Xiao Yan: I Still Like Your Unruly Demeanor Just Now!

Seeing the Snow Empress with her eyes shining, looking like a salesperson who couldn't wait to make a pitch, Xiao Yan was momentarily speechless.

This Ice Heaven Snow Maiden, who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years and reigned supreme over the Extreme North, currently lacked even a shred of her usual cold, aloof demeanor. She was the spitting image of a fanatic who had discovered a peerless treasure and was desperate to drag all her friends and family in on the deal.

Xiao Yan shook his head inwardly: Snow Empress, I still prefer the way you looked when you were untamed and arrogant. Please, go back to that.

However, setting aside this jarring contrast, Xiao Yan naturally knew who the Snow Empress intended to bring.

In this frozen wasteland, the only ones who could make the Snow Empress care so much were the Ice Empress, ranked second among the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North, and the Ice Bear King Xiao Bai, her godson whom she had raised from a cub and treated as her own.

Getting these two fierce beasts on board was, for Xiao Yan, a dream come true.

Just moments ago, when the Snow Empress had sacrificed herself to transform into a spirit, the massive amount of origin energy had been almost entirely swallowed by the Eastern Emperor Bell, leaving him only the scraps to level up twice.

That great Buddha had finally had its fill for now; with another injection of hundred-thousand-year-level energy, the Eastern Emperor Bell shouldn't come out to snatch his food again.

When the time came, he would be able to use the foundations of the Ice Empress and Xiao Bai to accumulate a solid wave of soul power and push his cultivation up by a significant margin.

"Since you're willing, then call them over." Xiao Yan nodded in agreement and stepped aside.

Receiving permission, the Snow Empress immediately closed her eyes and folded her hands over her chest.

In her current state as a spirit, her source of power was already linked to Xiao Yan's soul power pool.

As she channeled it, the Taiji Innate Qi in Xiao Yan's meridians began to deplete rapidly.

Thanks to the newly acquired authority [Mystic Yellow Water Controller], although the Snow Empress had lost her physical form, her control over this icy world had not weakened; instead, it had received an incredible boost through this fundamental law.

She parted her lips slightly, and a high-pitched, clear cry soared into the sky.

The moment the cry escaped, the ten-thousand-year black ice surrounding the ice cave resonated violently.

Ignoring the obstruction of the wind and snow, the sound wave traveled in an incredibly domineering manner, conducting and refracting through the swirling snowflakes and ice crystals, instantly spreading to every corner of the Extreme North.

The pressure contained within the sound wave was on par with the full-force strike of a Limit Douluo!

However, this burst of power beyond the limit lasted for only three seconds.

The Snow Empress voluntarily cut off the sound wave and ceased her actions.

After all, Xiao Yan's current cultivation was only at level fifty, and his soul power reserves were limited; he simply couldn't support her in performing such high-intensity power output for long.

Three seconds of calling was enough.

After the cry subsided, the wind and snow in the Extreme North seemed to pause for a moment.

Immediately following, a dull tremor emanated from deep within the earth.

On the distant horizon, the grayish-white storm was torn asunder.

A streak of emerald light tore across the snowfield at a speed that ripped through the air, leaving a bottomless frost trench in its wake.

Behind that emerald light, a white shadow the size of a small mountain was charging forward, its footsteps shattering the glaciers as it roared.

Large chunks of ice rock were brutally smashed by the giant white beast, kicking up a sky full of snow dust.

At the entrance of the ice cave, Xiao Zhan leaned against the ice wall, listening to the roaring sound drawing closer, feeling the ice beneath his feet shaking violently.

He poked his head out to glance at the overwhelming commotion outside, then silently retreated back into the cave, very self-consciously clearing out most of the entrance.

A dignified level-ninety-six Super Douluo, he felt he had truly seen it all today in the core circle of the Extreme North.

First the seven-hundred-thousand-year Snow Empress, and now she had summoned two peerless fierce beasts he couldn't afford to provoke.

Xiao Zhan was numb by now; he felt that even if his son were to call over Di Tian, the Beast God of the Star Dou Forest, to join them for a game of cards in the next second, he wouldn't be surprised.

"Boom!"

The wind surged backward, and the ice and snow exploded.

The two soul beasts stopped abruptly outside the ice cave.

A scorpion over a meter and a half long lay on the snow.

