So Rude

There was no helping it. Looks were justice.

[Exchange successful. 50000 Subversion Points deducted. Host's current balance: 50000 Subversion Points]

A flash of light, and a jade box containing the Douluo Planet Companion Profound Ice Marrow Core, along with a resplendent, lavish garment box, landed steadily on Qian Xunji's bed.

Everything was ready. All that remained was the east wind.

Qian Xunji put everything into his storage ring and straightened his collar.

"System, switch to the Martial Soul's second form."

Bzz—

In an instant, twelve immaculate white wings, radiating dazzling, sacred light, unfurled behind Qian Xunji with a thunderous boom.

Above his head, a Divine Crown condensed from pure holy light floated silently, making him look like a compassionate savior god.

Beneath this Ultimate Light Disguise, who could have guessed that inside this skin, brimming with sacred aura, lurked a Fallen Angel with a belly full of schemes, commanding Original Sin and Devouring?

"Far North, here I come."

Qian Xunji walked onto the balcony of his bedchamber, bent his knees slightly, and gave the Twelve Wings of Light behind him a sharp beat.

With a sonic boom, a brilliant golden streak shot into the sky, tore through the clouds above Spirit City, and vanished into the distance.

The Far North was recognized across the Douluo Continent as a forbidden zone for humans.

The snow here didn't fall so much as it "pelted down." The blizzards, packed with razor-sharp ice shards, could easily tear through an ordinary Soul Master's defenses.

Several hundred li from the Extreme North Core Circle, Qian Xunji wisely folded away the flashy Twelve Wings of Light and landed on a sheltered ice crag.

"Brr—it's damn cold."

Even with the protection of his formidable level-ninety-three Soul Power, Qian Xunji couldn't help shivering.

He finally understood why Spirit Hall's influence had never reached this place.

In this godforsaken spot, even if they dumped every old fossil from the Elder Hall here, they wouldn't need Soul Beasts to take them out. The cold alone would give them all a bad case of frozen joints.

Qian Xunji reached up and touched the Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant against his chest. As it gave off a faint, warm glow, the immense blood-and-Soul-Power aura of a level-ninety-three Titled Douluo, along with the original aura of the Twelve-Winged Original Sin Fallen Angel, vanished beneath an absolute veil.

Now, walking through the snow, he was like a lifeless, transparent block of ice.

He stuck to the principle of "sneak into the village quietly; don't fire a shot."

But the ideal was plump, while reality was bony.

Three hours later.

Qian Xunji stood in the middle of a vast, snow-white ice field, not a living soul in sight. Looking at the endless, identical glaciers and snowdrifts around him, he finally began to doubt himself.

"Where the hell am I supposed to look?"

Qian Xunji helplessly rubbed his brow. The Far North was too vast, and Snow Empress's true form was the Heavenly Snow Woman, the purest ice-and-snow spirit in all creation.

As long as she stood among the snowdrifts, she had no breath or heartbeat. She was completely one with the land. Searching for her in this boundless sea of snow was even more absurd than looking for one specific grain of sand in the desert.

If he dared release his spiritual power and scan the area, it'd be like switching on a high-powered spotlight in the dead of night. The Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North would teach him a lesson in no time.

"Damn, I should've looked up this woman's address before coming."

Qian Xunji sighed. When in doubt, call for backup. No, call the system.

"System, give me a precise location. I want the coordinates of the Heavenly Snow Woman, Snow Empress."

[The host has requested activation of the 'God-Level Radar Positioning' function. Target: Snow Empress]

[This positioning will cost 1000 Subversion Points. Pay now?]

"Deduct, deduct, deduct. Hurry up." Qian Xunji rolled his eyes in exasperation.

[Payment successful. 1000 Subversion Points deducted. Host's remaining Subversion Points: 49000]

[Navigation route generated on the host's retina. Distance from the host's current location: 460 li northwest, Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Abyss.]

What a swindler...

Looking at the blue dotted line that had appeared out of nowhere in his field of vision, visible only to him, Qian Xunji's lips curled into a smile.

"Use technology early, enjoy it early."

Qian Xunji followed the route and set off again. With the pendant's absolute concealment, he shot through glacier crevices and blizzards like a white phantom.

Along the way, he even brushed past several ten-thousand-year Ice Bears. Not one of them noticed him.

Half an hour later.

Qian Xunji's steps abruptly stopped at the edge of an enormous ice abyss.

Miraculously, the blizzard had stopped here. Below lay a bottomless glacial gorge, radiating an eerie, Ultimate Ice chill.

At the very center of the abyss floated a massive Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Platform.

Standing on it with her back to him was a solitary, aloof, cold, almost illusory, breathtakingly beautiful figure.

She wore no shoes or socks. Her jade feet, as exquisite as finely carved white jade, rested lightly on the ice. Her snow-white hair fell all the way to her ankles. She wore a plain, elegant gown formed from the purest ice and snow elements. It had no unnecessary adornments, yet radiated peerless beauty that allowed no defilement.

That single view of her back made Qian Xunji, who had seen countless beauties, praise her silently.

"Old man, your son had the best eye on the whole continent."

He lightly brushed the pendant against his chest, lifting its concealment. At the same time, he carefully released just a trace of the sacred aura he'd disguised with his "Light Form."

"Ahem... Beautiful Miss Snow Woman, forgive my intrusion—"

Qian Xunji wore what he considered his most perfect, gentlemanly, warm smile. He had barely spoken half a sentence when—

But he had underestimated the Ruler of the Far North's loathing for humans, and Snow Empress's wariness and decisiveness.

"Boom—"

In the absolute 0.01 seconds after Qian Xunji's aura leaked out, an utterly terrifying ice-blue aura erupted from the Profound Ice Platform ahead!

The air around them, which had been calm a moment earlier, was instantly compressed into countless ice-blue blades visible to the naked eye.

[Emperor Sword: Ice Extreme Peerless]

Not a word of warning...

The instant Snow Empress sensed a human presence behind her, she clenched her slender fingers in the air. A terrifying giant sword, dozens of meters long and formed entirely from Ultimate Ice, took shape in an instant and swept toward Qian Xunji.

"Holy shit, ever heard of manners? Your temper's even colder than your looks!"

Qian Xunji's pupils contracted sharply. The ice-blue blade light rapidly swelled in his vision. A furious strike from a seven-hundred-thousand-year Ferocious Beast was no joke.

"Bang!"

The ice crag beneath Qian Xunji's feet exploded. At the last possible instant, he shot into the air, narrowly evading the terrifying sword light that had nearly split the entire ice abyss in two.

In midair, Qian Xunji broke out in a cold sweat. He looked down and saw that the spot where he'd been standing, along with several li of glacier behind it, had been completely wiped flat by that single sword strike. The cut was smooth as a mirror.

"Human."

A voice as cold and emotionless as the clash of ten-thousand-year-old ice echoed slowly over the abyss.

Snow Empress finally turned around.

Her ice-blue eyes were deep and ethereal, yet carried the indifference of someone who saw all things as mere ants.

She floated silently in midair and looked at Qian Xunji as if he were already a frozen corpse.

"Those who trespass into the Forbidden Zone of the Far North die."

Snow Empress couldn't even be bothered to give Qian Xunji another look. She raised her right hand again.

This time, there was no sword. A chill several times more terrifying than the last gathered furiously in her palm, then came crashing down on Qian Xunji.

[Emperor Palm: Great Cold No Snow]

"Again? You really think the Pope has no temper?"