Meeting the Snow Empress! A Temporary Contract! The Ice Empress's First Evolution! The Five-Hundred-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Empress!

Bai Lan smiled.

"Then let her see what she'll gain by following me."

He started walking, catching up with her.

Yinye walked at his side.

Mu En followed behind with his hands clasped behind his back.

The four figures disappeared into the vast snowy plain.

Half an hour later.

Before a towering ice peak.

The Ice Empress stopped.

"The Snow Empress is inside," she said. "I'll go call her."

Bai Lan nodded.

The Ice Empress took a deep breath and walked toward the ice peak.

Halfway there, she suddenly stopped.

She looked back at Bai Lan.

"Master, if she isn't willing..."

Bai Lan cut her off.

"Then we wait."

"We wait until she's willing."

The Ice Empress froze for a moment.

Then she smiled.

"Okay."

She turned and entered the ice peak.

Deep inside the ice peak.

A woman sat quietly upon the Ice Crystal Throne.

Her icy-blue hair cascaded like a waterfall, each strand adorned with tiny ice crystals.

Her features were so exquisite she seemed otherworldly, and an innate nobility and authority graced her countenance.

Her icy-blue eyes were closed, as if she were asleep.

Or perhaps waiting.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes.

"Ice Empress?"

Her voice was as cold and clear as snow.

The Ice Empress walked in and stood before her.

"Snow Empress."

The Snow Empress looked at her, her brows drawing together slightly.

"There's... an unfamiliar presence about you."

The Ice Empress nodded.

"I've been contracted by someone."

The Snow Empress's pupils contracted sharply.

She sprang to her feet!

"What?!"

The Ice Empress raised a hand, signaling her to calm down.

"Listen to me."

She recounted everything that had happened, from beginning to end.

The Contract Book.

Evolution.

The Heavenly Tribulation.

The forty-thousand-year-old Yinye.

And—

Fusion.

The Snow Empress fell silent.

For a long time.

A long, long silence.

Then she spoke.

"You trust him?"

The Ice Empress nodded.

"Yinye is proof."

"Forty thousand years old, with the Void Shadow attribute, and she followed him of her own free will."

She looked at the Snow Empress, her gaze earnest.

"Snow Empress, we've lived for so long."

"The Heavenly Tribulation gets harder every time."

"Can you withstand the next one?"

The Snow Empress fell silent.

Of course she couldn't.

The Seven Hundred Thousand Year Heavenly Tribulation was practically a death sentence.

"He said he'd come to contract you once he reaches level forty," the Ice Empress continued. "It won't be long."

"When that time comes, the two of us can fuse."

"One million one hundred thousand years."

"That's god-level strength."

The Snow Empress looked at her, a complicated mix of emotions flickering in her eyes.

"Do you really want to leave with him that badly?"

The Ice Empress was silent for a second.

Then she smiled.

"I want to give it a try."

"To see what it feels like to follow him."

She turned and headed out.

At the doorway, she stopped.

Looking back at the Snow Empress, she said:

"He's waiting outside."

"Come out once you've made up your mind."

Then she left.

The Snow Empress stood where she was, gazing in the direction the Ice Empress had disappeared.

She remained silent for a long time.

Then—

She stood up.

And walked outside.

Outside the ice peak.

Bai Lan stood in the snow, watching the entrance.

Yinye stood beside him.

Mu En stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the distant snowy mountains.

Suddenly—

A figure slowly emerged from the entrance to the ice peak.

Icy-blue hair.

Icy-blue eyes.

An air of nobility and authority.

The Snow Empress.

She walked right up to Bai Lan and stopped.

Looking down at him, she asked:

"You're Bai Lan?"

Bai Lan nodded.

The Snow Empress looked at him, her gaze deep and penetrating.

"The Ice Empress says you can help us survive the Heavenly Tribulation."

Bai Lan nodded.

The Snow Empress asked, "Why should I believe you?"

Bai Lan raised a hand.

The Contract Book appeared in his palm.

He opened it.

On the first page: Tiangang Bamboo, thirty thousand years old.

On the second page: Yinye, four hundred thousand years old, Void Shadow Empress.

On the third page: the Ice Empress, four hundred thousand years old, Ice Jade Empress Scorpion.

The Snow Empress looked at the three marks and fell silent.

Especially the second page.

Four hundred thousand years.

Void Shadow.

Of her own free will.

"She..." The Snow Empress looked at Yinye. "Why did you agree?"

Yinye smiled.

"Because Master treats me like a person."

"Not a tool."

She looked at the Snow Empress, her gaze gentle.

"You don't have to believe me."

"But you can give it a try."

The Snow Empress fell silent.

For a long time.

Then she looked at Bai Lan.

"How long do I have to wait?"

Bai Lan met her gaze calmly.

