Training in the Snow

If one were in the core circle of the Far North, the powerful soul beasts dwelling there would generally be over ten thousand years old and would have long since attained sentience.

Setting aside whether he could defeat them, the moment he encountered one, he would only need to manifest his Heavenly Snow Woman martial soul. Relying on the taboo aura of the Empress that the Heavenly Snow Woman possessed in the Far North, those ten-thousand-year soul beasts would undoubtedly be terrified into kneeling and prostrating themselves, trembling in fear.

In fact, if he were to release even a hint of his intent, those highly intelligent soul beasts might even "voluntarily" offer up all their rare treasures just to curry favor with the ruler of the Far North.

Only if they were truly driven to a desperate situation, with their lives under extreme threat, would they potentially resort to a life-or-death struggle born of instinct.

In the core circle, Xue Bingchen was a crown prince who could walk wherever he pleased.

However, in these outer reaches of the Far North, there were no such rules!

The low-level soul beasts here had no concept of what an imperial bloodline or a taboo aura meant.

In their simple minds, there was only the distinction between "prey" and "predator."

And humans, in the Far North, were often their favorite "rations"!

Here, without the protection of the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress, he had to rely solely on the sword in his own hand!

"Hoo—"

Xue Bingchen slowly exhaled a puff of white mist. There was not a trace of fear in his eyes; instead, they burned with the flames of excitement.

"Since this is a trial, let's do this for real!"

With a thought, the twenty levels of soul power within his body erupted.

"Hum!"

The aura of Ultimate Ice instantly permeated the air.

Xue Bingchen slowly raised his right hand, and the ice elements in the surrounding wind and snow seemed to respond to some supreme summons, converging frantically toward his palm.

In the blink of an eye, an ice sword about three feet long, crystal clear and radiating an extremely chilling sword intent, took shape in his hand!

Faintly, upon the edge of this ice sword, there flowed a trace of the "Emperor Sword" true intent—extremely weak, yet sharp to the extreme!

Xue Bingchen gripped the ice sword, feeling the surging power within his body.

The howling blizzard, which could freeze an ordinary person solid in an instant, struck him like a gentle caress, unable to hinder him in the slightest.

"Swish!"

The next second, Xue Bingchen's small figure leaped up violently. Like a nimble and dangerous Polar Snow Leopard, he moved easily and agilely across the vast Far North Snow Plains, turning into a white afterimage as he plunged deep into the wind and snow!

The first solo hunt of the King of the Far North had officially begun!

High above the sky, the gale winds were biting.

Two beautiful figures were hidden within the swirling snow, overlooking the vast outer reaches of the Far North like deities.

"Xue'er, are we really going to let little Chen wander around like a headless chicken, searching for a suitable soul beast on his own?"

The Ice Empress's large, emerald-green eyes were filled with heartache as she helplessly stomped her small feet in the void.

"These outer circles are full of hundred-year and thousand-year trash; there isn't a single soul beast here worthy of our little Chen!"

In the Ice Empress's simple and brutal beast-mind, if their young master needed to hunt for a soul ring, why would he need to do it himself?

Wouldn't it be easier to just go to the core circle, grab a soul beast with a top-tier bloodline that was nearing the end of its lifespan, slap it half to death, and toss it to little Chen to absorb?

That was called "rational resource utilization"!

But unfortunately, she could not sway the Snow Empress.

In this Far North, the Snow Empress's word was an absolute iron law; what she said was final.

No soul beast dared to refute what she decided, nor could anyone persuade her otherwise.

Oh, wait—there was one exception now: that little ancestor currently sprinting across the snow plains below.

Watching the Ice Empress's protective behavior, a gentle smile appeared on the Snow Empress's beautiful face.

She reached out her slender hand, gently stroked the Ice Empress's emerald hair as it danced in the wind, and said softly with a laugh:

"Bing'er, look at this."

As she spoke, the Snow Empress slowly opened her delicate palm.

"Hum—"

Accompanied by a soft, ice-blue halo, a crystal-clear orb floated above the Snow Empress's palm.

Inside that crystal ball, a strange soul beast was sealed—pure white, as flawless as a sprite, and currently in a deep slumber!

"This is... a Snow Sprite?!"

The Ice Empress was stunned at first, then, feeling the pure ice and snow aura, she suddenly realized:

"This cultivation... four thousand five hundred years! Good, Xue'er, so you had already chosen a suitable second soul ring for little Chen!"

The Snow Sprite was an ice-elemental life form no less impressive than a Polar Ice Spirit. At four thousand five hundred years, it not only perfectly matched the Heavenly Snow Woman martial soul but was also right at the limit of what Xue Bingchen's current physical body could withstand!

The Ice Empress huffed indignantly, hands on her hips:

"You woman are so devious, keeping even me in the dark!"

Snow Empress smiled, a look like ice and snow beginning to thaw:

"With your personality, unable to keep a secret, if I had revealed it to you in advance, I fear that within a moment or two, little Chen would have known, wouldn't he?

If he knew that a top-grade spirit ring had already been prepared at home, how could he still have the heart to train earnestly in this frozen wasteland?

That would only erode his indomitable drive to improve."

Speaking to this point, Snow Empress's gaze grew profound.

In truth, how could she not feel heartache for Xue Bingchen?

But she knew even better that for other genius spirit masters, being able to absorb a two or three-thousand-year spirit beast at level twenty would already be a stroke of immense luck, as if their ancestors' graves were emitting smoke.

Yet for Xue Bingchen, whose first spirit ring was a 1,400-year Polar Ice Spirit, if his second ring were merely some common two or three-thousand-year specimen, it would be a complete waste of natural resources!

His second spirit ring had to have a baseline of four thousand years!

This Snow Sprite was something she had specifically prepared for Xue Bingchen.

The prerequisite was that Xue Bingchen himself could not find a spirit ring that satisfied him.

Just as the two rulers of the Far North were chatting, Ice Empress's gaze inadvertently swept across the area below, and she suddenly let out a surprised sound.

"Eh? Strange... how did a five-thousand-year Ice Flood Dragon end up in the outer reaches of the Far North?"

Ice Empress furrowed her brows slightly, pointing toward a spot below:

"Xue'er, look, it's moving so fast, and... it's about to collide with little Chen!"

Snow Empress followed the direction of Ice Empress's fingertip, her gaze instantly piercing through the heavy wind and snow.

Hidden beneath the gale and blizzard, a flood dragon over ten meters long, its entire body covered in hard, ice-blue scales, was slithering rapidly across the ice sheet, carving a deep trench into the snow wherever it passed.

A five-thousand-year cultivation Ice Flood Dragon was, in these outer reaches of the Far North, absolutely a mini-boss level existence!

"Not good, a five-thousand-year spirit beast is too much for little Chen right now, I'm going to go slaughter it!" Ice Empress's expression shifted, and she made a move to strike.

"Wait."

Snow Empress, however, grabbed Ice Empress by the wrist.