Snow Snow Snow!

Bitter winds howled and snow fell in thick sheets; atop the cliff of the Snow Mountain, a giant, pure white flower stood in confrontation with Bai Cai.

"Six petals—I truly know nothing else." Bai Cai raised his hands in a vow.

The treasure buried within the cave was no different from the life of the giant pure white flower; if he were to provoke it, he would end up with nothing.

Bai Cai's bottom line was four petals.

Six petals—the giant pure white flower would likely refuse, but after repeated persuasion, he would concede two petals, and the giant pure white flower would gladly agree. The deal would finally be struck; what a perfect plan.

Unless the giant pure white flower was a complete fool, the plan could not possibly go wrong...

Snow grains swirled and danced, the flower crown swayed slightly, and six petals suddenly detached, their fragrance permeating the cliffside.

Having suffered a great loss of vitality, the giant pure white flower lay on the verge of death, while an unknown chill suddenly surged out from the cave, cold enough to pierce the bone.

"Yes!" Bai Cai beamed with joy. "Thank you!"

Ralts used precise control of its telekinesis to gather the six petals. Lacking a container to store such a heavenly treasure, the medicinal properties would easily dissipate, so it had to be consumed immediately.

The six petals melted the moment they touched his tongue, cool and sweet. A stream of heat circled his body, and an irresistible drowsiness, like an endless tide, gradually invaded Bai Cai's consciousness.

In the core region of the Extreme North, the Azure Palace stood.

The deep blue dome, carved from the continental ice sheet, shimmered with flowing light, and the clear pillars, chiseled from ten-thousand-year glaciers, flashed with strange brilliance. Statues of soul beasts and humans were arranged neatly in the corners of the palace.

Upon the throne, the Ruler of the Far North slowly awakened. Her waist-length hair was as white as snow, and her ice-blue pupils reflected the azure palace, cold enough to freeze the marrow.

Dressed in frost-colored robes, with skin like ice and snow, her beauty was enough to topple cities and kingdoms, appearing like a piece of crystalline ice that had never melted since the dawn of time.

Her ice-blue pupils suddenly constricted, as if piercing through the rolling snow mountains. The Ruler of the Far North let out a long, heavy sigh. "Ten-thousand-year Ice Marrow, a hundred-thousand-year Ice Mountain Snow Lotus King—if I were to abandon them..."

A jade-green light suddenly pierced through the Azure Palace. In an instant, a five-foot-long, exquisite scorpion appeared in the Ruler of the Far North's bedchamber.

Its body was composed of four layers of crystalline armor, like armor carved from pure ice, and its eyes resembled hexagonal pale-yellow gemstones.

A pair of chelae were nearly three feet long, its three pairs of limbs were slender and graceful, and hexagonal protrusions like brilliant diamonds covered its torso, chelae, and limbs.

Its long tail had only five segments, curving backward and narrowing in sequence. It possessed an alluring jade-green hue, with diamond-shaped particles covering the tip, which shimmered with a cold, lethal light.

The emperor of the Ice Jade Scorpion clan: the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion.

"Xue'er, did you sense it?"

The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion spoke in a human tongue, anxiously questioning the Ruler of the Far North.

"An unfamiliar hundred-thousand-year soul beast."

The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion moved slightly closer and added, "Its aura lacks bestial nature; it is fresh and refined."

"Bing'er, that is an Ice Mountain Snow Lotus—a hundred-thousand-year Ice Mountain Snow Lotus King."

Walking barefoot down from the frozen throne, the Ruler of the Far North embraced the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, speaking in a tone of deep longing. "The wish you and I share is about to be realized."

"Xue'er, there is no need for this."

The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion struggled slightly, striving to draw a line between herself and the Ruler of the Far North. "Four hundred thousand years—that is already my limit..."

"Bing'er, fate is something born to be broken."

Pressing close to the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's forebody, the Ruler of the Far North whispered softly, "If soul beasts have a limit, then we shall transform into humans and embark on the path to godhood."

A white light intertwined with a jade-green glow shot out, crossing the boundless Ice Plain, leaping over the continuous Snow Mountains, and almost traversing the entire Extreme North.

In an instant, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion and the Ruler of the Far North arrived together at the towering Snow Mountain, reaching the cliffside cave.