Its entire body was the color of crystalline, translucent ice jade. Its forebody was covered in hexagonal protrusions as brilliant as diamonds, its two massive pincers emitted a chilling, ghostly light, and the long scorpion tail behind it stood high, a lethal emerald halo flickering on the stinger.

This was the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, the Ice Empress, ranked second among the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North.

Beside the Ice Empress was a terrifyingly large bear.

Standing upright, it was over twenty meters tall. Its thick white fur rippled in the wind, and the white mist exhaled from its gaping maw instantly froze into ice shards. This was the Ice Bear King, Xiao Bai.

The moment the two fierce beasts stood still, they sensed the human aura within the ice cave.

Killing intent surged in the Ice Empress's yellow-diamond-like eyes. Her scorpion tail stiffened, ready to release ice spikes at any moment to turn the human inside into a pincushion.

Xiao Bai let out a deafening roar, raising a bear paw capable of shattering city walls, intending to flip the ice cave over.

"Stop!"

The Snow Empress's voice echoed from deep within the cave.

The two beasts, ready to strike, froze instantly.

Xiao Bai's raised paw hung awkwardly in mid-air; it whimpered in grievance and slowly lowered it.

"Bing'er, Xiao Bai, no rudeness. Come in and speak."

Hearing the Snow Empress's command, the two fierce beasts outside immediately retracted their killing intent.

A dazzling emerald light erupted from the Ice Empress's body, her massive scorpion form rapidly shrinking and reshaping within the radiance.

When the light dissipated, a young girl who appeared to be no more than twelve or thirteen years old stood in the snow.

She wore her long, emerald-green hair in neat twin tails, adorned with delicate scorpion-claw-shaped hairpins, and a small ice-crystal crown rested atop her head.

Her cold, orange-gold eyes scanned the surroundings, her skin snow-white and translucent, with a faint, pale-green shimmer pulsing beneath the surface.

She was dressed in a short, white-and-green spliced dress with a furry, ice-patterned shawl draped over her shoulders, and a jade-green scorpion tail flickered in and out of sight behind her layered skirt.

Her entire aura was dainty yet chillingly arrogant; just by standing there, the surrounding snowflakes spontaneously drifted away from her.

Beside her, Xiao Bai followed suit, his massive body shrinking amidst a puff of white smoke until he became a round, white bear less than a meter tall, looking almost endearingly clumsy.

The young girl and the white bear stepped forward, passing through the path Xiao Zhan had cleared, and entered the ice cavern.

The moment she stepped inside, the Ice Empress's gaze bypassed the Snow Empress and locked firmly onto Xiao Yan and Electrolux, her orange-gold eyes filled with hostility.

"Xue'er, what is the meaning of this? Why are you staying with humans? And your body..." The Ice Empress noticed the Snow Empress's current energy-form state, her expression changing drastically as her tone grew urgent.

The Snow Empress sighed and raised a hand to stop the Ice Empress's questioning.

She turned around and recounted the perilous events that had just transpired, exactly as they had occurred.

From absorbing the energy of the hundred-thousand-year Snow Lotus in preparation for transformation, to the despicable sneak attack by the human soul engineer, to the life-and-death crisis triggered by the shattering of the God-Sealing Platform, and finally, the entire process of Electrolux setting up the Soul Spirit Magic Array to convert her into a Soul Spirit—she left nothing out.

As they listened to the Snow Empress's account, the expressions of the Ice Empress and Xiao Bai began to shift.

The hostility gradually faded, replaced by lingering fear and shock.

The soul beasts of the Extreme North were simple-minded, and the Snow Empress was the leader they trusted most in this world; naturally, they did not doubt the truth of her words.

Moreover, the Snow Empress stood before them now, completely unharmed, and her abundant origin energy and complete, independent consciousness were the most compelling proof of the Soul Spirit Contract.

The contract that allowed one to retain their intelligence, cultivate autonomously, and even survive independently of a host shattered the Ice Empress's inherent understanding.

The Ice Empress's gaze toward Xiao Yan became complex; she was well aware of the seven-hundred-thousand-year tribulation the Snow Empress was about to face, and she knew that her own impending four-hundred-thousand-year tribulation was an equally insurmountable dead end.

Now, a path to the heavens that bypassed the cycle of reincarnation and even offered the hope of stepping into the God Realm lay right before her.