Staying Alive Was Nothing to Be Ashamed Of

Time went back to when the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress had just set out.

The two of them followed the black ice upward.

Every so often, they opened the map to take a look.

"The Frost-Ashen Black Dragon is an ancient dragon variant born naturally in the Ashen Frost Rift Valley. Doesn't that make it much like me?"

The Heavenly Snow Woman was a favored child born and nurtured by the Far North. Could she be considered a type of Exotic Beast too?

The Snow Empress was a little curious about how she herself would be classified.

She probably counted as a type of Exotic Beast... right?

For some reason, she felt an urge to compare herself with them.

Of course, it was only a passing thought.

There were no weak Frost-Ashen Black Dragons. According to the map, eight Black Dragons were born every ten thousand years. The eight then devoured one another and evolved, until only one survived to become a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

If one suddenly went missing during the process, another would be born to replace it. It was as though... those were simply the rules here.

"Anyone who can survive under those conditions can't be weak."

The Snow Empress understood that even with over seven hundred thousand years of cultivation, she would probably only get thoroughly trounced by a dragon variant like that.

Its stats were simply too high.

Ultimate Fire, Ultimate Ice, Ultimate Strength.

Even the Emperor Auspicious Beast of the Star Dou Great Forest didn't have as many as he did.

The Snow Empress took detours whenever she could.

"Xue'er, can we really make it there?"

The Ice Empress looked up at the sky but saw nothing.

Yet she instinctively felt a little... cold?

Was that right? She possessed Ultimate Ice! Something could actually make her feel cold?

The Snow Empress checked the time. It was eight in the evening.

"It's eight at night now. According to the map, the temperature has probably already fallen below minus 130 degrees."

Even the Ninth Soul Skill of a Soul Master with the Ultimate Ice attribute probably couldn't reach that temperature.

Although many Soul Masters named their skills after absolute zero, many of them couldn't reach that temperature. At most, they reached a little below minus 80 degrees.

And here? It was genuinely minus 130 degrees.

Never mind the Ice Empress-even she felt a little cold.

Low temperatures were different from high temperatures. The lower limit for temperature was actually very low.

"It'll probably drop below minus 200 degrees by midnight. We need to find somewhere warm."

The Snow Empress laughed at her own words.

With her strength, she could only approach absolute zero without ever reaching it. Even so, she could reach more than 180 degrees below zero, but no lower.

Below minus 200 degrees was already infinitely close to true absolute zero.

She wasn't confident she could withstand that temperature head-on.

"Let's find somewhere safer to settle down first."

The Ice Empress chose a slope sheltered from the wind and set down the polar thermal shelter she carried.

It was something Wei Lin had prepared for them.

"That kid Lin really is quite something. Next time I get the chance, I'll definitely catch her some Ice Silkworms for him to eat."

The Snow Empress smiled faintly. Though the Ice Empress was always speaking ill of Wei Lin, she remembered his kindness better than anyone.

Was this what humans often called... tsundere?

"We'll continue tomorrow."

Seeing snowflakes drifting past the window, she frowned slightly.

This was the bottom of the canyon, more than ten thousand meters underground. How could snowflakes be falling here? Something was wrong. Very wrong.

The Snow Empress rubbed the space between her brows. She felt she had lived all these years for nothing.

The world clearly called her the overlord of the Far North, yet now... her understanding of the Far North was so shallow.

So shallow that...

"Sigh~ Then I'll take the gamble."

If she hadn't known, she might have gone back to being the overlord of the Far North and its gatekeeper.

Perhaps, in the future, she would have met her end with her soul scattering beneath the heavenly tribulation at eight hundred thousand years.

"Having learned how vast the world outside is, who would willingly go back to being a frog at the bottom of a well? Even knowing full well that the road ahead is fraught with danger."

"Xue'er! Come on! I've warmed up your bed for you!"

"Coming."

The Snow Empress shook her head and put those thoughts aside. They still had to continue their journey tomorrow.

She would try to get back.

Although little brother Lin had prepared three years' worth of instant food for her, freshly made food tasted better.

Somewhere unknown to the two of them,

two figures silently watched them.

No, they couldn't be called two figures: one was a mask, the other a faceless person.

"I brought her to you, so you'd better give Aha something in return~"

The faceless person fell silent for a moment, then made a final decision.

"The Douluo Plane will be his forever."

"Ahahaha! You've just handed yourself over? This is too much fun! As the plane's consciousness, you've gone all in with everything you have. This is too much fun!"

The mask's laughter gradually faded away, leaving the faceless person alone.

"The situation is stronger than I am. If I can cling to a powerful backer's thigh, why wouldn't I? I'm just a tiny plane consciousness."

They didn't believe they could compare with those "existences."

But... if they couldn't have the meat, surely they could have a little of the soup.

An invisible call drifted over.

The Snow Empress, who had been asleep, opened her eyes slightly and gently tugged at the Ice Empress, who was sleeping with her arms around her. A helpless look appeared in her eyes.

"Is someone calling me?"

She sensed the direction briefly.

She didn't set out immediately.

With the temperature outside below minus 260 degrees, if she dared go out, she could die right there.

It was better to wait until the temperature rose a little during the day.

The Snow Empress tugged again at the Ice Empress, who was wrapped around her.

She couldn't pull her off. Forget it, she would sleep like this.

Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.

Early the next morning, they set out again.

The temperature had also returned to a little over 120 degrees below zero.

For them, that was already much better.

Thanks to the faint, intermittent call from the night before, the Snow Empress had locked onto her target.

As for the Ice Empress, she was as carefree as ever, gnawing on the Sweet Madame she held.

It was just that the temperature was so low it had frozen rock-hard.

"I really want something warm to eat."

The Ice Empress felt her palate was becoming spoiled.

She had gnawed on ice before, but now she just didn't think it tasted good.

They encountered no danger along the way, though that made sense.

The Frost-Ashen Black Dragons ruled almost all of this place. Apart from dragons, there were no other creatures to be seen.

Nor could any creatures survive such extreme temperature swings.

Before long, the two of them arrived at a cave.

"Is this the place?"

The Snow Empress was puzzled. Why would someone be calling me from here?

She waved her right hand, and an Emperor Sword appeared in it.

A jade-green shield also appeared around the Ice Empress, and her pincers and tail were fully poised for battle.

As the two walked into the cave, they found it... as ordinary as could be, just a perfectly normal ice cave of the Far North.

But... this was the Ashen Frost Rift Valley, ten thousand meters underground!

The appearance of a normal ice cave here was itself a sign that something was wrong!

"Bing'er, be ready to run at any moment."

"Understood."

They were only trying to stay alive. There was no shame in that. Besides, the Ice Empress didn't think she could defeat the other Soul Beasts here or deal with anything unexpected.

Running was naturally her first choice.