BAMN: Chapter 51/53

Chapter 51: The Sealed Snow Empress

'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 Spiritual 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.)

Chapter 52: Free

"So it was Tang San himself who orchestrated it."

If the matter was explained this way, then all the unreasonable parts could be accounted for.

After all, Tang God King, Tang Family's backyard, what could be hidden from him here?

No wonder Tang San reacted that way when he encountered Shion and the others.

The appearance of the four clearly exceeded Tang San's expectations, becoming an unstable factor not within his grand millennium plan, and thus had to be eliminated.

"But..."

"Do you, with just yourself, think you can defeat my Shion?"

Rin had more or less figured out Tang San's true nature. This guy's true body was a God King.

Even if the rules of the Soul Land World were weaker, the Dragon God of this world, if placed in the Cardinal World, might only be at the level of an Awakened Demon Lord.

But that was still an Awakened Demon Lord.

The current Tang San certainly could not compare to the Dragon God. He was barely at a similar level to Clayman.

Unless Rin allowed Ogerpon to unleash her power at the cost of being expelled, it might be possible to defeat God King Tang San.

However, once Ogerpon unleashed her power, she would not be able to stay in the Soul Land World for long. She would soon be expelled and then blacklisted.

The cost was so high that Rin hesitated whether to use it or not.

"Hmm?"

While Rin was considering, Tang San noticed Rin's covetous gaze on the God Sealing Altar in his hand and immediately put it into a Soul Tool that could store living beings.

Snow Empress was a Soul Beast, but the Soul Land Continent was his backyard.

Every blade of grass, every tree, and every Soul Beast here was Tang San's property.

Tang San would never waste powerful fierce beasts like the Snow Empress. They were perfect for cultivating the Child of Destiny and helping him advance further.

"Shuna, go help Shion and then snatch the ring from his hand."

"Snatching something?"

Shuna did not ask what the God Sealing Altar was. She would obey Rin's commands unconditionally.

Thus, following Shion, whose close-combat ability was off the charts, Shuna, who could freely control various elements, assisted Shion while simultaneously looking for opportunities to cast magic attacks on the elder possessed by Tang San's divine sense.

The two women's combat style completely defied the Soul Master system.

Here, Soul Skills, which were like shortcuts, no matter how continuously they were released, would still have intervals and cooldowns.

But the two women's attacks had no such restrictions.

Shion's attacks were extremely violent. Each slash was comparable to a full-power strike from a demigod.

With the addition of dark magicules, even Tang San had to avoid her sharp edge.

Shuna, needless to say.

Mages were inherently output-oriented classes, and Shuna, who was even stronger than in the original work, stood behind Shion, directly transforming into an infinite firepower cannon. In no time, she had Tang San beaten to a pulp, scurrying around with his head in his hands.

"Damn it!"

"Where did these two women come from?!"

Tang San, in the Divine Realm, was observing the battle in the Northern Icefield with his divine sense.

Being watched by the God of Destruction, he could not personally intervene.

It was already the limit to split off a wisp of his divine sense to control the elder, allowing him to exert demigod-level combat power.

However, neither Shuna nor Shion, in their sealed state, were weaker than demigods. They were even stronger.

Two against one, Tang San's puppet was already on the verge of collapse.

"These people cannot be Soul Masters or Soul Beasts from the Soul Land Continent!"

Tang San knew the Soul Land Continent like the back of his hand. He even knew about the Silver Dragon King hidden beneath the Star Dou Great Forest and had already started planning to scheme for the Dragon God's power.

But Rin and his three companions were undoubtedly outsiders.

"Opportunity!"

It was precisely when Tang San was distracted that Shuna seized the opportunity and quickly used spatial motion, successfully severing the hand where Tang San wore the storage Soul Tool.

"Ah!!"

Through the connection of divine sense, Tang San, in the Divine Realm, also felt the pain of the severed hand.

"Damn it!!"

"Martial Soul Avatar!"

"Ring Explosion!!"

Seeing his puppet falling into a disadvantage, Tang San no longer hid his power and directly detonated all the soul power stored within the elder.

Nine Soul Rings—black, black, black, black, black, black, black, red, red—appeared behind the elder.

"I have the item."

Looking at the storage Soul Tool that Shuna had teleported into his hand, Rin ignored space and directly took out the God Sealing Altar stored within it.

