Titan Snow Demon

"Come again!" Long Chen roared, about to charge forward once more.

"Enough!" Ice Empress's cold voice rang out, carrying a trace of barely perceptible gravity and wariness.

Her jade-green eyes swept over Long Chen and Xue Qinglan, who stood ready and whose auras were linked, before finally piercing Ling Han, protected at the center, like ice cones.

She had seen through it. That youth with the strange dragon spirit was the true core!

A First Soul Ring that dared absorb a five-thousand-year top-tier soul beast, with two peak experts of differing attributes, both at the Super Douluo level, personally guarding him?!

This was definitely not something an ordinary faction could produce!

The Upper Three Sects? Or... some reclusive super sect? Perhaps even... an agent of the gods? Ice Empress's thoughts raced. Having lived for three hundred thousand years, she understood the complexity of the human world and the terror of those hidden powers.

To fight two Super Douluo to the death over a five-thousand-year subject, perhaps even drawing out even more terrifying beings behind them—the price was too great! Especially at such a critical moment, with her next heavenly tribulation approaching!

"Hmph!" Ice Empress snorted coldly. Jade light blazed around her as the Eternal Frost Domain slowly contracted, yet its terrifying pressure remained locked onto the three of them.

"Humans, consider yourselves lucky this time! Take your little master and get out of the Great North! If you dare enter the core region again and slaughter my people..."

Her icy gaze, like tangible blades of frost, scraped across Ling Han's face. "...No matter who stands behind you, I, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, will flatten your sect and freeze you here for all eternity!"

Before her words had even faded, jade light flashed. Ice Empress transformed into a streak that tore through the freezing wind, vanishing into the depths of the vast ice plains in an instant. The suffocating, terrifying pressure vanished with her like a receding tide, leaving behind only an ice-chip-strewn battlefield and two humans and one spirit who had survived disaster.

"Huff... huff..." Only after Ice Empress's aura had completely dissipated from heaven and earth did Ling Han dare to gasp for breath. Cold sweat had long soaked through his inner clothes, and every limb and bone still carried the weakness of having just escaped the gates of hell.

"She... she ran away? Uncle Long, you're incredible! Sister Xue, that was amazing!" Ling Han's voice trembled with the lingering shock of survival.

Xue Qinglan's face was slightly pale. The Ice Phoenix phantom had faded, and her aura was somewhat unsteady. Clearly, her clash with Ice Empress's domain had cost her greatly.

The crimson-gold flames around Long Chen slowly receded as well, restoring his human form. He gave Xue Qinglan a slight nod, then turned his lightning-sharp gaze toward Ling Han.

His booming voice carried rock-solid loyalty and a trace of appraisal. "Long Chen! I have come at the young master's command!"

"Long Chen! I have come at the young master's command!" He turned his gaze toward Ling Han, his eyes carrying absolute loyalty and a trace of scrutiny, as though confirming Ling Han's condition.

Only now did Ling Han truly recover from his immense fright and shock.

He looked at the Level 97 Titled Douluo before him, who radiated terrifying heat and possessed an imposing presence like the blazing sun. Feeling the undisguised loyalty emanating from him, an indescribable surge of wild joy and confidence instantly swept away all his fear!

"Hahahahaha!"

Ling Han could not help planting his hands on his hips and laughing loudly. His laughter echoed across the empty ice plains, filled with the exhilaration of surviving catastrophe and the excitement of possessing such a powerful trump card.

"Awesome! Absolutely awesome! So what if she's Ice Empress? So what if she's a three-hundred-thousand-year fierce beast? Didn't my bodyguards still scare her away?!"

He smugly raised his middle finger toward the direction Ice Empress had disappeared in. "Ice scorpion! I'll remember you! Once my level rises, the first thing I'll do is come back to 'catch up' with you! And another thing, there's nobody behind me! I'm my own greatest backing! Hahaha!"

Ding! Detected that Ice Empress (three hundred thousand years) retreated out of wariness. Host successfully resolved a fatal crisis!

Ding! Summoning Card (Long Chen) has been used. Long Chen (Level 97 Titled Douluo, spirit: Blazing Sacred Dragon) will remain permanently in this world and maintain Absolute Loyalty to the host until the host cancels the summoning or Long Chen dies in battle.

Ding! Additional reward: Because the host endured Ice Empress's pressure and successfully resolved the crisis, mental power has been tempered, and the sea of consciousness has expanded slightly. Understanding of the initially activated permissions of the Eternal Frost Domain has deepened.

Feeling the surging Soul Power within him, his powerful First Soul Skill, the newly acquired Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, and the two peerless Super Douluo-level bodyguards at his side—one Level 96 ice, one Level 97 fire—Ling Han felt his spirits soar!

