Di Tian stood with his hands behind his back, his black robes snapping in the frigid winds of the Far North. Facing Snow Empress's question, his stern face remained expressionless. He merely turned slightly, revealing Lin Shuo behind him.
"Master, these two are Snow Empress and Ice Empress," Di Tian said respectfully.
Master? Snow Empress's icy blue eyes narrowed slightly. Di Tian had actually called a human his master?
Although she knew of the Lord of Soul Beasts, that title should belong to the Golden Dragon King or the Silver Dragon King—or, failing that, one of the Nine Great Dragon Kings. Yet this boy was unmistakably human.
Ice Empress reacted more directly. Her emerald eyes fixed on Lin Shuo, disbelief written across her exquisite face. "Di Tian, you're calling a human child your master? Have you gone mad?"
Di Tian's brows furrowed slightly, and he was just about to strike when Lin Shuo raised a hand to stop him.
"Snow Empress, Ice Empress. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Lin Shuo." Lin Shuo stepped forward, calmly meeting the two Far North rulers' scrutinizing gazes. "I've come to the Far North because there's something of vital importance to you."
"You're a human—" Ice Empress was about to sneer, but her words abruptly died in her throat.
Lin Shuo released his Martial Soul.
The Seven-Colored Dragon King Martial Soul slowly took shape behind Lin Shuo. The instant the enormous dragon, covered in seven-colored scales, appeared, the snow and winds across the entire Far North seemed to pause.
Snow Empress and Ice Empress both changed expression.
"This is..." For the first time, uncertainty appeared in Snow Empress's usually impassive icy blue eyes.
"This is the Dragon Prince of our clan," Di Tian said reverently. "Master is the Dragon God's sole heir."
"The Dragon Prince... How can that be? He's clearly human." Ice Empress wanted to say more, but Snow Empress stopped her.
Human or Soul Beast, Lin Shuo had earned the recognition of Beast God Di Tian. And since Di Tian called him master, that meant he had earned the recognition of the Lord of Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Snow Empress lowered her eyes, forcing the turmoil in her heart back down. When she looked up again, her icy blue eyes had regained their usual composure.
"Since the Star Dou Great Forest recognizes you as the Lord of Soul Beasts," Snow Empress said, her voice cool and clear, "the Far North will do the same."
She paused slightly, then met Lin Shuo's gaze. "What is this matter of vital importance to us that you mentioned, Master?"
Ice Empress stood beside Snow Empress, uncertainty still lingering in her emerald eyes. She glanced at Snow Empress, then at Di Tian, before finally looking back at Lin Shuo. Since Snow Empress, the Lord of the Far North, had addressed him differently, perhaps she should do the same.
"...Master." Ice Empress bit her lower lip and followed suit, her tone stiff and uncomfortable, but she asked no further questions.
At the sight of this, a faint trace of satisfaction crossed Di Tian's stern face.
Lin Shuo met Snow Empress's gaze and gave a slight nod. "Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow."
The three words fell into the snowy winds of the Far North, and Snow Empress and Ice Empress both changed expression.
The unshakable calm in Snow Empress's icy blue eyes finally broke.
Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow was a supreme tonic for ice-attribute Soul Beasts. It formed deep underground, as Mystic Ice endured immense pressure and slowly gave rise to it. It took at least hundreds of thousands of years, and sometimes even over a million, to form.
The Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow had once existed in the Far North, but Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had already absorbed it. Snow Empress and Ice Empress had searched every corner of the Far North, yet never found another trace of it.
"You two aren't confident you can survive your next tribulations, are you?"
Snow Empress and Ice Empress fell silent, offering no denial.
The tribulations at seven hundred thousand and four hundred thousand years hung over them like Damocles' swords. They had no chance of surviving them. Snow Empress had even planned to use the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus she had found to cultivate into a human.
"The Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow you mentioned, Master..." Snow Empress's voice tightened slightly, though she kept it controlled. "Where is it?"
Lin Shuo met her gaze, his tone casual. "There's a sect called the Earth Dragon Sect in Dragon City, Heaven Dou Empire. At the sect's location, there's a Myriad-Year Profound Ice Cave. The Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow there is enough for you to break through."
Ice Empress's emerald eyes suddenly lit up. She did not question him; given Lin Shuo's status, he had no reason to deceive them.
Snow Empress lowered her eyes. Her cool, ethereal face betrayed little, but the fingers she had slightly tightened gave away her shock. The Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow was a treasure she and Ice Empress had searched for tens of thousands of years without finding—and now they had learned of it from their master.
"Master," Snow Empress said. Her voice was still cool, but more solemn than ever. "If the Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow truly exists, then should you ever have need of us, the Far North will never refuse."
At her words, Ice Empress drew a deep breath and stepped up beside Snow Empress. A rare seriousness appeared on her proud face. "Master, I feel the same. So long as we survive our tribulations, my Ice Jade Scorpion Clan will forever remember your kindness."
Lin Shuo shook his head slightly. "I'm helping you because you're Soul Beasts. I don't want the two rulers of the Far North to perish in their tribulations."
"Di Tian." Lin Shuo turned to him.
"Yes, Master." Di Tian raised a hand and slashed through the air. A pitch-black spatial rift silently tore open. He stepped aside, letting Lin Shuo enter first before following close behind.
Snow Empress and Ice Empress exchanged a glance. The stiffness and doubt had vanished from Ice Empress's emerald eyes, replaced by a rare solemnity and anticipation. The two followed Lin Shuo, one after the other.
Heaven Dou Empire, Dragon City.
After asking where the Earth Dragon Sect was, the man and three Soul Beasts headed in its direction. The four traveled straight through as though there were no one around. The strongest person in the Earth Dragon Sect was Nan Shuishui, whose strength reached only the Soul Douluo level; naturally, she could not detect them.
The four went straight to the Earth Dragon Sect's rear courtyard, where Snow Empress and Ice Empress stopped. They stared at a well. Snow Empress's cool, ethereal face showed little emotion, but her eyelashes trembled faintly. There was no mistaking it. This was the very thing she had searched for across every inch of the Far North's frozen wastes: the Myriad-Year Profound Ice Cave.
Ice Empress stood at her side, her emerald eyes fixed on the well. Her breathing quickened despite herself. She parted her lips to speak, but it felt as if something had caught in her throat.
"...Snow Empress." Ice Empress's voice was so quiet that she could barely hear herself. "It really is the Myriad-Year Profound Ice Cave. I can sense it. There's no mistaking it."
Di Tian stood expressionlessly behind Lin Shuo, his stern face giving nothing away. The Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow worked only on ice-attribute Soul Beasts; it had no effect on other Soul Beasts. Besides, since Master had decided to give it to them, there was no reason to hand it over to anyone else.