What Was So Strange About Crossing into Douluo and Getting Hunted by an Ice Jade Scorpion by Seven Beautiful Girls?

Snow and ice raced away beneath their feet, and the bitter wind howled past their ears.

A moment later, the figures in the distance gradually came into view.

Then Su Hui realized that the situation didn't seem to be quite what they'd expected.

On the ice field, seven girls were running for their lives.

Their formation had completely fallen apart.

Panic showed on every face, and their elegant skirts snapped in the biting wind.

A thin layer of frost had already formed on the hair of several girls.

Pursuing them was a gigantic scorpion, its entire body crystalline and translucent.

Its ice-blue and emerald-green shell reflected a cold, eerie gleam beneath the snowy light.

Its tail arched high, ending in a stinger with a curve that made one's blood run cold.

An Ice Jade Scorpion.

And a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

Su Hui's mouth twitched. "Ice Empress, looks like your kin are the real hunters here. They're the prey."

"This..."

Ice Empress's voice caught.

She had evidently realized that her earlier judgment had been off.

It wasn't the Ice Jade Scorpion being hunted.

The prey were these human girls, whose strength ranged from Soul Grandmaster to Soul Elder.

"Big Sis, it's getting closer!"

Shui Yue'er's voice was choked with tears.

She was already gasping for breath, her legs as heavy as lead.

"Don't look back. Keep running!" Shui Bing'er shouted through gritted teeth.

She had already used up most of her Soul Power, and the others weren't doing any better.

Shui Bing'er was the strongest among them, a level 36 Soul Elder.

Facing a Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Scorpion head-on would be no different from suicide.

The Skywater Team's Soul Hunting Operation was supposed to be foolproof, with the dean of Skywater Academy leading the way.

Who could have known that a once-in-a-century blizzard would suddenly descend upon the Far North?

They had been separated from the dean in the howling blizzard, and then, while lost, had stumbled straight into this deadly Ice Jade Scorpion.

Shui Bing'er recognized this kind of Soul Beast.

More precisely, she had seen an illustration of an Ice Jade Scorpion in one of the academy's ancient books, but hadn't known its name.

This kind of Soul Beast was extremely rare even in the Far North.

They said its bloodline contained the power of extreme cold, and that adults were at least ten thousand years old.

What chance did seven Soul Elders have against a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?

"Big Sis!"

Shui Yue'er suddenly shrieked.

"!"

Shui Bing'er whipped around.

The Ice Jade Scorpion had closed to within fifty meters.

Its yellow compound eyes reflected the figures of seven humans, cold and indifferent, as if it were looking at a handful of corpses already frozen stiff.

They couldn't keep running!

Their strength and Soul Power were nearly spent. If they kept fleeing, the girls would be hunted down one by one.

Shui Bing'er gritted her teeth and stopped.

"Big Sis, what are you doing?"

Shui Yue'er stumbled as her sister's sudden movement jerked her off balance.

"You all keep running!"

Shui Bing'er turned to face the approaching Ice Jade Scorpion, her azure hair streaming in the wind.

"I'll hold it off."

"Are you insane?"

The other girls stared at her in shock.

"I'm the captain!"

There wasn't the slightest wavering in Shui Bing'er's voice. "That's an order."

The other girls all stopped, glancing at one another.

None of them wanted to abandon their captain and run for their lives, but none of them knew what to say.

Fear and guilt mingled on their youthful faces, leaving them speechless.

Shui Yue'er clutched her sister's hand. "I'm not leaving! If you stay, Big Sis, then I'm staying too!"

"Yue'er—"

Shui Bing'er didn't get to finish.

"Ding!"

A wave of cold erupted nearby.

It was a purer, more fundamental kind of extreme cold, as if something had instantly sucked every trace of warmth from the air.

All seven girls froze in place.

The cold was terrifying. Just brushing their skin made them feel as if their blood were about to freeze.

This wasn't the Ice Jade Scorpion's power!

They had already experienced the chill of an Ice Jade Scorpion, and it had nothing on this overwhelming force.

