Two Emperors of Ice and Snow

"Human, continue..."

The cold, clear voice of the Snow Empress fell, and the howling wind around them seemed to freeze in an instant.

Her fingertips still rested on the pale, translucent forearm of the Ice Empress, her ice-blue eyes locked silently onto Xue Yuheng. The pressure of a soul beast nearing seven hundred thousand years of cultivation was enough to force an ordinary Titled Douluo to their knees instantly.

The Ice Empress unwillingly retracted the nails she had held against Xue Yuheng's throat. Her emerald scorpion tail swayed behind her, the venomous stinger at the tip glinting with a chilling, ghostly light. Her amber eyes were filled with killing intent; she would never allow a human to threaten her.

Xue Yuheng raised a hand to brush the frost from his shoulder, his tone steady.

"Xue Yuheng, Crown Prince of the Douling Empire, greets the Snow Empress."

Without the slightest surprise, the Wordless Heavenly Book in Xue Yuheng's mind displayed two panels for the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress.

An extra line appeared, listing the race of the soul beasts.

What surprised Xue Yuheng was their innate talent.

The Ice Empress was ranked as [Mediocre], corresponding to a hundred-thousand-year soul beast level. As expected, the racial value of the Ice Jade Scorpion was still too low.

Then how had she managed to cultivate for three hundred and ninety thousand years?

[Name: Snow Empress
Race: Ice Sky Snow Maiden
Talent: First-Class Talent (God-tier)
Bone Age: 704,567
Cultivation: 690,000 years
Available Deduction Paths: Transformation, Past and Present Lives, Damaged Origin]

After receiving confirmation from the Wordless Heavenly Book, Xue Yuheng took Xiao Xiao's hand and smiled confidently. "Xiao Xiao, don't be nervous. These two are seniors, and since we are six-year-old children, they wouldn't stoop to bullying the young."

Xiao Xiao's expression was complex; the soul power within her surged as it resisted the pressure of the Snow Empress.

Even though the two beautiful ladies before her were full of openings, Xiao Xiao had a premonition in her heart.

If she were to unleash the Goddess Transformation, she would surely die.

She pursed her cherry lips and nodded at Xue Yuheng.

Little Xue would never put her in danger; she just had to trust him.

Noticing the hopeful gaze of the young girl, Xue Yuheng looked at the two peerless powerhouses before him and said calmly, "I possess a Myriad Year Mysterious Ice Cave."

The Two Emperors of Ice and Snow exchanged a glance, clearly showing great interest. The Ice Empress tried her best to suppress the turmoil in her heart. "Human, state your conditions."

She was now incredibly grateful that she hadn't killed Xue Yuheng; that was the Myriad Year Mysterious Ice Cave!

The key to her survival.

Humans with a lifespan of a hundred years still clung to life, let alone soul beasts that had lived for hundreds of thousands of years.

"I have a presumptuous question to ask. The racial talent of the Ice Jade Scorpion cannot overcome the twenty-thousand-year life tribulation. Ice Empress, how did you manage to cultivate to your current level?"

"You are courting death!" The Ice Empress was furious; Xue Yuheng's words had touched a raw nerve.

"Bing'er, stop." The Snow Empress spoke again, halting the Ice Empress's movements.

She took half a step forward, her proud figure outlined by her ice-blue tight dress appearing even more upright in the snow. On her long, snow-white legs, Xue Yuheng even caught a glimpse of reflective, translucent ice-silk stockings.

"This is Bing'er's private matter. Does it have anything to do with your conditions?"

Private matter?

Xue Yuheng turned to look at the Snow Empress, his tone grave.

"For soul beasts, every hundred thousand years is a chasm. The further one goes, the more terrifying the life tribulation becomes. Your Excellency, your origin is damaged. I fear you will not survive this upcoming tribulation."

Having lived for hundreds of thousands of years, they had seen too many powerful soul beasts fall under the tribulation, and they knew better than anyone that they had reached a dead end.

The Ice Empress's scorpion tail slowly drooped, the killing intent on her face fading, replaced by deep unwillingness.

