Zhang Lexuan had deliberately come on an empty stomach to eat with Su Qing. The main reason was that she would soon be taking her junior schoolmates on a surveillance mission, and she figured they wouldn't see each other again for ten days or half a month. She'd thought a candlelit dinner before she left would be romantic, but Ma Xiaotao's sudden appearance had caught her completely off guard. She'd even forgotten to take the candles out of her Storage Soul Tool.
But watching Su Qing eat filled her with happiness. She could say that what she liked most was the way he ate: saying nothing, stuffing his mouth full, cheeks puffed up as he chewed with his lips closed like a hamster. She didn't know how he could eat like that while wearing such a handsome face and still be completely at ease.
"I wish we could go on like this, simply and happily, for the rest of our lives."
Zhang Lexuan murmured to herself.
"Hmm? What did you say?"
Hearing Zhang Lexuan say something, Su Qing managed to mumble a few words through his stuffed mouth.
"Nothing. Hurry up and eat..."
As she spoke, she put another piece of red-oil Earth Dragon Tendon into his mouth.
After they'd eaten and drunk their fill, the two lingered together for a while. At last, Zhang Lexuan waved goodbye to him, meeting Su Qing's lingering gaze.
After that, Su Qing began a seemingly endless stretch of cultivation. But whenever Xiao Xiao came to ask him to go out and play, he happily agreed. After all, who could turn down an adorable little girl with a soft, sweet voice? Every time he followed the sound, he'd see half a little head peeking over the doorframe. Anyone would have been charmed!
At the end of the semester, Su Qing said hello to Huo Yuhao, who had gotten up early to carve Core Arrays in the Soul Tool Department, then spread his Wind-Gathering Wing-Weaving and flew away from Shrek City.
In truth, the vacation had already begun. Huo Yuhao was simply among the last students from the outer courtyard to leave because he still had a Soul Engineer rank examination to take. Of course, after tireless effort from both Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and himself, he'd finally reached level twenty by the end of the semester. He planned to leave school after the exam and go to the place Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had mentioned, where he would obtain a powerful Second Martial Soul.
As for Su Qing, he was already level thirty-nine and could certainly break through to level forty before the Soul Master Tournament. Ultimate Martial Souls cultivated slowly, but he had Innate Full Soul Power, after all. And since he'd eaten Immortal Herbs from a young age, his meridians were wider and clearer than those of ordinary people. Gaining a level every two months was no problem.
His destination this time was clear: the Far North. Though Huo Yuhao wasn't in conflict with him at present, the future was full of uncertainty. If there was even a chance they might become opponents, he wouldn't let Huo Yuhao obtain the greatest opportunities.
Of course, to keep Huo Yuhao from being unable to handle the deadly predicament he'd faced in the original story due to a lack of strength, Su Qing would definitely help him openly as a good friend. There was no reason not to build up affection. After all, if the child of destiny died by accident because of bad luck, who knew what Tang San might do next?
He'd already figured out how to win over Ice Empress. Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had convinced her to willingly sacrifice herself for Huo Yuhao with nothing but a verbal promise of a plan to make her a god. Su Qing, on the other hand, had an actual Godhood. All he needed to do was connect Ice Empress's spiritual power to his Sea of Consciousness, and the rest would be easy. But before showing himself to Ice Empress, he had to make a few other preparations. Otherwise, he might not even get a chance to speak.
Though he planned to take Ice Empress before Huo Gua, Huo Yuhao hadn't left school yet. And even if he left before Su Qing, there was no way he'd arrive first. In the original story, that hotheaded fool had walked all the way to the Far North. By the time you added the return trip and his fusion with Ice Empress, he'd even arrived several days late.
This had made Su Qing consider slowing down, but he quickly dismissed the idea. Time waited for no one. Growing too slowly was tantamount to placing one's life and death in an enemy's hands and trusting in their negligible compassion. He couldn't accept that. He didn't want someone else to die protecting him again just because he wasn't strong enough.
About nine days later, Su Qing finally set foot in the vast, snow-white Far North. Since there was no one like Di Tian in the Far North at this time, he once again used the same method of travel he'd used in the Star Dou Great Forest.
He used his spiritual power to scout the way, and whenever he encountered an opponent too powerful to defeat, he concealed himself with Ring Jade. That way, he could maintain his speed while safely reaching the core region of the Far North. Perhaps he'd gotten lucky from being so close with Huo Gua, but he flew straight to the core region without encountering a single high-year Soul Beast.
Faced with the core region of the Far North, a boundless expanse of white as far as the eye could see, Su Qing had no idea how to find Ice Empress. But then he remembered that she was about to undergo a tribulation, and an idea came to him at once. It was a little underhanded, but it would definitely work!
"Elemental Tide, Thunder Roars in the Nine Heavens!"
Hovering above a snow-covered mountain in the core region of the Far North, he let pale purple Soul Power surge around him. As his body was gradually engulfed in pale violet lightning, dark clouds gathered over much of the core region. Electricity crackled among them, and in the blink of an eye, torrents of purple lightning poured down from the sky. The thunderous roars of crisscrossing bolts reverberated throughout the entire region.
He'd learned this move from the God of Destruction. But with his current reserves of Soul Power, it had a wide range and little else. In terms of power, all it could do was make a loud noise.
"Rumble—"
The continuous thunder woke Ice Empress. Her golden eyes snapped open, and she instinctively channeled her power to resist the heavenly tribulation. But after scanning her surroundings, she realized she was still inside her cave.
"Who has so little sense as to dare undergo a tribulation in this Empress's territory?"
Still shaken from nearly being scared out of her soul, Ice Empress snapped angrily. To prevent the tribulation from coming, she'd been suppressing her strength with all her might and had been afraid to make a move. She'd almost brought the tribulation down just by instinctively channeling her Soul Power. She'd have a thing or two to say to whichever blind Soul Beast was responsible.
With that thought, she waved her pincers, broke through the frozen earth, and emerged aboveground.
"Hmm? Something's coming out..."
Thanks to his enhanced Spiritual Detection, Su Qing easily spotted an unusual presence. Such a powerful aura in such a small, delicate body—there was no mistaking it for anyone but Ice Empress. Having found his target, he immediately directed the lightning toward her. To make the scene more convincing, he even mixed in a tiny trace of God of Destruction Power. Normally, when God of Destruction Power appeared in the lower realm, the God of Destruction would notice. But mixed in with lightning, it was different.
They would simply assume that when a Soul Beast underwent a heavenly tribulation, the rules of heaven had forcibly drawn in ownerless God of Destruction Power. After all, though the God of Destruction might be connected to the God of Destruction Power in a tribulation, he didn't control it directly. He hardly had the time to watch every Soul Beast in the lower realm undergo a tribulation.
The way a tribulation carried God of Destruction Power was like a preprogrammed function: when a Soul Beast underwent a tribulation, it activated automatically. After all, mere lightning could hardly hurt a powerful Soul Beast. What usually killed them under a heavenly tribulation was the God of Destruction Power it contained.
What Su Qing wanted now was to make Ice Empress draw down the tribulation herself. That way, he could control the God of Destruction Power within it while also winning her over. As for scaring her... Su Qing planned to explain once they knew each other better.
"What! Why is this tribulation lightning striking this Empress?"