Princess Vina, Ice Empress Exits Seclusion

After leaving the private bedroom,

Nan Shui Shui had successfully gained the Destruction Attribute some days ago. With the Heaven and Earth Origin Energy granted by the Snow Empress, she had also easily advanced into the ranks of Titled Douluo.

After that,

Zi Yao had finally earned the right to sleep alone.

After Nan Shui Shui became a Titled Douluo, the Earth Dragon Gate had become a force within the Heaven Dou Empire that could not be underestimated, no longer suppressed by the Heavenly Dragon Gate.

As he passed through the hall, he happened to encounter Nan Shui Shui, who was receiving guests.

"Xiao Yao? You've exited seclusion?"

"Yeah, I broke through level thirty. I'm preparing to absorb a new Soul Ring." Zi Yao smiled.

"What a monster. I've never seen anyone who cultivated as quickly as you while still building such a solid foundation."

Nan Shui Shui sighed.

Even after spending six years together, Zi Yao's talent still left her unable to suppress her astonishment.

A Soul Elder at eleven or twelve might not count as a peerless monster,

but an eleven- or twelve-year-old Soul Elder who had tempered his body in advance was terrifying. The reason Extreme Soul Masters cultivated slowly was because they had to spend Soul Power tempering their bodies.

Yet while tempering his body, Zi Yao's cultivation speed could still keep pace with the gifted prodigies of his generation.

"Not really. Where's Qiu Qiu?"

Zi Yao asked casually.

"Her? Ever since you surpassed her in rank, she's been cultivating diligently. She should be using Whale Rubber to cultivate right now."

Nan Shui Shui covered her mouth and chuckled.

Having Zi Yao as an example was truly wonderful. At the very least, Nan Qiu Qiu, who had always been spoiled and willful, was finally willing to work hard.

"Aunt Nan, who is this?"

A white-haired, blue-eyed girl walked over. Her voice was gentle and soothing, while her watery eyes were filled with wonder. She wore an elegant goose-yellow gown that wrapped around her lovely figure.

She was extraordinarily beautiful, only a fraction inferior to Jiang Nannan. However, the innate nobility in her bearing made up for that slight difference.

A woman in white stood beside her as well. Her features were cool and distant, her figure tall and slender. Her long black hair was neatly tied into a high ponytail, and her pair of long legs were especially eye-catching.

"This is one of my juniors. He's staying temporarily at the Earth Dragon Gate."

Nan Shui Shui, shrewd as she was, understood the other party's meaning. She made it clear in advance that Zi Yao did not belong to the Earth Dragon Gate, lest it provoke any displeasure.

Vina was not disappointed upon hearing that. She stepped before Zi Yao and greeted him warmly. "Hello, I'm Vina."

"Zi Yao."

Since she was being so courteous, Zi Yao did not slight her.

"You haven't formally joined an academy yet, have you? Would you be interested in joining the Royal Academy of our Heaven Dou Empire?"

Vina asked.

She had accidentally overheard their conversation just now.

Achieving Soul Elder at eleven or twelve was already an astonishing talent.

However, she clearly did not know that Zi Yao had cultivated so quickly even while tempering his body. Otherwise, she would certainly have called him a monster.

"No."

Zi Yao politely declined, then found an excuse to leave. "Aunt Shui, I'm going to the Cold Spring to temper my body."

After Zi Yao left,

Vina secretly glanced at Nan Shui Shui and deliberately hugged her arm as she coquettishly asked, "Aunt Nan, just where does Zi Yao come from?"

The two had not known each other before this.

As Nan Shui Shui advanced to Titled Douluo, the attitudes of both the Heaven Dou Empire and the Body Sect toward the Earth Dragon Gate rapidly warmed. Thus, they sent her here to befriend this Hidden Sect.

"I can't say. I can only tell you that his talent is beyond anything you can imagine."

Nan Shui Shui smiled mysteriously, then excused herself on the grounds that she needed to arrange the evening banquet.

Vina remained where she was, murmuring to herself.

