Snow Empress's Kin?

Some human geniuses, blessed by the heavens, have a minuscule chance of awakening a top-tier beast martial soul identical to a top-tier soul beast upon their awakening.

Could it be... that this human child possesses some kind of once-in-ten-thousand-years special ice-attribute constitution, and the aura within him that shares the same origin as mine is because he will be able to awaken the 'Heavenly Snow Woman' martial soul in the future?

Once this bold conjecture surfaced in the Snow Empress's mind, it could no longer be brushed aside.

If this were the case, then everything would be explained.

Only a constitution containing the origin of the Heavenly Snow Woman martial soul could remain unharmed in this Extreme North Core Zone, trigger such a massive celestial phenomenon, and make her feel a sense of intimate connection as if facing a descendant of her own kin.

Thinking of this, the Snow Empress's eternally frozen, peerlessly beautiful face softened, quite unexpectedly, by a few degrees.

She extended her hands, moved the little boy floating in mid-air closer, and gently cradled him in her arms.

For the first time in her hundreds of thousands of years of life, she had made such intimate contact with a human life.

The sensation upon touch was unexpectedly soft and warm.

The little boy seemed to sense the ultimate essence of ice and snow within the Snow Empress's embrace, which made him feel incomparably comfortable. Instead of fearing the wind and snow, he squirmed restlessly, rubbed his fuzzy little head deeply against the Snow Empress's soft and full chest, found the most comfortable position, made a cute "smacking" sound, and continued to sleep soundly.

Looking at this exquisitely carved, daring little fellow in her arms, the corner of the Snow Empress's mouth curled into a smile so faint it was rare, yet enough to make the heavens lose their luster.

She extended a slender, icy-smooth index finger, tapped gently on the little boy's pert bridge of nose, and whispered softly:

"Skin as white as jade, crystal clear, the ice elements contained within the body are pure to the extreme... My guess should be correct."

Just as the Snow Empress was holding the male infant, immersed in this rare tranquility and novel experience, a series of urgent and extremely sharp piercing sounds suddenly came from the wind and snow in the distance.

"Shhh-shhh-shhh--"

Accompanying this teeth-gritting sound, a terrifying, extreme cold storm, no less powerful than the Snow Empress's own, swept over.

At the center of the storm, a massive giant beast, as if carved from the purest diamonds and emeralds, broke through the snow.

It was a giant scorpion over four meters in length.

Its body was divided into two colors; the front half was covered in hexagonal diamond protrusions as brilliant as ice crystals, refracting blinding light in the wind and snow.

The rear half, including that long, raised scorpion tail with a deadly cold glint at the tip, presented a vibrant yet highly toxic emerald green.

One of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North, with nearly four hundred thousand years of cultivation, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion--

The Ice Empress!

The Ice Empress's compound eyes, flashing with the brilliance of yellow gemstones, lit up the moment she saw the Snow Empress.

But immediately after, when she saw what the Snow Empress was holding in her arms, her massive body stiffened abruptly.

"Whoosh--"

Emerald green light erupted, and the terrifying giant beast rapidly shrank within the radiance.

In the blink of an eye, a petite and exquisite figure, resembling a human girl of twelve or thirteen, appeared before the Snow Empress.

Transformed into human form, the Ice Empress had a pair of ink-green twin tails that hung softly behind her.

Her features were delicate and cute, her skin as white as snow, and she wore an exquisite short skirt of emerald green and white, revealing a pair of slender, straight white legs.

Although she looked like a loli on the outside, her emerald green eyes held an inviolable arrogance and ruthlessness—a regal aura of one who had long held a position of power and acted with decisive killing intent.

At this moment, this proud Ice Empress was staring with her beautiful emerald eyes, fixed intently on the human little boy who was burying his head in the Snow Empress's chest and rubbing against it from time to time, completely stunned.

"Snow, Snow Empress..."

The Ice Empress pointed her fair, delicate finger at the male infant, her voice stuttering from shock:

"That movement just now, which shot straight into the clouds and scared the soul beasts of the entire Far North half to death, was caused by this... this human child? What, what is his background? Why are you still holding him?!"

In the Ice Empress's understanding, humans were greedy, cunning, and disgusting creatures who would stop at nothing for soul rings and soul bones.

If she had encountered a human in the Far North under normal circumstances, she would have unhesitatingly blasted them into ice shards with the Wrath of the Ice Emperor.

But now, the Snow Empress, whom she respected and adored the most, was actually holding a human infant in her arms, and her eyes were so gentle?!

The Snow Empress looked at the Ice Empress's fussing appearance, shook her head slightly, and then, in a calm and cold tone, told the Ice Empress in detail about the process of discovering the male infant, as well as her conjecture regarding his constitution and the possibility of him awakening the Heavenly Snow Woman martial soul in the future.

"A human with the potential for the Heavenly Snow Woman martial soul?!"

After hearing the Snow Empress's account, the shock on the Ice Empress's face did not fade; instead, it grew even heavier.

She stepped forward, moved close to the Snow Empress, and carefully examined the sleeping male infant.

Sure enough, just as the Snow Empress had said, this fragile human infant not only did not freeze to death in the terrifying low temperatures of the Extreme North Core Zone, but his body also emitted an extreme ice-attribute fluctuation that even made the Ice Empress feel a faint sense of alarm.

The degree of purity was not even inferior to her, the strongest of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion clan.

The Ice Empress remained silent for a long time.

Her delicate brows were tightly furrowed, as if she were undergoing a fierce internal struggle.

Finally, she raised her head, looked at the Snow Empress, and asked with a serious tone:

"Snow Empress, how do you intend to deal with him?

Even if he really has the potential to awaken the Heavenly Snow Woman martial soul, he is, after all, a human.

Human lifespans are short, and they are insatiably greedy.

What if he grows up in the future and turns around to deal with our Far North?"

The Snow Empress lowered her head slightly, gazing at the pure, flawless sleeping face of the infant in her arms, a flicker of resolve flashing through her cold, clear eyes.

She did not hesitate in the slightest; though her voice remained ethereal, it carried an unquestionable majesty: "He is an infant gifted to the Far North. To be born amidst this absolute zero and trigger such celestial phenomena proves that he shares an unbreakable bond with my Far North."

Pausing for a moment, the Snow Empress continued: "I will keep him by my side and raise him myself. Humans awaken their martial souls at the age of six; for us soul beasts, who often slumber for tens of thousands of years, six years is but the blink of an eye."

"If, when he reaches six, he truly awakens the Heavenly Snow Woman martial soul, then he shall be considered half of my own kind. I will exhaust the resources of the Far North to continue nurturing him, allowing him to become the pinnacle of human power on this Douluo Continent, and perhaps... even break the boundary between humans and soul beasts."

As she spoke, the Snow Empress's gaze instantly turned as cold and ruthless as ten-thousand-year black ice:

"But if, after six years, he fails to awaken the Heavenly Snow Woman martial soul, or if he awakens some other chaotic, useless martial soul..."