Snow, Snow, Snow!

Bitter winds howled and snowflakes swirled. On a snowy mountain cliff, a gigantic, pristine white flower faced off against Bai Cai.

"Six petals. I don't know anything," Bai Cai said, raising his hand in an oath.

The treasure hidden in the cave was as good as the gigantic, pristine white flower's life. If he angered it, he wouldn't get anything.

Bai Cai's bottom line was four petals.

The gigantic, pristine white flower probably wouldn't agree to six. After repeatedly persuading it, he'd offer to settle for two fewer petals. The flower would happily agree, and the deal would be done. What a perfect plan.

Unless the gigantic, pristine white flower was an idiot, there was no way the plan could go wrong...

Snowflakes drifted through the air. The flower's crown swayed slightly, and six petals suddenly fell, filling the cliff with their fragrance.

The gigantic, pristine white flower was on its last legs, its vitality gravely damaged. An unknown chill abruptly surged out of the cave, cold to the bone.

"Great!" Bai Cai beamed. "Thanks!"

Ralts precisely controlled Confusion and gathered the six petals. Without a container to store precious natural treasures, their medicinal properties would quickly fade. Bai Cai had to consume them as soon as possible.

The six petals melted in his mouth, clean and sweet. A wave of heat coursed through him, while an irresistible drowsiness, like an endless tide, gradually invaded his mind.

At the heart of the Extreme North, inside the Azure Palace.

The deep-blue dome, carved from the continent's ice sheet, shimmered with flowing light. The clear pillars, hewn from ten-thousand-year-old glaciers, gleamed with dazzling colors. Soul Beast and human statues stood neatly arranged in the corners of the palace.

Upon the throne, the Ruler of the Far North slowly awoke. Her long, snow-white hair fell to her waist, and her ice-blue eyes reflected the Azure Palace. The cold around her pierced to the bone.

In a Frost-Colored Garment, with skin like ice and snow and a face that could topple kingdoms, she was like a crystalline frost that had never thawed since time immemorial.

Her ice-blue pupils suddenly contracted, as if she could see through the unending snow-covered mountains. The Ruler of the Far North sighed deeply. "Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Ice Mountain Snow Lotus... If I were to give them up..."

A streak of emerald light suddenly pierced into the Azure Palace. In the Ruler of the Far North's bedchamber, a dainty scorpion, five feet long, appeared in an instant.

Its body was made up of four layers of translucent shell, like armor carved from pure ice. Its eyes resembled pale-yellow hexagonal gemstones.

Its pair of pincers were nearly three feet long, and its three pairs of graceful, slender legs were beautiful as well. Hexagonal protrusions like glittering diamonds covered its body, pincers, and legs.

Its tail had only five segments, curving backward and tapering in turn. It was an alluring shade of emerald, with diamond-shaped scales covering its tip and a cold gleam at its point.

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, anxiously questioning the Ruler of the Far North.

"An unfamiliar Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast."

The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion moved a little closer, then added, "Its aura lacks any bestiality. It's pure and refined."

"Bing'er, that's an Ice Mountain Snow Lotus—a Hundred-Thousand-Year Ice Mountain Snow Lotus King."

The Ruler of the Far North stepped barefoot down from the Frozen Throne and embraced the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion. "Our wish is about to come true."

"Xue'er, you don't have to do this."

The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion struggled slightly, trying with all her might to keep her distance from the Ruler of the Far North. "Four hundred thousand years is already my limit..."

"Bing'er, fate is something you're born to break."

Leaning close to the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's front, the Ruler of the Far North spoke softly. "If Soul Beasts have a limit, then become human and begin the path to godhood."

White light and emerald light shot out together. They crossed the boundless Ice Plain and passed over the endless snow-covered mountains, nearly spanning the entire Extreme North.

In the blink of an eye, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion and the Ruler of the Far North arrived at the towering snowy mountain and reached the cave in the cliff.