If it were not to prevent Tang San from destroying the God Sealing Altar in a desperate move, Rin would not have gone to such trouble.

"Deal with him, Ogerpon."

"Poniii!"

As soon as he spoke, Ogerpon, who was standing in front of Rin, had already vanished without a trace.

Rin did not care much for mere demigod-level combat power.

Moreover, only a fool would wait for an enemy to finish casting.

Ring Detonation was indeed powerful, but would Rin give Tang San such an opportunity?

"Ah!!!"

In the God Realm, Tang San, who was controlling the Clear Sky Hammer and preparing to unleash his Martial Soul Avatar and then crush his Soul Rings, suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head.

Looking at the battlefield, Ogerpon was holding an Ivy Cudgel dripping with blood.

And behind her, a headless corpse lay in a pool of blood. It was the demigod elder controlled by Tang San.

If Shion and Shuna were equivalent to First-Class Gods who could only use demigod power, then Ogerpon, in the Soul Land Continent, was a restricted God King.

Killing a mere demigod was effortless.

"Rin-sama."

Shion and Shuna showed no dissatisfaction at their opponent being snatched by Ogerpon. The three women returned to Rin-sama's side, examining the God Sealing Altar in his hand.

"What is this?"

"Our harvest from this trip."

Rin had thought about what benefits he could gain in the Soul Land Continent.

Would it be awakening a Martial Soul, or Soul Rings and Soul Bones, or perhaps some rare heavenly treasures?

No, none of them.

Rin's path of growth had always been clear from beginning to end.

That was to capture powerful beings, make them his dependents, and then bring them back to the Cardinal World.

The Cardinal World would provide compensation based on the strength of their souls and their unique characteristics, granting them race, magicules, and Unique Skills.

Looking at the entire Soul Land Continent, what truly caught Rin's eye were none other than those fierce beasts.

As for Soul Masters, gods, and the like, Rin had no interest in them.

Humans, when they reached the Cardinal World, would still be humans, lacking the potential for evolution.

Instead, the hundred-thousand-year embryo in Rin's hand contained a sleeping being that was considered top-tier among Soul Beasts throughout the entire Soul Land series.

Similar to Rimuru's superior fire elemental Ifrit.

A Blazing Ruler possessing the power to burn all things, second only to the Elemental King among fire elementals.

"Let's talk to her first."

Rin actually had some confidence in taking down the Snow Empress.

As Rin extended his spiritual power into the God Sealing Altar, he saw a tall, slender girl curled up within the space, which resembled a golden birdcage.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 53: Snow Maiden

"Who are you?"

Her long, pure white hair trailed down to her feet, and upon sensing the intrusion of an outsider, the girl opened her eyes.

Those ice-blue eyes were ethereal and clear, as if they could see through everything in the world.

Her slender, delicate figure was flawless. A plain white dress, though without any adornment, made her appear noble and exquisitely beautiful.

"My name is Itoshi Rin, and I am the one who saved you from the evil God King."

"Evil God King?"

Although the Snow Empress was sealed and could not easily perceive the outside world, the intense battle earlier between Tang San, Shuna, and Shion had been strong enough for her to sense even within the seal.

So, the Snow Empress did not doubt Rin's words.

She simply did not understand what Rin meant by "God King."

"Do you remember the group of Soul Masters who ascended to the Divine Realm ten thousand years ago?"

Rin quickly explained about Tang San, how he treated the Soul Land Continent as his backyard, and how he schemed against her, wanting to turn her into a chess piece.

The more the Snow Empress listened, the more her anger surged uncontrollably.

Even though this was a mental space, her power still affected it. Large amounts of ice crystals began to spread, and even the space itself subtly showed cracks.

She did not suspect Rin was lying.

Firstly, Rin was not human, and that was crucial.

The monsters of the Cardinal World were different from the Soul Beasts of the Soul Land World. The Snow Empress was certain Rin was not her kind.

But just as importantly, Rin was not human either.

That alone was enough.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The Snow Empress's logic was very simple.

"Thank you."

"If you really want to thank me, how about coming with me?"

"Come with you?"

The Snow Empress did not understand his meaning. Was he asking her to follow him, to become his subordinate or something similar?

