Soul Emperor Awakening

"So, you do have some ability. I thought you wouldn’t even be able to climb these stairs!" Hei Zhenxuan said. Seeing Lin Xuan ascend with ease didn’t particularly surprise him. It was meant to be a simple task. If he couldn’t even do that, then there would truly be nothing more to say.

"Don’t worry. Even if you couldn’t make it up, I still would," Lin Xuan said nonchalantly, completely ignoring his tone.

"As if I couldn’t make it! They only increased the gravity by a little. I could make it up even if they doubled it!" Hei Zhenxuan sneered. "Whatever. If you really couldn’t have made it, it would’ve been a complete waste of my time."

With that, he ignored Lin Xuan and continued forward, unafraid that Lin Xuan wouldn’t follow. They had come this far; there was no way he would turn back now.

Lin Xuan watched Hei Zhenxuan stride forward with practiced ease. ’This must not be Hei Zhenxuan’s first time here.’ Among the many tasks, the Path of the King was rather special. If one lacked the required keys, they could still leave; the task would simply be marked as incomplete.

However, anyone who entered had to at least make it up this staircase. Failure meant certain death.

He scanned his surroundings again. This area wasn’t much different from the staircase, crafted entirely from pristine white Jade. A cold aura radiated from all around, just like on the steps below. The only difference was the absence of the Yulan Sacred Fire surging upward, which made it feel much less oppressive.

The path led straight forward with no other routes. Raising his gaze, he saw a massive door forged from Jade. Hei Zhenxuan was already waiting for him up ahead, a hint of impatience on his face.

As he walked over, Hei Zhenxuan asked contemptuously, "Do you know what kind of Jade this is?"

"Isn’t it just Ice Jade? Is there a problem? Are all of you from the Black Dragon Race so boring that you ask such questions? Could you stop with the nonsense?" Lin Xuan himself didn’t know what the Jade was called, but the soul’s memories in his mind did.

Ice Jade was exceptionally precious and typically used to construct Cultivation Chambers. It could calm one’s Mental Realm and even boost the Cultivation speed for those with physiques like the Ice Yin Body. Furthermore, it could be used to forge Weapons. To put a price on it, a fist-sized piece of Ice Jade was roughly equivalent in value to a Spiritual Artifact.

This entire area was built from Ice Jade—an extravagance that was truly shocking. However, it was impossible to pry any loose, as the surfaces were etched with restrictive inscriptions that made them exceedingly difficult to damage.

He had wanted to mock Lin Xuan’s ignorance, but Lin Xuan’s retort made Hei Zhenxuan so furious he wanted to punch him. However, he knew that random attacks would be punished, so he forced himself to hold back.

"Get over here and open this door!" Hei Zhenxuan ordered, suppressing his anger. ’Once this Path of the King is open, Lin Xuan will be worthless.’

"If you’re the one asking for a favor, you shouldn’t be so arrogant. If I refuse to open it, what can you do to me?" Lin Xuan sneered. Now that they had reached this point, he felt like provoking Hei Zhenxuan.

"You!" When had anyone ever dared to speak to Hei Zhenxuan like this? He roared in fury, "Ask *you* for a favor? If it weren’t for the fact that you passed the King’s Purgatory, I would have slapped you to death long ago! How dare a member of your garbage race say something like that to me?"

"Fine, I’ll just sit here. Hit me if you’ve got the guts. I don’t mind one bit!" Lin Xuan plopped down on the ground, an expression on his face that dared Hei Zhenxuan to do something. He was deliberately stopping at this critical juncture to provoke him and teach him a lesson on how a demon should behave.

Seeing Lin Xuan’s antics, Hei Zhenxuan was overcome with a blinding rage. He desperately wanted to punch him a few times to vent his frustration, but his rational mind told him he couldn’t.

"If you get up and open this door right now, I’ll leave your corpse intact!" Hei Zhenxuan roared.

"Leave my corpse intact?" Lin Xuan crossed his arms and sneered. "How magnanimous. Before, you said you’d leave me half-dead, and now you’ll only leave me a whole corpse. What a generous reward! If you’re not going to beg, then I guess I won’t open the door. The environment here is quite nice; I think I’ll cultivate for a while."

He then actually sat down and began to cultivate, completely ignoring the furious expression on Hei Zhenxuan’s face. The latter’s eyes were already blazing with a towering inferno of rage.

As a Prince of the Black Dragon Race, how could Hei Zhenxuan possibly lower himself to beg someone? He could only stare at Lin Xuan, his face livid, at a complete loss for words.

Time dragged on. In the blink of an eye, an entire day had passed. Lin Xuan seemed to be quite enjoying his Cultivation; the sheer amount of Ice Jade in the area was actually increasing his Cultivation speed.

"Please... please help open this door!" Hei Zhenxuan finally broke, his face flushed red from pure, suppressed anger.

"What? ’Please’ help open the door? You should be begging me, not asking nicely!" Lin Xuan opened his eyes. ’He knew Hei Zhenxuan was finally ready to bow his head.’

"I... I beg you to help open the door!"

Hei Zhenxuan had been stuck in this Ice and Snow Tower for so long he was going mad. He was desperate to get out. His Cultivation was suppressed at its absolute limit, preventing any breakthroughs, so how could he possibly want to stay here any longer? In the end, his face livid, he finally spat out the words.

"That’s more like it. Good boy," Lin Xuan sneered as he stood up. ’He felt no real satisfaction from this; with people like Hei Zhenxuan, there was simply no need to be polite.’

He had wanted to do this from the start, but with so many other Demon Cultivators around, he knew Hei Zhenxuan would never have been able to bring himself to say it.

’Once we get out of here, you’ll learn how you’re going to die!’ Hei Zhenxuan’s gaze was frigid. The only reason he had bowed his head and uttered those words was because no other Demon Cultivators were present. Otherwise, he never would have said them.

’In any case, once they passed through this Path of the King, Lin Xuan was a dead man!’

When the two of them placed their hands on the door at the same time, the "King" character on their palms dissolved into a ball of Energy that flowed into the massive door.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

The great door finally began to grind open, parting slowly to either side. A wave of cold air surged out from within. Despite their considerable Cultivation, they both felt a bone-piercing chill—an ultimate, extreme cold!

What immediately met their eyes was a sea of fire—a vast ocean of the Yulan Sacred Fire that completely covered the passageway ahead, leaving no gaps to pass through. To put it bluntly, even the ability to fly would be useless; there was simply no empty space to fly through. An impassable wall of the Yulan Sacred Fire blocked their path.

Seeing this, Lin Xuan gasped. ’So this is the Path of the King. Anyone who can walk through this unscathed would become a King, even if they weren’t one before!’

’However, he knew this was just a test, based on the same principle as the King’s Purgatory. You had to know the right technique to pass; if you didn’t, it was a one-way ticket to death. As for the technique, it was obviously related to the Ice and Snow Badge on his arm. This was no mere decoration. Use it correctly, and you pass. Fail to use it, and you die!’