Snow Empress treated Yu Shuangbai very well.
At first, she had kept him by her side simply because she wanted a cultivation accelerator.
But she had never deliberately hindered his own cultivation.
As time went by, she even began providing him with rare treasures from the Far North to help him cultivate.
Ice Empress would also occasionally come teach him techniques for controlling ice elements.
Although Yu Shuangbai possessed the Ice Dragon King Martial Soul,
his mastery of ice elements was still far behind that of the Ice and Snow Emperors, the two rulers of ice and snow.
The two of them were more than qualified to be Yu Shuangbai's teachers.
In fact, they were more qualified than anyone else in the Soul Master World today.
Yu Shuangbai also gained a great deal from the two ice-and-snow rulers' guidance.
One was a Super Douluo, and the other a Limit Douluo.
To have two teachers of such stature personally instructing him at the same time—
across the entire continent, perhaps only Qian Renxue of Spirit Hall received such treatment.
As the three of them spent more time together,
their relationship grew ever closer.
Snow Empress no longer treated Yu Shuangbai as a tool for cultivation.
Instead, she saw him as one of her own.
She had gone from calling him "little guy" to calling him "Xiao Shuangbai."
Though Ice Empress was haughty and stubborn, her attitude had also changed markedly from the beginning.
From then on, there was one more human in the core region of the Far North, a place known as a forbidden zone for mankind.
"That's enough cultivation for today."
"Xiao Shuangbai, come let big sister take a sniff."
Snow Empress's face was cool and composed, yet she hugged him and sniffed him like a cat going crazy for catnip. Twelve-year-old Yu Shuangbai couldn't help feeling a little helpless.
Five years had passed.
The child Yu Shuangbai had grown into a graceful young man.
He was still a little green,
but thanks to Soul Masters' early maturity, he was already as tall as Snow Empress.
Being held in her arms like a toy looked rather incongruous.
Feeling her soft body against his, Yu Shuangbai's heart remained calm.
He had grown used to this degree of physical contact.
Snow Empress had first kept him close as a cultivation tool, but later came to regard him as family.
Their physical contact hadn't decreased; if anything, it had become more frequent.
Yu Shuangbai had grown accustomed to it.
"Sister Xue'er."
"Hmm?"
Snow Empress's little face was buried in Yu Shuangbai's hair as she answered softly.
Her pure white eyes narrowed slightly as she savored his scent.
But Yu Shuangbai's next words made her eyes fly open.
"I want to leave the Far North for a while."
"Hmm?"
Snow Empress's voice rose a little, laced with danger.
"Why?"
She looked at Yu Shuangbai, her voice taking on an urgency she herself hadn't noticed.
Five years together
had made the Ice and Snow Empress accustomed to Yu Shuangbai's presence.
Now that he had suddenly asked to leave the Far North, Snow Empress's heart tightened, and her gaze grew dangerous.
A few extreme ideas had already begun to take shape in her mind.
Power slowly surged through her body.
"I want to become stronger."
"Stronger?" Snow Empress murmured.
"Xiao Shuangbai, can't you become stronger here in the Far North?"
"Isn't the guidance Bing'er and I give you enough?"
"You're only twelve, yet you've already become a Soul Elder. Among human Soul Masters, you're unquestionably among the very best."
"Isn't that enough?"
The danger in Snow Empress's eyes deepened.
She thought Yu Shuangbai was deliberately using this as an excuse to leave her.
The child had grown up, had ideas of his own, and no longer listened to her...
"It isn't enough."
Yu Shuangbai shook his head.
"Sister Xue'er, I want to stay by your side and Bing'er's forever."
Snow Empress froze, then fell silent.
She suddenly realized how different the two of them were.
Yu Shuangbai was human.
Even if he reached the Limit Douluo realm, he would only have a few hundred years to live.
But she and Ice Empress were Soul Beasts.
Even if they couldn't survive their next heavenly tribulation,
they still had at least ten thousand years to live.
A few hundred years might not be a short time to humans.
But to her, a Soul Beast with seven hundred thousand years of cultivation, it was no more than the blink of an eye.
Thinking that a hundred years from now Yu Shuangbai might become a handful of dust, separated from her forever, made Snow Empress's heart ache as if pierced.
No. Absolutely not!
Snow Empress lowered her eyes, dark crimson light flickering in their depths.
Then Yu Shuangbai's voice rang in her ears again.
"There are many opportunities in the human world that could help me go further."
"I want to seek out that legendary realm."
"Only by becoming a god can I take you and Bing'er to ascend to the Divine Realm and enjoy eternal life!"
As Yu Shuangbai spoke, his voice took on a fervent, almost obsessive edge.
Yu Shuangbai had seen how Snow Empress and Ice Empress had cared for him over the past five years.
Ever since his parents passed away, he had been shunned in his clan and had never known anyone's care. The kindness of the two ice-and-snow emperors had deeply moved him.
He had come to regard them as his only two family members.
They meant far more to him than those in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan who shared his blood but had no familial affection for him.
He wouldn't let any heavenly tribulation threaten them.
That was why he had to become a god!
Only then could he give the two Ice and Snow Emperors eternal life!
The Far North was certainly peaceful.
And the two Ice and Snow Emperors' guidance was beyond reproach.
But even so, Yu Shuangbai still had little confidence that he could become a god.
So he had to increase his odds, gather more chances to reach the divine realm.
Those chances weren't in the Far North, but in the human world.
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, for instance.
There were two great opportunities there.
First, Immortal Herbs powerful enough to remake a person from head to toe.
Second, the reason the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well had formed in the first place.
Beneath the icy and fiery springs lay the souls of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings!
The Ice Dragon King's soul shared the same origin as Yu Shuangbai's Ice Dragon King Martial Soul!
He had a premonition.
The Ice Dragon King's soul would surely bring him an unimaginable leap forward!
And to guard against the possibility that he might fail to become a god on his own, he also needed to prepare for the other path: inheriting a god's position.
The Sea God Inheritance on Sea God Island and the Asura God Inheritance in Slaughter City were both possibilities he could pursue.
These were the reasons he wanted to leave the Far North and enter the human world!
As Snow Empress listened to Yu Shuangbai, her arms tightened around him.
A moment later, she spoke in a muffled voice:
"I understand."
"I'll let you leave the Far North, but..."
"I'm coming with you."
Snow Empress stated her condition.
"Of course, Sister Xue'er."
Yu Shuangbai agreed without hesitation.
He had no reason to refuse.
He only wanted to leave the Far North and enter the human world to seek opportunities; he wasn't trying to escape Snow Empress.
Besides, with a Limit Douluo as powerful as Snow Empress by his side, his safety would be greatly assured.
At that, the wistfulness vanished from Snow Empress's face, replaced by a radiant smile.
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