The Blizzard Mammoths fled in all directions. Bai Cai slept with his back against the cliff, completely unaware of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion and the Ruler of the Far North just two steps away.

How could an ordinary Ice Mountain Snow Lotus compare to an Ice Mountain Snow Lotus King?

After eating an ordinary Ice Mountain Snow Lotus, even the Blizzard Mammoth had to rest on the ground. Bai Cai had eaten six petals of the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus King in one go. He'd misjudged their potency and had already passed out.

Seeing Bai Cai unconscious, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion slowly lowered her emerald tail. Its stinger pricked him. After hesitating for a moment, she suddenly drew it back.

"Bing'er?" The Ruler of the Far North was surprised.

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

The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion tried to dissuade her. "Xue'er, why not wait another ten thousand years..."

"Another ten thousand years?"

The Ruler of the Far North stopped in her tracks. Sorrow was plain on her face. "It's nearly been a hundred thousand years since I last protected you through a tribulation."

With the truth she'd hidden mercilessly laid bare, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion was at a loss. "Xue'er..."

The Ruler of the Far North gazed at the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion. The icy authority in her blue eyes had faded, as if a mist had settled over them.

Tenderness and compassion filled the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's heart. Unable to bear it, she relented. "Xue'er, promise me one thing, okay?"

The Ruler of the Far North nodded. The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion glanced discreetly at Bai Cai, who was still unconscious.

Snow fell in a flurry. The gigantic, pristine white flower, already on its last legs, grew stiff as its leaves and branches slowly hardened and frost layered its crown.

The Ruler of the Far North stood tall and graceful. A giant mass of ice smashed through the cave, then imprisoned the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus King and pulled it out by the roots.

Holding Bai Cai in her left pincer, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion entered the ruined cave to search for the source of the unknown chill.

A fissure deep inside the cave widened. Dark-blue, viscous liquid slowly flowed out. The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion exclaimed in surprise, "Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow!"

If her origin remained unharmed, consuming the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow might let her survive the four-hundred-thousand-year tribulation.

"What a pity..."

The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion no longer hesitated and left the ruined cave without a second thought. Seeing this, the Ruler of the Far North was overcome with sorrow.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow was Bing'er's most treasured prize, yet now she cast it aside like worthless trash. She could no longer hold back the four-hundred-thousand-year tribulation.

After collecting the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow, the Ruler of the Far North became a streak of white light, and the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion became a streak of emerald light. Together, they returned to the Azure Palace.

Cold to the bone, Bai Cai suddenly woke up.

A deep-blue dome, clear ice pillars, and an exquisitely beautiful palace—this didn't look like any human dwelling.

"Are you awake?" A cool female voice sounded faintly amused.

A dainty scorpion about five feet long looked down at Bai Cai and spoke. "A Hundred-Thousand-Year Ice Mountain Snow Lotus and Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow. You're lucky."

An Ice Mountain Snow Lotus was a precious natural treasure rarely seen in the world.

An Ice Mountain Snow Lotus that was more than ten thousand years old could help an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast advance into a Ferocious Beast. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Ice Mountain Snow Lotus could even help Xue'er transform into a human.

The Ice Mountain Snow Lotus was exceedingly fragile. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Ice Mountain Snow Lotus was no less precious than a million-year-old Ice Silkworm.

What was more, that Hundred-Thousand-Year Ice Mountain Snow Lotus had even been accompanied by the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow, the treasure she'd longed for.

"Who are you?" Bai Cai asked hesitantly.

The dainty scorpion in front of him seemed to belong to the Ice Jade Scorpion Clan. She could speak, so she had to be at least a hundred thousand years old.

Of course, it couldn't be Ice Empress. Lost, then picked up by Ice Empress—even Sky Dream Ice Silkworm wouldn't dare imagine that.

"Me?"

The dainty scorpion slowly approached. Her emerald tail had only five segments.

"According to you humans, I'm one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North: the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, Ice Empress."