"Brother Sky Dream, what are you spacing out for? Hurry up and get inside!"
Seeing Tian Meng frozen in place, Xue Chen anxiously tugged at his cold, slick skin.
"Huh? Oh... right!"
At Xue Chen's call, Tian Meng snapped out of his fearful memories.
He drew in a deep breath of nonexistent chilly air and forced down his unease.
"G-go inside? Fine! I'll go inside! I... I've seen it all before!"
Despite his words, his slow, shuffling steps were full of hesitation and weighed down with dread, as if he were heading to the execution grounds.
As he walked, he encouraged himself: For Bingbing! For a happy future!
With the tragic resolve of a warrior severing his own arm, he followed Xue Chen through the Ice Crystal Palace's magnificent entrance.
As soon as they entered the hall, Xue Chen forgot all about Tian Meng's elaborate inner turmoil and immediately shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Mother... Mother!!! Something's wrong! Something's happened!!"
His clear, anxious childish voice echoed through the vast, silent hall.
Almost the instant it faded, a crisp, feminine voice rang out from the inner hall, impatient yet threaded with concern:
"You little brat! What are you shouting about? Have you finished hunting for your Soul Ring?
Making such a racket and disturbing Snow Maiden's cultivation—just see what I do to you!"
A flash of green light, and Ice Empress appeared before Xue Chen, arms folded and wearing a haughty expression.
Her emerald eyes scanned Xue Chen from head to toe, making sure he was unharmed, before she asked in confusion:
"What's got you rushing to find Snow Maiden like this?
She's in seclusion deep within the Ice Crystal Palace, stabilizing her cultivation. Didn't I tell you not to disturb her?"
Seeing Ice Empress, Xue Chen hurried to explain:
"Auntie Ice Empress, I'm not disturbing her on purpose! Something terrible happened outside!
Big Brother Xiao Bai is fighting for his life!"
"What?"
Ice Empress furrowed her willow brows.
"Who's fighting Xiao Bai? In the Far North, who would dare?"
She knew Xiao Bai's strength. No ordinary being would dare provoke the Titan Snow Demon King in the Far North's core region.
"It's Scarlet King from Star Dou Forest!" Xue Chen explained at top speed.
"He suddenly came to the Far North, saying he was here on Beast God Di Tian's orders to take me away!
Big Brother Xiao Bai refused, and now the two of them are fighting!
Scarlet King's cultivation is higher than Big Brother Xiao Bai's. Xiao Bai says he isn't worried because he's fighting on home ground, but I'm still afraid..."
"Scarlet King? Di Tian?"
Ice Empress's pretty face darkened at once, a cold gleam flashing in her beautiful eyes.
"Star Dou Forest's reach is getting far too long! They actually dare to come to the Far North and snatch someone?!"
Her anger flared instantly.
Not only was Xue Chen Snow Empress's adopted son and one of their own, but Star Dou Forest had brazenly invaded their territory to seize him. It was a grave provocation against the Far North and the three of them, its rulers!
Just as Ice Empress was about to rush off and help Xiao Bai, murder in her eyes, her gaze happened to sweep past the ice pillar beside Xue Chen—and the plump white figure behind it, hunched over and desperately trying to make itself invisible from the very start.
Ice Empress's gaze froze.
Disbelief flickered through her emerald eyes. Then they narrowed slightly as she stared at the fat white figure behind the pillar, which was trying to hide its massive body.
The air in the hall seemed to plummet to absolute zero. Even the ever-present chill turned razor-sharp with killing intent.
Ice Empress slowly raised her arm and pointed her slender finger at Tian Meng, who was curled up as tightly as he could, wishing he could burrow into the ground.
Her voice rang like ice beads falling onto a jade plate—crisp, yet cold enough to freeze the soul.
"Hold. It."
"Xiao Chen, before you tell me about Scarlet King..."
"Could you first explain to me..."
"Why this filthy, disgusting, stinking worm..."
"Is. Here?!"
Ice Empress forced the last few words through clenched teeth. Each one brimmed with towering fury and a touch of mortified indignation at the insult.
A wave of frigid air spread uncontrollably from her. The ice beneath her feet instantly bristled with a thick layer of sharp icicles.
"Uh..."
Xue Chen looked at Ice Empress, suddenly bristling with killing intent, then at Tian Meng beside him, who looked ready to faint, the golden patterns on his body flashing warnings like mad. His heart sank.
Oh no!
He'd been so focused on the crisis with Scarlet King and Xiao Bai that he'd forgotten the one at his side—Brother Sky Dream, Auntie Ice Empress's number-one target and top name on her blacklist!
Pinned by Ice Empress's murderous gaze, Tian Meng's enormous body shuddered violently, as if bound by invisible chains of ice. He couldn't move.
He stared at Ice Empress's stunning yet bone-chilling face, his mind going blank. His survival instinct and hopeless devotion overwhelmed his fear, and he instinctively summoned all his strength to put on what he thought was his most handsome, most devoted expression.
He waved one short, chubby foreleg. His voice went shrill and warped with extreme nervousness and excitement as he stammered:
"H-hello! Long... long time no see, B-Bingbing!
Y-you're still so... so beautiful! Even... even more radiant than before!"
"..."
A vein on Ice Empress's forehead seemed to twitch.
The temperature dropped another ten degrees.
She looked at Tian Meng's stupid expression, the cold in her eyes nearly solidifying into ice arrows that would pierce him through.
Seeing this, Xue Chen cried out inwardly. At this rate, before Scarlet King even made it here, Auntie Ice Empress would turn Brother Sky Dream into frozen silkworm sashimi on the spot!
He darted between Tian Meng and Ice Empress. Though small, he spread his arms wide and plastered on an anxious, ingratiating smile.
"Auntie Ice Empress! Stay calm! Please, just hear me out!"
He spoke so fast that the words tumbled out like a string of firecrackers.
"Brother Sky Dream isn't here to cause trouble!
He came to help! He was the one who rescued me from that Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cave that had trapped me!
Without him, I'd still be stuck down there!"
"And—and he came this time with the utmost sincerity! The utmost!"
As he spoke, Xue Chen frantically tried to catch the attention of Tian Meng, who was still trembling behind him.
At Xue Chen's sharp look, Tian Meng finally recovered a little from Ice Empress's beauty and remembered his trump card.
He quickly used his mental power to control the storage ring, fumbling as he tried to show her the mountain of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow inside.
But he was so nervous that his mental power wavered. The ring flashed wildly, and several fist-sized chunks of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow fell onto the ice. Their rich aura of Ultimate Ice instantly filled the hall.
Ice Empress's gaze was drawn to the chunks despite herself. Feeling the exceptionally pure source energy within them—energy that would greatly benefit even her—her pupils contracted almost imperceptibly, and astonishment flashed through her eyes.
Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow?! And in such quality, in such quantity?!
Where had that stupid worm gotten it?
Xue Chen seized the chance and hurriedly continued:
"Auntie Ice Empress, look! Brother Sky Dream brought all the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow he found!
He said... he said it's all a gift for you! He hopes it'll help you grow stronger!"
At the same time, Xue Chen winked at Ice Empress, silently urging her not to do anything rash.
Before you continue