Inside an ice cave Ye Qing had casually carved out, Gang Zong used his body to block the frigid wind outside. Seeing him act like such a lackey, Ye Qing found it rather amusing. After all, this was his first time encountering this type of Spirit Beast, and seemingly his first time dealing with a male Spirit Beast countless times weaker than himself.
"Gang Zong, didn't you say Woolly Pigs live in herds? Why are you alone?"
"How could my kin be as clever as me? They're probably hiding in some canyon right now. As long as I can snag enough food once, I won't have to worry for the whole blizzard season. When spring comes, I can challenge the Woolly Pig King."
"Are you strong?"
"Hehe, I can't compare to Super Spirit Beasts like you, sir, but among the younger generation, I'm very strong..."
As they chatted idly, the sky gradually darkened, and the White Hair Wind Gang Zong had mentioned had mostly passed. Gang Zong stood up, shook the ice crystals from his fur, and led Ye Qing back onto the road.
Several days later, atop a Profound Ice Platform in the Core Area of the Extreme North, a humanoid woman stood alone. Her long, flawless snow-white hair fell smoothly down her back, trailing from her head all the way to her feet. Her sky-blue eyes were clear and ethereal, seemingly devoid of even a trace of emotion. Nothing upon the ice plains appeared capable of hiding secrets beneath her gaze. Her slender, exquisite figure was flawless, and though her white gown bore not the slightest decoration, it made her seem incomparably pure and breathtakingly beautiful. Immaculate and meticulous, she was like a winter plum blossom in the snow—peerless, proud against frost and snow.
She was the Snow Empress, foremost among the three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North. Her true form was the Heavenly Snow Woman. As a Spirit Beast, her birth had been extraordinarily difficult. The purest ice elements of the Extreme North had nurtured her. Rather than a Spirit Beast, she was more like an elemental Elf. As a daughter of heaven and earth, she had been born with ultimate ice affinity, but unlike other Spirit Beasts that possessed consciousness from birth, the formation of her awareness had taken an even longer time, scarcely less than the time it had taken for her to be born.
At that moment, the Snow Empress gazed expressionlessly at the black clouds slowly gathering in the sky. She knew they were a Heavenly Tribulation—the tribulation marking her six-hundred-thousand-year limit. Yet within those eyes that had never shown the slightest ripple lay an inexpressible loneliness. Born of heaven and earth, she had never known familial affection from the moment she came into existence. Only ice, snow, and solitude had accompanied her.
The heavens were her mother. Did this Heavenly Tribulation mean her mother did not like her? The thought surfaced in the Snow Empress's mind, but this was not her first Heavenly Tribulation, and the feeling soon passed. Still, for some reason, she felt that this tribulation was a little strange.
"Gang Zong, are we in the Core Area now?"
"More or less. The Core Area is just ahead. Sir, are you going to challenge the Snow Empress?"
"Yeah, just spar a little... Gang Zong, do you have something called a Black Hair Wind here?" Ye Qing suddenly interrupted himself with this question. Gang Zong had never heard of it. Black was rare here; in some years, they would not see a single dark day, and the whole world remained a vast expanse of white.
"No. What is that?"
"No? Then it really is a Tribulation Cloud. Am I really so fated with Heavenly Tribulation?" Ye Qing sighed as he watched the Heavenly Tribulation slowly gather in the distance. When he had first left the Star Dou Great Forest, he had encountered a Heavenly Tribulation. Later, Di Tian and the others had begun their tribulations one after another, and he had even been caught in the crossfire.
And now that he had come to the Extreme North, another Heavenly Tribulation stood right before him. Though this one was not meant to strike him, what if he got caught in it again? Ye Qing suspected that if he later went to places like the Evil Demon Forest or Sunset Forest, he might run into yet another Heavenly Tribulation. But then he noticed that Gang Zong had suddenly stopped walking.
"Why did you stop? Didn't you say the Snow Empress was undergoing her Heavenly Tribulation? It's probably hers. I won't take advantage of someone in trouble, so don't worry." Ye Qing thought Gang Zong was concerned for the safety of the strongest Spirit Beast in the Northland.
"No, sir, I'm not worried about that. It's just that I think this Heavenly Tribulation seems to be coming for you!" After hearing Gang Zong's words, Ye Qing looked up. The dense Tribulation Cloud really was drifting toward him, and he immediately had a bad feeling about it.
"I'm just passing through. Is this really necessary?" Just then, a thick bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky.
"Gang Zong, stay put and don't move. If you run around and get cooked by lightning, don't blame me!" With that, Ye Qing leaped into the sky and met the Heavenly Tribulation head-on. Otherwise, Gang Zong really would become roast suckling pig.
Perhaps because he had already undergone Shape Transformation, the Heavenly Tribulation was not like the one he had experienced before. It was far more powerful, and when it struck his body, it caused a considerable numbing pain. But it did not affect him much. He was even using his talent to Devour the Heavenly Tribulation and nourish his flesh.
But that was only for Ye Qing. His seven-hundred-thousand-year cultivation could be called false; his true cultivation was far higher than that. For the Snow Empress, however, everything was terrible.
The Snow Empress had only six hundred thousand years of cultivation. Though she had been born from the Spirit Qi of heaven and earth, she was still a native creature. Because Ye Qing had inadvertently entered the range of the Heavenly Tribulation, its power had greatly exceeded both the Snow Empress's expectations and her capacity to endure it.
Under the bombardment of such a Heavenly Tribulation, the Snow Empress gradually became unable to withstand its terrifying power. Her snowy white hair had now turned scorched black, and traces of blood seeped from the surface of her body. Worst of all, she could clearly sense that her origin had also been damaged by the Heavenly Tribulation.
The Heavenly Tribulation had no emotions. Even so, it continued relentlessly striking the Snow Empress. She could feel that if this went on, her origin would shatter completely. For an elemental Elf like her, that meant death.
"Am I ultimately unable to cross this threshold?" The Snow Empress closed her eyes, but soon afterward, the pain inflicted by the Heavenly Tribulation no longer came. Then, reflected in her sky-blue eyes, was a figure—Ye Qing had arrived and taken the remaining Heavenly Tribulation for her.
"Is this... what it feels like to be protected?"
"Sorry. If it weren't for me, the Heavenly Tribulation wouldn't have become this powerful. Are you alright?" Ye Qing had realized the problem from the tribulation's strength. Once he had been locked onto as a target, the Heavenly Tribulation had calculated its power for both of them. It was only because his talent was extraordinary that he could withstand it; someone else might not have been able to endure it.
"I'm fine. You came at just the right time."
After Ye Qing blocked several successive bolts of Heavenly Tribulation aimed at the Snow Empress, the Tribulation Cloud in the sky slowly dispersed. Then Ye Qing noticed that the Snow Empress's body was gradually shrinking, transforming from a cold and regal mature woman into a young little girl.
"My origin has been injured. If I don't do this, the loss of my origin will accelerate. Once my injuries stabilize, I'll gradually recover. You don't seem to be a Spirit Beast from the Northland."
"That's right. I came to challenge you. I didn't expect this to happen."
"You want my position in the Northland? Stay with me, and I'll hand it over to you without hesitation."
"No, no, no... that's not what I meant." But the Snow Empress had already fallen asleep. Seeing this, Ye Qing decided to see his good deed through and began helping her replenish her energy. After all, the Heavenly Tribulation's power had risen because of him.
"Xue'er! I'm here! How are you... Who are you?! Where is the Snow Empress?! And who is she?! Don't tell me she's your child with the Snow Empress?!"
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