feel that I won't harm you."
The Snow Empress looked at Shu Yan, finally nodded, and stood up, saying, "The Star Dou Great Forest is Di Tian's territory. If you want to make a big move in his territory without being discovered, it's almost impossible. At that time, Bing Er and I will go with you; it can be considered for your safety."
Shu Yan nodded. The Snow Empress looked at Shu Yan and felt a strange sensation in her heart, but it wasn't because of what they had just discussed. Her gaze swept over Shu Yan's entire body, finally resting on the teacup he was playing with.
If she wasn't mistaken, Shu Yan had just drunk from this cup?
In an instant, the Snow Empress felt an indescribable sensation surge wildly in her heart. Her fair and beautiful face showed a drastic change in expression. Upon closer inspection, her fair cheeks and crystal-clear earlobes seemed to have gained a layer of faint blush, and even her neck was affected...
Shu Yan looked at the rapidly changing emotions on the Snow Empress's face and was utterly bewildered for a moment. But the next moment, he, along with the cup, was thrown into the nearby pond.
The slightly cool pond water instantly submerged Shu Yan's entire body. Shu Yan choked on the water. As he finally surfaced, he heard an angry shout: "Bastard!"
Shu Yan was completely confused. When he raised his head to look for the Snow Empress, he found that she was nowhere to be seen in the backyard. Shu Yan looked around in a daze, then struggled to climb ashore, coughing twice. For a moment, he truly didn't know what had just happened.
But soon, when Shu Yan saw the teapot placed on the table, his body involuntarily stiffened.
One teapot, one teacup. So, the cup he just drank from...
Shu Yan lowered his head with stiff, mechanical movements, picked up the white jade teacup, and turned it around. Then, sure enough, he found a faint red mark on one side. This looked like the lipstick that Xu Jiujiu had given the Snow Empress a few days ago...?
Thinking of this, Shu Yan's hand holding the teacup suddenly trembled.
Good heavens! So, he had just drunk tea using the teacup that the Snow Empress had used?
Shu Yan swallowed with difficulty. In an instant, he felt a chill run down his spine, and a drop of cold sweat involuntarily trickled down his forehead. In this situation, didn't that mean he had indirectly taken advantage of the Snow Empress...?
In this situation, for the Snow Empress not to kill him, Shu Yan even felt he was lucky...
After freezing in place for a moment, Shu Yan, with trembling hands, put the white jade teacup back in its original spot. Looking at himself, soaking wet under the moonlight, Shu Yan bit his tongue. The pain suddenly cleared his mind slightly. Shu Yan forced himself not to think about these things and left the backyard with slightly disheveled steps...
The Snow Empress's Turmoil
On the other side, in the quiet and secluded small courtyard, the wooden door was suddenly pushed open. The Snow Empress's figure quickly walked in. With a bang, the wooden door was slammed shut again.
The Snow Empress leaned her back against the wooden door. Her exceptionally beautiful face carried a hint of faint blush, and her breathing was slightly hurried. Remembering how Shu Yan had sipped tea from her teacup, the Snow Empress only felt her lips and cheeks burning intensely.
Had she... inexplicably had intimate contact with Shu Yan...?
The Snow Empress didn't dare to think further. Since she met Shu Yan, their relationship had been warming up subtly, from the initial dislike and conflict to gradually accepting him later, and then slowly moving toward the direction of friends and companions...
Time had actually caused such a huge change in their relationship. By now, she had even come to regard him as someone like a younger brother. However, this unexpected incident tonight...
The Snow Empress couldn't describe the feeling in her heart. For a moment, she only felt her mind was in utter chaos. Looking at the sunlight gradually fading outside the window, the Snow Empress slumped weakly onto the soft couch. As her heart felt complicated, a strange new sensation also arose...