Douluo: Son of Destruction of Life, Supreme Creator!

Gu Linyuan stood up and patted the ice shards off his robes.

His movements remained composed, but all three could sense the subtle shift in his every gesture.

It felt like a stone that had been pressing down on me had been removed, and I felt more relaxed and fluid than before.

"The energy of the million-year-old spirit ring is still slowly being absorbed,"

"My current level of 55 is just the result of the initial fusion, and it will continue to improve. I estimate that I will be able to break through to level 60 within six months."

After hearing this, Hyotei remained silent for a moment, then took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress some surging emotion back into his chest.

She looked at Gu Linyuan, her emerald green eyes swirling with a complex emotion that was hard to describe accurately: surprise, emotion, and something deeper, as if she were seeing through him a different possibility that she was slowly approaching.

She suddenly laughed again, jumped back to his side in two steps, reached out and took his arm, hiding half her face behind his shoulder, her voice muffled but full of laughter.

"Human cultivation is really great... We really have such an advantage. For us soul beasts, it would take at least another 100,000 years of cultivation to increase our strength by this much."

Xue Di stood beside her, and upon hearing these words, her icy blue eyes flickered slightly.

She didn't speak, but her gaze lingered on Gu Linyuan's face for a long time, so long that she didn't even realize she had been looking at him for so long.

His cultivation was improving so rapidly that she could almost hear the sound of his footsteps moving forward, one after another, clear and resolute.

And what about herself?

She stood there, watching his figure grow taller and taller into the distance, and a sense of urgency she had never felt before welled up inside her.

She remembered the natural, uninhibited intimacy of Hyotei linking her arm with his, and the matter-of-fact closeness of Gintoki brushing the ice shards from his sleeve. They had both found their place, both stood beside him.

If she, the Snow Empress, also wants to follow him like they do, if she also wants to one day be able to lean on him and laugh without any scruples like the Ice Empress... then it seems she needs to hurry up.

A Yin stood beside Gu Linyuan, taking in all of this.

Gu Linyuan's gaze fell on the enormous golden body deep within the cave. The Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's body still hovered in the dim light and shadow, its golden glow having changed from bright to warm, like the lingering warmth left after a flame had burned out, quietly spreading across the ice surface.

He was silent for a moment, as if he was calculating something, then turned to look at Hyotei and Yuki-tei.

"You can divide its body among yourselves."

Hyotei paused, her emerald green eyes narrowing slightly. "...What?"

"The body of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm still contains a large amount of energy essence. The origin of the Ice Silkworm is a mixture of ice and spiritual attributes, which should be a great tonic for you ice attribute soul beasts."

"I only need its spirit ring. The rest you can divide."

Chapter 219 The Kiss of Hyotei and Yuki-tei

Hyotei's breathing paused for a moment.

She looked at Gu Linyuan, then at the enormous golden body.

She knew how valuable the corpse of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm was.

The energy contained in the flesh and bones of a million-year-old soul beast is enough to allow any ferocious beast to directly leap to a higher level of cultivation, and even have the opportunity to use it to break through to a higher realm.

Even though the soul rings had been removed from this body, the remaining energy was still so immense that it made her heart race.

And Gu Linyuan just pushed it in front of them so easily.

"Brother Lin Yuan, how can you be so generous?"

"Do you know what this means to a soul beast?"

Her voice carried a complex emotion that she herself hadn't fully processed, and her bright green eyes sparkled, as if layers of light were building up inside them.

"know."

Gu Linyuan simply nodded slightly.

"Then why?"

"I have no use for it."

“You need it more than I do.”

Hyotei remained silent.

She stood there, looking at Gu Linyuan's calm and composed face, as if something was rapidly expanding in her chest.

Only Gu Linyuan would say he has no use for the corpse of a million-year-old soul beast.

That's incredibly extravagant!

What they considered a treasure was nothing more than ordinary in Gu Linyuan's eyes.

This arrogance instantly made Hyotei's entire being tremble.

She's already getting so many benefits before even establishing a relationship with Gu Linyuan. If she were to sleep with him, wouldn't there be even more benefits?

Thinking of this, Hyotei took a big step forward, stood on tiptoe, hooked her arms around Gu Linyuan's neck, and kissed him heavily on the lips.

The kiss came quickly and suddenly, and the overwhelming surprise and emotion broke through all restraint.

Hyotei was petite; even on tiptoe, she could barely reach Gu Linyuan's lips.

