The Undead Plane

The hall fell silent.

The Titan Snow Demon King covered his face and turned away, pretending he didn't know this idiot. He was truly disgracing the Ferocious Beasts.

Ice Empress's delicate face was covered in dark lines. She rapped Xiao Bai on the head and snapped in exasperation:

"Do you even know how to talk? Huh? If you don't, then shut up. Nobody's calling you mute!"

Xiao Bai had clearly gotten on her nerves.

This little guy had seemed pretty cute before. Why had he suddenly turned into such an idiot today?

"I just think he's smart and well-spoken. He's a real bear of talent."

Xu Lanqing said with a grin. He immediately decided, You're my... brother, and I'm definitely making friends with you!

Of course, he didn't mean anything else by it. He just thought this bear had been clever from a young age and knew how to get along with people. He was sure to achieve great things one day.

Ice Empress glared at Xu Lanqing. Seeing that he no longer seemed afraid of her, she snapped, "You shut up!"

"I'm just telling it like it is."

Xu Lanqing shrugged, then asked with some confusion, "Ice Empress, is there something you need to do with them here?"

At that, Ice Empress stopped lecturing Xiao Bai. Xiao Bai, his round face full of hurt and grievance, immediately shrank beside the ice-blue crystal, hoping for his mother's comfort. Had he said something wrong?

Fortunately, Snow Empress hadn't heard him. Otherwise, she probably would've stormed out and smacked her foolish son on the head, joining Ice Empress in a tag-team beating.

How long had it been, and he'd already found her a father?

Ice Empress took a deep breath, glanced at Xiao Bai and the Titan Snow Demon King, and said slowly, "Xiao Bai and I will go with you. I'll have Tai Tan take you out later."

"What about the Far North? Are you leaving it unattended?"

"I'll be enough on my own," the Titan Snow Demon King said in a low voice.

"All right, then. This is an internal matter for you to decide among yourselves. I won't interfere."

Xu Lanqing replied. After all, he still didn't know them well enough to butt in.

He thought for a while, then pieced together the reason using his memories from his previous life.

The Titan Snow Demon King and Xiao Bai had never gotten along. Despite Xiao Bai's idiotic appearance, he was a Ferocious Beast, and his strength was on par with the Titan Snow Ape's.

With Snow Empress as the undisputed ruler of the Far North, the two of them had naturally kept the peace while she was around.

But now that Snow Empress was gone, if Ice Empress left too, neither of them would yield to the other. They'd definitely end up fighting.

At that point, governing the Far North would be out of the question. They'd be lucky if they didn't turn it into a complete mess.

Ice Empress knew them very well and must have foreseen this, which was why she'd arranged things this way.

As for why Xiao Bai was the one leaving—just look at him. He was so clever. Wouldn't it be a waste of his talents to keep him in the Far North? Only by following Xu Lanqing would he get the chance to put his bear-brains to good use.

Xu Lanqing asked, "Ice Empress, are we leaving now? What about the things you need to take care of?"

Ice Empress nodded. All she had to do was return to her clan and make a few arrangements for after her departure. She could take Xiao Bai along while she was at it.

Thinking of him, she glared at Xiao Bai again, still annoyed.

Xiao Bai was baffled. I didn't say anything. Why are you glaring at me?

Still, since Ice Empress called Snow Empress her sister, that made her his aunt. He didn't dare argue and could only silently take it.

"All right. Stand together."

As Xu Lanqing spoke, his eyes turned a faint gray, and a bone-chilling, sinister aura began to emanate from him.

When this deathly aura appeared, the Titan Snow Demon King raised an eyebrow. It felt somewhat similar to the Evil Soul Masters he'd encountered before, but upon closer inspection, it was different.

Xu Lanqing began explaining:

"But you should prepare yourselves. My teacher created many demiplanes, and the one he left me is supposedly the most complete.

"It's filled with undead creatures my teacher left behind. They've been reproducing for over a thousand years, and even my teacher doesn't know how many there are or how powerful they've become.

"On top of that, the place is extremely gloomy. It isn't completely safe."

Xiao Bai pounded his chest with great force, making his rolls of fat jiggle spectacularly, and declared with resolve:

"Don't worry. I'll stay right by Mother's side and protect her. I won't let anything get close to her!"

Ice Empress said nothing, but the pride in her eyes said it all.

Xu Lanqing continued explaining:

"According to my teacher, it can't really be considered a world yet, because it has nothing but land. In fact, it doesn't even have a sky.

"Our world, on the other hand, is a planet with a complete ecosystem. As long as we keep going up into the sky, we can reach the boundless universe.

"But that demiplane is nothing like our world.

"It contains only undead creatures, and it has a boundary: darkness and the void.

"Any living creature from our world that reaches it will be devoured by the darkness and the void. So be careful.

"All right, I'm starting."

After speaking, Xu Lanqing extended his right index finger and swiftly traced a line through the air. A strange gray hexagram quietly appeared. It glowed, then drifted down to the ground.

Ice Empress looked around the Ice Crystal Palace, her eyes filled with wistfulness and reluctance. She'd lived here for so many years, and this was the first time she'd ever left. She didn't know how long it would be before she returned.

But when her gaze fell on the crystal Snow Empress had transformed into, the coldness in her eyes gave way to tenderness. As long as she was with Snow Empress, she didn't care where she went.

Finally, she turned to Xu Lanqing and said slowly, "I hope you won't disappoint us."

She chose to trust Xu Lanqing largely because Snow Empress trusted him, and she trusted Snow Empress.

"There's no point saying more. You'll understand in time."

As soon as he finished speaking, gray light suddenly surged upward, swallowing the bodies of Ice Empress and the other two. A moment later, they vanished into thin air.

Xu Lanqing's face went pale. That one attempt had nearly drained all his Soul Power, so he quickly sat down and meditated to recover.

Meanwhile, the Titan Snow Demon King beside him narrowed his eyes. His immense spiritual power swept through every corner of Ice Valley in an instant, as if trying to find Ice Empress and the others.

But it was all in vain. He even extended his spiritual power outward as far as he could, yet found nothing.

He'd been prepared, but he was still shaken. A self-created plane really existed.

It was a world dimly lit by a strange sun suspended in the sky. The sun was entirely black, with mysterious purple light radiating around it.

Yes, purple light. It wasn't very bright, so the demiplane was rather dim.

The terrain was uneven. The land stretched out, barren and devoid of plants. The ground was pitch-black, like earth stained with ink. A chilling aura kept sweeping in from every direction.

Hills lay ahead, and the view beyond them was obscured.

Ice Empress furrowed her delicate brows. This plane made her feel very uncomfortable.

The Ice Element in the air was especially scarce compared to the Far North. Some elements seemed to be completely absent, such as the Light Element.

That meant she'd have to rely on her own strength if a fight broke out, without being able to draw on the power of the world around her. Even recovering her Soul Power would be extremely slow.

She'd originally wanted to explore the place, but remembering Xu Lanqing's warning and considering Snow Empress's safety and the environment, she suppressed her curiosity.

She was extremely confident in her own strength, and Xiao Bai was right beside her. But it was better to be cautious, just in case.