Undead Plane

The great hall fell into a sudden silence.

The Titan Snow Demon King covered his face and turned away, signaling that he didn't know this blockhead and that he had truly disgraced the name of the Great Beasts.

The Ice Emperor's delicate, pretty face was covered in black lines as she rapped a knuckle against Xiaobai's head, snapping in irritation:

"Do you know how to speak? Huh? If you don't know how to speak, then shut your mouth; nobody will mistake you for a mute!"

She was clearly infuriated by Xiaobai.

This little guy used to look so cute, so why had he suddenly turned into a fool today?

"I actually think he's quite clever, and he speaks well. He's a bear of talent."

Xu Lanqing said with a chuckle, immediately deciding that this... brother, he was definitely going to befriend him!

Of course, he meant nothing else by it; he just felt that this bear had been clever since he was small and knew how to handle things, so he would surely accomplish great things in the future.

The Ice Emperor glared at Xu Lanqing, and seeing that he was no longer afraid of her, she said crossly: "You shut up!"

"I'm just speaking the truth."

Xu Lanqing shrugged, though he felt a bit puzzled: "Ice Emperor, is there a reason you brought them here?"

At these words, the Ice Emperor stopped her lecture, and Xiaobai, whose round face was written with pity and grievance, immediately shrank toward the ice-blue crystal, seeking comfort from his mother. Had he said something wrong?

It was fortunate that the Ice Empress hadn't heard him, or she likely would have emerged immediately to give her foolish son another rap on the head, teaming up with the Ice Emperor for a double-whammy.

How long had it been, and he was already finding her a father?

The Ice Emperor took a deep breath, glanced at Xiaobai and the Titan Snow Demon King, and said slowly: "Xiaobai and I will follow you, and later, I'll have the Titan see you out."

"What about the Far North? Are you just going to leave it behind?"

"My presence alone is enough," the Titan Snow Demon King said in a low voice.

"Alright then, that's an internal matter for you all to decide."

Xu Lanqing replied; after all, they weren't very familiar yet, so it wasn't his place to interfere.

He pondered for a moment, and by combining this with the memories of his past life, he understood the reason.

The relationship between the Titan Snow Demon King and Xiaobai was already poor. Despite Xiaobai's blockheaded appearance, he was a Great Beast, and his strength was on par with the Titan Snow Demon Ape.

Because the Ice Empress was the absolute ruler of the Far North, they naturally lived in peace while she was present.

But now that the Ice Empress was gone, and if the Ice Emperor left as well, these two would never submit to one another and would certainly come to blows.

By then, forget about governing the Far North; it would be a miracle if they didn't turn the place into a complete mess.

The Ice Emperor, who knew them both extremely well, must have anticipated this situation, which was why she made such arrangements.

As for why it was Xiaobai who was leaving—looking at him now, with such "cleverness," wouldn't staying in the Far North be a waste of his talents? Only by following him, Xu Lanqing, would he have the chance to show off his bear-like brilliance.

Xu Lanqing asked: "Ice Emperor, are we leaving now? What about your affairs?"

The Ice Emperor nodded; all she needed to do was return to her clan to settle some matters regarding her departure and bring Xiaobai along.

Thinking of this, she glared at Xiaobai again, her lingering anger not yet dissipated.

Xiaobai was bewildered. I didn't say anything, why are you glaring at me?

However, since she addressed the Ice Empress as a sister, she was his aunt, and he dared not talk back, so he could only endure it in silence.

"Alright then, stand together."

Once Xu Lanqing finished speaking, his eyes turned a faint gray, and a bone-chilling, eerie aura began to emanate from his body.

When this aura, filled with deathly stillness, appeared, the Titan Snow Demon King raised an eyebrow. It was somewhat similar to the Evil Soul Masters he had encountered before, but after sensing it carefully, he found it to be different.

Xu Lanqing began to provide them with some background knowledge:

"However, you must be mentally prepared. My teacher created many demi-planes, and this one left to me is said to be the most complete.

It is filled with the undead creatures my teacher left behind. After thousands of years of breeding and multiplying, even my teacher doesn't know exactly how many there are or how powerful they have become.

Furthermore, that world is extremely gloomy. It is not entirely safe."

Xiaobai slapped his chest vigorously, causing his muscles to ripple in a spectacular fashion, and said firmly:

"Don't worry, I will definitely protect Mother and never leave her side. I won't let anything get within a step of her!"

The Ice Emperor didn't speak, but the pride in her eyes and brow said it all.

Xu Lanqing continued his explanation:

"According to my teacher, it cannot truly be considered a world, because there is only land there; in reality, there is no sky.

Our world is a planet with a complete biological chain; as long as we can advance into the sky, we can enter an endless world.

But that demi-plane is far inferior to our world.

There are only undead creatures there, and it has boundaries—the boundaries are darkness and nothingness.

Any creature from this world that arrives there will be swallowed by the darkness and nothingness. So you must be careful.

Alright, I am going to begin."

After speaking, Xu Lanqing extended his right index finger and quickly traced in the air. A strange gray hexagram quietly appeared, and as it shone with light, it drifted down to the ground.

Ice Emperor looked around the Ice Crystal Palace, her eyes filled with melancholy and reluctance. Having stayed here for so many years, this was the first time she was leaving, and she had no idea when she would return.

However, when her gaze fell upon the crystal that Ice Empress had transformed into, the coldness in her eyes turned into tenderness. As long as she was with Ice Empress, she did not care where they were going.

Finally, she turned her head to look at Xu Lanqing and spoke slowly, "I hope you will not disappoint us."

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

"Words are useless; you will naturally understand in the future."

As soon as the words fell, a gray light suddenly surged, swallowing the bodies of Ice Emperor and the others. Immediately after, they vanished into thin air.

Xu Lanqing's face turned pale; that last move had nearly drained his soul power, so he quickly sat cross-legged on the ground to meditate and recover.

On the other side, Titan Snow Demon King narrowed his eyes, his immense spiritual power instantly covering every corner of the Ice Valley, as if trying to find the figures of Ice Emperor and the others.

But this was naturally in vain. He even extended his spiritual power outward to its limit, yet he gained nothing at all.

Although he had been mentally prepared, he was still shocked; there really was a self-created plane.

This was a world with dim light, where a strange sun hung in the sky. The sun was entirely black, radiating a mysterious purple light from its surroundings.

That's right, it was purple light. This purple light was not intense, which was why the light in this demi-plane was somewhat gloomy.

The terrain here was undulating, and as far as the eye could see, it was barren, with no plants in existence. The ground was made of soil as black as if stained with ink. A chilling aura surged in from all directions.

Ahead lay a stretch of hills, and beyond that, nothing could be seen.

Ice Emperor frowned; this plane made her feel very uncomfortable.

In particular, the ice elements in the air were pitifully scarce compared to the Far North, and some elements were even completely absent, such as the light element.

This meant that if a battle were to occur, she could only rely on her own strength and could not borrow the power of heaven and earth; even recovering soul power would become extremely slow.

Originally, she had wanted to walk around and take a look, but remembering what Xu Lanqing had said, and considering the safety of Ice Empress and the environment here, she suppressed her curiosity.

Although she was extremely confident in her own strength and had Xiaobai by her side, it was better to be safe than sorry; it was best to be cautious.