Snow Empress's Alluring Charm, Full of Appeal!

He chuckled softly.

"This script is certainly being performed brilliantly."

Lu Ming wasn't surprised by Mirror's findings. As a transmigrator, he knew Qian Renxue's background better than anyone. He was even fully aware of her tragic childhood and that somewhat twisted romantic obsession.

But that didn't mean Mirror's work was worthless.

On the contrary, it confirmed that Qian Renxue was starting to panic.

She was accelerating.

According to the original timeline, Qian Renxue should still be steadily playing her role as the Crown Prince at this point, never so aggressively trying to recruit a clearly uncontrollable faction.

Unless something had happened to frighten her.

"Aside from coming to the academy, what else has she done recently?" Lu Ming asked.

"No other unusual actions."

Mirror recalled for a moment. "However, last night, an extremely intense mental fluctuation emanated from the Crown Prince's Mansion. Although it was blocked by a barrier, that fluctuation was filled with... despair and resentment. This morning, she came straight to the academy bearing heavy gifts."

Lu Ming nodded thoughtfully.

Despair and resentment?

It seemed this Young Master had experienced something interesting last night.

"I understand."

Lu Ming waved a hand. "As for her being a woman, keep it buried in your gut. Don't spread it for now. Since she wants to put on a show, we'll play along. Take whatever money and land she offers without question. As for an alliance..."

A playful smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"That depends on how much sincerity she can show."

Mirror nodded, her form once again dissolving into countless fragments that scattered into the air, as if she had never been there.

The bamboo grove returned to stillness.

Lu Ming stretched lazily. Instead of waiting for Gongsun Li to bring the wine, he rose and walked toward an ice-blue pavilion deep within the bamboo grove.

That was the special space he had carved out within Jixia Academy—the Extreme Cold Secluded Residence.

Specially used to house a certain ill-tempered "trophy."

Pushing open the heavy, cold-forged iron door, a bone-chilling cold surged out instantly. If an ordinary soul master were here, they would likely be frozen into an ice sculpture in moments.

But Lu Ming was completely unfazed, not even a trace of frost on his clothes.

The interior of the pavilion was a vast world of ice and snow, with a Cold Jade Bed carved from Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice at its center.

Seated cross-legged on the bed was a breathtakingly beautiful woman.

She had hair as white as snow, cascading down to her ankles. Her skin was fairer than snow, and her features were as cold and aloof as a goddess from the Ninth Heaven.

The foremost of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North—Snow Empress.

Hearing the door open, Snow Empress slowly opened her eyes. Those ice-blue pupils flickered with a trace of shame and helplessness.

"What are you here for again?"

Her voice was crisp and pleasant, yet carried a chill that kept others at a distance.

Lu Ming strolled leisurely to the Cold Jade Bed, completely ignoring the terrifying pressure radiating from Snow Empress, and sat down directly on the edge.

"Just here to see if my Snow Lady has been missing me."

Lu Ming smiled amiably as he reached out, trying to lift Snow Empress's chin.

"How dare you!"

Snow Empress's brows shot up in anger, and the cold aura around her surged violently. An Extreme Cold Domain instantly expanded, attempting to push this presumptuous man away.

But Lu Ming simply snapped his fingers lightly.

An invisible wave of Pure Power instantly enveloped the entire pavilion. The raging Extreme Cold Domain melted away like snow under a blazing sun, vanishing without a trace.

Snow Empress's delicate body trembled. The helplessness of being completely suppressed made her grit her silver teeth.

Ever since this man had "invited" her back from the Extreme North and forcibly seized control of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, she had found herself utterly powerless against him.

Even though she was a seventy-thousand-year-old ferocious beast, even though she was the ruler of the Extreme North.

Before this man, she was more like a fragile woman.

"Don't be so fierce."

Lu Ming's fingers finally landed on Snow Empress's cheek, smooth as icy jade, and gently caressed it.

"I came specifically to see you. I heard you also sensed that fluctuation from beyond the heavens last night?"

At the mention of "fluctuation from beyond the heavens," Snow Empress's gaze sharpened, and she stopped struggling.

As a spirit born from heaven and earth, she was most sensitive to high-level rule-based power.

"That was... a gaze from the God Realm."

Snow Empress's voice dropped a few notes. "Human, what exactly have you stirred up? That aura was even more terrifying than the Sea God back in the day."

"Scared?"

Lu Ming leaned in closer, his nose nearly brushing against Snow Empress's delicate, upturned one, his warm breath misting across her flawless face.

Snow Empress turned her head away with a hint of unease, dodging that burning gaze.

"This Empress... has never known what fear is. I simply have no desire to be buried alongside you without knowing why."

"Relax."

Lu Ming reached out and wrapped an arm around Snow Empress's slender waist—the touch was icy and soft, utterly captivating. He applied a bit of force, pulling the proud ruler of the Extreme North into his embrace.

Snow Empress's body stiffened instantly, her instincts screaming to resist. The moment her soul power began to circulate, it was crushed under Lu Ming's domineering Pure Power, leaving her helpless.

"You... let me go!"

Snow Empress was a mix of shame and fury, a charming flush spreading across her perpetually frosty face.

"Not letting go."

Not only did Lu Ming refuse to release her, but he grew bolder, his other hand sliding down her cascading snow-white hair before coming to rest on her rounded shoulder.

"Since you've already boarded the ship of my Jixia Academy, that makes you one of Lu Ming's people. Whether it's the God Realm or those so-called Five Great Law Enforcers, if they want to touch you, they'll have to ask me first."

Lu Ming's voice was low, yet carried an unshakable authority.

Snow Empress froze for a moment.

She lifted her head, meeting Lu Ming's eyes—deep as a starry sky. There was no mockery in them, only a confidence as solid as a mountain.

In that instant, her heart, frozen for seven hundred thousand years, skipped a beat.

In the Extreme North, she was a solitary sovereign. All living beings feared her, revered her.

No one had ever dared to hold her like this, as a woman in need of protection.

"You... are truly insufferable."

Snow Empress murmured, but her tone had softened, no longer as resistant as before.

Lu Ming felt the yielding in the woman in his arms, and the smile at the corners of his mouth deepened.

"Insufferable? I doubt it."

He lowered his head, his lips brushing against Snow Empress's crystal-clear earlobe, whispering softly:

"You haven't forgotten that bet about 'in-depth communication' from last time, have you, Lady Snow? Since the outside world is so unsettled now, shouldn't we seize the moment to enhance our mutual understanding?"

Snow Empress's face flushed all the way to the base of her neck.

Of course, she remembered that bet.

Lose, and she would be at his mercy.

"It's daytime right now..."

She made a final, feeble attempt at resistance, her voice barely a whisper.

"This is the Extreme Cold Secluded Residence—there's no day or night here."

Lu Ming chuckled softly, waving a hand casually.

The heavy ice door slammed shut with a boom, and the light within the chamber grew soft and ambiguous.

He held Snow Empress close, slowly falling back onto the massive Cold Jade Bed.