bioinnovel Chapter 137 The King's Army
Chapter 137 The King's Army
"What...did you just say to me?"
The voice of the Soul Master of the Frost was filled with astonishment and disbelief, her words seeming to have been squeezed out of a tomb frozen for thousands of years, carrying a tremor that even she herself could not hide.
Xue Youyou's words were so absurd that this elderly emperor, who had lived through many years, even doubted whether he was truly so old that he was experiencing tinnitus and auditory hallucinations.
That was not the kind of arrogant talk that a mere newborn creature should utter to an emperor.
Only by having Xue Youyou repeat it again, completely and without a single mistake, could she confirm that she was not crazy and had not misheard—the world was not so upside down that anyone would dare to say such absurd things to her face.
Seeing the other party's reaction, Xue Youyou showed no impatience whatsoever. She simply turned her head slightly, as if accommodating a hard-of-hearing elder, and kindly repeated herself. Each word was spoken even softer than before, yet sharper still:
"I say...we should just let the old man die already!"
As the words fell, the chill in the air seemed to vanish instantly, replaced by a bone-chilling cold that pierced the very soul.
Xue Youyou's voice was as indifferent as a merciless judgment issued by a god-king, or like Gungnir, the legendary spear forged from the branches of the World Tree. This voice pierced straight into the heart of the Frost Soul Master, which had maintained her majesty for nearly two thousand years.
At this moment, the Soul Lord of the Frost was finally certain—it had not misheard.
After the second confirmation, even the dark flames on its body, which were originally lifeless and seemed about to go out at any moment, suddenly began to pulsate violently and became much brighter.
The flames flickered with shadows of anger and shock, revealing the turbulent waves churning within them.
The Soul Lord of the Frost Soul has lived for nearly two thousand years. He has seen countless ants kneeling and begging for mercy, countless overconfident challengers, and even those who grit their teeth and refuse to yield on the verge of death. But this is the first time he has heard such treasonous words, and the first time he has encountered such a calm yet chilling offense.
"That's really rare."
Its voice drifted from beneath the hood, unhurried yet carrying the weighty pressure accumulated over sixteen hundred years: "I have reigned as emperor for over sixteen hundred years. In these sixteen hundred years, countless people have groveled at my feet, and countless souls have wailed in my palms. And today, I hear for the first time such absurd words."
"Fresh! Absolutely fresh!"
At this point, its tone even carried a hint of genuine or feigned appreciation, but beneath that tone lay an increasingly uncontrollable chilling aura.
"Hehehehe... I was careless just now. This snowflake seems to possess considerable power."
The Frost Soul Lord's laughter was like old ice being slowly crushed, hoarse and grating: "Is this your source of confidence? With this insignificant and laughable power, you dare to spout nonsense in front of me?"
Its laughter abruptly ceased, replaced by a long-suppressed rage that finally broke free of its icy grip.
"Hey—aren't you mistaken about something?!"
The voice of the Soul Lord of the Frost Netherworld suddenly rose, his tone abruptly turning downwards. The imperial rage that had been building up for sixteen hundred years could no longer be contained, and it surged forth like a dam bursting.
"You want to use me as fertilizer on your path of evolution? How absurd! Even though I am now a flickering candle in the wind, I am not someone a lowly person like you can covet! You think you can advance further by stepping on my corpse—you're a thousand years too early!"
Its sound echoed and reverberated throughout the Frostbite Netherworld, causing the dark ice crystals to tremble violently.
"Once, twice, three times. I thought that patience and sincerity could earn me some respect, but I never expected to be met with the arrogance of an ant. You have no idea what kind of being you are facing, nor do you know what you just said."
The Soul Lord of the Frost grew increasingly cold, each word like shards of ice squeezed from between her teeth: "Since that's the case, then I've changed my mind. I won't let you die a quick death. I'll make you taste all the pain in the world, make you shatter inch by inch in despair, and only then will I allow you to die—Aa ...
This emperor, like a candle flickering in the wind, was finally shattered by Xue Youyou's repeated offenses and disrespects, his composure completely torn apart and his defenses utterly breached.
It no longer maintains that condescending indifference, nor does it hesitate to wear the mask of an emperor.
Extreme anger is like a flaming ghost fire, burning fiercely in every wisp of flame throughout its entire body.
It vowed that it would make this arrogant fool, who was oblivious to his own mortality, pay a terrible price for every word he uttered, every glance he gave, and every smile he gave.
However, faced with such a heart-wrenching roar, faced with the overwhelming rage of a thousand-year-old emperor, Xue Youyou finally revealed a smile on her face.
It wasn't a laugh twisted with fear, nor a forced laugh when trying to be brave. It was a relaxed and contented smile, the kind that comes from finally seeing the other person get serious, like a patient hunter who has finally seen his prey bare its fangs.
"That's more like it."
Xue Youyou nodded slightly, her tone carrying a hint of approval and enjoyment: "Finally, you've shown some imperial backbone. To be honest, the way you were forced to smile because you were afraid of dying just now made me tired for you."
This nonchalant attitude stung the Soul Master of the Frost Realm more than any insult.
Its flames flickered violently—not from anger, but from being stung by the other's composure.
"Hmph... If you've set your sights on my dying body, thinking you can take advantage of my weakness and steal my prize, you're sorely mistaken!"
The Soul Lord of the Frost Soul let out a chilling laugh, dry and shrill, like a thousand shards of glass scraping against ice: "Hehehehehe... I don't even need to personally deal with an arrogant fool like you. You think you're worthy of my personal attention? Let me show you what true imperial majesty is!"
Its voice suddenly rose, transforming into a summons that shook the entire underworld.
"Come out, all you servants who attend to me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, countless clusters of light suddenly lit up the dark and boundless Eternal Frost Netherworld.
The lights, like will-o'-the-wisps rising from the depths of hell, spread out in all directions, layer upon layer, illuminating this desolate world that had been silent for countless years, making it resemble a grand underworld ceremony.
The appearance of each orb of light represents a long-dormant soul being awakened from its eternal slumber and once again driven by the emperor's will.
As the light slowly faded, what came into view was a terrifying sight that would make any living being's scalp tingle and their heart tremble—hundreds of thousands of pet beast soldiers, neatly arrayed around the Soul Lord of the Underworld Frost, layer upon layer, like a tide and a sea, stretching from the feet all the way to the end of the field of vision.
The pets' figures were all in a cold, dark color scheme: gray-black, dark purple, deep blue, withered yellow... devoid of any life, only deathly silence and icy killing intent.
More precisely, they are not living creatures, but prey captured by the Soul Lord of the Frost over nearly two thousand years—those once vibrant and powerful pets, who were imprisoned here forever after their defeat, their souls enslaved by the power of the emperor, never to be freed, becoming its most loyal and ruthless weapons.
Among this army of hundreds of thousands of pet beasts, there are almost none whose aura is weaker than that of a fully-formed pet beast. Any one of them would be a main pet beast at the level of an academy league in the outside world.
Here, however, they are just ordinary soldiers, densely packed together, like countless chess pieces at the mercy of others.
Even more outrageous is that at the very front of this terrifying army, the aura emanating from the seven leading pets is even more astonishing—they are all ultimate-level pets!
The seven ultimate forms, like seven silent death monarchs, stood silently before the army, awaiting their sole command.