Zhu Lu's Resolve

Dai Huabin pulled Zhu Lu to the two of them and solemnly introduced them.

"Lulu, this is the Snow Empress I told you about, the leader of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, Elemental Sprite with 700,000 years of cultivation."

Zhu Lu's brain went blank for a moment.

Is the Heavenly Snow Woman and Snow Empress, with 700,000 years of cultivation, really such an incomparably beautiful woman?

"Snow Empress, this is Zhu Lu, whom I mentioned to you." Dai Huabin turned to look at Snow Empress.

Snow Empress looked Zhu Lu up and down.

Although this human girl's cultivation level was only around level 30, her blood and qi were extremely pure, and her meridians were exceptionally resilient, clearly indicating that she had consumed some kind of top-grade rare and precious herb.

"A good foundation," Snow Empress commented.

Ice Empress stepped forward, circled around Zhu Lu, and pursed his lips.

"Level 39, that's a bit weak. Xue'er has 700,000 years of cultivation. Can this girl withstand signing Blood Pact with her?"

Zhu Lu blushed a little at Ice Empress's words, but she gritted her teeth and straightened her back.

"Ice Empress- senpai, I'm not afraid of hardship!"

Zhu Lu's voice was very clear and crisp.

"As long as I can become stronger and help Huabin, I can endure anything!"

Ice Empress was taken aback by her impulsiveness, then snorted.

"You do have some backbone. However, Blood Pact is no joke; the pain of having your soul torn apart is excruciating!"

Dai Huabin squeezed Zhu Lu's hand, offering her a sense of warmth.

"With Elder Yi here, everything will be alright," Dai Huabin called out in his mind. "Elder Yi, may we begin?"

Electrolux's aged yet gentle voice resounded in the sea of consciousness.

"Anytime is fine. However, this little girl doesn't have the Life Gold to strengthen her physique. During the Blood Pact signing process, I will forcibly extract a portion of the Life Gold's life force as a harmonizing agent to assist the Blood Pact."

After speaking, the phantom of Electrolux appeared. He raised his hand and waved it, and a complex array of runes lit up on the gray Undead Semi-Plane.

The array has a double-ring structure, with the inner ring engraved with soul chain patterns and the outer ring containing guiding runes for bloodline resonance.

"Huabin, drip your blood onto the main node of the outer ring."

Electrolux raised his chin. "The Life Gold within you will automatically flow into the array through your blood, acting as a harmonizing agent."

Dai Huabin nodded, bit his fingertip, and dripped a drop of blood onto the outer ring.

The moment the blood droplet fell, a faint golden halo spread from the blood, which was the life force contained in the Life Gold circulating on its own.

"Snow Empress, you stand on the left side of the inner ring. Zhu Lu, on the right." Electrolux pointed to the two positions.

Snow Empress stepped barefoot into the inner ring, the hem of her white dress brushing against the runes, and the icy aura emanating from her body instantly covered the entire magic circle with a thin layer of frost.

Zhu Lu took a deep breath and went inside as well.

She stood opposite Snow Empress, with less than two meters between them.

"Ready?" Electrolux looked at the two of them.

Snow Empress nodded.

Zhu Lu nodded, her voice steady. "Ready."

"Let's begin. Each of you bites your index finger and drips blood into the intersection point in the center of the inner ring."

Snow Empress raised her right hand, gently biting her fair fingertip, and a drop of blood with a pale blue sheen seeped out.

Zhu Lu also bit her finger, and a bright red bead of blood hung from her fingertip.

Two drops of blood fell at the same time.

The moment the red and light blue hues collided at their intersection, the entire magic circle suddenly erupted with a blinding white light.

The rune array spun wildly, and two beams of light rose from beneath Snow Empress and Zhu Lu's feet, Entanglement and entwining in mid-air.

Dai Huabin stood outside the formation, watching all of this, his heart pounding faster than usual.

The next second, an extremely large amount of ice-attribute bloodline power surged from Snow Empress's body, and guided by the magic array, it rushed straight towards Zhu Lu.

Zhu Lu was startled.

The moment that power entered her body, the sensation she felt in her meridians was not pain, but a tearing sensation.

Even if only a tiny trace of the 700,000-year-old Elemental Sprite bloodline is transmitted through Blood Pact, it is still an earth-shattering impact on a level 39 Soul Master.

Zhu Lu's face turned deathly pale instantly, and large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead.

