Reunion, Deciding to Rebuild Frost Ridge City

Snow Emperor watched their death throes, the corners of her mouth curling slightly.

"Ants daring to dance before me."

With a flick of her wrist, the Ice Crystal Sword traced a circle in mid-air, and a cold moon rose from the tip of the blade.

Wherever the light touched, the Yin-Yang Stasis Domain began to crumble from the edges.

Chrysanthemum Douluo's eyes widened, his golden pupils filled with disbelief.

He desperately poured his remaining soul power into the domain, attempting to stabilize the collapsing barrier, but that ice-blue power was too overwhelming; it was nothing short of a crushing force.

Before Snow Emperor, their martial soul fusion skill was like a three-year-old child brandishing a wooden sword against a fully armored knight—they were simply not in the same league.

"Old Ghost! Hold on!" Chrysanthemum Douluo's voice was raspy with despair.

Ghost Douluo did not speak, for he could no longer hold on.

Snow Emperor's Ice Crystal Sword descended.

An ice-blue sword aura flew from the blade.

The aura sliced silently through the bodies of Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo, then dissipated into the darkness of the ice cave.

Chrysanthemum Douluo's movements ceased.

He remained in his seal-casting posture, hands crossed before him, golden petals suspended around his body.

His eyes stopped moving.

Across his chest, a thin red line extended from his left shoulder to his right ribcage; beads of blood seeped from the line, dripping onto the ground one by one with a faint patter.

Ghost Douluo's body stiffened where he stood before collapsing heavily to the ground.

Snow Emperor withdrew the Ice Crystal Sword, glanced at the two corpses on the floor, then looked at Luo Yun.

"Are there any more?"

"No," Luo Yun said.

Snow Emperor nodded, transforming into a streak of ice-blue light that merged back into Luo Yun's palm.

Ice Emperor also turned into a jade-green light and returned to the Contract Space. The ice cave fell completely silent.

Luo Yun turned and walked back to his mother.

Shen Yinshuang was still leaning against the ice wall, covered by Luo Shang's outer robe. Her face remained pale, though she looked slightly better than before.

The Source of Life had repaired most of her injuries, but the excessive depletion could not be recovered in a short time.

Her eyelashes fluttered, and her brows were slightly furrowed, as if she were having a nightmare.

Luo Yun knelt down, took his mother's hand, and a jade-green glow flowed slowly from his palm into her body.

This time, he did not force the Source of Life to operate at full power; instead, he let it flow like a gentle stream, nourishing his mother's frail body bit by bit.

Shen Yinshuang's eyelids twitched. Then, slowly and with great difficulty, she opened them.

The first thing she saw was the dome of the ice cave, covered in cracks and icicles.

Her gaze moved slowly, shifting from the dome to the ice walls, from the walls to the shattered ice on the ground, and finally to the child kneeling beside her, holding her hand, covered in blood.

The child's hair was black, and his eyes were black—no scarlet killing intent, no dark purple destruction, just the pure, clean black she was familiar with.

Shen Yinshuang's eyes widened abruptly.

"Xiao Yun?"

Her voice was so hoarse it was barely audible, but the moment those two words left her lips, Luo Yun's body trembled slightly.

His eyes turned red; after the scarlet faded from his gaze, those black eyes were filled with moisture.

"Mother." His voice was very soft, so soft it felt as if he were speaking in a dream.

Shen Yinshuang sat up abruptly and pulled Luo Yun into her arms.

Her movement was so sudden that it tugged at her wounds, but she felt no pain.

There was only one thought in her mind.

Her son, her son was still alive, her son had returned.

"Xiao Yun... Xiao Yun..." She repeated the name over and over, like a mantra.

Her hands stroked Luo Yun's back, confirming that his body was whole.

Luo Yun's robes were stained with blood, ice shards, and the various marks of battle, but Shen Yinshuang did not care. She simply held him, holding him tightly as if to knead him into her own body.

Luo Yun was squeezed so hard he could barely breathe, but he did not struggle.

He closed his eyes, burying his face in his mother's shoulder, inhaling that familiar scent that belonged to her.

There was no smell of blood, no smell of char, only the scent he had known since childhood.

His tears fell.

From the moment Frost Ridge City was burned to the ground, he had not cried.

He did not cry when he slaughtered the Spirit Hall soul masters on the ruins, he did not cry when he killed the death-row inmates in the dungeon, he did not cry when he fought his way through one hundred matches in Slaughter City, and he did not cry when he conquered Ice Emperor and Snow Emperor in the Far North.

But he was crying now, silently, tears falling drop by drop onto his mother's clothes, blooming into small, dark stains.

Luo Shang leaned against an ice pillar, watching the mother and son embrace, his own eyes reddening.

He turned his face away, wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and then looked back at them, a smile hanging on his lips that he hadn't even realized was there.

Their family was finally reunited.

It was unknown how much time had passed before Shen Yinshuang finally let go of Luo Yun, though her hand still gripped his sleeve tightly, as if afraid he might run away.

She looked him up and down, from his hair to his eyes, from his eyes to his nose, from his nose to his mouth, and then to every scar on his body. Her lips trembled as she tried to say something, but with a thousand words stuck in her throat, she finally managed to squeeze out only one.

"You've grown thin."

Luo Yun froze for a moment, then smiled.

The smile was faint and stained with tears, but it was the first time he had truly smiled since leaving Frost Ridge City.

"Mother, you've grown thin, too."

Shen Yinshuang's tears fell again, but this time she laughed—laughing while crying, crying while laughing, like a madwoman.

Luo Shang crawled over from the ice pillar, reached out his arms to pull the mother and son into his embrace, and without saying a word, simply held them tight.

The ice cave fell silent.

Only the sound of the wind poured in from the cave entrance, carrying the unique chill and the scent of ice and snow from the Far North.

A long time later, Luo Yun spoke.

"Father, Mother, let us rebuild Frost Ridge City."

Luo Shang's hand paused.

He loosened his grip, looked at his son, remained silent for a moment, and then shook his head.

"Xiao Yun, my reputation now... Spirit Hall has branded me with the crime of colluding with the soul beasts of the Far North." Luo Shang's voice was low, carrying an indescribable bitterness.

"The commoners and generals in the Northern Territory who once followed me have all been slaughtered by Spirit Hall. If we return now, it would be no different than walking into a trap. My life is of no consequence, but you and your mother..."

"Father." Luo Yun interrupted him. In those black eyes, there was no killing intent, no anger, only something heavy and reassuring.

"We will build our strength in the shadows first; there is no need to rush the rebuilding."

Luo Shang looked at him, saying nothing.