"Talent far beyond my imagination... Could he have Twin Martial Souls? But that wouldn't warrant saying it like that. Still, his looks are far beyond my imagination..."

"What is it, Vina? Has your spring heart started fluttering?" Mu Xue teased.

"Of course not. I'm scouting him out for you, Sister Mu." Vina pouted prettily, her little eyes fixed on Mu Xue's reaction as though testing her.

Mu Xue pondered. "That kid's looks are indeed flawless, but he's too young. I prefer a man... a boy who can suppress me."

Vina let out a sigh of relief.

"Still, I keep sensing an incredibly tyrannical aura coming from that kid. It feels as though he's lived with some terrifying ice-and-snow Beast for many years."

Mu Xue frowned, seemingly trying to recall something.

"What aura? I think the aura around him is extremely gentle, and it even attracts my Snow Lotus Martial Soul!"

Vina said without hiding it.

She possessed two Martial Souls: one was a Brain Martial Soul, while the other was the life-support-type Snow Lotus Martial Soul. Naturally, she could sense Zi Yao's Life Origin.

"Give it up, you're just having a spring heart flutter! You're the Princess of a nation, after all. You can't just throw yourself at him."

Mu Xue chuckled and teased her.

She had been born into a prestigious family of the Heaven Dou Empire, so there was not much difference between her status and Vina's.

"Bleh! So what? Boys are allowed to pursue girls, but girls aren't allowed to pursue boys?" Vina said playfully.

Mu Xue helplessly rubbed her forehead.

But she also knew that Vina might appear soft, yet she was actually stubborn and strong. Once she set her mind on something, it would likely be difficult to change it.

Zi Yao, meanwhile, had not given it much thought. He headed alone to the side of the Ancient Well.

There were already too many beauties around him. The Ice Empress and Snow Empress, with whom he had grown up, were both peerless beauties, so he had developed considerable resistance to most beautiful women.

He removed his shirt and trousers, leaving only his underwear, then jumped into the Cold Spring.

In an instant,

chilling energy that refreshed the mind seeped into his pores, causing his body temperature to plummet.

Zi Yao used Soul Power to resist it. He dove down to a depth of seven meters, stopped, and sat cross-legged to meditate and cultivate.

He came here almost every day and stayed for one or two hours.

Soaking in the Cold Spring brought many benefits. First, it improved the quality of his body tempering. Second, it allowed his body to adapt to cold energy in advance, benefiting his future cultivation of the Ice Attribute as well as his resistance to it.

Just as he immersed himself in cultivation,

a large surge of cold current suddenly erupted from the spring source at the bottom of the Ancient Well, gradually spreading upward from the well's depths.

Zi Yao sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly climbed out of the Cold Spring.

"What's going on? Did the cold current from the Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Cave erupt?"

He frowned.

Fortunately, he had not been too far from the well's opening. Otherwise, if that cold current had swept over him, even if it did not freeze him to death on the spot, it would have stripped a layer off him.

Not long after,

a flash of luminous green shot into the sky.

The Ice Empress leaped out from the Ancient Well. Her orange-gold eyes were filled with pride and ferocity, utterly at odds with her adorable features, while her green twin ponytails floated in the air like a pair of little wings.

"From today onward, I am a true Four Hundred Thousand Years Beast!"

She could not conceal the excitement in her heart.

The injuries she had suffered from the Heavenly Tribulation had already fully healed. Furthermore, with the help of the Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow, she had broken through the last remaining limit and successfully crossed the Great Pass of Four Hundred Thousand Years.

She lowered her gaze, meeting Zi Yao's eyes on the ground. The youth's lean and sturdy figure instantly scattered the lofty aura with which she had seemed to look down upon the world.

A flush rose to her pretty face. She awkwardly turned her head aside, coughed, and composed herself.

"Little Yao Yao, I know you missed your big sister a great deal during these six years, but there's no need to welcome me so enthusiastically. Xue'er will go crazy if she finds out..."

"Enthusiastic my ass. I was soaking in the Cold Spring just now, and I nearly froze to death from the cold current you brought out."

Zi Yao said speechlessly.