The Far North.
A vast expanse of frost-white stretched across the heavens.
The biting cold wind scraped painfully against people's faces.
Because of its brutally harsh weather, humans also called this place a forbidden zone of life.
And yet.
A small figure appeared out of nowhere on this flat, endless field of ice, staggering as he walked.
The child looked no more than eight years old, his face pale as paper.
His little hand clutched a short sword of poor quality.
Yu Shuangbai.
A non-direct-line disciple of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
His father had been an ordinary third-generation disciple of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. He and Yu Shuangbai's mother had died by accident amid a struggle within the clan.
On the day of his Martial Soul Awakening,
Yu Shuangbai had not awakened the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's inherited Martial Soul, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
Instead, it had mutated.
He had awakened a strange, ice-type lizard-like Martial Soul.
His Innate Soul Power was a mere rank three.
The Soul Master World was one where strength reigned supreme.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was a sect that took this principle to the extreme.
The results of Yu Shuangbai's Martial Soul Awakening had left him—already without anyone to rely on—sinking to the lowest rung of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
The few resources he had received were stripped away completely.
Many in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan even believed he had besmirched the clan's reputation and looked down on him.
Even though he had spent nearly two years working hard, he had managed to force his Innate Soul Power from rank three all the way to rank ten.
Yet because of his standing in the clan, he couldn't even get the elders to help him hunt his First Soul Ring.
As for paying mercenaries to help him hunt a Soul Ring—
That was even more out of reach for a low-ranking disciple like Yu Shuangbai, who could barely cover his basic daily expenses and had no parents to rely on.
That was the difference a background made.
Yu Xiaogang's Martial Soul Awakening had gone even worse than his, with an Innate Soul Power of barely half a rank. But because his father was the clan leader,
he could not only enjoy the family's most abundant resources, but also had no need to worry about his Soul Rings.
Back then, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had spent who knew how many resources trying to help him break through to rank thirty, all to no avail.
After pouring in so many resources, he was still just a farting pig.
The only difference was that he now had two yellow rings around him.
But Yu Shuangbai could only light one final stick of incense for his parents, then drag his frail eight-year-old body into the Far North to hunt his First Soul Ring.
The clan, his kin...
What a joke, this so-called bond of blood.
In the end, it all came down to self-interest.
Was this the end?
Feeling his vision slowly blur, he could sense his consciousness beginning to fade.
His eyelids drooped despite his efforts to keep them open.
Yu Shuangbai thought this to himself.
He was unwilling to accept it.
As a transmigrator, he hadn't even begun to uncover the future, and he was about to die before he'd even had the chance to become a true Soul Master.
But in the end, his consciousness couldn't overcome the weakness of his body.
"Thud!"
Yu Shuangbai's vision went black, and his body hit the ice with a thump.
His small body lay on the boundless, snow-white ice field.
Then, a strange change took place.
A faint blue light suddenly shimmered over Yu Shuangbai, who lay unconscious on the flat ice.
Beneath the endless ice, glimmering blue light surged toward him like veins, seeping into his body.
The wind and snow howled, and snowflakes swirled around him, wrapping his body like a silkworm cocoon.
At this time of year, the Far North was in the midst of its days-long polar day.
The sky barely changed.
No one knew how much time passed.
"Hm?"
A soft, puzzled murmur rang out.
A snow-white jade foot stepped lightly onto the cold ice.
Below the long, slender, pale legs fell the wide sleeves of a flowing white fairy dress.
The woman's features were exquisite, as if she were the heavens' proudest creation.
Every gesture carried the majesty of a monarch.
The wind and snow around her seemed to bow in worship at her arrival.
The one who had come was none other than the being born of heaven and earth's spiritual grace, the strongest in the Far North—
the Heavenly Snow Woman, Snow Empress!
Snow Empress turned her gaze toward the "cocoon" of wind and snow not far ahead.
"A strange aura."
"This pure ice power is no weaker than mine."
She examined the "cocoon" with interest, murmuring to herself.
As the Heavenly Snow Woman, Snow Empress had a far keener sense of ice elements than ordinary beings.
She had sensed the change in the ice elements nearby, and followed it here.
Snow Empress raised a hand.
A throne formed of snow and ice appeared behind her out of thin air.
She sat down, propped her cheek on one hand, and watched the "cocoon" with quiet interest.
After about the time it took to burn a stick of incense,
the "cocoon" formed of ice and snow finally began to change.
"Crack."
A few fractures appeared across its pure white shell.
Then the cracks spread outward like a spiderweb.
They extended across the entire shell.
When they reached a certain tipping point, the shell finally burst apart.
Only then did Snow Empress get a clear look at the culprit inside the "cocoon"—the one who had caused this change.
Yu Shuangbai's eyes were closed tight. His black hair had turned white, the same color as ice and snow.
A crescent-moon pattern, pale as moonlight, flickered faintly between his brows.
Two strange bumps, like dragon horns, had appeared atop his head.
His breathing was steady, and his aura was even stronger than it had been before he passed out.
His skin, once gaunt from malnutrition, was now as white as the snow found everywhere in the Far North.
His whole body was as delicate as a perfect porcelain doll.
"A human child?!"
Snow Empress's normally unruffled voice changed in a rare display of emotion.
Her pitch rose a little despite herself.
She had thought this strange change would herald the birth of some heavenly treasure.
She had never expected it to be caused by a human child.
How could this be?
Snow Empress's first reaction was disbelief.
How could such a shocking ice attribute, one that even left her amazed, appear in a human child?
After all, she was the Heavenly Snow Woman.
In terms of ice attributes, she was even above the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion.
And besides...
She had even sensed...
Dragon might on this human child?
Interesting.
A ripple appeared in Snow Empress's beautiful, placid eyes, as if she had found an amusing new toy.
"Since the heavens brought you before me here, we must have been fated to meet."
"Then come with me."
"If you don't say anything, I'll take that as a yes."
Unconscious Yu Shuangbai: ...
Snow Empress walked forward and gently lifted Yu Shuangbai from the ice.
The moment she held him, the ice aura from the little fellow made Snow Empress pause.
A look of pleasure appeared on her stunning, pale face.
She even felt the flow of her own power grow smoother.
She made up her mind.
She would take the strange little fellow back and keep him as a lucky charm.
Perhaps with him, she could reach even greater heights and have a better chance of withstanding the next heavenly tribulation.
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