'Energy with even higher quality than Soul Power.'

'Could it be Spiritual Power?'

This guess surprised Rin. 'How is that possible? At this time, someone appearing in the Northern Icefield possessing Divine Power…'

Well, Rin hadn't researched Soul Land too deeply, so he really couldn't guess the old man's identity.

"A Soul Beast that has taken human form?"

However, the old man was currently sizing up Rin, as well as Ogerpon and the two other girls standing beside him.

In the old man's eyes, Rin was no different from a human, with no distinguishing features.

But the horns on the heads of Ogerpon and the two other girls were definitely not something humans could possess.

"When did the Northern Icefield gain 100,000-year Soul Beasts like you?"

The golden-blue light in the old man's eyes grew brighter, especially with the appearance of Rin and the others, which made him subtly displeased that his plan seemed to be slipping out of control.

"Never mind, I'll take you down first, then interrogate you thoroughly."

"Huh?"

The old man's words stunned Rin.

What the hell?

After just meeting and exchanging a few words, they were forcibly defined as transformed Soul Beasts?

Soul Beasts in Soul Land, after training for over 200,000 years, could transform into human form.

This transformation was not like a transformed Soul Beast abandoning its training to become human, but rather a change in appearance, allowing them to walk in human form.

The old man obviously took Rin and the others to be in this situation.

"Tsk."

Shion was displeased with the old man's tone. "Rin-sama, can I kill this guy?"

"…"

This time, Rin did not try to stop her again.

Because even Rin was somewhat displeased with the old man's attitude.

This attitude, as if he had them completely cornered, was truly unpleasant.

"Presumptuous!"

The old man was enraged by Shion's words. A mere Soul Beast daring to speak to him like that was simply courting death!

"Boom!"

The old man's figure flashed, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of Shion.

At the same time, a giant hammer shimmering with blue lightning, carrying an overwhelming might, seemed poised to smash Shion into paste.

"Bang!"

However, Shion's counterattack was no weaker than the old man's.

The girl drew the great blade she carried on her back and simply held it horizontally in front of her, effortlessly blocking the old man's enraged strike.

"What?"

The immense force not only failed to kill Shion, but the old man only felt a surging, overwhelming power coming from the front, forcing him to fly backward.

"Hmph!"

Shion's eyes narrowed, and she advanced with her blade, engaging the old man in battle.

Neither of them used any special moves, purely clashing in terms of strength, causing glaciers to shatter and the earth to be scarred with ravines.

The enormous commotion spread in all directions, startling countless powerful Soul Beasts living in this Northern Icefield.

"What powerful strength."

"Who is it?!"

Beneath a distant glacier, a giant ice scorpion, entirely emerald green like jade, turned its head in a human-like manner.

She was the second-ranked of the Northern Icefield's Three Arctic Kings, the Ice Empress!

"This aura doesn't seem like a Soul Beast…"

"Damn it! It's those hateful humans!"

If it wasn't a Soul Beast, then it was a Soul Master.

Upon realizing that Soul Masters had intruded into the core area of the Northern Icefield and were causing such a commotion, how could the Ice Empress possibly tolerate it? She immediately rushed out of her lair and sped towards the direction of Shion and the old man's battle.

To Soul Beasts, humans were mortal enemies.

Now, they had even entered her territory and were openly engaging in battle.

This was no longer mere provocation but a blatant declaration of war.

Even to defend her territory and the dignity of a fierce beast, the Ice Empress had to go and bury these uninvited guests.

---

"A hammer with lightning?"

"Could it be the Clear Sky Hammer?"

"Someone from the Clear Sky Sect?"

The old man's strength was absolutely not comparable to an ordinary Titled Douluo.

According to Rin's estimation, Shion, constrained by world rules, could at most unleash nuclear bomb-like destruction on the Douluo Continent.

Such power even surpassed that of a Limit Douluo, reaching the demigod realm of this world.

And this was still in a sealed state.

Once Shion disregarded the world's repulsion and fully unleashed herself, even a First-Class God descending would fall beneath her blade.

"To be able to fight Shion to this extent, the opponent must also be a demigod-level Soul Master."

"But does the Clear Sky Sect have such an individual?"

"Tang Chen from Soul Land 1? Or Da Ming and Er Ming from Soul Land 2?"

Rin had some guesses about the old man's identity, but a better method was to directly use Appraisal.

He hadn't used it earlier out of politeness.

Appraisal wasn't a very high-level skill, it wasn't silent.

Rashly detecting others, if detected, would certainly be seen as a provocative act, leading to conflict.

But now, the old man was already fighting Shion, so Rin naturally had no need to hold back.

"Appraisal!"

[Appraisal failed]

[Reason for failure: Interference from special mental energy]

'Interfered?'

The skill feedback surprised Rin. He quickly used the more powerful Dragon Eye's Appraisal ability for another investigation…

[Detection started]

[Interference successfully broken, true name of individual obtained: Tang San]

"Tang San?!"

Rin's pupils constricted. This result almost fried his CPU. "No, is Tang San like this? Are you sure this is Soul Land?"

"No!"

"Incorrect!"

Rin continued to observe with the Dragon Eye and quickly discovered something amiss with the old man.

"It's not Tang San himself!"

In Rin's investigation, although the old man was strong, he was only a Level 99 Limit Douluo, not a demigod.

The old man's state was more like that of a manipulated puppet.

Within his body existed a more powerful consciousness that was controlling him, and the source of the Spiritual Power was also him.

"Dragon Eye!"

Immediately after, Rin cast Appraisal on the Soul Tool the old man held in his left hand.

[Level 9 Soul Tool – God Sealing Altar]

[100,000-year Soul Beast Embryo (Snow Empress)]

"Good heavens!"

At this point, Rin finally cleared up his thoughts. "It's now the period of Soul Land 2, Peerless Tang Sect. The Snow Empress transformed, but was discovered by human Soul Masters and captured using the Level 9 God Sealing Altar."

This was a plot point in the original novel.

"This matter, was Tang San scheming behind it?"

When reading the original novel, Rin felt this plot was very unreasonable.

The Snow Empress transformed in the core area of the Northern Icefield, and the place she chose must have been safe.

But even in this situation, a Soul Master just happened to run nearby, and just happened to carry a Sealing God Platform capable of sealing a 100,000-year Soul Beast.

One must know that a Level 9 Soul Tool like the God Sealing Altar could only be crafted by the most top-tier Soul Engineers of the Sun Moon Empire.

A Soul Master of extraordinary strength just happened to come to her chosen safe zone when the Snow Empress was transforming, and just happened to carry a Level 9 God Sealing Altar.

Even more absurd was that this Soul Master didn't use it himself, but instead sold the Snow Empress's 100,000-year embryo.

A 100,000-year embryo could allow one to gain a second martial soul.

Even if that couldn't be achieved, one could still obtain a 100,000-year Soul Bone.

Such a treasure, yet someone would sell it.

(To be continued.)