The Snow Empress hovered silently in midair, her flawless jade feet bare. Two strings of tiny ice-crystal bells were tied around her ankles, yet not a single sound came from them.
Words could not describe her beauty.
She was a being whose beauty surpassed all others in the world, as if all the spirit and radiance between heaven and earth had gathered within her.
Skin like ice, bones like jade; a divine bearing, an immortal's grace.
Her blue eyes held no emotion, and yet they seemed to contain everything in the world.
That was an absolute imperial majesty, beyond all doubt.
It was also the aloof grace of an immortal untouched by the mortal world.
The instant the Titan Snow Demon Clan saw the Snow Empress, the blood-red eyes of its members faded, replaced by boundless terror and trembling.
Their fear did not come from being overpowered. It came from a shudder in their very souls, from the lowliness etched into their bones.
Thud!
The tallest Titan Snow Demon's knees buckled, and its mountain-like body dropped straight to the ground.
Then—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sounds of kneeling rose one after another, echoing across the bone-covered land.
Hundreds upon hundreds of Titan Snow Demons, regardless of their cultivation or how frenzied they had been before, now fell to their knees like the most devout believers before the figure in the sky. Their enormous heads bowed deep into the snow as they trembled.
The entire world fell silent.
Only that white figure stood motionless in the air.
Stunning beyond compare.
The Snow Empress's gaze swept indifferently over the kneeling Titan Snow Demons below.
The deathly silence was broken by a few trembling, terrified voices.
"Snow Empress..."
"Spare us!"
Several Titan Snow Demons, just as immense but with older auras and bodies covered in scars, stumbled out from among their clan. They crawled to the very front and prostrated themselves, pressing their heads against the ice without daring to raise them even a fraction.
Before they could say another word,
heavy footsteps sounded.
Thud.
Thud.
A giant beast, somewhat more imposing than all the other Titan Snow Demons, slowly emerged from the back of the clan.
Unlike the others, he did not kneel. He merely bent forward slightly, his blood-red eyes carrying a hint of defiance and arrogance.
This was the new clan leader, Adik.
A Titan Snow Demon with a cultivation of over ninety thousand years, his bloodline was powerful enough to let him contend with an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
He glared at the Snow Empress in the sky, a low growl rumbling in his throat.
"Snow Empress... even as Lord of the Far North, you have no right to interfere with the Titan Snow Demon Clan!"
"Power is everything! A-Tai's weakness will only lead our clan to ruin!"
A ripple finally crossed the Snow Empress's beautiful blue eyes.
Her gaze fell upon Adik.
She said nothing.
Nor did any earth-shattering surge of energy appear.
She simply looked at him in silence, then raised her flawless jade hand and casually swept it in Adik's direction.
As if brushing away a speck of dust.
In an instant,
an indescribable, absolute cold swept across the sky.
The new Titan Snow Demon Clan leader, so arrogant only a moment ago, froze. His expression of defiance turned to utter horror.
He did not even have time to scream.
Before the eyes of his entire clan, his mountain-like body disintegrated inch by inch, from head to toe, turning into countless crystalline snowflakes that scattered on the wind.
Pfft.
With a soft sound,
a right arm bone glimmering with a dark golden light fell from the sky and stuck into the mound of bones below.
A ninety-thousand-year Soul Bone.
The Snow Empress did not even glance at the Soul Bone. Her indifferent gaze swept over the Titan Snow Demons below, now so terrified that their souls had nearly fled their bodies.
She wiped out every member of the violent faction that had followed Adik, swiftly and cleanly, without leaving a trace.
Only then did her voice ring out for the first time in that land. It was cool, yet carried unquestionable authority.
"Keep your clan members in line."
"If there is another time..."
She did not finish, but every Titan Snow Demon understood the meaning of her unfinished words.
"We will heed the Snow Empress's teachings!"
"We will never offend you again, for all eternity!"
Amid a thunderous chorus of submission, the Snow Empress's figure quietly faded, as if she had never appeared.
Beneath a sheltered ice cliff in the Far North,
a campfire crackled, driving away some of the surrounding chill.
Shui Bing'er crouched by the fire, holding a sharpened stick threaded with a plump Snow Fish. She carefully turned it over the flames.
The firelight danced, illuminating a rock some distance away.
Lan sat there with his eyes closed, seemingly dozing.
The orange-red flames cast a warm glow across his cold, handsome profile. His sharply defined features looked softer, while his steady bearing still held a breathtaking heroic spirit.
Shui Bing'er's movements gradually slowed.
Her beautiful eyes drifted toward Lan of their own accord, and she gazed at him, entranced.
"Oh no!"
"Bing'er, your fish is burnt!"
Liu Ruyan's helpless voice brought Shui Bing'er back to her senses.
Shui Bing'er looked down. Half the grilled fish in her hand had indeed turned black, and smoke was rising from it.
"Ah... I..."
Her cheeks flushed in an instant, as if singed by the fire, the redness spreading all the way to her ears.
Seeing her disciple like this, Liu Ruyan could hardly fail to understand. A hint of amusement flashed in her eyes.
She put on a concerned expression and asked,
"Bing'er, why is your face so red?"
"Do you have a fever?"
"N-no! It's... it's the fire. It's too hot, yes, too hot!"
Shui Bing'er hurried to explain, her gaze darting away. She dared not look at her master, let alone Lan.
Just then, Lan opened his eyes.
He stood and walked straight over, taking the grilled fish from Shui Bing'er's hand.
It was black as soot, and its appearance was far from appetizing.
He did not seem to mind at all and simply shoved it into his mouth.
In two or three bites, he had polished off most of it.
Liu Ruyan's eye twitched.
Shui Bing'er was so anxious she nearly stamped her feet. Stammering, she said,
"Um... this... it's burnt. It doesn't taste good..."
Lan swallowed the last bite of fish, his expression calm.
"It's all right."
"I usually eat it raw because cooking is too much trouble. This is cooked, so it's already pretty good."
His words left Liu Ruyan and Shui Bing'er both stunned.
Shui Bing'er's face grew even redder, as if blood might drip from it. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"Y-you took the wrong one..."
"That one... that one was the one I tasted earlier..."
The air fell silent in an instant.
Liu Ruyan stifled her laughter, her shoulders shaking.
Lan calmly glanced at the stick in his hand, now holding nothing but fish bones, then looked at Shui Bing'er, who was so mortified she wished she could burrow into the snow.
He simply replied with a single word.
"Oh."
That one "oh" plunged the atmosphere by the campfire into a peculiar silence.
Liu Ruyan stifled her laughter, her shoulders shaking so hard she nearly hurt herself holding it in.
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