Growing Up!

As Xue Tianyu slept, his brows knit slightly, as if deeply displeased by the sudden disturbance.

He didn't even open his eyes. He simply swung his short, chubby little arm.

Smack!

With obvious distaste, he slapped Ice Empress's finger away, then rolled over, turning his back to the two women as he continued to sleep.

The dismissive, faintly haughty gesture didn't anger Ice Empress at all. Instead, it left both women staring in stunned silence.

"Oh my god, the way he looks at me with disgust is just too cute!"

Ice Empress cupped her slightly flushed cheeks in both hands, stifling an excited cheer.

Snow Empress's eyes shone, too. Unable to resist, she reached out her jade-white hand and gently stroked the back of Xue Tianyu's head.

This little darling was an irresistibly adorable bundle of mischief.

Just as the two women were busy gazing at his back...

Grrr...

A loud protest from his stomach rang out abruptly through the quiet sleeping chamber.

Xue Tianyu's brows furrowed again. Slowly, he opened his big eyes, clear as an icy spring.

A baby's body burned through energy quickly. Now, hunger swept through him like a rising tide.

He kicked his little legs and turned to look at the two women before him.

"I'm hungry."

His clear, childish voice emerged from his mouth. He tried his best to sound mature, but he still spoke in a soft, babyish lilt.

Snow Empress immediately straightened up, a flicker of confusion and panic crossing her exquisitely beautiful face.

"Hungry?"

"What should we do? There are so many heavenly treasures in the Far North, but he's in a human baby's body now. Can he even digest them?"

Snow Empress was usually high above everyone else and had never looked after a child. Now, she was completely at a loss.

Ice Empress thought for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Big Sister, I heard that those weak humans all need to be nursed when they're babies."

At that, Snow Empress froze.

"Nursed?"

"Where would we find something like that?"

Ice Empress didn't answer. She simply turned her head and stared intently at Snow Empress's ample, upright chest.

She even gave it a meaningful once-over.

At Ice Empress's frank, heavily suggestive gaze, Snow Empress didn't understand at first.

A full two seconds passed.

Then, with a whoosh, Snow Empress's peerlessly beautiful face turned scarlet, the blush spreading all the way to her crystalline earlobes.

She hastily crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Ice Empress in embarrassment and anger.

"Bing'er, what are you staring at?"

"This sort of thing... How could I possibly do that!"

She was the mighty ruler of the Far North, the Heavenly Snow Woman.

If word of this got out, how could she ever show her face in the Far North again?

But...

Snow Empress couldn't help glancing at Xue Tianyu, lying naked on the bed.

Thinking of how this little darling was actually that unfathomably profound, immeasurably powerful Ice Phoenix senior...

Snow Empress's heartbeat suddenly quickened.

If it was for Senior, perhaps it wasn't entirely out of the question.

But how could an unmarried young woman like her bring herself to say something like that aloud?

It was simply too embarrassing.

Just as Snow Empress wrestled with herself, overwhelmed by shyness...

Xue Tianyu, lying on the bed, couldn't bear to watch any longer.

He rolled his eyes, his little chest puffing up and down with anger.

"What on earth are you two thinking about?"

Ice Empress was impatient by nature. Seeing that Snow Empress still hadn't said a word, she simply stepped forward.

"If Big Sister doesn't want to, then how about I do it!"

As she spoke, Ice Empress really did raise a little hand and grab the front of her clothes.

She looked utterly resolute, as if preparing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Xue Tianyu was completely speechless. He raised a hand and smacked it hard against the bed.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

"Don't go making a fuss."

"Just go get some beast milk from the ice plains!"

Ice Empress froze mid-undressing, both hands suspended in the air, her big eyes full of surprise.

"Huh?"

"So beast milk is all he needs?"

She'd thought the two of them had to do it themselves.

Hearing that, Snow Empress secretly let out a huge sigh of relief.

Her tense body relaxed as well.

Yet, for some reason, when she learned she wouldn't have to nurse him herself, a faint sense of disappointment quietly arose deep in her heart.

It felt like she had just missed out on some incredibly precious opportunity.

That subtle change in her emotions happened to catch Ice Empress's eye.

Ice Empress blinked, then leaned closer to Snow Empress, puzzled.

"Big Sister."

"Why do I get the feeling you're a little disappointed?"

With her thoughts exposed in an instant, Snow Empress reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

The blush on her face flared up again, and she hurriedly waved her hands, denying it outright.

"I'm not!"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Impossible!"

The three denials tumbled out one after another.

To hide her inner panic, Snow Empress scooped Xue Tianyu up from the bed and plopped him straight into Ice Empress's arms.

"Keep an eye on him for now."

"I'll go catch a milk-producing Soul Beast on the outskirts of the Far North."

Before she had even finished speaking, Snow Empress couldn't bear to look at either of them again. She turned into a streak of dazzling white light and fled the sleeping chamber.

That left Ice Empress standing there, holding Xue Tianyu and utterly bewildered.

"Big Sister's acting so strange today."

Ice Empress muttered, then looked down at the little one in her arms.

Xue Tianyu had been forced into Ice Empress's embrace and given a new place to sleep.

He wriggled unhappily, trying to find a comfortable position.

He rubbed his head against Ice Empress, then pouted.

"It's definitely not as good as Snow Empress's."

"It's okay, I guess."

He gave his honest assessment.

Those two casual remarks struck Ice Empress like a bolt from the blue.

Her pretty little face instantly flushed bright red, and her emerald eyes filled with indignation.

She looked down at herself, then thought of Snow Empress's figure, which outshone all others.

A fierce desire to win surged through her.

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

"I'm plenty big too, you know!"

Ice Empress protested furiously, her little chest heaving.

Xue Tianyu couldn't even be bothered to raise an eyelid. He merely gave her an utterly disdainful look.

"Don't bother trying."

"My eyes are the measuring stick."

A quick measure would settle whether she was or not.

"You!"

Ice Empress was so angry her teeth ached. She raised her hand, ready to smack the ignorant little brat's bottom a couple of times.

But when she saw Xue Tianyu's delicately sculpted face and sleepy expression...

All the strength drained from her raised hand.

She simply couldn't bring herself to do it.

Ice Empress was thoroughly frustrated, her pretty little face scrunching up like a steamed bun.

She gritted her teeth as she watched Xue Tianyu close his eyes.

"Weren't you just complaining that I was flat?"

"And yet you fell asleep right away. All talk, you little hypocrite. Hmph!"

Ice Empress grumbled, but her arms honestly tightened a little, helping Xue Tianyu sleep more soundly.