A Rat in the Granary

Far North Core Region.

Ice and Snow Mountain Range.

Bitterly cold wind and snow shrouded the entire mountain range, forming a barrier that isolated it from the outside world.

Although the winds and snow here had never ceased in the past, this storm was exceptionally frigid.

Some soul beasts that had already been barely surviving were frozen to death in the storm.

Some soul beasts could not endure it and tried to flee the mountain range.

Yet they discovered that the closer they got to the outer edges of the range, the colder it became. By the time they wanted to turn back, they no longer had the strength, and could only die in despair at the mountain range's edge.

The soul beasts that remained in the mountains barely managed to survive.

Because a layer of ice and snow barrier now enveloped the outside of the mountain range!

It had been jointly cast by Snow Empress and Ice Empress, two of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North.

A barrier imbued with the Ultimate Ice and snow power of the Ice and Snow Two Emperors could not be breached by even a two-hundred-thousand-year Ferocious Beast without their permission.

Snow Empress and Ice Empress, who had caused all this, were currently standing atop the highest peak in the mountain range, looking down over the entire range.

Within their sight, Ice Jade Scorpions and ice bears were scattered throughout the mountains, searching for something.

In the bitterly cold environment, only Ice Jade Scorpions, which possessed the Ultimate Ice attribute, and highly cold-resistant ice bears could move freely through this freezing blizzard.

They were searching for the little thief who had stolen Snow Empress's treasure!

The search party even included an Ice Bear King more than two hundred thousand years old.

The Ice Bear King was naturally Xiao Bai, Snow Empress's adopted son. He was searching the hardest of all, and had even dug through quite a few ice mountains in search of clues.

The soul beasts living in the mountain range, including Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, dared not voice their anger.

They could only hide in their homes.

However, Snow Empress and Ice Empress did not care about the thoughts of the soul beasts living in the mountains.

Ice Empress waved her pair of foreclaws, her scorpion tail raised high, and spoke with murderous intent. "That damned little thief! How dare he steal Xue Er's treasure? Once I catch that little thief, I'll freeze him into icy crumbs!"

After venting her anger, Ice Empress hesitated for a moment before voicing her suspicion. "Xue Er, do you think the one who stole your things could have been a human?"

Then Ice Empress explained her reasoning.

"Think about it. First, a human powerhouse caused turmoil in the Far North and fought A Tai. Then your treasure went missing. How could that be such a coincidence?"

"Could this be a human conspiracy? Were there human powerhouses who infiltrated the Core Region at the time?"

After considering it briefly, Snow Empress gave her answer. "It's possible, but unlikely."

As she spoke, Huo Yuhao's figure could not help appearing in Snow Empress's mind.

Because Huo Yuhao was the human they had encountered at the time. He had displayed spatial abilities and even escaped right before their eyes.

But Snow Empress quickly ruled out Huo Yuhao as a suspect.

Even if Huo Yuhao had Sky Dream Ice Silkworm with him, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was merely a useless waste, and had already been sacrificed.

The wind and snow barrier she had originally left behind alone was not something Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and Huo Yuhao could break through.

Well, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had not used his Molted Skin. Snow Empress and Ice Empress simply could not imagine that Huo Yuhao possessed such a precious treasure!

Snow Empress believed that even if Huo Yuhao had spatial abilities, it was impossible for him to teleport deep into the Core Region.

After all, they did not know of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus.

Naturally, one would flee outward.

And Snow Empress's thinking at that moment was very simple and direct.

That was—whoever knew of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus was the most suspicious!

Thus, Snow Empress was more suspicious of soul beasts.

Because Snow Empress was certain that she had not revealed the matter of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus to any other soul beast. Even Ice Empress had not known about it before.

The original owner of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus had already been killed by her.

Therefore, the only ones who could know of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus were soul beasts that had coveted it before she discovered it, but had failed to seize it.

Otherwise, even if a soul beast had accidentally entered the ice mountain where the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus grew, it would have been frightened away by her aura on the wind and snow barrier.

Only if it knew that there was treasure within the wind and snow barrier would it risk offending her, press on despite the danger, and take a gamble.