She was unwilling to see a lifetime of bitter cultivation end in her soul being scattered, and even more unwilling to see the Snow Empress perish alongside her.

There was no expression on the Snow Empress's cold, clear face, but ripples appeared in her eyes.

Xue Yuheng continued, "Your Excellency, you have prepared a second path: soul beast transformation. Unfortunately, without sufficient life force, that hundred-thousand-year Snow Lotus of yours is not enough."

For some reason, the Snow Empress felt a chill in her heart. How did she have the feeling of being seen through by Xue Yuheng? She frowned and said:

"Your Douling Imperial intelligence network is quite impressive. Let me think... your condition for using the Myriad Year Mysterious Ice Cave to help us survive the tribulation... it wouldn't be for us to submit to you, would it?"

It is always convenient to talk to smart people.

Among the three deductions Xue Yuheng had for the Snow Empress, he chose transformation.

After careful consideration, Xue Yuheng decided that the path of the soul beast was not suitable for the Snow Empress.

After all, the Douluo World was constrained by the law established by a certain old dragon, which forbade soul beasts from becoming gods.

Out of a total of over fifteen hundred points of Power of Creation, Xue Yuheng spent over three hundred in his cost-no-object calculation.

Within the Wordless Heavenly Book, the interface for the Snow Empress displayed a complete method for human transformation.

Xue Yuheng said, "My Douling Empire royal family has inherited a secret technique for thousands of years that can help Your Excellency, the Snow Empress, transform into a human and recast your origin. In this way, you can break through the shackles of heaven and earth for soul beasts and have the hope of becoming a god."

"Nonsense!"

Seeing the Snow Empress lost in thought, the Ice Empress feared she would fall into Xue Yuheng's trap and immediately retorted, "The Snow Empress and I have lived on this continent for hundreds of thousands of years, and we have never heard of such a heaven-defying secret technique.

Today, you will tell us the location of the Myriad Year Mysterious Ice Cave.

If not, I will surely launch a Far North beast tide and trample your Douling to the ground!"

The Ice Empress unleashed the full aura of a soul beast king; in her eyes, the weight of the billions of lives in the Douling Empire was as light as mayflies.

Xue Yuheng pulled Xiao Xiao into his arms and said calmly, "You two, I dare to come here alone, so naturally, I have some trump cards.

I wonder if Your Excellency, the Snow Empress, has heard of the Sun Moon Empire's Class 9 fixed-firing soul cannon shells?

It doesn't matter if I die, but the habitats of the major races in this Far North will surely suffer."

A circle of golden light protected Xue Yuheng and Xiao Xiao, shielded by the Power of Creation.

Xue Yuheng had tested it; under the attack of Canyue Douluo, which was equivalent to a Super Douluo, each defense consumed three hundred points of the Power of Creation.

This was another trump card that gave Xue Yuheng the confidence to come alone.

The Snow Empress sensed something. In the Far North, the laws of ice and snow between heaven and earth were all at her disposal. In that instant, her spiritual power scanned a radius of one hundred thousand li with her current position as the core.

Sure enough, in the north, south, east, and west of the core area of the Far North, there was a soul master in each direction carrying a power that made even her feel a palpitation.

The distance was too great; even if she and the Ice Empress pursued them with all their might now, it would be too late.

The Ice Empress suddenly realized something, "Those four maids of yours?!

Xue Yuheng! You are courting death!"

Just a moment before the Ice Empress made her move, the Snow Empress shouted.

"Bing'er! Enough!"

"Having said so much, what are your conditions?" the Snow Empress asked directly, getting to the core of the matter.

There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Having lived for seven hundred thousand years, she understood this principle better than anyone.

Xue Yuheng smiled and said, "I will use the treasures in the Myriad Year Mysterious Ice Cave to help the Ice Empress survive her tribulation and help you, Snow Empress, transform and recultivate.

The condition is that the Far North must become my backing in the future.

When I unify the continent in the future, the Far North only needs to provide whatever resources and intelligence I require."

"You want the Far North to become the backyard of your Douling? Human boy, you are truly delusional." The Ice Empress laughed in extreme anger; she really couldn't understand what gave such a tiny creature the guts to spout such nonsense here.