The Blizzard Mammoths scattered in flight, while Bai Cai lay half-propped against the cliff wall, fast asleep, completely unaware of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion and the Ruler of the Far North standing two steps away.

How could an ordinary Ice Mountain Snow Lotus be compared to the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus King?

After consuming an ordinary Ice Mountain Snow Lotus, a Blizzard Mammoth would merely lie on the ground to rest. Having eaten six petals of the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus King in one go, Bai Cai had miscalculated the potency and was already completely unconscious.

The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion saw the comatose Bai Cai, her jade-green tail slowly lowering. The stinger pierced forward, but after a moment of hesitation, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion suddenly retracted it.

"Bing'er?" the Ruler of the Far North asked in surprise.

"The Ice Mountain Snow Lotus King is already incomplete."

The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion advised, "Xue'er, perhaps after another ten thousand years..."

"Ten thousand years?"

The Ruler of the Far North stopped in her tracks, her sorrow overflowing. "The last time you faced your heavenly tribulation, I stood guard for you; it has already been nearly one hundred thousand years."

The hidden truth was ruthlessly exposed, and the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion was at a loss. "Xue'er..."

The Ruler of the Far North gazed at the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion; her ice-blue pupils lost their cold majesty, seemingly veiled by a layer of mist.

Cherishing and affection filled her heart. The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion could not bear it and could not help but concede. "Xue'er, promise me one condition, will you?"

The Ruler of the Far North nodded, and the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion glanced calmly at the still-unconscious Bai Cai.

White snow fell in flurries, and the dying giant pure white flower saw its branches and leaves slowly stiffen, its flower crown covered in layers of frost.

The Ruler of the Far North stood tall and graceful; a massive force of ice shattered the cave, then restrained the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus King, uprooting it to take away.

Clamping Bai Cai with her left chela, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion entered the broken cave to search for the source of the unknown chill.

The fissure deep within the cavern expanded, and a viscous, deep-blue liquid began to flow out. The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion exclaimed in surprise, "Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow!"

If her origin were undamaged, consuming this Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow might have allowed her to survive her four-hundred-thousand-year tribulation.

"What a pity..."

The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion felt no further attachment and retreated from the shattered cavern without hesitation. Seeing this, the Ruler of the Far North felt a pang of sorrow.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow, a treasure Bing'er had longed for, was now being discarded like worn-out shoes; it seemed the four-hundred-thousand-year tribulation could no longer be suppressed.

Collecting the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow, the Ruler of the Far North transformed into a snow-white light, while the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion turned into a jade-green light, both returning together to the Azure Palace.

Piercing cold bit into his bones, and Bai Cai suddenly awoke.

A deep blue dome, crystalline ice pillars, and an exquisite palace—it did not look like a dwelling for mortals.

"Awake, are you?" A cold, feminine voice sounded, carrying a hint of amusement.

An exquisite scorpion about five feet long looked down at Bai Cai and spoke in human language: "A Hundred-Thousand-Year Ice Mountain Snow Lotus and Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow; your luck is truly good."

The Ice Mountain Snow Lotus was a rare treasure of heaven and earth.

An Ice Mountain Snow Lotus over ten thousand years old could allow an ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul beast to ascend to the rank of a Fierce Beast, and a hundred-thousand-year one could even help Xue'er achieve human form.

The main body of an Ice Mountain Snow Lotus was exceptionally fragile; the rarity of a hundred-thousand-year specimen was no less than that of a Million-Year Ice Silkworm.

Furthermore, that hundred-thousand-year Ice Mountain Snow Lotus had even been accompanied by the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow—the very treasure she had been longing for.

"Who are you?" Bai Cai hesitated.

The exquisite scorpion before him seemed to belong to the Ice Jade Scorpion clan, and since it could speak human language, it possessed at least a hundred-thousand-year cultivation base.

Of course, it was definitely not the Ice Empress; even the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm wouldn't dare to think that he had gotten lost and been picked up by the Ice Empress.

"Me?"

The exquisite scorpion slowly approached, her jade-green tail possessing only five segments.

"According to your human terminology, I am one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, the Ice Empress."