Yin-Yang Complementary Snow Empress

High in the sky.

Gu Yuan's back was straight, his blue robes fluttering wildly, his icy hair dancing in the wind. His wings spread wide as ice-attributed heaven and earth energy swirled around him.

He treated the biting winds above the Far North as though they were nothing.

"Alright, Da Gu!"

"That girl can't catch up anymore, so stop here."

"The area ahead is where soul beasts roam. Flying overhead will attract a lot of unnecessary trouble."

The Ice Dragon King spoke within his Spirit Sea.

Gu Yuan's mouth twitched. "Little Mother, you could call me Gu Yuan, or Xiao Gu, Xiao Yuan—anything works. Even Old Gu would be tolerable."

The name Da Gu gave him an inexplicable urge to become light.

"It's a term of endearment. You're your mother's first child, so naturally you're the eldest. What's wrong with me calling you Da Gu?"

"Alright, stop complaining."

"Over these past two months, your training has basically been sufficient. You've mastered nearly all the combat skills in the Ice Emperor Canon that you can currently learn."

"As for those you can't master, you can only learn them after your cultivation improves."

"This Far North can be called your paradise. As long as you wish it, even gods will find it difficult to discover you."

"Now use Element Control to slip into the snow, then conceal your aura. I'll guide you to obtain your second soul ring."

"And while we're at it, I'll map out a true path to godhood for you."

Hearing this, Gu Yuan immediately dropped to his knees. "Alright, Little Mother. Da Gu understands. Where do we go next?"

"That way." The Ice Dragon King pointed in a direction.

A blue-gold soul ring suddenly rose. Here in the Far North, Gu Yuan no longer needed to conceal the true color of his soul rings.

The soul ring flared, and Gu Yuan's body became a streak of icy-blue light.

He vanished into the snowfield without leaving behind the slightest aura.

The core region of the Far North lay amid endless icy mountains.

Everywhere were snow-white mountains, snow-white ice, and a snow-white sky.

Within a majestic iceberg stood a palace built entirely from ice and snow.

At the center of the great hall stood the Snow Empress's true form, her temperament icy and aloof, ethereal beyond the mortal world.

She wore a gorgeous ice-blue gown. Her graceful figure stood tall and slender, supported by a bright yet gentle halo of icy light, as if she floated at the heart of an ice-and-snow world, radiating the majestic pressure of a supreme ruler.

With her as its center, an immensely intricate and perfectly symmetrical Ice Snow Sacred Pattern Array spread outward.

Layer upon layer of icy leaves, crystalline carvings, sharp translucent ice prisms, and six-pointed snowflake-shaped ice ornaments unfurled in every direction like a blooming Eternal Ice Flower.

But suddenly, the Snow Empress's face turned pale.

A crack appeared in the Eternal Ice Flower that had been continuously blooming.

Then came a second crack.

More and more cracks spread across it.

Inside the Snow Empress, her Ultimate Ice Soul Core and Space Soul Core, which had originally begun rotating slowly in opposite directions, trembled violently.

They darted wildly through her body beyond her control.

The two Soul Cores were about to collide.

"It's over!"

The Snow Empress cried out in despair within her heart.

Just as she thought her attempt to condense a Yin-Yang Complementary Soul Core had failed, an incomparably pure source power suddenly entered her body.

The Eternal Ice Flower, which had been on the verge of collapse, was instantly restored.

The restless Ultimate Ice Soul Core and Space Soul Core within the Snow Empress also stabilized.

They rotated in opposite directions without interfering with one another.

Two Soul Cores—one ice, one space.

One yin, one yang, their energies circulated endlessly between them.

The ice core stabilized, while the Space Soul Core attacked.

Ice controlled the battlefield; space provided movement and cutting.

They formed a perfect cycle.

"The Yin-Yang Complementary Soul Core is complete!"

The Snow Empress could not conceal her joy. Even with her cold nature, a thrilled smile rose unbidden to her face.

But at that moment, a young girl's voice came from outside the hall.

"Hehe, it seems I came at just the right time. Xue'er, we meet again."

As the words fell, a figure flashed past the doors. A handsome blue-clad youth entered with curiosity written across his face.

It was Gu Yuan, led here by the Ice Dragon King.

Looking at the Snow Empress, beautiful enough to seem unreal, Gu Yuan could not help but marvel inwardly. What a beautiful woman.

In terms of beauty alone, only the Ice Dragon King, whom he had seen before in the form of a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girl, could compare to her.

"You are... Lord Ice God? You're actually still alive!"

The Snow Empress had already looked doubtful upon hearing the young girl's voice.

Once the blue-clad youth entered the hall and she sensed his aura, she hurried forward in shock.

Even her voice trembled slightly.

"Calling it alive isn't quite right. To be precise, I'm currently in a half-dead state."

The clear, childish voice of a young girl rang out again.

A streak of blue light drifted from Gu Yuan's brow, transforming into the Ice Dragon King's petite and exquisite figure as she landed before the Snow Empress.

"Xue'er greets Lord Ice God." The Snow Empress promptly knelt, her expression devout.

Now, she finally understood why the Yin-Yang Complementary Soul Core, which had been on the verge of collapse, had suddenly condensed successfully.

At the crucial moment, this Lord Ice God before her had helped her.

"No need for such formality. Of the little ones from back then, you're the only one still alive."

The Ice Dragon King did not know whether she was lamenting herself or the Snow Empress.

After a leisurely sigh, a smile returned to her face.

Turning, she introduced Gu Yuan. "Let me introduce you. This is my son, Gu Yuan. From now on, you can call me Mother, just like he does."

"Mother." The Snow Empress rejoiced inwardly. Without hesitation, she respectfully called out to the Ice Dragon King, then said to Gu Yuan, "Greetings, Young Master."

She truly sensed the Ice Dragon King's purest bloodline aura from Gu Yuan.

Otherwise, she would not have mistaken him for the Ice Dragon King.

"Hello, Snow Empress." Gu Yuan greeted her somewhat awkwardly, unable to help feeling annoyed. It seemed that his identity as the Ice Dragon King's son was impossible to escape.

"Young Master, just call me Xue'er."

Perhaps because Gu Yuan carried the Ice Dragon King's bloodline, the Snow Empress, who had always loathed humans immensely, did not reject him.

Gu Yuan smiled faintly. "Then you can call me Gu Yuan as well."

That was how the two of them came to know each other.

"I came this time for two reasons. First, to see you. Second, to pave a path to godhood for your elder brother. At the same time, I wish to find a way for you and the fellow clansmen of the Far North who have suffered beneath heavenly tribulations."

The Ice Dragon King did not beat around the bush and immediately revealed her plan.

Simply put, it was to gather the power of faith from the soul beasts of the Far North.

Then allow Gu Yuan to inherit the position of the new Ice God.

"If that is the case, Xue'er is willing to contribute to Lord Ice God's God Creation Project and sacrifice herself to Elder Brother."

The Snow Empress spoke without hesitation.

With the Ice Dragon King's help, although she had condensed a Yin-Yang Complementary Soul Core and could survive the seven-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation—

What about eight hundred thousand years? Nine hundred thousand years?

Or one million years?

As long as she could not become a god,

there would eventually come a day when she died beneath a heavenly tribulation.

Moreover, she had been alone for far too long.

Since she could gain an opportunity to become a god and remain at Mother and Elder Brother's side to serve them,

what was there for her to hesitate over?