Did he not know that the power of the Far North was enough to level the entire territory of Douling within a month?

Xue Yuheng incited the Snow Empress:

"The Far North is only able to enjoy peace in one corner because of the existence of the three great kings.

But this bubble-like stability will come to an end when you two die under the heavenly tribulation in the next hundred years."

Xue Yuheng's words were like a basin of cold water, extinguishing the Ice Empress's temper.

The Ice Empress opened her mouth, but could not say a single word. She had to admit that Xue Yuheng was telling the truth.

The wind and snow were still howling, but the four of them remained silent for a long time.

All three were waiting for the Snow Empress's reply.

The Ice Empress looked at the Snow Empress, her eyes full of struggle.

She was unwilling to submit to others, but she wanted even less to watch the Snow Empress die under the heavenly tribulation.

The Snow Empress lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment. When she looked up again, she had already made her decision, and her peerless face held a hint of a bright smile.

"Your Douling has a secret technique, and my Far North has one too." The Snow Empress took out an ancient parchment scroll from the ice and snow.

The Snow Empress explained, "This is a contract scroll left by the ancient Ice God. We only need to drip our respective blood onto it.

If I die, you will die too."

There was one thing the Snow Empress did not say, which was that if Xue Yuheng died, she would be fine.

This was a master-servant scroll.

Xue Yuheng met the gaze of the Two Emperors of Ice and Snow, glanced at Xiao Xiao, who was silently shaking her head and holding his hand, and finally took a step forward.

For Xiao Xiao, Xue Yuheng had already risked his life once.

This time, for himself, he would gamble again.

He hoped the method deduced in the Wordless Heavenly Book would not let him down.

Red and blue blood intertwined on the scroll, and finally, this ancient parchment spontaneously ignited and burned, eventually turning into ashes.

A trace of connection and bond formed between the minds of Xue Yuheng and the Snow Empress.

This feeling was very strange to Xue Yuheng; in his perception, the Snow Empress was like a piece of hard, cold ice.

A stone woman.

Xue Yuheng suddenly thought of a word.

In the perception of the Snow Empress, because she was the party of the master-servant scroll, she perceived far more than Xue Yuheng.

She even caught a glimpse of a corner of Xue Yuheng's spiritual sea.

Was that strange power enveloping this kid coming from the white jade book within his spiritual sea?

Was it his martial soul? Or... a divine artifact?

As an Ice and Snow Elf favored by the heavens, the Snow Empress had a profound understanding of the laws of nature.

One of the reasons she compromised, besides the Myriad Year Mysterious Ice Cave being sufficiently tempting, was that she simply could not see through the strange power surrounding Xue Yuheng.

At the very least, it was a power of a higher order than soul power.

This Crown Prince of the Douling Empire was truly unfathomable.

As for the carefree Ice Empress, she couldn't be bothered with all that; she just wanted to get it done.

"Xue Yuheng, speak. What do you need for the secret technique that can help me transform?" the Snow Empress asked.

"Snow Empress!" the Ice Empress exclaimed.

"Bing'er, this is my only path to survival."

The Snow Empress's tone was helpless. "We have lived together for hundreds of thousands of years. Are you going to watch me perish in the heavenly tribulation and watch the Far North be destroyed?"

The Ice Empress bit her lip, looking at the Snow Empress's firm gaze, then at Xue Yuheng, before finally stamping her foot hard.

"Fine! I agree! But if you dare to play any tricks, even if it means my soul dissipates, I will definitely drag you down with me!"

Xue Yuheng gave a sheepish smile. "Since the Snow Empress and I are now bound by life and death, how could I possibly do something so thankless and self-defeating..."

Xue Yuheng cleared his throat and began to recite the ice-attribute heavenly treasures required by the Wordless Heavenly Book in a loud voice:

"Ten jin of Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow, one hundred jin of thousand-year profound ice marrow, three Ice God Flowers, twelve ice-attribute ninety-thousand-year soul bones, one hundred ice-attribute fifty-thousand-year beast cores, three hundred grams of Ice Spirit Sky Sand, one ten-thousand-year Snow Lotus..."

