Person in the Snow

Xue Xiao Ran stepped forward one footprint at a time in Cang Xue's tracks. The two had entered the Extreme North ten days ago, yet they had not lingered long in its outer regions.

It seemed Cang Xue knew exactly what suited Xue Lei Han.

"Uncle Cang Xue, the Soul Beasts here are almost all ten-thousand-year ones..." Xue Xiao Ran asked in confusion. Wasn't the first Soul Ring absorbed on Douluo Continent only supposed to be a hundred-year one?

"Young Master, have you forgotten your father?"

Cang Xue's words were swiftly swallowed by the wind and snow.

Xue Xiao Ran sighed inwardly and continued following behind Cang Xue. Though he possessed the Extreme Ice martial soul, without a Soul Ring, he still felt the bone-chilling cold in the depths of the Extreme North.

Could it be that Cang Xue intended to find him a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast to sacrifice itself?

With that doubt in mind, Xue Xiao Ran followed Cang Xue into the forest.

"Ten thousand years have passed. Ice Sky Snow Emperor, it is time for you to fulfill your promise."

Cang Xue spoke calmly, his hands clasped behind his back.

Once Xue Lei Han's Soul Ring, he had now been granted a Million-Year cultivation that did not lose out to any Soul Beast. When the Ice God favored one man, even his chickens and dogs rose to heaven.

His single eye gazed calmly into the forest, his tone unchanged. "Could she be in seclusion?"

"Reporting to the Wolf King, Ice Sky Snow Emperor has disappeared."

A woman's voice drifted over faintly.

"Disappeared? What happened?" Cang Xue asked calmly.

"I do not know either. After her Humanoid Transformation, I do not know whether she succeeded or failed. Though I have not sensed Ice Sky Snow Emperor's aura of death, neither have I sensed any aura of life. Under such circumstances, she can only be deemed missing."

An Ice Jade Scorpion with a body as crystalline as ice crawled out of the forest. The front half of her body consisted of four overlapping sections, each slightly longer than half a chi. Her head rested atop the foremost section. Those four overlapping sections were covered in hexagonal protrusions that gleamed with a brilliance like diamonds.

"Little scorpion, is your information reliable?"

Cang Xue's wolf eye shone with an intimidating light. The cold around him gradually seemed to freeze solid, showing that he was already somewhat angered. He had brought the Young Master to the Extreme North for the promise Ice Sky Snow Emperor had made ten thousand years ago. Yet now she was supposedly missing?

The scorpion retreated slightly, clearly deeply wary of Cang Xue.

"And that silkworm? It is not dead yet?"

He asked bluntly, leaving the scorpion stunned. "What silkworm? There are silkworms in the Extreme North?"

Cang Xue reconsidered and thought that it was normal for someone with her memory to have forgotten. He closed his eyes to sense the surroundings, then slowly shook his head. "Looks like that silkworm ran away. Forget it."

"Little scorpion, I will grant you an opportunity. Are you willing to accept it?"

Cang Xue moved aside to reveal Xue Xiao Ran to the Ice Jade Scorpion. He extended one hand, a faint chill in his wolf eye.

"What are you trying to do?"

The Ice Jade Scorpion's voice turned cold as well. Though Cang Xue called her little scorpion, she herself was a powerful Soul Beast with a cultivation of three hundred and ninety thousand years, known in the Extreme North as the Ice Empress.

But such cultivation was not worth mentioning before Cang Xue and the others now.

"I want you to sacrifice yourself for him."

Cang Xue pointed at Xue Xiao Ran, who stood to the side with a calm expression, but his tone was incomparably solemn.

"You!" The Ice Jade Scorpion shouted angrily, clearly truly enraged.

Though she respected this senior who had once followed Lord Ice God, this request was simply too much.

"I will give you only one chance." Cang Xue raised one finger. "His surname is Xue."

"So what if his surname is Xue... Wait, his surname is Xue?"

The Ice Empress's furious voice suddenly calmed. Her eyes fixed tightly upon Xue Xiao Ran.

"Young Master, let her see your martial soul," Cang Xue said quietly.

Xue Xiao Ran nodded. He made no movement, yet the air around him became noticeably cooler. In a place like the Extreme North, already frozen to the bone, such a subtle change in temperature might have been difficult to notice. But the aura of his Extreme element could not be imitated.

Xue Xiao Ran released it for a moment before withdrawing it. He still had no Soul Rings, and using Extreme Ice consumed an enormous amount of Soul Power.

Cang Xue watched the Ice Empress sink into thought and showed no impatience, merely gazing at her calmly.

He was not angry. For a Soul Beast, this was a matter that concerned an entire lifetime. He himself had once been a member of the Extreme North, and he could not bring himself to force the unwilling. He had come to find the Snow Empress only because of the agreement made ten thousand years ago.

"How about this, little scorpion? Let me ask you a question."

Cang Xue spoke calmly.

"Do you want to become like big sister, an existence like us?"

"I..."

The Ice Empress's voice wavered. Once again, she turned her eyes toward the youth standing in the freezing wind, breathing steadily. His face had been frozen somewhat blue, yet he did not tremble in the slightest.

Even if his martial soul was Extreme Ice, standing in the center of the Extreme North without any Soul Rings was still excessive.

She saw only calmness in his gaze. The meaning in those jade eyes seemed clear to the Ice Empress.

Whether you join us or not makes no difference to me.

That was powerful confidence.

Xue Xiao Ran had originally planned to begin hunting hundred-year Soul Beasts. Though this development surprised him, it did not tempt him.

"Uncle Cang Xue, let's go." Xue Xiao Ran lost interest in watching the Ice Empress and spoke calmly to Cang Xue beside him.

"Yes, Young Master."

Cang Xue bowed respectfully, then seemed to cast a somewhat mocking glance at the Ice Empress before turning away.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Xue Xiao Ran walked with ease, while Cang Xue waited expectantly, waiting for that prideful one to regret her decision.

Four steps, five steps, six steps.

Say something already! Cang Xue shouted inwardly.

Seven steps, eight steps, nine steps.

"Wait!" A clear, cold female voice rang out behind them.

Damn it, this prideful one only knows how to regret it when we are leaving. Cang Xue frowned as he looked at the Ice Empress with his single eye. "What else is it?"

"I... I... I accept."

Cang Xue roared inwardly, but still frowned as he asked, "Little scorpion, think this through. Are you certain you want to leave with my Young Master?"

"Don't worry, I will not force you. It is entirely your own decision."

"I will not regret it!"

The Ice Jade Scorpion waved her pincers, as though angered by embarrassment.

Xue Xiao Ran glanced speechlessly at Cang Xue. He truly did not know where Cang Xue had learned such a scheming personality.

"Who says you will not regret it? You might regret it. Women are fickle..." Cang Xue remarked calmly.

"I will not regret it!"

"Who knows?"

"If you do not take me with you today, I will fight you to the death!"

The Ice Jade Scorpion's roar echoed through the forest. Snow fell in sheets, and the temperature around them dropped several more degrees.

"Then follow."

Cang Xue snorted coldly, turned, and continued leading the way, with Xue Xiao Ran following behind him.

As if he had not noticed Xue Xiao Ran's speechless gaze, Cang Xue chuckled and made a gesture of success with his hand.

This was no loss.