Ice Emperor Guards the Path, Xue Tianyu Exits the Far North!

Xue Tianyu pondered this for a moment upon hearing her request.

"That works for me."

"With Bing'er by my side, she can handle the trivial matters I'd rather not deal with myself."

Seeing Xue Tianyu agree so readily, the hesitation in Ice Emperor's heart vanished in an instant.

"Good, it's a deal!"

"Now that I think about it, going out to see the colorful world of humans with Tianyu actually sounds like a rather pleasant experience."

With the parting at hand, Snow Emperor could no longer suppress the surging emotions within her.

She suddenly threw her arms open, casting aside all reserve, and pulled Xue Tianyu tightly into her embrace.

She pressed herself directly against his face.

The unique, ethereal scent of ice and snow clinging to Snow Emperor filled Xue Tianyu's nose and mouth, making it difficult for him to even breathe.

After holding him for a long while, Snow Emperor finally let go with great reluctance.

She stood slightly on her tiptoes and planted an incredibly soft, warm kiss upon his smooth forehead.

The tender sensation on his brow sent strong ripples through Xue Tianyu's heart, and his gaze grew increasingly profound.

"Tianyu, you must stay safe out there. If you encounter an enemy you cannot defeat, never try to force your way through."

A crystalline tear hung from the corner of Snow Emperor's eye as she whispered her instructions, just like an ordinary woman seeing off a traveler on a long journey.

Xue Tianyu nodded heavily, looking at her with an incredibly resolute gaze.

"Rest assured. When I become strong enough to ignore all the rules of this world, I will certainly return to take you away from here."

"When that time comes, we will be together forever and never be separated again."

Hearing this sonorous promise, the gloom on Snow Emperor's face was swept away, and she instantly bloomed with a smile a thousand times more enchanting than the snowstorms of the Far North.

"It's a promise!"

"Let's pinky swear!"

Like an innocent little girl, Snow Emperor extended her fair, translucent little finger.

Xue Tianyu smiled slightly and extended his own hand, hooking his finger tightly around her soft one to seal the pact between them.

Time slipped away bit by bit, and the group from Skywater Academy had been waiting in the snow for a long time.

The sky over the Far North gradually darkened, and the ambient temperature plummeted once more, causing the hot air from their breath to freeze into ice crystals instantly.

The shrill, biting wind scraped against their faces like knives, causing stinging pain.

Shui Lanxin paced back and forth, her brows locked tightly together.

"It's almost pitch black. The nights in the Far North are terrifying; why hasn't that child returned yet?"

"Could something have gone wrong on the way?"

Shui Bing'er crossed her arms, struggling to maintain her composure as she spoke to reassure the others.

"Teacher, you are overthinking it."

"He possesses five ten-thousand-year spirit rings at such a young age; his strength is not something an ordinary person can compare to."

"Someone who can establish a foothold in the Far North treats this place like their own backyard; how could he possibly be in danger?"

But the students behind her were clearly not as optimistic as Shui Bing'er; several huddled together, shivering, their teeth chattering incessantly.

"But it's been too long, hasn't it?"

"What if he really went back on his word and left us in this wilderness? If we run into high-level spirit beasts, this group of wounded soldiers is finished."

Shui Bing'er turned around, staring directly at her wavering classmates with a resolute tone.

"He is absolutely not that kind of person!"

"We will wait a little longer; he will definitely come!"

Just as the words left her lips.

ROAR!!

A deafening, violent bestial roar suddenly exploded from the ice valley behind them.

The massive sound wave swept out like a physical force, shaking the snow off the surrounding ice mountains and triggering a small avalanche.

Immediately afterward, the ground began to tremble violently, as if something incredibly heavy and massive were approaching rapidly.

The group turned in horror, staring fixedly in the direction of the sound.

A White Giant Bear over ten meters tall lunged out from the wind and snow.

The giant bear was covered in fur as hard as ice picks, its eyes a bloodthirsty, scarlet red, radiating a suffocating, ferocious aura.

The moment Shui Lanxin saw what was coming, her face turned as pale as paper, and her voice shifted in pitch due to extreme terror.

"Oh no!"

"It's a ten-thousand-year-level Frost Giant Bear!"

"Everyone, retreat! This beast is extremely dangerous; do not let it lock onto you!"

Hearing the name of a ten-thousand-year spirit beast, the students were instantly terrified out of their wits, erupting into a series of screams.

They were already exhausted of spirit power and bore wounds from the previous battle; now, facing such a ferocious giant beast, they didn't even have the strength to lift their legs and run.

Several girls had their legs go weak from fright, collapsing onto the snowy ground and crying out in utter despair.

The Frost Giant Bear locked its gaze onto this group of weak humans and let out another roar.

It swung its massive, mountain-like bear paw, carrying a whistling gale, and slammed it down mercilessly toward the group's position.

The gap in strength was simply too vast; even Shui Lanxin, a Spirit King, was pinned in place by the terrifying pressure of the ten-thousand-year spirit beast, her entire body stiff and unable to move.

Seeing that sky-obscuring giant paw about to descend, Shui Bing'er bit the tip of her tongue hard, using the piercing pain to buy a sliver of clarity.

She disregarded everything, squeezing out the very last trace of spirit power remaining in her body.

"First Spirit Skill, Ice Ring Armor!"

A crystalline, translucent suit of ice armor instantly formed above the group, emitting a pale blue light as it attempted to block the lethal blow.

However, how terrifying was the enraged strike of a ten-thousand-year Frost Giant Bear?

Crack!

The moment the bear paw struck the Ice Ring Armor, that seemingly sturdy defense was like thin paper; it couldn't even hold for a single second before shattering into countless tiny ice shards.

Just then.

That fierce and peerless Frost Giant Bear suddenly halted its attack, its massive paw suspended in mid-air.

A flash of extremely human-like fear crossed its scarlet eyes, and the ice-spike fur all over its body stood on end.

It was as if it had sensed some incredibly terrifying, primordial predator.

The giant bear didn't even dare to look at the group again; its massive body twisted in an incredibly awkward turn.

It scrambled to change direction, let out a terrified whimper, and fled frantically into the distant snowstorm as if it had seen a ghost, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

This sudden turn of events left the students of Skywater Academy, who had closed their eyes to await death, completely stunned.

Shui Bing'er opened her eyes cautiously, staring blankly in the direction the bear had fled, her face full of confusion.

"This... what is going on?"

"It was just about to succeed; why did it suddenly run away?"

Just then, the howling blizzard suddenly grew calm.

A familiar, slender figure walked into the group's line of sight, moving with a calm and unhurried pace from the opposite direction of the bear's escape.