Snow Empress: What Is the Price? (First Update)

Far North Land, Jade Ice Lake.

"I have an immortal herb that can help the Ice Empress survive her four-hundred-thousand-year great tribulation," Huo Yuhao said calmly.

What?

Tian Meng stared at Huo Yuhao in astonishment.

The Ice Empress was slightly taken aback.

Help her endure the Heavenly Tribulation? Could this guy really be so kind-hearted? Was he sure he was not trying to use the opportunity to set her up and kill her?

Snow Empress fixed her gaze on Huo Yuhao, a trace of doubt flashing through her pure azure eyes.

"With Snow Empress here, if anything goes wrong, you may take my life for hers," Huo Yuhao said with complete confidence.

The Ice Empress was uncertain. She raised her head and looked toward Snow Empress beside her, seeking her opinion.

Snow Empress pondered briefly, then lifted her eyes to look at Huo Yuhao.

"What exactly is the immortal herb you mentioned? Does it have any side effects? And what is the price?"

Snow Empress asked three questions in a row.

Huo Yuhao did not hide anything. Raising a hand, he took a jade-white herb from the Wishful Hundred Treasure Pouch. Its flower stem curved like the neck of a snow-white swan.

"This is called the Snow-Colored Swan Kiss. It is not poisonous itself, but it can amplify toxins by tens of millions of times..."

"Ice..." Snow Empress frowned slightly.

"I know. In order to cultivate Ultimate Ice, she dispersed her poison arts," Huo Yuhao explained.

Upon hearing that, Snow Empress immediately cast a strange look at the Ice Empress beside her.

Tian Meng was somewhat dumbfounded.

Was... was that how it was?

The Ice Empress was also stunned. Seeing Snow Empress's slightly puzzled expression, she felt utterly innocent.

I never told him that!

"It is precisely because she once cultivated poison arts, then dispersed them to cultivate Ultimate Ice, that she can control the medicinal effects of this immortal herb," Huo Yuhao explained.

"At worst, her poison arts will be restored. Her cultivation and physical strength are enough to suppress the herb's effects, and her strength will undergo a qualitative leap," Huo Yuhao said.

As the finest ingredient for concocting poisons, the Snow-Colored Swan Kiss could turn an ordinary poison into a deadly toxin with only the slightest addition.

The medicinal effects of this immortal herb were extremely dangerous, making it wholly unsuitable for human consumption.

The Ice Empress had once cultivated poison, then dispersed it. Her body possessed extremely high poison resistance, and her three-hundred-ninety-thousand-year cultivation allowed her to barely endure the hundreds- or thousands-fold proliferation of toxins caused by this herb. It suited her perfectly, as though it had been custom-made for her.

Snow Empress was only half-convinced.

At this moment, the Ice Empress could not determine whether he was telling the truth, and Tian Meng understood even less.

"Then, what is the price?" Snow Empress asked coolly.

"This is a gift," Huo Yuhao said calmly.

Snow Empress fell silent.

Huo Yuhao saw through Snow Empress's thoughts.

"If I help the Ice Empress successfully survive her four-hundred-thousand-year great tribulation, can you do me a favor?" Huo Yuhao asked, looking up at her.

The Ice Empress hurriedly grabbed Snow Empress's elbow and gently shook her head.

"Human words cannot be trusted."

Tian Meng did not dare say much. He did not dare offend either side.

"Tell me," Snow Empress replied.

She needed to know the condition first before considering whether she could accept it.

"In the Icebound Forest, on Snow Dragon Spine Mountain, there is a Ten Thousand Year Ninth Grade Ginseng King. I hope you can help me capture it as an exchange. Would that be acceptable?" Huo Yuhao stared intently at Snow Empress.

Ten Thousand Year Ninth Grade Ginseng King?

Snow Empress thought briefly.

She had once encountered a ginseng herb that had gained intelligence in the Far North Land. She had originally wanted to capture it for Ice to use in overcoming her tribulation, but the ginseng herb had fled too quickly, causing her to unexpectedly fail.

Could that Ten Thousand Year Ninth Grade Ginseng King be referring to it?

