The Titan Snow Demon King was still half-kneeling on the ice, fragments of his shoulder armor embedded in his fur. His icy gray eyes were fixed on Gu Linyuan's retreating back.
The Extreme North had always been a place where strength determined rank. He had lived here for two hundred thousand years, and he had understood that truth ever since crawling out of an ice crevice.
If a mountain could not be shattered with one punch, then one had to go around it.
He fell silent for a moment, then rose to his feet. The remaining ice shards on his shoulder rustled as they fell, rolling across the ice a few times before stopping at the edge of a thin crack.
He took several steps toward the ice palace, stopping before the icy steps outside its gates without climbing them.
"I was presumptuous just now."
Snow Empress stood inside the gates of the ice palace, her ice-blue eyes on him, but she said nothing.
The Titan Snow Demon King glanced at Gu Linyuan, his gaze lingering on his shoulder for a moment before shifting to Ah Yin.
Ah Yin stood half a step behind Gu Linyuan. Her pale golden eyes regarded him calmly, without any excess expression or further words.
She was only responsible for making the outcome final, not for cleaning up afterward. The Titan Snow Demon King lowered his gaze, his voice dropping even further.
"Snow Empress, I won't come again."
After saying that, he turned and headed into the depths of the ice plains. His pace was slower than when he had arrived, and his steps made soft, dense sounds as they crushed the broken ice.
Snow Empress watched his back without speaking. The hand that had just loosened slightly dropped back into her sleeve, her fingertips