He chuckled softly.
"This script is quite the spectacle."
Lu Ming was not surprised by Mirror's findings. As a transmigrator, he knew Qian Renxue's background better than anyone. He even knew all too well about her tragic childhood and her somewhat twisted obsession with love.
But that did not mean Mirror's work had been without value.
On the contrary, it confirmed that Qian Renxue had begun to panic.
She was speeding things up.
According to the original timeline, Qian Renxue should still have been steadily playing the role of the Crown Prince at this point. She would never have so aggressively tried to win over a clearly uncontrollable force.
Unless something had happened that made her feel afraid.
"Other than coming to the academy, what else has she done recently?" Lu Ming asked.
"There have been no other unusual actions."
Mirror recalled for a moment. "However, an extremely powerful spiritual fluctuation came from the Crown Prince's Mansion last night. Though it was blocked by a barrier, that fluctuation was filled with... despair and unwillingness. Early this morning, she came straight to the academy bearing lavish gifts."
Lu Ming nodded thoughtfully.
Despair and unwillingness?
It seemed this Young Master had gone through something interesting last night.
"I understand."
Lu Ming waved a hand. "Keep the fact that she's a woman to yourself for now. Since she wants to put on a show, we'll play along. We'll accept every bit of money and land she offers, but as for an alliance..."
A teasing smile curled at the corner of his lips.
"That will depend on just how much sincerity she can offer."
Mirror nodded, her figure once again turning into countless fragments that scattered into the air, as if she had never appeared at all.
The bamboo grove returned to tranquility.
Lu Ming stretched lazily. Rather than waiting for Gongsun Li to bring the wine, he rose and headed toward an ice-blue pavilion deep within the bamboo grove.
That was a special space he had created within Jixia Academy—the Extreme Cold Secluded Residence.
It was specifically meant to house a certain "trophy" with a rather bad temper.
When he pushed open the heavy cold-iron doors, a bone-piercing chill instantly poured out. Any ordinary Soul Master standing here would likely be frozen into an ice sculpture in moments.
Yet Lu Ming was completely unaffected. Not even the hem of his clothes frosted over.
Inside the pavilion was a vast world of ice and snow. At its center stood a Cold Jade Bed carved from Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice.
A peerlessly beautiful woman sat cross-legged upon the bed.
Her snow-white hair fell all the way to her ankles. Her skin was fairer than snow, and her cool beauty was like that of a goddess high above the heavens.
The foremost of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North—Snow Empress.
Hearing the door open, Snow Empress slowly opened her eyes. A trace of embarrassment and helplessness flashed through her ice-blue pupils.
"What are you here for again?"
Her voice was crisp and pleasant, yet it carried a chill that kept others at a thousand paces.
Lu Ming strolled over to the Cold Jade Bed, completely ignoring the terrifying pressure radiating from Snow Empress, and sat directly on its edge.
"I came to see whether my Lady Snow Maiden missed me."
With a grin, Lu Ming reached out, intending to lift Snow Empress's chin.
"Impudent!"
Snow Empress's willow-like brows shot up. The cold aura around her surged, and an Extreme Cold Domain instantly spread out, attempting to force this frivolous man away.
Yet Lu Ming merely snapped his fingers lightly.
An invisible wave of Pure Power instantly enveloped the entire pavilion. That violent Extreme Cold Domain was like snow meeting a blazing sun, vanishing without a trace in an instant.
Snow Empress's delicate body trembled. The helplessness of being completely suppressed made her clench her 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 discovered that she had no ability to resist him at all.
Even though she was a seven-hundred-thousand-year soul beast, even though she was the ruler of the Extreme North.
Before this man, she was more like a weak woman.
"Don't be so fierce."
Lu Ming's fingers ultimately came to rest on Snow Empress's smooth, icy-jade cheek, gently caressing it.
"I came to see you especially. I heard you felt that fluctuation from beyond the heavens last night as well?"
At the mention of a "fluctuation from beyond the heavens," Snow Empress's gaze sharpened slightly, and she stopped struggling.
As a spirit born of heaven and earth, she was the most sensitive to that kind of higher-level power of laws.
"That was... the God Realm watching us."
Snow Empress's voice lowered. "Human, what exactly have you provoked? That aura was even more terrifying than the Sea God back then."
"Are you afraid?"
Lu Ming leaned closer, the tip of his nose nearly touching Snow Empress's delicate upturned nose. His warm breath brushed over her flawless face.
Snow Empress turned her head somewhat unnaturally, avoiding his burning gaze.
"This Empress... has never known what fear is. I simply do not want to be buried with you without understanding why."
"Rest assured."
Lu Ming wrapped an arm around Snow Empress's slender waist. The touch was cool and soft, impossible to put down. He exerted a little force and pulled the proud ruler of the Extreme North into his embrace.
Snow Empress's body instantly stiffened. She instinctively tried to resist, but the moment her Soul Power began to circulate, Lu Ming's tyrannical Pure Power suppressed it completely.
"You... let go of me!"
Snow Empress was both ashamed and enraged. A captivating blush spread across her face, which was usually as cold as frost.
"I won't."
Not only did Lu Ming refuse to let go, he went even further. His other hand slid down along her cascading snow-white hair before finally resting on her rounded, fragrant shoulder.
"Since you have boarded Jixia Academy's ship, you are one of my people, Lu Ming's people. Whether it is the God Realm or the Five Great Law Enforcers, anyone who wants to touch you will first have to ask whether I agree."
Lu Ming's voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable dominance.
Snow Empress froze.
She raised her head and met Lu Ming's deep eyes, as vast as the starry sky. There was no mockery in them, only confidence as weighty as mountains.
At that instant, her heart, frozen for seven hundred thousand years, actually skipped a beat.
In the Extreme North, she had been a lonely sovereign. All living beings feared her and revered her.
Never had anyone dared to hold her like this, as though she were a woman who needed protection.
"You really are... annoying."
Snow Empress spoke softly, but her tone had softened. She no longer resisted as fiercely as before.
Lu Ming sensed the beauty in his arms yielding, and the smile on his lips deepened.
"Annoying? I don't think so."
He lowered his head, his lips brushing Snow Empress's crystalline earlobe as he whispered:
"You have not forgotten that wager about 'deepening our exchange' from last time, have you, Lady Snow Maiden? Since the outside world is unsettled now, shouldn't we make the most of our time and improve our mutual understanding?"
Snow Empress's face instantly reddened to the roots of her neck.
Of course she remembered that wager.
If she lost, she would have to submit to his disposal.
"It's daytime..."
She attempted one final struggle, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"This is the Extreme Cold Secluded Residence. There is no day or night here."
Lu Ming chuckled and casually waved a hand.
The heavy ice doors slammed shut, and the light inside the pavilion became soft and ambiguous.
Holding Snow Empress in his arms, he slowly fell onto the enormous Cold Jade Bed.
Before you continue