And if another soul beast had obtained the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus, its first choice would certainly be to find a place to hide and then absorb it.

But the moment she sensed that something had happened to the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus, she immediately returned to the mountain range.

Then she joined forces with Ice Empress to trap the entire mountain range.

In other words, the thief had no time to leave the mountains and was likely hiding somewhere within them now.

Because even if the other party possessed the ability to break through her wind and snow barrier, it absolutely could not break through the ice and snow barrier cast jointly by her and Ice Empress.

There was no existence in the Far North capable of opposing the two of them working together.

However, one thing was certain: the thief must possess special abilities and be exceptionally skilled at hiding.

It was indeed possible that the other party had already left the mountain range.

But Snow Empress still had to keep searching.

Because it was her hope of survival. Even if there was only the slightest possibility, she could not give up!

Right now, Snow Empress was gambling—gambling that the thief who had stolen the item had not escaped the mountain range.

If the thief had already fled beyond the mountain range, then finding the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus again would be a distant hope.

As if sensing Snow Empress's terrible mood, Ice Empress changed the subject. "Xue Er, I heard A Tai is planning to stir up a Beast Tide and attack the human empire. Should we stop him?"

Snow Empress's thoughts were pulled back. After pondering for a moment, she spoke, "Human experts previously invaded the Far North Core Region and even tried to attack A Tai. Afterward, they slaughtered a large number of soul beasts in the Far North. If we do nothing, we will have no way to answer to those soul beasts slaughtered by the human experts."

Snow Empress narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Let A Tai do it. Give the human empire a lesson, and let humanity know that the Far North is not to be provoked!"

In Snow Empress's heart, the loss of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus was also somewhat related to Xuan Zi.

If not for the trouble Xuan Zi had caused, she would not have left the vicinity of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus so easily, allowing it to be stolen.

Therefore, Snow Empress did not mind taking revenge on humanity.

Ten days later.

Shrek City.

Shrek City was as bustling and noisy as ever.

Huo Yuhao entered Shrek City through its gates with Bei Bei on his back.

Shrek, your emperor has returned... cough, cough.

Gazing at the flourishing city before him, Huo Yuhao's eyes flickered slightly.

"As expected of Shrek. Although this isn't my first time seeing it, its fortune is still shocking even now. The fortune of one city surpasses that of the Star Dou Great Forest!" Huo Yuhao marveled inwardly.

Shrek's fortune did not consist solely of its own fortune. It also gathered the fortune of the Original Douluo Continent Three Kingdoms, as well as... the fortune bestowed by the Divine Realm.

Gods could not interfere in the affairs of the continent?

What a joke.

The Divine Realm's descent of fortune meant that Shrek had always been under the control of a certain God King.

It also meant that Shrek, the Original Douluo Continent Three Kingdoms, and a certain God King of the Divine Realm were inextricably linked.

Bei Bei did not know what Huo Yuhao was thinking. Upon seeing Shrek City, he climbed down from Huo Yuhao's back.

The two had traveled day and night on foot and had finally returned to Shrek City. Fortunately, they had not encountered any accidents along the way.

It was just that Bei Bei's body was too weak, so Huo Yuhao had carried him for the latter half of the journey.

This increased Bei Bei's favorability toward Huo Yuhao considerably, and he also gifted Huo Yuhao quite a bit of fortune in the process.

"Little Brother Huo, come back to Shrek Academy with me. I guarantee that I'll get you enrolled in Shrek Academy, and Shrek Academy will definitely spare no effort in nurturing you!" Bei Bei said to Huo Yuhao with a smile.

"Really? That's wonderful!" Huo Yuhao put on an extremely excited expression.

Shrek's nurturing? Huo Yuhao did not need it.

But Shrek's fortune? Huo Yuhao coveted it greatly!

"Brother Sky Dream, do you know what this is called?" Huo Yuhao communicated with Sky Dream Ice Silkworm through his mind.

"What?" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm asked in confusion.

"This is called a mouse entering a granary!"

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm: "..."