Xue Yuheng reeled them off like he was reading a menu. Each item he singled out was a peerless treasure that would cause ice-attribute soul masters across the continent to scramble in a frenzy. In two minutes, he listed over a hundred types.

Xiao Xiao curled her lip. Why was little Xue trying to line his own pockets at such a critical moment? If he angered these two humanoid monsters, they wouldn't even be able to run away.

The faces of the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress grew darker and darker.

The resources required here accounted for nearly one-fifth of the resources of the entire Far North.

This was a resource repository that had been developed for ten million years after the ancient Ice God led the soul beasts to occupy the Far North.

Xue Yuheng let out a long breath. "Alright, that's about all the materials needed for the transformation. As for the method, I need you, Snow Empress, to trigger your seven-hundred-thousand-year lightning tribulation and use the heavenly tribulation to forge a new body.

If you survive it, you succeed."

There was also over a thousand points of Power of Creation needed as fusion material, but Xue Yuheng didn't mention that.

On the distant horizon, the sounds of the battle between the Heavenly Dancing Maiden and the Titan Snow Demon King drew closer. Black light and white light flickered incessantly in the sky, and the snowfield beneath the four of them trembled.

After chatting a bit more, Xue Yuheng safely took Xiao Xiao and left on the snowmobile; he needed to notify the Moon Shadow Squad to finish up.

The four level-nine fixed-soul ammunition shells were a lie told to the Snow Empress; in reality, it was one level-nine and three level-eights.

Soul ammunition shells were controlled weapons in the Sun Moon Empire, strictly prohibited from being exported to the three original empires of the Douluo Continent.

Xue Yuheng had traded a small piece of intelligence for them two years ago with an old man in the Sun Moon Empire.

Even for that existence, it had taken a great deal of effort to obtain these four shells.

On the ice plain, the Ice Empress watched the backs of Xue Yuheng and Xiao Xiao as they disappeared and couldn't help but ask the Snow Empress: "Snow Empress, should we really trust him?

I think this kid is a lunatic. If he doesn't care about the cost and insists on dragging you down with him..."

The Ice Empress had a very poor impression of Xue Yuheng, though she also felt a bit of admiration; if it were her, she wouldn't dare to do such a thing.

Even now, the Ice Empress believed that there must be powerhouses from the Douling Empire hidden in the shadows, following behind Xue Yuheng.

The Snow Empress glanced at the Ice Empress and shook her head. "Xue Yuheng doesn't seem to take the Douling Empire to heart.

Actually, when you talk to him, you can feel the sense of responsibility he carries.

If I die, given your temper, a beast tide would certainly be triggered.

The monk may run, but the temple cannot. Xue Yuheng wouldn't treat the Douling Empire as a joke."

"Then why would he go to such great lengths to help us soul beasts?" the Ice Empress asked, puzzled.

If Xue Yuheng was a responsible person, why would he strengthen the soul beast faction?

One had to know that for the past tens of thousands of years, there had been irreconcilable conflicts between soul beasts and soul masters.

The Snow Empress had some private thoughts, but she didn't answer this question. Instead, she asked: "Bing'er, that little girl Xue Yuheng brought with him, she seems to be a soul master, right?"

"In my perception, yes. She even seems to be a soul master who hasn't obtained a soul ring yet. There is no aura of having killed soul beasts on her," the Ice Empress confirmed.

The Ice Empress's words only deepened the doubt in the Snow Empress's heart.

What exactly was the thing that little girl was charging up?

Why did she have a feeling of heart palpitations?

How could a little girl who wasn't even a one-ring soul master possess such terrifying power?

The Snow Empress sighed. Could the human world truly have produced such a freakish individual already?

Now that this transformation was complete, it seemed like a good time to go for a walk on the continent.

That First Academy of the Continent seemed like a decent place to start.

The Snow Empress turned around, her steps leaving no trace upon the snow. "Let's go. We need to gather the items on this list."

"Hmph, I'm telling you, that brat Xue Yuheng is definitely fleecing us! There's no way he needs this many materials!

If I ever catch him with something fishy in his pockets, I'll snap him in two with my pincers!"

The Snow Empress: "..."