Meeting the Snow Empress! Reaching 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 the benefits of following me are."

He took a step and followed after her.

Yinye walked by his side.

Elder Mu walked at the very back with his hands behind his back.

The four figures disappeared into the vast, snowy plains.

Half an hour later.

In front of a massive Ice Peak.

Ice Empress stopped in her tracks.

"Snow Empress is inside," she said. "I will go call her."

Bai Lan nodded.

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 is unwilling..."

Bai Lan interrupted her:

"Then we wait."

"We wait until she is willing."

Ice Empress was stunned for a moment.

Then, she smiled.

"Very well."

She turned and walked into the Ice Peak.

Deep within the Ice Peak.

A woman sat quietly upon the Ice Crystal Throne.

Her ice-blue hair cascaded down like a waterfall, each strand encrusted with tiny, shimmering ice crystals.

Her features were so exquisite they seemed otherworldly, her brows and eyes carrying an innate nobility and majesty.

Her ice-blue eyes were closed, as if she were in a deep slumber.

Or perhaps, as if she were waiting.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes.

"Ice Empress?"

Her voice was as cold and clear as snow.

Ice Empress walked in and stood before her.

"Snow Empress."

Snow Empress looked at her, her brows slightly furrowed.

"You have... a strange aura on you."

Ice Empress nodded.

"I have been contracted by someone."

Snow Empress's pupils constricted sharply.

She stood up abruptly!

"What?!"

Ice Empress raised her hand, signaling for her to calm down.

"Listen to me."

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

The Contract Book.

The evolution.

The Heavenly Tribulation.

The four-hundred-thousand-year-old Yinye.

And—

Fusion.

Snow Empress fell silent after hearing this.

For a long time.

A very long silence.

Then, she spoke:

"You trust him?"

Ice Empress nodded.

"Yinye is the proof."

"Four hundred thousand years of age, Void Shadow attribute, and she follows him willingly."

She looked at Snow Empress, her gaze earnest:

"Snow Empress, we have lived for so long."

"The Heavenly Tribulation gets harder every time."

"Next time, can you withstand it?"

Snow Empress fell silent.

Of course she could not withstand it.

The seven-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation was almost a certain death sentence.

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

"By then, the two of us can fuse."

"One million one hundred thousand years."

"That is the strength of a god."

Snow Empress looked at her, complex emotions flashing in her eyes.

"You want to go with him that much?"

Ice Empress was silent for a second.

Then, she smiled.

"I want to try."

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

She turned and walked toward the exit.

Reaching the doorway, she stopped.

She looked back at Snow Empress:

"He is waiting for you outside."

"When you have made up your mind, come out."

She walked out.

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

She was silent for a long time.

Then—

She stood up.

She walked toward the exit.

Outside Ice Peak.

Bai Lan stood on the snow, gazing at the entrance of Ice Peak.

Yinye stood by his side.

Elder Mu stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Suddenly—

A figure slowly walked out from the entrance of Ice Peak.

Ice-blue long hair.

Ice-blue eyes.

A noble and majestic aura.

Snow Empress.

She walked right up to Bai Lan and stopped.

She lowered her head to look at him.

"You are Bai Lan?"

Bai Lan nodded.

Snow Empress looked at him, her gaze profound.

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

Bai Lan nodded.

Snow Empress asked, "On what grounds?"

Bai Lan raised his hand.

The Contract Book manifested in his palm.

He flipped it open.

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

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

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

Snow Empress looked at those three imprints and fell silent.

Especially the second page.

Four hundred thousand years.

Void Shadow.

Willingly.

"She..." Snow Empress looked at Yinye, "Why is she willing?"

Yinye smiled.

"Because Master treats me like a person."

"Not as a tool."

"But as a partner."

She looked at Snow Empress, her gaze gentle:

"You don't have to believe it."

"But you can try."

Snow Empress fell silent.

For a long time.

Then, she looked at Bai Lan.

"How long must I wait?"