In the world of Soul Beasts, the strong were respected.

The Snow Empress valued her dignity greatly and would not stoop to serving others.

But… Rin had saved her life.

As repayment, the Snow Empress was not unwilling to do something for him.

"I will not be subservient to anyone."

After saying this, she quickly added, "But if there's anything you need me to do, I am willing to help you."

Her words, in a roundabout way, already told Rin she was willing to do things for him to repay this life-saving grace.

"Moreover, given my current state, if there's anything, please wait until I complete my human transformation."

The Snow Empress was helpless when it came to Soul Beast transformation.

She had no confidence in surviving the heavenly tribulation, so she could only choose human transformation and retrain in hopes of a chance at godhood.

For some reason, she began to wonder whether, with her current strength, she could truly help Rin at all.

"No, it's not about working for me."

Just as the Snow Empress was bewildered, Rin spoke, "Instead, come with me to leave this world and venture into a vaster expanse!"

"Leave this world?"

Rin's words completely exceeded her expectations. "You can take me out of this world?"

"That's right."

Having read the original work, Rin knew the Soul Land Continent was a huge cage for Soul Beasts.

The Snow Empress was already nearing the end of her lifespan; otherwise, she would not have chosen to transform into human form to gamble on that slim chance of becoming a god.

However, Rin had a ready-made solution.

As long as she left the Soul Land World, the Snow Empress could immediately break free from her shackles and gain a new future.

So the question arose.

Could Rin take her across worlds?

The answer was no.

Unless she became Rin's dependent, she could not leave the Soul Land World. To leave, she could only become Rin's person.

"So, you want me to become your dependent, just like those few who fought Tang San earlier?"

"That's right."

Rin said, "Don't worry, I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do.

"You can understand the relationship between a dependent and me as a shared fate. If you become stronger, I will also become stronger.

"Conversely, the stronger I am, the more you will gain!"

At this time, the Soul Land Continent did not yet have concepts like Soul Spirits or intelligent Soul Rings. At least, the Snow Empress had never heard of them.

Clearly, following Rin was much better than becoming someone else's Soul Ring and Soul Bone, or simply dying under the heavenly tribulation.

However, the Snow Empress had her own pride.

She felt that transforming into human form, then obtaining a divine position and ascending to godhood like Tang San had done many years ago, was also a path.

"You should be thinking about ascending to godhood? Forget about it!"

Rin poured a basin of cold water on her hopes. "You don't really think someone can ascend to the Divine Realm from the Soul Land Continent under Tang San's surveillance, do you?"

Any superior would not allow such an act of breaking free from control. A mere resource wanting to establish its own household?

Unless the Snow Empress became Tang San's pawn, he would absolutely not allow such a formidable person to appear on the Soul Land Continent.

The Snow Empress had a cold and arrogant personality, but she was not foolish.

On the contrary, she was highly intelligent, and she could fully understand the meaning behind Rin's words.

With God King Tang above her, no matter how confident or talented she was, she could not escape the fate of being schemed to death.

Just like the confinement left by the Dragon God. Whatever its original intention, under the schemes of the gods in the Divine Realm, that confinement, which prevented ascension, directly harmed countless Soul Beasts and cut off her path to godhood.

"So, as long as you leave the Soul Land Continent, the lightning tribulation that binds you will disappear.

"If you don't want to follow me, I can also take you to other planes to help you break through."

Rin was serious.

Even if she broke her shackles and became a god in another, better plane, Rin would still have the opportunity to subdue her and make her his dependent.

It was just that, in that case, she would owe him an even greater favor.

The Snow Empress was cold and arrogant by nature, but that God Realm not mean she lacked emotions or failed to understand gratitude.

"By the way, following me is definitely better than following someone like Tang San, right?"

Rin had this much confidence. He was not someone like Tang San who had one face in public and another in private.

Rin was always generous to his own people.

As long as he had enough to eat, he would never let them go hungry.

"That's right, that's right, Rin is very good."

Ogerpon's consciousness joined in, forming a lovely maiden's phantom beside Rin.

"Indeed."

"Shuna and I were just very ordinary Ogre Clan members in the forest, but Rin-sama bestowed upon us great power."

Shuna also appeared. At this time, it was their turn to persuade a new companion to join.

(To be continued.)