If the price was capturing that ginseng herb, it would count as an equal exchange.

"Does it have 'nine leaves growing atop its head, its entire body white as snow'?" Snow Empress asked.

Huo Yuhao immediately understood that Snow Empress had seen it before.

"Exactly." Huo Yuhao nodded.

"Though it has only ten thousand years of cultivation, it possesses strength comparable to a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. It should also possess the ability to sense fortune and avoid disaster. It once escaped from the hands of two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, so its ability to flee must be exceptional," Huo Yuhao revealed everything he knew.

"Ten thousand years of cultivation, yet comparable to a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?!" Tian Meng cried out in surprise.

The Ice Empress immediately shot him a cold glance.

Tian Meng instantly shut his mouth and squatted in a corner, gloomily drawing circles.

Someone else was comparable to a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast after ten thousand years, while he was inferior to one even after a million years.

In that instant, he truly felt like trash.

Huo Yuhao ignored the depressed Tian Meng.

He had found this information in records mentioned in the Sea God Legend.

Back then, Xiao Wu had died after Sacrificing herself for Tang San. The Titan Giant Ape and Sky Azure Bull Python had mentioned three conditions for resurrecting her, one of which was the Ten Thousand Year Ninth Grade Ginseng King.

It was said that the Ten Thousand Year Ninth Grade Ginseng King had once sought shelter in the Star Dou Great Forest. The Titan Giant Ape and Sky Azure Bull Python had joined forces to capture it, yet they had failed.

"Is this condition acceptable?" Huo Yuhao asked.

If Old Yi had not existed, he would most likely have changed this condition to: asking Snow Empress to take action once, as long as it did not violate her own will.

"Agreed." Snow Empress nodded and accepted.

Huo Yuhao immediately sent the Snow-Colored Swan Kiss in his hand forward. Wrapped in Soul Power, it drifted toward the Ice Empress.

The Ice Empress hesitated somewhat.

"I will protect you," Snow Empress said softly.

The Ice Empress nodded slightly, deciding to take the gamble.

If she could survive this ordeal, she could extend her life for another lifetime.

Thus.

Following Huo Yuhao's guidance, the Ice Empress swallowed the entire immortal herb. She then mobilized all the Soul Power in her body, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began refining the herb.

Snow Empress stood nearby, her gaze fixed on the Ice Empress.

Huo Yuhao sat directly on the ice without concern, circulating Soul Power to ward off the cold as he quietly waited.

His earlier battle with the Ice Empress and his simulated intimidation had consumed a great deal of his Soul Power and Spiritual Power. He needed to adjust his condition promptly.

Tian Meng nervously watched the Ice Empress in cultivation, worry written all over his face. From time to time, he glanced at Huo Yuhao, his emotions deeply anxious.

Snow Empress spared a little attention to glance at Huo Yuhao and saw that he was thinly clad.

The falling snow in the sky gradually vanished. All around was draped in silver, yet the cold wind could not draw near.

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes and glanced at Snow Empress's back before resuming his cultivation and recovery.

Gradually, he too lost track of the outside world and the passage of time.

Then a thunderous boom erupted from the sky, jolting Huo Yuhao awake from cultivation.

Though he was still fatigued, he had recovered seventy or eighty percent of his strength.

Dark clouds rolled across the Azure Sky, with lightning faintly flashing amid them.

A Heavenly Tribulation?

It seemed that immortal herb had raised the Ice Empress's cultivation by ten thousand years, bringing her directly to the four-hundred-thousand-year great tribulation.

The Heavenly Tribulation descended from the heavens. Forked azure lightning, as thick as water barrels, struck directly upon the Ice Empress.

Even someone as powerful as the Ice Empress had her fair flesh torn apart by the azure lightning tribulation. Crystalline blood splashed through the air, terrifying currents surged throughout her body, and the ribbons binding her twin ponytails snapped, sending her dark green hair scattering and flying.

Snow Empress watched the Ice Empress within the lightning tribulation, her brows tightly furrowed and her heart drawn taut.

The Ice Empress suddenly raised her head. Her dark green eyes stared at the Azure Sky brewing thunder as she gritted her teeth, refusing to yield!