Chapter 280: One Year
"Hmph, let Dai Tianyu handle the four cities for now. When the time is right, I'll have him cough up the profits he's made."
In Qian Renxue's view, Dai Tianyu's actions were nothing more than taking advantage of the situation, and it was also a blatant disrespect toward her. Even though the target of his disrespect was the fake identity of Xue Qinghe, it was still enough to infuriate her.
"Alright, then let me know when you've decided when to strike Star Luo."
Ning Bei wasn't concerned with Qian Renxue's plans. He had different ideas on how to approach the attack on Star Luo.
Qian Renxue, clearly noticing this, asked with some anticipation:
"So, what's your plan?"
"Heh, isn't Star Luo close to the Star Dou Great Forest? Don't you remember the first time we met face to face?"
Qian Renxue paused for a moment, and then the scene from ten years ago flashed in her mind—the terrifying soul beast tide of ten-thousand-year-old beasts that even a Title Douluo like the Porcupine King couldn't handle. She still vividly remembered it.
"Are you suggesting that you want to summon a soul beast tide near the border city of Star Luo from the Star Dou Great Forest?"
"Exactly. That's my plan. When the time comes, you can send people to attack them from the front at the border, and I'll prepare a massive soul beast wave for them from the Star Dou Great Forest."
The little angel's eyes gleamed with excitement at the thought of such a massive beast tide, but she still had some doubts.
"That ten-thousand-year beast tide, although even Title Douluo wouldn't underestimate it, wouldn't it be difficult to achieve the desired result when facing a soul master army?"
"Tch, who told you it's only a ten-thousand-year beast tide? What you saw before was only a tide summoned by me, a Soul King. What level is your man now?"
Ning Bei was clearly displeased by Qian Renxue underestimating him. A ten-thousand-year beast tide? With just a flick of his hand, he could summon a beast tide made up of fifty-thousand-year soul beasts.
"Moreover, what if those ten-thousand-year beast tides are led by a few hundred-thousand-year soul beasts?"
"Shh!"
The thought of that made Qian Renxue shiver. Just imagining the scene sent a chill down her spine. Only a few people in the world could survive that, and most of them were people close to her—her grandfather, her man, and her mother, though she preferred not to think about her mother.
"In that case, I'll be even more confident that we can completely cripple Star Luo in one go. But, can you control that soul beast tide? I just want to crush Star Luo, not destroy the entire city!"
"Don't worry about it. Which soul beast would dare cause trouble in front of A Zhu and Yao Yao? Besides, there's also Ah Bao and the others, whom you haven't seen in a long time."
Qian Renxue thought of the two sturdy men from the extreme north and felt a sense of reassurance. This wave of flying dragon knights... she didn't know how it could possibly fail.
"Then, I'll leave it to you when the time comes."
"Got it, Your Imperial Majesty, the emperor of the whole continent. Your humble servant takes his leave."
Ning Bei teased her with a playful tone, which made the little angel roll her eyes at him, clearly unable to stand his antics.
"Do you have any other matters to attend to during this time?"
"I won't be leaving the sect for now. I'll mostly stay in the Ice God Hall, fully focused on completing my seventh God Trial."
"Got it, then. Make sure to do your best!"
Hearing that Ning Bei wouldn't be leaving the sect anytime soon, Qian Renxue was very pleased. With Dugu Yan far away on Sea God Island, it meant Ning Bei would have to come to her to sing in the Ice God Hall for quite a long time.
After bidding farewell to the little angel, Ning Bei returned to the sect, greeted Ning Fengzhi, and immediately went into the Ice God Hall. Inspired by the purple pearl near Sea God Island, he decided to create his own version of the Soul Land life-and-death symbol. Though the power wouldn't be very strong, it was peculiar, and he wasn't sure if it would be recognized by the God Trial.
Once he made up his mind, some soul beasts in the lower floors of the Pill Tower became his free test subjects for experimenting with this self-created soul skill. Since he had plenty of recovery pills, he didn't worry about their lives.
The testing process made the three giants from the extreme north shiver with discomfort, as they felt a chill rise in their hearts. The sight of the soul beasts sometimes writhing in pain and itchiness but unable to scratch themselves was eerie.
The life-and-death symbol was quickly mastered through the selfless contributions of the little test subjects. The principle was simple: the water droplets infused with Ning Bei's soul power were shot into the opponent's body, where they would blend with their blood and then solidify into ice, while maintaining a connection to the soul power. This allowed him to control the temperature of the ice at any time, causing the opponent's body to never adapt, leading to continuous pain and itching.
"You kid, what's going on in that head of yours? You come up with the most despicable tricks."
Tian Meng's words made Ning Bei roll his eyes. Wasn't it all because of the God Trial? If it weren't for wanting better rewards from the trial, would he be wasting time developing techniques that didn't really help him?
"You've got the time to talk nonsense; why don't you help me come up with something to make my soul skills more powerful?"
"Well, you know, I'm not good at fighting, so I probably can't help you with this."
"Stop talking nonsense."
Including the Bei-style Four Absolute Skills, this was already the fifth self-created soul skill Ning Bei had developed. He wasn't sure what kind of reward he would get from the God Trial for these.
But time wasn't an issue; Ning Bei could continue brainstorming and see what other techniques he could develop during this time.
Thus, the disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect often witnessed bizarre sights they would never have expected, like frost falling in June or ice-made insects and birds appearing everywhere.
Everyone thought that Ning Fengzhi had done something terrible to anger the heavens, causing frost to fall in the scorching summer weather.
This led Ning Fengzhi to visit Ning Bei several times, asking what he was doing. After receiving the answer that it was related to the God Trial, he stopped his questions.
In fact, this untimely frost was one of Ning Bei's small ideas. He remembered a technique called Jutsu: Tiger's Rain at Will" from his previous experiences. The rain would fall where he could sense it, and Ning Bei wanted to replicate it, creating a technique called "Black turtle Free Snow," with similar effects—just making everyone feel a little cold.
As for why he didn't experiment with this so-called Black turtle Free Snow in the Ice God Hall, that's because every speck of dust in the Ice God Hall was already under his control. There was no need for an experiment; it was something he could already do.
The small ice animals and insects were part of his bold idea. He wanted to see if he could give life to these ice creatures, but of course, he failed. That was the domain of the Goddess of Life.
Time passed as Ning Bei continued experimenting with new ideas, and nearly a year went by. During this time, Ning Bei also developed soul skills similar to the "Law of Heaven and Earth," "Ice Susano," and even the "Ice Attribute Zanpakuto."
Some of these skills were practical, while others were simply for show, but in the end, he did make some progress. He didn't waste an entire year.
And today, it was the day Ning Bei was going to submit for his seventh trial. Afterward, he would head to Sea God Island to check on the progress of the young ones' training.
Then came Qian Renxue's military strategy against Star Luo and Bibi Dong's Soul Hunting operation. When he thought about it, Ning Bei realized just how busy his life was!
(END CHAPTER)
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