Thinking of Tianmeng Iceworm!

Tang Ya was so happy she nearly jumped for joy.

"That's great! It's a deal!"

Ice Empress looked at her, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly.

Was that a smile?

Perhaps.

On the way back to the dormitory.

Yinye walked on Bai Lan's left, and Ice Empress walked on his right.

The three of them walked in silence.

Suddenly, Ice Empress spoke up:

"Master."

Bai Lan looked at her: "Hmm?"

Ice Empress asked: "That person named Tang Ya, why did she smile at me?"

Bai Lan thought for a moment and said:

"Because she likes you."

Ice Empress was stunned for a moment.

"Likes me?"

Bai Lan nodded.

"She wants to be friends with you."

Ice Empress fell silent.

She lowered her head, looking at her own toes.

They walked for a long time.

Suddenly, she said softly:

"The only friend I have, perhaps, is Snow Empress..."

Bai Lan stopped in his tracks.

He looked at her.

Ice Empress raised her head, meeting his gaze.

Those ice-blue eyes held a rare trace of confusion.

"Master, what does it feel like to have a human friend?"

Bai Lan was silent for a second.

Then, he smiled.

He raised his hand and placed it gently on Ice Empress's shoulder.

"It feels exactly like this."

Ice Empress froze.

She looked at Bai Lan, looking into those gentle eyes.

Suddenly, she felt something in her heart beginning to melt.

"Master..." she said softly.

Bai Lan withdrew his hand and continued walking forward.

"Let's go, back to cultivate."

Ice Empress stood where she was, watching his retreating figure.

Yinye walked up beside her.

"What's wrong?"

Ice Empress looked at her and asked:

"Do you have this feeling too?"

Yinye smiled.

"I do," she said. "Every single day."

Ice Empress was silent for a second.

Then, she smiled.

It was the first time she had ever smiled so softly.

"So this is what a friend is."

She took a step and followed.

The two of them walked side by side behind that small figure.

Sunlight spilled down.

It stretched the shadows of the three of them, making them very, very long.

In the distance.

Tang Ya stood at the entrance of the canteen, gazing in that direction.

Bei Bei walked to her side.

"What's wrong?"

Tang Ya turned her head, her eyes sparkling.

"Bei Bei, Ice Empress sister spoke to me!"

Bei Bei smiled.

"Mm, I heard."

Tang Ya clenched her fists.

"I must become her best friend!"

Xu Sanshi rolled his eyes from the side.

"She's a seven-hundred-thousand-year-old Beast, and you're just a level twenty-something Great Soul Master. You want to be her friend?"

Tang Ya glared at him.

"Is that not allowed?"

Xu Sanshi shrugged.

"Sure, sure, whatever makes you happy."

Tang Ya huffed and turned to walk toward the dormitory.

After a few steps, she suddenly stopped.

She looked back.

In that direction, those three figures were no longer visible.

But she still smiled.

"Ice Empress sister..."

She said softly.

"See you tomorrow."

Late at night.

The dormitory was very quiet.

Moonlight spilled in through the window, spreading a layer of silver-white across the floor.

The occasional chirping of insects from outside the window only made the night seem more tranquil.

Bai Lan sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed in cultivation.

Yinye and Ice Empress sat on his left and right, guarding him.

Yinye's eyes were half-closed, as if she were dozing.

Her breathing was steady and long, blending into the surrounding night; if one didn't look closely, they would barely notice her presence.

Ice Empress leaned against the head of the bed, holding that copy of Record of Continental Customs in her hands again.

She had flipped through it many times, but every time she read it, it felt like the first.

Having not seen the human world for over four hundred thousand years, every page was a novelty to her.

The only sound in the room was the occasional turning of a page.

Suddenly—

Bai Lan opened his eyes.

He stopped his cultivation.

Yinye noticed immediately, opening her eyes to look at him: "Master?"

Ice Empress also looked up and closed the book.

Bai Lan did not answer immediately.

He just sat there, gazing at the moonlight outside the window, as if thinking about something.

"Master?" Yinye asked again, her voice tinged with concern.

Bai Lan regained his focus and looked at her.