Her body was trembling violently, and her teeth were clenched so tightly they were grinding together.

Dai Huabin suddenly took a step forward.

"Elder Yi!"

"Wait," Electrolux stopped him. "The life force of the Life Gold is already at work."

As soon as he finished speaking, Dai Huabin felt a warm, golden energy spontaneously flowing into Zhu Lu's body along the outer ring of the magic array.

That was the Life Gold sensing the vibration of the bloodline, actively repairing the meridians that Zhu Lu had been damaged.

However, Zhu Lu's condition did not improve much.

Her lips were bleeding from being bitten, her legs were trembling slightly, and her body was swaying precariously.

Dai Huabin clenched his fist.

He had known Zhu Lu for so many years, and he had never seen her look so disheveled.

Dai Huabin almost instinctively mobilized the power of the Life Gold.

"Huabin!"

Zhu Lu suddenly spoke. Her voice was hoarse, but very firm.

"Believe me!"

Dai Huabin froze.

Those three words, once they hit his head, were more effective than anything else.

Yes.

He had been trying to make Zhu Lu stronger, giving her Immortal Herb, giving her Soul Bone, and paving the way for her.

But he subconsciously overlooked one thing: Zhu Lu was never a woman who would just hide behind him.

She has her own backbone and resilience.

Dai Huabin slowly withdrew his foot and returned to his original position.

"Good."

Ice Empress watched from the side, a hint of surprise flashing in their emerald green eyes.

She thought Dai Huabin would just rush in, but to her surprise, this human boy actually held back.

Inside the magic circle, Electrolux nodded to himself.

Zhu Lu is very good.

As the life force of the Life Gold continued to flow in, Zhu Lu gradually stabilized her swaying body.

As her meridians were struck by the icy blood pulse, they were also rapidly repaired and expanded by the golden life force.

This process cycles repeatedly: impact, tearing, repair, and strengthening.

Zhu Lu's constitution gradually transformed amidst the pain.

At the same time, the core elements of the Blood Pact began to activate, involving the fusion of spiritual power.

Snow Empress's spiritual power far surpasses Zhu Lu's by countless times.

When their souls briefly merged, Zhu Lu's memories could not be hidden at all, and a large number of images flooded into Snow Empress's consciousness without reservation.

Snow Empress witnessed the process of a human girl growing up in the Zhu Family.

The Zhu Family is a prominent family in the Star Luo Empire, but Zhu Lu's mother died early and her father was stationed on the border for many years.

She has been cultivating with the elders of her clan since childhood, and has a quiet and reserved personality.

Then, she saw Dai Huabin.

In my earliest memory, that blond-haired, blue-eyed boy was as cold as ice.

He was polite but distant to Zhu Lu, and their relationship was more like a contractual one. The marriage alliance between the White Tiger Duke Mansion and the Zhu Family, as well as their partnership in the Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

In those memories, Zhu Lu always silently followed behind Dai Huabin, neither too close nor too far.

But then the scene suddenly changed.

One day, Dai Huabin changed.

He started to take her hand, whisper sweet words in her ear, bring her delicious food, wipe her sweat after her training, and frown with heartache when she was injured.

At the Shrek Academy, the two slept in the same bed. Dai Huabin would tuck her in at night and pour her water first thing in the morning.

Those trivial yet realistic details flooded into Snow Empress's consciousness frame by frame.

Snow Empress saw Zhu Lu's expression when Dai Huabin first hugged her. She was stunned for a long time, then buried her face in the boy's chest, her shoulders trembling slightly.

It wasn't because I was cold, it was because I was so happy, so happy that I couldn't help but want to cry.

A strange emotion suddenly welled up in Snow Empress's heart.

She has lived for 700,000 years, witnessed countless deaths and rebirths, and experienced countless moments of loneliness.

But she had never experienced anything like it.

On the other side, Zhu Lu was also experiencing the impact of Snow Empress's memories.

Tens of thousands of years.

That was a time span that Zhu Lu could not even imagine.

She saw the image of the Snow Empress walking alone on the icy plains of the Far North.

There was only endless whiteness between heaven and earth; there were no companions, no place to return to.

After a long time, Zhu Lu saw the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress standing side by side, the two Far North Heavenly King fighting against the invaders in the blizzard and protecting the Far North.

But she was lonely.

Zhu Lu couldn't speak, nor did she have the energy to comfort anyone. But she thought silently to herself.

Xue'er, you will no longer be lonely.