Ice Empress's Reward

By the end, Ice Empress's voice had grown quieter and quieter, as though something were lodged in her throat.

She had always been proud and never easily showed weakness before others, but at this moment, she found herself unable to finish a single sentence.

Tears welled in her eyes. She bit her lip stubbornly, refusing to let them fall.

In the end, she said nothing. She merely threw herself into Lin Yaoyang's arms and hugged him tightly.

Her face was buried against his chest, her small body trembling slightly.

Lin Yaoyang froze for a moment, then gently patted her back. His voice was as soft as if he were comforting a child. "Bing'er, don't be sad. Every time I come back, I'll bring you lots of tasty food, all right?"

Ice Empress lifted her head from his embrace. Her eyes were red, as was the tip of her nose, making her look pitifully aggrieved.

"Then... then it's a promise!"

"It's a promise."

"You're not allowed to lie!"

"I won't."

"Liars are puppies!"

"Fine, liars are puppies."

Only then was Ice Empress satisfied. She buried her face again and muttered, "Then remember, I like sweet things..."

Lin Yaoyang did not know whether to laugh or cry. "All right, all right. Sweet things. I'll remember."

Snow Empress, standing to one side: "..."

Were you really this easy to appease?

Watching the scene, the corners of her lips could not help curving upward slightly. Yet deep in her eyes lay a trace of reluctance that was difficult to detect.

Unlike Ice Empress, she did not wear all her emotions on her face. Hundreds of thousands of years had taught her how to hide her feelings.

But only she knew that when she heard the words "go to an academy," her heart had tightened slightly as well.

It was simply that she knew this child did not belong to the Extreme North.

He belonged to a broader world.

After a moment of silence, Snow Empress spoke.

"Do you really want to go to an academy?"

Lin Yaoyang released Ice Empress, turned around, and nodded earnestly.

"Yes, Xue'er."

Snow Empress looked at him.

The twelve-year-old boy stood on the ice before Snow Palace, his orange-red short hair still striking beneath the gloomy sky. His eyes were bright, as though two tiny suns were hidden within them.

Those eyes held anticipation, resolve, and reluctance.

She knew the time had come.

"All right." Snow Empress sighed softly, stepped forward, and gently ruffled his hair.

"When the time comes, I'll take you there."

Lin Yaoyang's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Mm." Snow Empress smiled faintly. "But before that, you have to get through these next two months. And..."

She paused, her gaze turning serious.

"Have you decided which academy you want to attend?"

Lin Yaoyang nodded, a glimmer flashing through his eyes.

"I have."

He raised his head and looked south.

"Shrek," he said.

Snow Empress's brows furrowed slightly.

"Shrek?"

"Mm." The corners of Lin Yaoyang's lips rose into a meaningful curve. "Shrek."

"I heard it's the number one academy on the continent. I'll go take a look."

Two months was neither particularly long nor particularly short.

Lin Yaoyang's life over those two months was fulfilling and simple.

He cultivated during the day and spent his evenings with Snow Empress and Ice Empress.

His Soul Power had already reached level thirty-nine in the two months before returning to the Extreme North.

After several months of accumulation, along with the occasional sunlight in the Extreme North aiding his cultivation, he finally broke through to level forty.

After level thirty, the restrictions of his ultimate attribute began to show. His cultivation speed was indeed much slower than that of ordinary soul masters, but fortunately, his first three Soul Rings had all been Thousand-Year Soul Rings absorbed beyond his level. Every breakthrough had brought an accumulation of Soul Power far beyond that of ordinary people.

Coupled with his unwavering daily diligence in cultivation, this allowed him to reach the Soul Ancestor realm at the age of twelve.

A twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor.

Even in the entire history of Douluo Continent, such talent would be worthy of being recorded in the annals.

Early morning, Extreme North Core Area, Snow Palace.

In Lin Yaoyang's room, a faint beam of dawn filtered through the ice-crystal window, casting mottled shadows across the bed.

He had long since awakened, but he did not dare move.

Because Ice Empress was nestled in his arms, sleeping soundly.

She wore that emerald-green nightgown, her petite body curled into a ball, her head resting in the crook of his arm. Her breathing was even and deep. Her twin ponytails had come undone, and her long emerald-green hair spread across the pillow, gleaming softly in the morning light.

The corners of her delicate little face were slightly raised, as though she were having a pleasant dream.

Watching her sleeping face, Lin Yaoyang could not help sighing softly.

When he was younger, Snow Empress and Ice Empress had taken turns sleeping beside him.

He had been little then and had not thought anything of it.

After awakening his martial soul, he had taken the initiative to suggest sleeping separately. The two women had agreed with cheerful smiles at the time.

But their understanding was clearly different from his.

To them, "sleeping separately" probably meant changing from "sleeping together every day" to "sleeping together every few days." And the frequency showed no sign of decreasing whatsoever.

Over the past two months, Ice Empress had become even worse. Every night, she would righteously slip into his blankets, saying things like, "You're leaving soon, and you still won't let me hug you more?"

If Snow Empress had not been watching nearby, Lin Yaoyang seriously suspected Ice Empress would have devoured him completely.

As for Snow Empress... though she wore an expression of "I can't control her," she would occasionally come sleep with him for several days too.

As he thought about this, his gaze unconsciously fell on Ice Empress's face again.

Just then, those bright yellow eyes suddenly opened.

Their eyes met.

Ice Empress stared straight at him, her gaze so clear that she did not look like someone who had just woken up.

Lin Yaoyang froze, then instinctively reached out and touched her little hand. Ice Empress's hand was small and soft, her fingertips carrying a faint chill.

"Bing'er..." He had only just opened his mouth when his words were stopped.

Ice Empress propped herself up and lightly kissed his cheek, the movement as natural as though she had done it ten thousand times.

Then she lay back down, buried her face in the hollow of his neck, and said in a muffled voice, "Just come back early."

Her voice was very soft, so soft it seemed she was speaking only to herself.

Lin Yaoyang opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.

After a brief silence, he deliberately adopted a relaxed tone. "Maybe this time, I can find some opportunities to help Bing'er and Xue'er break through."

Ice Empress raised her head from his neck, a trace of helplessness flashing through her bright yellow eyes.

"Let's hope so." She sighed. "But don't be too anxious. Just focus on cultivating. Given Xue'er and my cultivation, the external aids we need for a breakthrough are no ordinary treasures. We'd need Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, or the legendary Immortal Herbs."

She spoke very calmly, as if stating an impossible fact.

Of course, Lin Yaoyang knew where Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow could be found.

He also knew where the Immortal Herbs could be found.

It was simply that, in Ice Empress and Snow Empress's eyes, he had spent all these years immersed in cultivation and rarely gone out. It was even less likely that he would know the whereabouts of such heavenly treasures.

He planned to pretend that he had happened to hear the information outside when he returned next time, then tell them about it.

"Maybe I really can find them?" he said with a smile.

Ice Empress could not help smiling at his earnest expression. She reached out and poked his cheek, her tone suddenly turning somewhat sly. "If you really can find them... well, then I'll give you a reward."

"What reward?"

"It's a secret." Ice Empress rolled over and sat up, her emerald-green hair cascading down like a waterfall. "We'll talk once you find them."

She jumped off the bed, her bare feet stepping onto the cold profound-ice floor. Then she looked back and winked at him.

"All right, get up quickly. Xue'er is still waiting for you outside."