"It's nothing," he said. "Just suddenly remembered something."

Yinye and Ice Empress exchanged a glance.

Ice Empress spoke up: "What is it?"

Bai Lan was silent for a second.

Then, he looked at Ice Empress and asked:

"Ice Empress, have you ever heard of the Tianmeng Iceworm?"

Ice Empress was taken aback.

"Tianmeng Iceworm?" She repeated the name, her brows knitting slightly. "I have."

She thought for a moment, then added:

"In the Extreme North, there are plenty of ice worms. But they are all ordinary, low-level Soul Beasts, at most a few hundred years old."

"Tianmeng Iceworm... that name reminds me of an annoying fellow, but that guy disappeared many years ago. It's likely it was eaten long ago."

Bai Lan nodded, not pressing for more details.

He certainly knew who that fellow in Ice Empress's words was.

It was the Tianmeng Iceworm.

Although the Tianmeng Iceworm was born in the Extreme North, it had fallen into an ice crevice long ago and survived by eating Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow, lying its way to a million years of cultivation without ever experiencing a single Heavenly Tribulation.

Then, for some unknown reason, it went to the Star Dou Great Forest and was captured.

Ever since then, it had never returned to the Extreme North.

It was normal for Ice Empress to think it was dead.

"Why does Master ask about this?" Ice Empress looked at him, a hint of curiosity in her eyes. "Is there something special about that ice worm?"

Bai Lan was silent for a second.

Then, he smiled.

"Nothing," he said. "Just suddenly remembered it and asked out of curiosity."

Ice Empress glanced at him and did not pursue the matter further.

But she always felt that the look in her master's eyes just a moment ago was different.

It was as if he were thinking about something very important.

Yinye had also noticed.

But she didn't ask either.

She knew that when her master wanted to speak, he would naturally do so.

The room returned to silence.

Bai Lan closed his eyes again and continued his cultivation.

But his heart was not at peace.

Tianmeng Iceworm.

A million-year Soul Beast.

The first million-year Soul Beast in the history of the Douluo Continent.

By eating Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow, it had cultivated from an ordinary ice worm step by step to a million years.

Although it had no combat power, it possessed two things that other Soul Beasts could not compare to—

First, its mental attribute.

A million-year mental-type Soul Beast was the only one of its kind on the entire continent.

Second, the energy accumulated within its body.

That was the energy accumulated from eating Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow for a million years; it was pure, vast, and refined to the extreme.

Wasn't that why Di Tian and his group of fierce beasts kept it trapped in the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest, because they coveted the energy in its body?

If he could contract it—

Bai Lan's heart skipped a beat.

Starting at a million years.

And it could still evolve.

After a million years, would each evolution still start at a hundred thousand years?

Or would it start at a million years?

After all, that was reaching the level of a god.

What kind of concept was that?

If other Soul Beasts of the same origin were to be fused in...

Bai Lan took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart.

He knew that it was too early to think about these things now.

According to the timeline of the original work, Huo Yuhao entered the Star Dou Great Forest around the age of eleven and encountered the Tianmeng Iceworm.

Huo Yuhao was only six years old now.

There were still five years left.

During these five years, the Tianmeng Iceworm should still be in the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest, trapped by Di Tian and his group of fierce beasts, having its energy absorbed every day.

That place.

Bai Lan's gaze became solemn.

The core area of the Star Dou Great Forest.

A land of great calamity.

Di Tian, seven or eight hundred thousand years old, the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King.

And a group of fierce beasts that were hundreds of thousands of years old.

With Yinye and the Ice Empress present, there was no need to worry about the others.

But Di Tian and the Silver Dragon King were a different story.

They had escaped from the God Realm.

Although their divine positions and godheads had already shattered.

They were still genuine old gods.

Their strength could not be measured by years alone.

Not to mention that Di Tian also possessed the Dragon God Claw personally taught by the Dragon God.

Even if one reached the god level, being struck by it carried the risk of falling.

"Master?"

Yinye's voice rang out once more.

Bai Lan opened his eyes, meeting her silver-purple pupils.

There was a hint of worry in those eyes.

"Master, you are... restless tonight."