The Light of the Extreme North! Sleeping with the Snow Empress?! A Tender Embrace!

Home.

One word, yet it conveyed more than a thousand.

The Ice Empress froze, gazing at the word, then at Lan's calm profile, her eyes misting slightly.

The Snow Empress's gaze lingered on the character "Home" for a long time.

A hint of unprecedented tenderness bloomed in her eyes, which had seemed to freeze the world for eternity.

She stepped forward, extending her slender jade fingers, and gently touched the spot above the character Lan had carved.

No light, no sound.

But a line of text, clear and aloof, yet imbued with boundless hope, quietly took shape.

[May the wind and snow be eternal, may my son be safe.]

Night.

The night sky of the Far North was the most magnificent canvas in the world.

Above the deep, ink-blue firmament, brilliant auroras danced like ribbons, green, purple, and gold interwoven, shifting unpredictably.

The three did not return to the palace but sat beneath the Pillar of Eternity, igniting a pile of ethereal blue flames.

It was the Ice Empress's origin fire, seemingly cold, yet it offered the purest warmth.

They brought out the Ice Marrow Wine the Snow Empress had treasured for tens of thousands of years, and with the roasted Snow Fish, they drank heartily.

There were no excessive words, only the occasional clinking of cups and the faint crackling of the burning flames.

The Ice Empress's alcohol tolerance seemed low; after a few cups, her fair face turned rosy, and she began to talk more.

She would hold Lan's arm, telling him not to be tricked by other girls at the academy in the future.

Then she would tug at the Snow Empress's sleeve, chattering about how they absolutely had to wake up that lazy fellow A-Tai.

The Snow Empress simply listened, a faint smile playing on her lips, occasionally refilling Lan and the Ice Empress's cups.

Lan drank little, his gaze most often falling upon the two most important people in his life, wanting to etch their current appearances deeply into his memory.

That night, they drank much wine and spoke many words.

Until the Ice Empress, drunk, fell asleep in the Snow Empress's arms.

Deep in the night, all was silent.

Lan lay on a bed temporarily constructed from ice, but sleep eluded him.

He closed his eyes, his mind replaying every moment of the past nine years.

As his thoughts drifted.

A faint, almost imperceptible fragrance wafted into his nose.

It was a scent of cool ice and snow mixed with the delicate fragrance of lotuses, a scent unique to the Snow Empress.

Immediately after, he felt a corner of his blanket being gently lifted.

A body, cool yet impossibly soft, pressed against him from behind, encircling his waist.

Lan's body instantly stiffened.

He could even clearly feel, through the thin clothing, the breathtaking softness against his back.

"Snow... Aunt Xue?"

"Mhm."

A cool, slightly languid response came from behind him, the Snow Empress's voice.

Her breath was like orchid fragrance, gently brushing past Lan's ear, bringing a tingling itch.

"Did... did I disturb you?"

The Snow Empress's voice was very soft, as if in a dream.

"No."

Lan steadied himself and relaxed his body.

The Snow Empress seemed to sense his change, holding him tighter and resting her cheek against his back.

"Lan."

"Hm?"

"Are you afraid of going to the human world?"

"No."

Lan answered crisply.

"Why?"

"Because Aunt Ice is by my side." Lan paused, then added, "And I know that Aunt Snow has always been here, too."

There was a moment of silence behind him.

The arms wrapped around his waist tightened a fraction.

"I am... very happy today."

"I like the character you carved very much."

"But I am also very afraid."

Lan was slightly startled; he turned around and, under the dim aurora, met those breathtakingly beautiful eyes.

"Afraid of what?"

Snow Empress gazed at him, and for the first time, an emotion called "fragility" flickered within those eyes that seemed capable of freezing the soul.

"Afraid that this is just a dream."

"Afraid that the greater my hope, the greater the disappointment will be."

"Afraid that I won't live to see the day you become a god."

"Afraid that when the next Heavenly Tribulation descends, I will... never see you or Bing'er again."

She buried her head against Lan's chest.

Lan's heart felt as if it had been pierced sharply by something.

He reached out and gently pulled this supreme empress of the Far North into his embrace.

"That won't happen."

"Aunt Snow, trust me."

Snow Empress did not speak again, only held him tighter.

That night, the aurora was magnificent.

The sky had not yet fully brightened.

A sliver of light struggled to emerge from the horizon, casting the snowfield into a hazy shade of gray-blue.

Lan opened his eyes.

Beside him, the space was already ice-cold.

In the bed, only that faint, lingering scent—a mixture of ice, snow, and lotus—remained, proving that everything from last night was not a dream.

He sat up, his gaze fixed toward the direction of the Abyss of Frozen Ice outside the palace, remaining motionless for a long time.

"Awake?"

Ice Empress was already fully dressed, sitting on an ice chair not far away, her two fair, slender calves swinging.

Her expression lacked the drunkenness and reluctance of the previous night, having returned to her usual touch of haughtiness.

Yet, the slightly reddened rims of her eyes still betrayed her inner thoughts.

"Where is Aunt Snow?"

Lan asked softly.

"She left."

Ice Empress jumped down from the chair and walked to his side.

"Not long ago."

She pursed her lips, her tone carrying a hint of understanding and helplessness.

"Sister Snow is just like that."

"She looks icy and indifferent, as if she cares about nothing, but in truth, her heart is softer than anyone's; she fears these scenes of parting the most."

"She didn't want to watch you leave, and even less did she want you to see her crying."

Lan remained silent and nodded.

He understood.

"Alright, stop being so sentimental."

Ice Empress patted his arm, urging him.

"Hurry up, those two human girls must be getting impatient."

"It's time for us to set off as well."

When Lan and Ice Empress, who had transformed into her human form and was wearing a long emerald-green dress, appeared at the agreed-upon ice valley, Liu Ruyan and Shui Bing'er were already waiting there.

Seeing the two of them, especially the girl walking beside Lan who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen yet was as exquisite as a porcelain doll, Liu Ruyan and Shui Bing'er were both stunned for a moment.

But they quickly recovered and bowed respectfully.

"Let's go."

Lan offered no further explanation.

Liu Ruyan nodded and retrieved a map drawn on animal hide from her Soul Tool, spreading it out over a flat patch of ice.

"The journey from here to Heaven Dou Imperial City is a long one."

She pointed to a spot on the map, marking their current location on the outer edge of the core circle of the Far North.

"We need to cross this Far North Plateau first, then pass through Xueling Star Province and Di'ao Star Province in turn, before we can finally reach Heaven Dou Imperial City."

Ice Empress leaned her small head in to take a look and let out a disdainful huff.

"Isn't this just the distance from Nuoding City to that Star Dou Great Forest place? You call this far?"

Liu Ruyan and Shui Bing'er exchanged glances, feeling both amused and helpless.

For an ordinary soul master, this was a grueling journey that could take several months, or even half a year, to complete.

"I'm telling you," Ice Empress said, hands on her hips as she tilted her head to look at Shui Bing'er, "you lot really know how to make trouble for yourselves. Traveling all this way just for a soul ring?"