Shui Bing'er's Invitation, Skywater Academy! The Exquisite Snow Empress!

The Snow Empress hovered silently in mid-air, her flawless, jade-like feet bare, two delicate ice-crystal bells tied to her ankles, yet they did not emit a single sound.

Her beauty was beyond the reach of words.

It was an existence that transcended all beauty in the world, as if all the spiritual energy and radiance between heaven and earth had condensed upon her.

With skin like ice and bones like jade, she possessed the divine posture of an immortal.

Those blue eyes, clearly devoid of any emotion, seemed to contain everything in the world.

It was an absolute, unquestionable imperial majesty.

It was also the poise of a fairy standing aloof from the world.

The moment the Titan Snow Demon Clan saw the Snow Empress, their blood-red eyes instantly faded, replaced by endless terror and trembling.

That fear did not stem from the suppression of strength, but from a shivering of the soul—a humbleness carved into their very bones.

Thump!

The largest Titan Snow Demon felt its knees go weak, and its mountain-like body crashed straight down onto the ground.

Immediately following.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The sound of kneeling, one after another, echoed across the entire land covered in white bones.

Hundreds of Titan Snow Demons, regardless of their cultivation level or how frenzied they had been moments before, now knelt down with a boom toward the figure in the sky like the most devout believers, their massive heads buried deep into the snow as they shivered.

The entire world fell into a deathly silence.

Only that white figure stood quietly in the sky.

Stunningly beautiful, world-toppling.

The Snow Empress's gaze swept indifferently over the Titan Snow Demons kneeling below.

That deathly silence was broken by a few fearful, trembling voices.

"Snow Empress..."

"Spare us!"

A few Titan Snow Demons, equally massive in size but with more aged auras and bodies covered in scars, crawled out from the clan, prostrating themselves at the very front with their heads pressed tightly against the ice, not daring to lift them even an inch.

Before the voices could fade.

A heavy sound of footsteps rang out.

Thump.

Thump.

A giant beast, even more robust than all the other Titan Snow Demons, slowly walked out from behind the clan.

He did not kneel like the rest of his kin; he merely hunched his back slightly, his blood-red pupils holding a hint of defiance and arrogance.

This was the new patriarch, Adik.

A Titan Snow Demon with a cultivation exceeding ninety thousand years, his bloodline was strong enough to allow him to contend with an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

He stared fixedly at the Snow Empress in the sky, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

"Snow Empress... even if you are the Master of the Far North, you have no right to interfere with our Titan Snow Demon Clan!"

"Strength is everything! A-Tai's weakness will only lead our clan to extinction!"

The Snow Empress's beautiful blue eyes finally rippled with a hint of emotion.

Her gaze fell upon Adik.

There were no words.

Nor was there any earth-shattering fluctuation of energy.

She simply watched him quietly, and then, she raised that flawless, jade-like hand and waved it casually in Adik's direction.

It was as if she were merely brushing away a speck of dust.

In an instant.

An indescribable, extreme chill swept across the sky.

The arrogance on the face of the conceited new patriarch, Adik, instantly froze, transforming into endless horror.

He did not even have time to let out a scream.

Under the gaze of all his kin, his mountain-like body disintegrated inch by inch from head to toe, turning into crystalline snow particles that scattered in the wind.

Puff.

A soft sound.

A right arm bone, shimmering with dark golden light, fell from the sky and embedded itself into the bone mound below.

A Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone.

The Snow Empress did not even glance at the soul bone, her indifferent gaze once again sweeping over the Titan Snow Demons, who were now frightened out of their wits.

She purged all the radical factions that followed Adik, her methods clean and swift, leaving not a single trace behind.

Only then did her voice ring out across this expanse for the first time—cold and clear, yet carrying an unquestionable majesty.

"Keep your clansmen in check."

"Should there be a next time..."

She did not finish, but every Titan Snow Demon understood the meaning behind those unspoken words.

"We shall strictly obey the Snow Empress's teachings!"

"We dare not transgress again for all eternity!"

Amidst the mountain-shaking, sea-roaring sounds of submission, the figure of the Snow Empress quietly faded away, as if she had never appeared at all.

In the Far North, beneath a sheltered ice cliff.

A campfire crackled, dispelling a fraction of the surrounding chill.

Shui Bing'er was crouched beside the fire, holding a sharpened wooden stick skewered with a plump snow fish, carefully turning it over the flames.

The firelight danced, casting reflections onto a rock not far away.

Lan sat there with his eyes closed, seemingly dozing.

The orange-red flames plated his cold, handsome profile with a layer of warmth, softening his sharp, well-defined features and lending a breathtaking, heroic air to his steady composure.

Shui Bing'er's movements gradually slowed.

Her beautiful eyes drifted toward Lan of their own accord, and she found herself staring in a daze.

"Oh my!"

"Bing'er, your fish is burning!"

Liu Ruyan's helpless voice jolted Shui Bing'er from her trance.

Shui Bing'er looked down to see that half of the fish in her hand had indeed turned charred black, wisps of smoke rising from it.

"Ah... I..."

Her cheeks flushed a brilliant red in an instant, as if scorched by the fire, the heat spreading all the way to her earlobes.

Seeing her disciple in this state, Liu Ruyan understood everything at once, a hint of amusement flashing in her eyes.

She feigned concern and asked:

"Bing'er, why is your face so red?"

"Could it be that you have a fever?"

"No, no! It's... it's the fire, it's too hot, yes, too hot!"

Shui Bing'er hurriedly explained, her gaze darting away, not daring to look at her master, and even less daring to look at Lan.

Just then, Lan opened his eyes.

He stood up, walked straight over, and took the roasted fish from Shui Bing'er's hand.

It was pitch black and looked truly unappetizing.

Yet, he didn't seem to mind in the slightest, popping it straight into his mouth.

In two or three bites, he finished off the better part of it.

Liu Ruyan's eye twitched as she watched.

Shui Bing'er was so anxious she nearly stomped her feet, stuttering:

"That... this... it's burnt, it doesn't taste good..."

Lan swallowed the last of the fish meat, his expression indifferent.

"It's alright."

"I usually find it too much trouble, so I eat them raw. This is cooked, so it's already quite good."

As soon as he said this, both Liu Ruyan and Shui Bing'er were stunned.

Shui Bing'er's face turned even redder, as if it might drip blood, her voice as thin as a mosquito's hum.

"You... you took the wrong one..."

"That one... that one was the one I tasted earlier..."

The air went instantly silent.

Liu Ruyan struggled to hold back her laughter, her shoulders shaking.

Lan looked at the wooden stick in his hand, now stripped down to the fish bones, then at Shui Bing'er, who looked as if she wanted to bury herself in the snow.

He simply replied with a single, calm word.

"Oh."

That "oh" caused the atmosphere by the campfire to fall into a peculiar, dead silence.

Liu Ruyan struggled to suppress her laughter, her shoulders trembling so hard she nearly gave herself an internal injury.