Before they could recover,

a gigantic ice dome, more than ten meters in diameter, appeared out of thin air on the frozen plain and dropped over the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Scorpion.

The dome was crystalline throughout, its surface shimmering with an eerie blue light. It was so thick that not even sunlight could pierce it.

"..."

The seven girls stared at the ice dome, speechless for a moment.

Not a sound came from within the impenetrable dome.

That seemingly invincible Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast had been engulfed by the sudden ice dome, and then it fell silent, without even the slightest sign of struggling.

"Big Sis..."

Shui Yue'er's voice trembled. "What's going on? Was that the dean?"

The other girls also looked to Shui Bing'er, a glimmer of hope kindling in their eyes.

But Shui Bing'er's expression was especially grave.

She stared at the ice dome for a long time, then slowly shook her head.

"That wasn't something my mother could do."

She knew all too well that although her mother had plenty of Soul Power, she could never unleash ice-elemental power of this magnitude.

"Everyone, fall back."

Shui Bing'er made a quick decision. "Whatever's going on, get away from the ice dome. I'll stay behind and cover you."

But Shui Yue'er didn't let go.

"Big Sis, I'm staying with you."

Her tone was unusually firm.

Shui Bing'er turned to look at her younger sister. She seemed about to say something, but in the end, she only let out a soft sigh and didn't tell her to leave again.

The wind and snow continued to howl.

The gigantic ice dome stood silently on the boundless white ice field, like a mute tombstone.

The seven girls waited at a safe distance, wary and bewildered, with no idea what would happen next.

And the person who had struck never showed themselves.

Inside the ice dome.

The cold surged like a tide.

Su Hui slowly lowered his right hand. A frosty white aura still lingered between his fingers.

The Soul Bone Skill of the 400,000-Year Ice Jade Empress Scorpion Torso Bone—Eternal Frozen Domain.

It was his first time using this power, and the results far exceeded his expectations.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Scorpion had been completely sealed beneath a thick layer of ice.

Even the cold gleam flickering from its stinger had frozen into a motionless sculpture.

"Stop admiring it. This is only the tip of this emperor's iceberg."

"Uh..."

Hearing Ice Empress's proud voice, Su Hui came back to himself.

To be honest, he hadn't even seen who the Ice Jade Scorpion was chasing. He'd only caught a glimpse of several figures racing across the frozen plain.

What had really prompted him to act was the cold voice in his Sea of Consciousness.

"Ice Empress."

Su Hui looked at the Ice Jade Scorpion frozen in the ice.

"Why did you suddenly tell me to attack one of your own?"

Ice Empress should have been the first to protect her kin, especially a Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Scorpion.

There was a moment of silence in his Sea of Consciousness.

Then Ice Empress gave a cold snort.

"Of course, it was for your sake."

"Mine?"

Su Hui's thoughts hit a snag. He was just about to ask more—

Crack!

The ice shattered.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Scorpion broke free of its prison.

Cracks spread across its emerald-green shell, and shards of ice flew in every direction like blades.

It swung its head around, its compound eyes blazing with ferocity. Its tail rose high as it let out a hoarse roar at Su Hui.

"Skreeee!!!"

Su Hui instinctively took half a step back, cold gathering once more in his right hand.

But in the next instant, he lost control of his body.

His eyes suddenly glowed red, and an ancient, majestic aura erupted from within him.

It wasn't Soul Power or murderous intent, but a rank-based suppression carved into the depths of his bloodline.

It was the absolute law etched into the soul of every Ice Jade Scorpion from the moment of its birth!

"Behave."

The single word wasn't loud, but it came crashing down like an iceberg.

The Ice Jade Scorpion's roar cut off.

It lowered its entire body, shell pressed to the ice, tail limp on the ground. The ferocity vanished from its compound eyes, replaced by utter submission.

It looked just like a minister paying homage to the emperor.

Ice Empress returned control of Su Hui's body to him.

Su Hui flexed his fingers, making sure he had control of his limbs again.

Being controlled by Ice Empress felt pretty strange.

He looked down at the Ice Jade Scorpion, now as obedient as a domesticated pet, and felt even more conflicted.