Extreme North! Four Hundred Thousand Year Ice Empress!

"Heavenly Tribulation."

"After a Soul Beast cultivates for one hundred thousand years, it faces a Heavenly Tribulation every hundred thousand years."

"The Ice Empress is four hundred thousand years old and has already survived three Heavenly Tribulations. But the next one will be even harder."

"The Snow Empress is seven hundred thousand years old and has survived six. The seventh is almost certainly a death sentence."

He turned around and looked at Bai Lan:

"If you can help them survive their Heavenly Tribulations—"

"A contract might not be impossible."

Bai Lan fell silent.

He certainly knew all of this.

In the original story, the Ice Empress was driven into a corner by her Heavenly Tribulation and ultimately chose to fuse with Huo Yuhao.

The Snow Empress was besieged by human powerhouses and met a tragic end.

But now—

He had the Contract Book.

He had the four-hundred-thousand-year-old Yinye.

That was the best proof!

And he had Elder Mu, a Peerless Douluo.

"Elder Mu," he spoke up, "I want to try."

Elder Mu looked at him, his gaze profound.

"Do you know what kind of place that is?"

"The core circle of the Extreme North, where the temperature is so low that even a Title Douluo can barely endure it."

"A four-hundred-thousand-year-old fierce beast could take your life in a single thought."

Bai Lan nodded: "I know."

Elder Mu asked: "And you still want to go?"

Bai Lan was silent for a second.

Then, he smiled.

"Elder Mu."

"I need to become stronger."

"As fast as possible."

He looked at Elder Mu, his gaze calm:

"How much longer can you protect me?"

Elder Mu was stunned.

Yan Shaozhe was also taken aback.

Bai Lan continued:

"Even with your protection, there will always be times when you can't look after me."

"Even with the Dean's protection, there will always be enemies he cannot defeat."

"Only by becoming strong myself can I be truly safe."

"A four-hundred-thousand-year-old fierce beast is indeed dangerous."

"But if I can contract them—"

He paused, his voice calm yet firm:

"I won't have to hide behind anyone ever again."

The office fell into silence.

Elder Mu looked at him, complex emotions flashing in his eyes.

There was gratification.

There was heartache.

And there was an indescribable sense of pride.

After a long while, he smiled.

"Good," he said. "Good lad."

He walked back to the window and gazed toward the north.

"The Extreme North is indeed a place we can go."

"I will take you there myself; with me around, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Let's make it three days from now."

Time slipped by in a flash.

Three days later.

Outside the gates of Shrek City, two figures stood in silence.

Elder Mu stood with his hands behind his back, wearing only a thin robe, as if he were heading to his own back garden rather than the Extreme North.

Bai Lan stood by his side, with Yinye following behind him.

Her long silver-purple hair shimmered faintly in the morning light, and those silver-purple eyes gazed quietly toward the north, filled with a hint of anticipation.

"Master," she said softly, "I have never been to the Extreme North."

Bai Lan looked at her. "You want to go?"

Yinye nodded. "I want to see what it looks like when the ice and snow there meet the shadows."

Bai Lan smiled but said nothing.

Elder Mu turned around and looked at the two of them.

"Are you ready?"

Bai Lan nodded.

Elder Mu raised his hand, and his Soul Power surged.

The next second—

The figures of the three vanished from where they stood.

When he opened his eyes again, Bai Lan felt a bone-chilling cold rush toward him.

Before him lay a vast, white world.

The land was covered in ice and snow, with endless snow-capped mountains stretching into the distance. In the sky, snow clouds never dissipated, and the sunlight filtering through them refracted off the snow, creating a blinding glare.

The Extreme North.

They had arrived.

"So cold..." Bai Lan instinctively hugged his arms.

He was only level 37; although his physical constitution far exceeded that of an ordinary person, the cold of the Extreme North was no ordinary chill.

It was a cold capable of freezing Soul Power itself.

Yinye reached out and gently took his hand.

A surge of warm energy flowed into his body.

"Master, is this better?"

Bai Lan nodded. "Much better."

Elder Mu stood ahead, his gaze sweeping across this world of ice and snow.

"The core circle of the Extreme North is still half a day's journey from here," he said. "The Ice Empress is there."

Bai Lan took a deep breath.

The Ice Empress.

A 400,000-year-old Ice Jade Empress Scorpion.

The target he intended to contract on this trip.

"Elder Mu, how do we find her?"

Elder Mu smiled.

"No need to look."

He raised his hand, and a bolt of Soul Power shot into the sky, exploding in mid-air!

The golden light illuminated the entire snowfield!

"She will come herself."

Sure enough.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, the distant snow-capped mountains suddenly began to tremble.

Snow cascaded down in rustling sheets, as if something were awakening from deep beneath the earth.

And then—

A beam of emerald-green light erupted from the depths of the mountains and shot into the sky!

The light was so dazzling that it was impossible to keep one's eyes open!

When the light dissipated—

A woman was already standing before them.

She stood there quietly on the snow.

Her emerald-green hair cascaded down like a waterfall, each strand shimmering with a faint glow, as if carved from the purest jade.

The long hair fluttered gently in the cold wind, with a few strands occasionally brushing against her cheeks, making her face appear even more cold and stunning.

Her features were exquisite yet sharp.

Her brows and eyes carried an innate arrogance, her nose was high and straight, and her lips were a pale emerald hue, slightly downturned at the corners, conveying a coldness that kept others at a distance.

Her emerald eyes were as deep as a ten-thousand-year-old cold pool, with a faint scorpion-shaped mark visible within her pupils.

Just by having her look at you, you would feel like prey targeted by a venomous scorpion, unable to even summon the courage to flee.

Her skin was as fair as snow, yet it radiated a faint green halo, as if fine mutton-fat jade had been saturated with emerald.

Her figure was tall and graceful, draped in an emerald-green gown that seemed to appear from nowhere, the hem embroidered with patterns of a scorpion's tail.

She stood there just like that.

The surrounding ice and snow automatically retreated to both sides, as if making way for her.

No, not making way.

It was submission.

She was one of the rulers of this Extreme North.

Ice Jade Empress Scorpion—Ice Empress.

"Humans."

Ice Empress spoke, her voice as cold and sharp as ice:

"Coming to my territory, what do you want?"

Her gaze swept over Elder Mu, pausing slightly.

Peerless Douluo.

Then she looked at Yinye, her pupils constricting.

Four hundred thousand years.

Void Shadow attribute.

Finally, she looked at Bai Lan—

Level thirty-seven.

A human child.

Her gaze returned to Elder Mu.

"A Peerless Douluo, a four-hundred-thousand-year-old fierce beast, bringing along a human child." She said coldly: "Want to fight?"

Elder Mu smiled.

"No," he said: "I want to discuss a deal."

Ice Empress raised an eyebrow: "A deal?"

Elder Mu nodded and looked at Bai Lan.

Bai Lan stepped forward.

He raised his head, looking at the emerald-green woman before him.

A four-hundred-thousand-year-old fierce beast.

In the original story, she was eventually driven to a dead end by the Heavenly Tribulation and chose to fuse with Huo Yuhao.

But now—

"Ice Empress," he began: "I can help you survive your next Heavenly Tribulation."

Ice Empress was stunned.

Then, she laughed.

Her smile was filled with mockery.

"You?" She looked him up and down: "A level thirty-seven human child, helping me survive the Heavenly Tribulation?"

"Do you even know what the Heavenly Tribulation is?"

Bai Lan was not angry.

He simply raised his hand.

The Contract Book appeared in his palm.

"This is my Martial Soul."

He said: "Contract Book."