I knew it-she really did care about me!

I feel like the aura chasing me has weakened... Could it be that guy's...

Outside the Star Dou Forest, in the area under Di Tian's control, a fissure suddenly split open in the ground. A faint platinum glow shimmered within it.

As the fissure appeared, a bone-chilling cold spread outward. A massive figure squeezed through the narrow crack with some difficulty.

It was a huge scorpion, seven meters long, its body white as jade and translucent, its surface gleaming. A pair of tiny golden eyes sat atop its head, lending it an unusually majestic air.

The Sky-Defying Ice Scorpion—the first hundred-thousand-year soul beast in history to survive a tribulation.

After finally escaping Emperor Tian's grasp, the Sky-Defying Ice Scorpion had begun a life of hiding. Every day, it lived in fear that the annoying fellow would keep searching for its tracks.

It knew all too well that the other party was an immensely powerful being who had moved here specifically to find it. There was no way he would let it go easily.

But what surprised it was that the aura searching for it today seemed... weaker?

Could that guy have gone somewhere else? Or is this just some trick to make me lower my guard?

As it spoke, the Sky-Defying Ice Scorpion shifted its body and reluctantly squeezed back into the crack.

Whatever the reason, I'd better stay alert. Next, I'll just wait patiently for my spirit to mature. Once I become a god, I'll be able to carry out my grand plans!

A grand plan to become a god!

The Sky-Defying Ice Scorpion's watery little eyes blinked, brimming with anticipation.

With its hundred-thousand-year cultivation and intelligence, plus its second martial soul, becoming a god wasn't beyond its reach.

While squeezing back into the crack, the Sky-Defying Ice Scorpion thought back to its own prophecy. In the end, it nodded confidently.

As long as I can find the rare treasure among the ice, becoming a god won't be a pipe dream! Once I can talk Ice Ice into it, the two of us will soon be together~ Hehehe!

The Sky-Defying Ice Scorpion started daydreaming again, drooling foolishly.

Whenever Ice Empress came up, the Sky-Defying Ice Scorpion would become completely lovestruck. It couldn't stop fantasizing about her.

But in the next instant, the Sky-Defying Ice Scorpion's plump body suddenly jerked.

Why do I suddenly feel a strange sense of unease? Could it be that the grand plan is doomed? But what could possibly go wrong? Why do I suddenly have this inexplicable feeling?

The Sky-Defying Ice Scorpion completely concealed itself, its watery eyes filled with confusion.

Could Di Tian and Xiong Jun still be looking for me? But they shouldn't be able to sense my aura anymore, especially since I've escaped. They can't possibly catch me again.

Then what could it be?

The Sky-Defying Ice Scorpion couldn't make sense of it. It stopped thinking, and the fissure in the ground slowly closed, vanishing without a trace, as if it had never existed.

***

In the far north.

Inside the great hall, the aura surrounding Ice Empress slowly faded. But the Ice Empress, standing beside Bing Yan, wasn't the least bit exhausted. On the contrary, she looked delighted.

Bing Yan must have been moved by what I wrote in the diary, right?

I knew it—she really did care about me!

She's even gotten upset over me!

The Ice Empress felt a little touched. As she watched the gloomy expression fade from Bing Yan's face, the bitterness in her own heart disappeared as well.

However, the Ice Empress's silence left Bing Yan thinking that she was still worried about the contents of the diary. Bing Yan could hardly hold back her fondness and blurted out, "From now on, I'll be by your side."

At that, the Ice Empress's voice turned cold. "If that wretched insect dares set foot in the far north, I'll tear him limb from limb!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a notification chimed.

[The diary's daily entry is complete. Calculating rewards...]

[Congratulations! The number of times Ice Bing Yan appeared in the diary has reached the maximum. Reward: one million years of cultivation and a tribulation breakthrough. The reward is being issued...]

[Today's group chat activity reached the required level. Reward: a random divine beast, the Dragon King of the Water. Please keep up the good work, everyone.]

The system notification rang out, leaving Ice Bing Yan and Bing Yan stunned.

Before she could even react, a surge of pure energy instantly poured into Ice Bing Yan's body.

That pure energy... was actually a million years of cultivation!

What...

Ice Bing Yan didn't even have time to speak. The energy quickly transformed into cultivation, and with the added million years, her cultivation reached forty million years.

Forty million years of tribulation!

The sky above the far north grew even darker. Vast clouds of tribulation instantly surged together, shrouding the entire far north in shadow. Within the clouds, lightning flickered.

Ice Empress's face turned grave.

She knew that with Bing Yan's help, she could probably get through the forty-million-year tribulation. But the problem was that the million years of cultivation and the tribulation had arrived too suddenly. She hadn't had time to prepare at all.

And the tribulation was one that Bing Yan had brought upon herself. Ice Empress couldn't possibly share the burden.

Above them, thunder rumbled. Terrifying bolts of lightning could descend at any moment. The thunderous roar left every soul beast in the far north trembling—everyone except the Three Heavenly Kings. Even the Snow Emperor had to lower her head. Only the Ice Bear King, Little Bai, dared occasionally raise its head, but it shivered with fear beneath the terrifying clouds.

Bing Yan, who had brought this tribulation upon herself, would have to bear its full force.

Nine waves of tribulation lightning. With her strength, she might not even survive half of them!

A million years of cultivation, and she was about to die!

Ice Empress couldn't help cursing inwardly.

What baffled her was that the clouds of tribulation and the terrifying thunder overhead continued to gather, yet no lightning came down at all. It was as if... it had lost its target.

After a long while, a bolt of lightning finally came down from the sky.

But its target wasn't Bing Yan in the Ice Palace. It was a patch of ice far away.

The bolt struck the ground as if it had fallen into an abyss.

Then, the thunderclouds in the sky vanished, and the gathered tribulation energy dissipated along with them.

In less than a moment, the shadow hanging over the far north vanished completely.

So... was it over?

Ice Empress stared blankly at Bing Yan's jade-green eyes. The worry in her heart gradually faded, replaced by a deep sense of joy.

She had really broken through to forty million years of cultivation.

She had really survived the tribulation!

"Ice Ice... I really broke through! That amazing diary really helped me break through the tribulation!"