Her body swayed slightly from the force of the movement, and one hand unconsciously pressed against his chest, her fingertips gripping the front of his robe, as if she were using this action to steady herself, or as if she were using this action to confirm that this moment was indeed real.

Her eyes were tightly closed, her eyelashes trembling slightly in the eerie blue light of the ice cave. A blush quickly rose on her fair cheeks, spreading from her ears to her neck, and even her emerald green eyes were misty when she opened them.

She nearly lost her balance as she stepped back, staggering half a step before regaining her footing. She loosened her grip on Gu Linyuan's clothes and took two steps back, her lips still slightly parted, as if she hadn't caught her breath in that instant.

"...A gift of thanks."

Her voice was much lower than usual, carrying a panic that she tried hard to hide but still managed to reveal.

"This is a thank-you gift."

After she finished speaking, she felt a little unsteady on her feet, so she simply turned her head away as if admiring the silvery-white specks on the ice wall, but even the tips of her ears turned bright red.

The cave was quiet for a couple of breaths.

Xue Di stood a few steps away, taking in the entire scene that had just unfolded.

She saw Hyotei stand on tiptoe, saw her arm hook around Gu Linyuan's neck, saw Hyotei's eyelashes tremble slightly when the kiss landed and her cheeks almost burning when she pulled away.

Her fingers clenched and unclenched inside her sleeve, then relaxed and clenched again. She felt something she had never felt before, like something deep within the ice was cracking at an accelerated rate, the edges of the cracks spreading outwards.

The cracks widened, as if the icy shell she had always used to support herself was being melted from the outside by some temperature she could not ignore.

She looked at Gu Linyuan, at his still calm face, at the faint glimmer of moisture left on his lips after being kissed by Bingdi, and something that had been suppressed in her heart for too long finally seemed to have a crack pried open.

She knew she couldn't wait any longer.

If she continues to evade the issue like before, once the Ice Emperor truly leaves the far north with Gu Linyuan, and once Gu Linyuan truly reaches a height that she can no longer easily reach, she may not even have the chance to speak again.

She moved.

She didn't stand on tiptoe like Hyotei did, nor did she hook her arms around his neck.

She simply walked up to him, stood in front of him, lowered her head, and gently placed a kiss on his cheek.

That kiss was shorter and lighter than Hyotei's, like the sensation of snowflakes falling on skin and melting in an instant, leaving no time to leave any warmth.

But her movements carried a clear determination.

She knew she was never the type to express her feelings openly; she was used to suppressing all her emotions deep inside and using silence to maintain her dignity.

But this time she chose to do something, even if it was just a very light touch, almost negligible by the wind.

She needs to let him know that her choices are tilting in that direction.

After she stepped back, she didn't look away like Hyotei did.

She simply gazed quietly at Gu Linyuan, a softness rarely revealed to others welling up in her icy blue eyes, like a thin layer of ice melting in warmth, beneath which water was slowly flowing.

"Thank you."

Her voice remained cool and clear, but it was a few decibels softer than usual.

The three words lingered between her lips for a moment before falling into the air, steady and clear.

Gu Linyuan stood in the center of the cave, his left cheek warmed by the Ice Emperor's touch and his right cheek touched by the Snow Emperor's touch.

He remained silent for a moment, as if he needed some time to process the two things that had just happened, and then let out a soft breath.

"...You two."

His voice carried a hint of helplessness, yet he wasn't really blaming anyone.

Hyotei had returned to her usual carefree self, but her bright red ear tips and slightly upturned lips were impossible to hide.

She glanced at Xue Di, a mischievous glint flashing in her emerald eyes, but she didn't mock her. Instead, she hopped forward two steps toward the enormous golden body of Tianmeng Ice Silkworm.

"Then I won't be polite, I'll pick the biggest one first!"

Xue Di stood beside Gu Linyuan, her gaze lingering on the spot on his face where she had kissed him. She paused for a moment, as if she had finally accomplished something she had been holding back for a long time and was now confirming whether the feeling was as she had imagined.

She didn't go with Hyotei to dismember the bodies; she just stood there, her eyes lowered, her fingertips gently rubbing the edge of her sleeve.

Inside the cave, the golden light was slowly fading. Hyotei had begun cutting through the body tissues that radiated intense energy fluctuations, her emerald green eyes filled with undisguised excitement.

Gu Linyuan stood still, feeling the golden soul ring within his body continuously merging with him, and also feeling the two completely different temperatures on both sides of his cheeks, and his heart stirred slightly.