The core region of the Far North Lands.
Snow whirled in the wind and fell in soft flurries. The world was white, and all was silent.
Yet two figures had appeared in this godforsaken place.
"Seriously, Xiao Chen, what exactly is that thing your teacher sent you to find? I've been wandering around the Far North Lands with you for half a month now," Du Busi said impatiently.
"Come on, old man, what are you getting worked up about? This is a great opportunity." Xiao Jinchen casually brushed back his long black hair.
Huo Yuhao really was slow. Xiao Jinchen had come here specifically to snatch the Ice Empress, and that was why he had been wandering around the Far North Lands for half a month.
"Vmm!"
Just then, a terrifying wave of spiritual power swept out from the core region of the Far North Lands, sending the surrounding Soul Beasts fleeing in every direction.
"Old man! It's over there!" Xiao Jinchen's eyes suddenly lit up. He pointed toward the place the spiritual fluctuation had come from.
At his words, Du Busi clenched his fist. A surge of dark green Soul Power swept Xiao Jinchen up and carried him flying in the direction he'd pointed.
As they drew closer, an even more terrifying wave of Soul Power rolled off a scorpion.
The scorpion was about a meter and a half long. Its body was two colors: the color of ice and jade green.
This Soul Beast was none other than the Ice Empress, ranked second among the Three Great Kings of the Far North!
Du Busi stopped not far from the Ice Empress, his eyes filled with shock.
"This is what you came to find?" Du Busi asked, stunned. "Xiao Chen, do you know what this is? This is the Ice Empress, ranked second among the Three Great Kings of the Far North!"
"Of course I know. And she's exactly who I'm after." Xiao Jinchen calmly waved a hand. "Just follow my lead, old man. When have I ever let you down?"
"Mm, true." Du Busi nodded. "Even if something goes wrong, I can still get you out."
"Huh? Is that a maggot? And one made of spiritual power?" Du Busi said in surprise when he spotted the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm floating before the Ice Empress.
At the very moment Du Busi finished speaking, a faint white film of light silently spread along the ground, enveloping the Ice Empress.
Du Busi's pupils contracted at the sight. His just-settled nerves surged all over again. What had he just seen? The Ice Empress, one of the mighty Three Great Kings of the Far North, had been trapped—and by a maggot using some unknown method!
"She's already been trapped by the Remnant Shell." Xiao Jinchen's lips curved slightly as he murmured.
"Bingbing, this isn't the place to talk. I'll take you somewhere else." The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm spoke softly and began leading the Ice Empress toward the outer regions of the Far North Lands.
"Old man! Follow that white light!" Xiao Jinchen shouted. Before he'd even finished speaking, Du Busi had already understood and was carrying him after the white film.
"Old man, wait. Don't go straight in." Only after they followed the white film to the outer region of the Far North Lands did Xiao Jinchen call Du Busi to a stop.
"Xiao Chen, are you planning to capture the Ice Empress?" Du Busi asked, watching Xiao Jinchen's calm expression.
"You guessed right, old man. Just not yet." Xiao Jinchen's lips curled in a sly smile.
"A child? How could there be a child here?" Du Busi quickly spotted a child standing where the white film had stopped and exclaimed in surprise once more.
The events of the past few moments had hit Du Busi hard. First the Ice Empress had appeared, then she'd been captured, and now he was faced with this scene.
Du Busi's question went unanswered. Xiao Jinchen simply stared fixedly at the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm below, who was trying to persuade the Ice Empress.
"Bingbing, stop struggling. You've tried it so many times already. You should know it won't work," the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said in its languid, distinctive voice.
The Ice Empress said coldly, "What do you want?"
"I only want to be with the one I love forever," the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said gently.
"This is how you love me?" The Ice Empress's voice was icy.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm smiled faintly. "Don't be impatient. Hear me out."
After the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm talked her around for a while, the Ice Empress seemed to be swayed.
"Do I even have another choice?" The Ice Empress said coolly.
"Fine, I'll agree. Release your Spiritual Origin. You don't expect me to let you go just like that, do you? With your temper, I'd never feel safe." The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm spoke slowly.
"Fine. I'll trust you." The Ice Empress murmured.
Then her crystal-yellow eyes gradually turned jade green, and the long jade-green tail of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion rose once more.
A soft green glow began rippling backward from the base of her tail, finally gathering at the tip of her stinger. A flash of green light, and a tiny jade-green orb separated from her, slowly floating upward.
The eyes of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's body immediately lost their brilliance and dimmed.
That was her Spiritual Origin.
"Dead maggot! Let go of my Bingbing!" Seeing the Ice Empress release her Spiritual Origin, Xiao Jinchen abruptly activated Three Thousand Lightning Movement. His body turned into a streak of blue lightning and shot forward.
"Someone's here?" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm gaped at Xiao Jinchen, who'd suddenly burst out. "I scanned a hundred li with my spiritual power. How could there be anyone here?"
"Sucking Palm!" Xiao Jinchen shouted. The Fallen Heart Flame surged from his arm, reaching to drag in the Ice Empress's Spiritual Origin.
"Tian Meng! You bastard! You actually teamed up with humans! I'll kill you!" The Ice Empress shrieked. She'd never imagined the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm would join forces with humans to harm her.
Before the Ice Empress could finish speaking, Xiao Jinchen's Fallen Heart Flame had already enveloped her Spiritual Origin. He then stored it in a jade bottle and sealed it away.
Watching the jade bottle shake in his hand, Xiao Jinchen smiled with satisfaction and casually tucked it into his Storage Ring.
"What?" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm jolted in shock, then roared as realization struck. "Ah! My Bingbing! My Bingbing! Damn human, give her back!"
"Ah! Die!" In a fury, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm unleashed a soul shock at Xiao Jinchen. This was a soul shock released with its million-year Spiritual Origin, and it held nothing back.
"Boom!"
Before the soul shock could hit Xiao Jinchen, a dark green figure suddenly dropped from the sky. A violent wave of Soul Power swept outward, and the ground instantly cracked apart.
"Ah!" Huo Yuhao cried out in pain as his slight frame was blasted backward.
Since the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was in a spiritual state, Du Busi hadn't deliberately attacked it with spiritual power. As a result, only Huo Yuhao had been caught in the impact.
"Brother Sky Dream, what do we do?" Huo Yuhao struggled to sit up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was at a loss. If Electrolux hadn't just stepped in to block part of Du Busi's attack from inside Huo Yuhao's mind, Huo Yuhao would already have been dead.
"Run! We're putting Plan B into action!" The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was close to tears. They'd been so close to success, but an unexpected obstacle had appeared out of nowhere and thrown the whole plan into disarray.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hurriedly wrapped Huo Yuhao in its spiritual power and sped away through the ice and snow.