Bai Lan looked at her, his gaze calm:

"Wait until I reach level forty."

"It will be soon."

"I won't make you wait too long."

Snow Empress looked at him.

She looked into those calm eyes.

Seven years old.

Level thirty-seven.

But in those eyes, there was something she had not seen in her seven hundred thousand years of life.

It was—

Hope.

"Fine," she said, "I will wait for you."

Bai Lan smiled.

"Then it's a deal."

Snow Empress nodded.

Just as she was about to turn around.

"Wait."

A voice rang out.

Ice Empress walked out from the Ice Peak and stood beside Snow Empress.

She looked at Bai Lan, a glimmer of light flashing in her emerald-green eyes.

"Master," she spoke, "I want to evolve now."

Bai Lan was slightly taken aback.

"Now?"

Ice Empress nodded.

"Don't forget, I still have three evolution opportunities left."

"Three."

"We can do it right now."

She looked at Bai Lan, her gaze earnest:

"I want Snow Empress to see."

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

"I'm also curious, what will I become after three evolutions?"

"What level of strength will I reach?"

Bai Lan fell silent.

He looked toward Snow Empress.

Snow Empress was also watching him.

Within those ice-blue eyes, there was a hint of curiosity.

She wanted to know if Ice Empress's choice was truly the right one.

Mu En was curious as well, and so was Yinye.

Bai Lan withdrew his gaze and fixed it on Ice Empress.

"Alright," he said. "Then let's do it now. I'm also very curious and looking forward to it!"

"But one thing is certain: it will be absolutely stunning and powerful!"

He raised his hand.

The Contract Book appeared in his palm.

He flipped it open.

On the third page, the emerald scorpion-shaped mark was glowing slowly.

"Then, let's begin!"

Bai Lan took a deep breath.

He focused his intent.

Ice Empress, first evolution, confirm!

It happened in an instant!

BOOM!

An emerald light shot up into the sky!

The radiance was so brilliant that it instantly illuminated the entire ice field!

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

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

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

Yet the curiosity and anticipation in her eyes remained undiminished.

Within the light, Ice Empress's figure was undergoing a violent transformation.

Her body began to glow.

The emerald light grew brighter and more intense!

410,000!

420,000!

430,000!

440,000!

450,000!

460,000!

470,000!

480,000!

490,000!

500,000!

The numbers were jumping frantically!

They kept climbing until...

Five hundred thousand years!

BOOM!

Light exploded outward!

In front of Ice Peak, everyone instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes.

When the light finally dissipated!

Everyone was stunned.

Ice Empress was still standing in the same spot.

But she was different now.

Stronger, more beautiful, and possessing an even more noble aura!

Bai Lan looked down at the Contract Book.

On the third page, the text was updating:

[Contract Beast: Ice Jade Empress]

[Age: 500,000 years]

[Status: Contracted]

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

[Ice Attribute Mastery: Can freely manipulate surrounding ice and snow, range expanded to 1,000 meters]

[Ultimate Ice: Ice attribute purity reaches the ultimate level, capable of freezing fire attribute attacks of the same rank]

[Ice Emperor Domain: Deploy the Ice Emperor Domain; within the domain, Ultimate Ice suppresses all fire attributes and slows enemy movement]

[Jade Crystal Body Protection: Ice crystals automatically protect the master, capable of blocking a full-force strike of the same rank]

[Ice Emperor Pincer: Extreme: Both arms transform into scorpion pincers; attacks carry an Ultimate Ice freezing effect, power increased threefold]

[Ice Emperor Body Protection: Extreme: Ice crystal body protection, defense significantly increased, capable of reflecting a portion of attacks]

[Ice Emperor's Wrath: Extreme: Condense Ultimate Ice to launch an area-of-effect attack, covering a radius of 300 meters]

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

[New Ability: Ice Crystal Butterfly Wings: Condense ice crystal butterfly wings on the back, capable of short-term flight; flapping the wings releases ice crystal attacks]

[Evolution Count: 1/3 (Can evolve two more times)]