"Sister Xue, Uncle Long!" Ling Han swept his hand grandly, his gaze sharp. "This place is still dangerous. That scorpion Ice Empress has a mind narrower than a needle's point—she might come back for another attack! Retreat! Let's leave this core region first!"

Xue Qinglan looked at Ling Han's high-spirited appearance, then glanced at Long Chen, who was silent as a mountain yet possessed a majestic aura. A faint, nearly imperceptible smile and relief passed through the depths of her ice-blue eyes. She nodded gently. "All right."

Long Chen answered in a deep voice, like a great bell. "At the young master's command, Long Chen shall guard your side without fear of death!"

Xue Qinglan waved her jade-like hand, and a gentle halo of ice-blue Soul Power instantly enveloped Ling Han.

At the same time, crimson-gold light flashed around Long Chen, and a warm, vast domain of flames abruptly spread out, steadily enveloping all three of them.

This domain not only shut out the piercing cold, but also provided powerful protection and dispelling effects.

The dazzling streams of ice-blue and crimson-gold light soared into the sky once more, guarding the youth at their center as they sped toward the outer reaches of the Great North.

With Long Chen's Level 97 Super Douluo flame domain clearing the way, their retreat was several times faster than their journey in. The powerful ice-type soul beasts along the way sensed the terrifying aura of ice and fire intertwined, at the Super Douluo level, and fled far away without even daring to spy on them.

Just as they were about to fly beyond the edge of the core region and enter an Ice Valley surrounded by massive glaciers, where the terrain was comparatively level, a sudden change occurred!

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

Heavy footsteps, like an earthquake, came from behind a glacier to their front side. Every step made the ice violently tremble! An enormous white figure, like a moving mountain, suddenly smashed through a small ice peak and appeared in the three people's field of vision!

It was a terrifying giant beast over fifteen meters tall! Its entire body was covered in thick, snow-white fur as hard as rock. Its knotted muscles resembled granite, and its incomparably thick arms nearly touched the ground. Its savage head bore only a single enormous eye, flashing with violent red light! A fierce, freezing aura filled with primal power rushed toward them!

A ten-thousand-year soul beast—the Titan Snow Demon! Judging by its size and might, it was at least an elite specimen with over ten thousand years of cultivation!

"Roar—!!!" The Titan Snow Demon had clearly been attracted—or rather, enraged—by the heat and powerful Soul Power fluctuations emanating from Long Chen's flame domain. It threw back its head and unleashed an earth-shaking roar, its single eye fixed on the three people in the air, brimming with the desire to attack! It fiercely beat its solid chest, creating thunderous drumlike booms, then leaped high into the air like a cannonball. Its enormous frost-covered fist carried a gale that ripped through the air as it smashed viciously toward the crimson-gold domain!

"Courting death!" A sharp light flashed in Long Chen's eyes. A mere ten-thousand-year soul beast dared provoke him? He was about to act and burn it to ashes.

"Wait! Uncle Long!" Ling Han's eyes suddenly lit up. Looking at the incomparably mighty Titan Snow Demon was like looking at an unparalleled treasure. "Don't kill it! Keep it alive! It's mine!"

Ding! Detected highly compatible target soul beast: ten-thousand-year Titan Snow Demon (strength/defense-type top-tier ice soul beast, estimated age: 11,500 years). Extremely compatible with the Extreme Power attribute of the host's Ice Hell Dragon Emperor Spirit! Recommended for capture and absorption as the Second Soul Ring!

"Sister Xue, Uncle Long! Help me hold it down! I need it alive! Don't damage it!" Ling Han shouted excitedly, pointing at the menacing beast charging toward them.

Xue Qinglan instantly understood Ling Han's intent, a flash of realization passing through her eyes. Though Long Chen was somewhat surprised—his young master's first ring had only been five thousand years, yet he dared challenge a ten-thousand-year beast for his second?—his loyalty made him execute the order without hesitation.

"Wretched beast, how dare you act so recklessly!" Long Chen shouted. He did not even use a Soul Skill. He merely clenched his hand at the charging Titan Snow Demon from afar!

Buzz!

A massive Dragon Claws formed entirely of pure crimson-gold flames appeared out of thin air. It crossed the distance in an instant and seized the Titan Snow Demon, which had leaped into midair, as easily as grabbing a chick!

The terrifying extreme heat and the absolute suppressive power of a Level 97 Titled Douluo instantly rendered this ten-thousand-year fierce beast, famed for its strength, unable to move. Even its roar became a pained whimper, while the snow-white fur across its body began to emit a scorched stench!

At the same time, Xue Qinglan made her move as well. With a flick of her slender finger, an ice-blue current of cold precisely shot into the Titan Snow Demon's open mouth!

Absolute Zero · Iceheart Soul-Seal!