"Until I reach level forty."

"It'll be soon."

"I won't make you wait long."

The Snow Empress looked at him.

At those calm eyes.

Seven years old.

Thirty-seven levels.

But in those eyes was something she hadn't seen in all her seven hundred thousand years.

It was—

Hope.

"Fine," she said. "I'll wait for you."

Bai Lan smiled.

"Then it's settled."

The Snow Empress nodded.

She was about to turn away.

"Wait."

A voice rang out.

The Ice Empress emerged from the ice peak and stopped beside the Snow Empress.

She looked at Bai Lan, a glimmer passing through her emerald-green eyes.

"Master," she said. "I want to evolve right now."

Bai Lan paused, slightly taken aback.

"Now?"

The Ice Empress nodded.

"Don't forget, I still have three chances to evolve."

"Three chances."

"I can do it now."

She looked at Bai Lan, her gaze serious.

"I want Snow Empress to see."

"To see what it's really like to follow you."

"I'm also curious. What will I become after three evolutions?"

"How powerful will I be?"

Bai Lan fell silent.

He looked at Snow Empress.

Snow Empress looked back at him.

Her ice-blue eyes held a trace of curiosity.

She wanted to know whether the Ice Empress had made the right choice.

Mu En was curious too, as was Yinye.

Bai Lan looked away and turned his gaze to the Ice Empress.

"All right," he said. "Then let's do it now. I'm curious too, and I can't wait to see!"

"But one thing's for sure: it'll be absolutely astonishing and powerful!"

He raised his hand.

The Contract Book appeared in his palm.

He opened it.

The emerald scorpion-shaped mark on the third page was glowing faintly.

"Then, let's begin!"

Bai Lan took a deep breath.

He focused his thoughts.

Ice Empress, first evolution—confirmed!

It happened almost in an instant!

Boom!

Emerald light shot into the sky!

It was so dazzling that it illuminated the entire ice field in an instant!

Snow Empress's pupils contracted, and she instinctively took a step back.

Mu En narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the mass of light.

Yinye stood beside Bai Lan, a faint smile on his lips.

But the curiosity and anticipation in his eyes hadn't diminished in the slightest.

Within the light, the Ice Empress's figure was changing dramatically.

Her body began to glow.

The emerald light grew brighter and more intense!

Four hundred and ten thousand!

Four hundred and twenty thousand!

Four hundred and thirty thousand!

Four hundred and forty thousand!

Four hundred and fifty thousand!

Four hundred and sixty thousand!

Four hundred and seventy thousand!

Four hundred and eighty thousand!

Four hundred and ninety thousand!

Five hundred thousand!

The number was climbing wildly!

It kept rising until...

Five hundred thousand years!

Boom!

The light burst apart!

Before Ice Peak, everyone instinctively raised a hand to shield their eyes.

When the light faded...

Everyone was stunned.

The Ice Empress was still standing where she had been.

And yet she was different.

Stronger, more beautiful, and imbued with a more regal air!

Bai Lan lowered his head and looked at the Contract Book.

The text on the third page was updating:

[Contract Beast: Ice Jade Empress]

[Age: Five hundred thousand years]

[Status: Contracted]

[Abilities: Ice Attribute Control, Ultimate Ice, Ice Emperor Domain, Jade Crystal Body Protection, Ice Empress Pincer: Extreme, Ice Emperor Body Protection: Extreme, Ice Emperor's Wrath: Extreme, Ice Jade Empress True Form, Ice Crystal Butterfly Wings]

[Ice Attribute Control: Can freely control the surrounding ice and snow, with a range expanded to one thousand meters]

[Ultimate Ice: Ice attribute purity has reached its utmost limit; can freeze fire-attribute attacks of the same level]

[Ice Emperor Domain: When the Ice Emperor Domain is deployed, Ultimate Ice suppresses all fire attributes within the domain, slowing the enemy's movements]

[Jade Crystal Body Protection: Ice Crystal automatically protects its master and can withstand a full-power attack of the same level]

[Ice Empress Pincer: Extreme: Both arms transform into scorpion pincers, and attacks carry Ultimate Ice's freezing effect, tripling their power]

[Ice Emperor Body Protection: Extreme: Ice Crystal protection greatly increases defense and can reflect some attacks]

[Ice Emperor's Wrath: Extreme: Gathers Ultimate Ice to unleash an area attack, covering a radius of three hundred meters]

[Ice Jade Empress True Form: Can transform into the true form of the Ice Jade Empress, greatly increasing combat power]

[New Ability · Ice Crystal Butterfly Wings: Ice Crystal Butterfly Wings form behind her, allowing her to fly for a short time; when the wings flap, they unleash Ice Crystal attacks]

[Evolutions: 1/3 (Two more evolutions available)]

...