Three Years of Growth! Lan Has Grown Up!

Lan raised his eyes, looking at the Snow Empress's peerless, beautiful face just inches away.

Her snow-white hair, long enough to reach the ground, cascaded down like a waterfall, with a few strands even brushing lightly against his cheeks, tickling him.

Her eyelashes were long, casting shallow shadows beneath her eyes, and those pale blue pupils were currently filled with focus and tenderness.

So, this is... what a mother feels like?

"Look at him, he's eating so obediently."

The Ice Empress beside them had returned to her original form, crouching nearby, reaching out a finger to poke Lan's puffed-up cheek again.

Soft and squishy, it felt wonderful.

The Snow Empress ignored her mischief and simply responded softly.

"Mm."

Her gaze never once left Lan.

"Little one, you must grow up quickly."

The Ice Empress rested her chin in her hands, saying with a look of longing.

"When you grow up, you have to protect your Ice Empress sister, understand?"

Lan paused his feeding, raised his eyes, and glanced at her.

The Snow Empress gave her a faint glance and corrected her.

"It is mother."

The Ice Empress froze, then realized what she meant, a bashful blush appearing on her face, though she quickly puffed out her chest with righteous indignation.

"I am a mother too!"

Having said that, she looked at Lan again, teasing him with a grin.

"Did you hear that, little one? In the future, you must call me Mother Ice Empress, or Auntie is fine, or Big Sister works too..."

The Snow Empress watched her lack of decorum and shook her head helplessly, though the smile in her eyes grew increasingly gentle.

The wind and snow continued to howl.

But within this small ice cave, for the first time, there was the warmth of what one calls "home," all because of the arrival of this infant.

Time flew, and three years of winter and summer passed.

The wind and snow of the Far North seemed to never have a moment of rest.

On the endless ice field, two figures were crossing and colliding at high speed.

One of them was a human boy who looked only three years old.

He wore a thin black martial outfit that made his skin appear even fairer, his short, jet-black hair swaying slightly in the wind.

It was Lan.

At this moment, there was no expression on his face, and those black eyes—unchanged from three years ago—were as calm as an abyss, locked firmly onto his opponent.

It was a scorpion, its entire body emerald green, as if carved from jade.

An Ice Jade Scorpion.

One of the three great dominant species of the Far North, born with the power of Ultimate Ice.

The Ice Jade Scorpion before him was nearly a meter long, and its high-arched tail reached seventy centimeters, the venomous hook at the tip glinting with a lethal, dark green light under the refraction of the sun.

This was a soul beast with a cultivation of seven hundred years.

"Clang!"

A crisp sound of impact rang out.

Lan's figure flashed, appearing at the flank of the Ice Jade Scorpion like a ghost, his hand acting as a blade, striking precisely at the joint of the scorpion's leg.

The Ice Jade Scorpion cried out in pain, letting out a sharp hiss as its tail transformed into a green afterimage, sweeping fiercely toward Lan with a whistle that tore through the air!

Facing a strike capable of splitting stone, Lan's face remained as still as an ancient well.

He tapped his toes lightly on the ice, his body leaning backward at an incredible angle, the scorpion's tail sweeping past almost grazing the tip of his nose.

The fierce wind even blew up a few strands of black hair on his forehead.

In the blink of an eye, Lan exerted force from his waist, his body snapping up like a fully drawn bow.

Using that momentum, he braced his hands against the ice, his legs crossing like scissors as he kicked fiercely toward the relatively soft abdomen of the Ice Jade Scorpion.

The entire sequence of movements was fluid and natural, without a single wasted motion.

It did not look like a battle, but rather a dance of death on the ice, with life as the wager.

On an ice hill not far away, the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress stood side by side, quietly watching this sparring session.

"Look, Xue'er!"

Excitement flashed in the Ice Empress's dark green eyes as she couldn't help but nudge the Snow Empress beside her with her elbow.

"Lan'er's progress is just too fast!"

"I recall that just a few days ago, he was still struggling to deal with a measly hundred-year-old scorpion."

"And now, he's actually fighting a seven-hundred-year-old beast to a standstill!"

The tone of the Ice Empress was brimming with pride, as if she were showing off a peerless treasure of her own.

"Where on earth did he learn those elusive, ghostly techniques of his?"

The Ice Empress was utterly baffled.

A faint, fleeting smile appeared on the Snow Empress's cold, aloof face, like a snow lotus blooming quietly atop an icy peak.

"Those are things engraved deep within his soul."

She spoke indifferently, her voice as clear and melodious as ever.

The Ice Empress nodded as if she understood, then suddenly remembering something, she hurriedly shouted toward the battlefield.

"Lan!"

"Go easy on it! Don't actually kill it!"

She lowered her voice and muttered to the Snow Empress.

"This is the great-grand-niece of my seventh grand-uncle, specifically brought here to be a sparring partner. If I break it, I won't be able to explain myself."

The Ice Scorpion currently locked in combat with Lan heard the Ice Empress's words, and a trace of unspeakable grief and indignation welled up in its massive compound eyes.

Is my life easy?

I was sleeping soundly when the Empress of the Scorpion Clan dragged me out of my nest, claiming I was to be a sparring partner for her precious son.

Fine, I'll be a sparring partner.

But then Her Majesty issued a death order: I am not allowed to harm a single hair on the little ancestor's head.

And this little ancestor is something else—his strikes are so vicious, aiming for the joints and the gaps in my carapace, the most painful and lethal spots!

I dare not use my venomous stinger on him, and I can't use my full strength for fear of injuring him.

Is this even sparring?

This is clearly just a servant reading alongside a crown prince!

Life is hard, and it couldn't be harder than this.

The moment the Ice Scorpion was distracted, Lan seized the fleeting opening.

His figure vanished once again.

Alarm bells rang in the Ice Scorpion's mind, and it abruptly curled its body into a ball, protecting itself with its hard dorsal armor.

However, the anticipated attack did not come from the surroundings.

A cold sensation suddenly touched the back of its neck.

The Ice Scorpion froze.

It could feel a human palm resting quietly against the junction of its neck armor.

If that palm were to exert even the slightest force, the hidden energy within could instantly shatter its central nervous system.

The outcome was decided.

Lan withdrew his hand and stood up straight, looking at it expressionlessly. The killing intent and battle spirit in his dark eyes receded like a tide, returning to the clarity a child should possess.

The Ice Scorpion felt as if it had been granted a pardon; not daring to linger for a second, it scrambled away on its six legs, vanishing into the distant snow as if chased by ghosts.

"Hahaha, look at how cowardly it is!"

The Ice Empress stood with her hands on her hips, laughing until she swayed.

The Snow Empress shook her head helplessly, though her eyes were filled with doting affection.

Lan walked over to the two mothers on his short legs and tilted his head up to look at them.

"Well done!"

The Ice Empress stepped forward, scooped Lan up, and planted a firm kiss on his cheek.

"As expected of my, the Ice Empress's, son!"

The Snow Empress also reached out to gently smooth Lan's hair, which had been ruffled by the wind, and asked softly.

"Are you tired?"

Lan shook his head.

He leaned into the Ice Empress's embrace, looking at the two stunning women before him—one as passionate as fire, the other as gentle as water.

He suddenly spoke, his voice carrying the soft, milky tone peculiar to a child, though the content was vastly different from his appearance.

"It was too slow."