Just as the Ice Empress let out a sharp cry and the jade light around her surged, as she was about to reveal her true form as the four-hundred-thousand-year-old Ice Jade Empress Scorpion and bring the Ice Emperor's Claw down on the Scarlet King—
"Stop!"
A voice rang out, ethereal and cool, yet imbued with supreme majesty. It seemed to come from the heavens above, and at the same time, to resound in everyone's heart.
The voice was not particularly loud, but it carried a strange magic. In an instant, it soothed the raging currents of energy, and even the Ice Empress's terrifying, imminent outburst faltered.
A stunning white figure had appeared without warning, hovering in midair between the Scarlet King and the Ice Empress.
An extreme chill, solemn enough to make heaven and earth fall silent, swirled around her. She was none other than the true ruler of the Far North—Snow Empress!
"Snow Maiden?" The Ice Empress paused, looking at Snow Empress in puzzlement.
"Snow Empress!"
All three of the Scarlet King's heads lifted at once. He stared at the white figure in the air, his expression turning utterly grim.
The three rulers of the Far North had gathered here!
Snow Empress, the Ice Empress, the Titan Snow Demon King... Each of the three was powerful enough to command a region. Now that all three had appeared at once, their invisible pressure weighed heavily on the Scarlet King's heart.
He had no doubt that if he handled things poorly today, he might truly leave his life behind on this unfamiliar ice field!
Hovering in the air, Snow Empress first raised a hand slightly and gave the Ice Empress a gentle shake of her head.
The Ice Empress and Snow Empress had been together for tens of thousands of years and understood each other perfectly. The Ice Empress immediately grasped Snow Empress's intent: this was no time to completely fall out with the Star Dou Forest, especially since their visitor had come under Di Tian's orders.
She drew a deep breath, forcing down the urge to attack. The brilliant jade light around her receded, and the enormous phantom of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion slowly faded away. She returned to the form of a pretty green-haired girl with a razor-sharp presence, though her jade-green eyes remained coldly fixed on the Scarlet King.
Seeing that the Ice Empress had reined in her aura, Snow Empress slowly turned around and looked down at the Scarlet King with calm, ice-blue eyes.
Her gaze was not sharp, yet it seemed able to pierce every outward appearance and reach straight into the depths of the soul. The Scarlet King felt that none of his thoughts could escape it.
"Scarlet King," Snow Empress's ethereal voice rang out, devoid of any trace of worldly clamor, yet filled with immense authority.
"Di Tian sent you here. What is the matter? Why do you want to take my son, Xue Chen?"
She went straight to the heart of the matter. Her tone was level, but the pressure the Scarlet King felt was heavier than the Ice Empress's earlier fury.
That was because Snow Empress represented the will of the entire Far North!
Feeling the tremendous pressure beneath Snow Empress's calm gaze, the Scarlet King dared not be negligent. The middle head spoke in a deep voice:
"Snow Empress, I did not come here intending to offend the dignity of the Far North. There is a reason for this."
He paused, seeming to weigh his words, then finally said solemnly:
"By the order of the Beast God Di Tian, I have come here to welcome back the young master of our clan!"
"The young master?!"
Those two words exploded in the ears of Snow Empress, the Ice Empress, and Xiao Bai.
The three rulers of the Far North looked at one another, all seeing disbelief and deep confusion in each other's eyes.
A human child who had grown up in the Far North and been raised by Snow Empress herself... How had he suddenly become the young master of the Soul Beast Clan of the Star Dou Forest?
A flicker of profound surprise crossed Snow Empress's ice-blue eyes, but she quickly suppressed the turmoil in her heart.
This matter involved the Beast God Di Tian and such an absurd title. It was no trivial affair, and absolutely could not be dealt with rashly here.
She made a prompt decision, her ethereal voice carrying an unmistakable authority:
"Scarlet King, this is no place to talk. Come with me to Ice Crystal Palace."
With that, Snow Empress turned gracefully. She exchanged a glance with the Ice Empress and Xiao Bai, and the three of them became streaks of light, racing toward Ice Crystal Palace.
Watching them leave, all three of the Scarlet King's faces were filled with helplessness and inner conflict.
He was a hundred times unwilling to be saddled with such a baffling and troublesome assignment.
But Di Tian's order still rang in his ears, and the charge entrusted to him by the Silver Dragon King, The Master, weighed even more heavily on his heart.
For the faint yet vital future of the Soul Beast Clan, he could only steel himself and stride heavily toward the palace of Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice, the symbol of the Far North's seat of power—Ice Crystal Palace.
Inside Ice Crystal Palace.
Xue Chen waited anxiously. As soon as he saw Snow Empress and the others enter, he hurried over.
"Mother! Xiao Bai! Aunt Ice! You're back! Xiao Bai, are you hurt?"
He looked at Xiao Bai with concern.
Xiao Bai shook his enormous bear head and gave a good-natured grin. He conveyed the thought that he was fine through his mental power, indicating that his hide was thick and he had come to no harm.
Xue Chen had just breathed a sigh of relief when he turned his gaze and suddenly spotted the figure entering the hall behind them.
He was a tall, burly man, with dark-red ripples of flame faintly swirling around him. His aura was scorching and violent, entirely at odds with the extreme chill of Ice Crystal Palace and impossible to miss.
As it happened, the moment the flame-wreathed man entered the hall, six sharp eyes locked onto Xue Chen. They scrutinized him, curious and probing, with a hint of... indescribable complexity.
Xue Chen felt uncomfortable under their gaze and instinctively edged closer to Snow Empress. He asked in a low voice:
"Mother... who's that man covered in flames?"
Before Snow Empress could answer, Xiao Bai beside him spoke in a muffled voice, still carrying a trace of anger:
"He's the Scarlet King!"
"The Scarlet King?!"
Xue Chen was stunned. His heart lurched, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind before converging on one chilling possibility:
"C-could he have come to capture me?!"
For a moment, the atmosphere inside Ice Crystal Palace grew especially tense and uncanny.
Snow Empress sat at the head of the hall, her ice-blue eyes calm and unruffled. She went straight to the point, her cool voice echoing through the palace:
"Scarlet King, what exactly did Di Tian send you here to do? Why are you so intent on taking Chen'er away?"
Feeling the invisible pressure of the three rulers of the Far North, the Scarlet King did not dare hide anything. He recounted Di Tian's instructions as clearly as he could.
Of course, he did not explain the Silver Dragon King's precise condition or the deeper secrets Xue Chen might be involved in. He suspected that even Di Tian might not fully understand the crucial details; only The Master herself, still asleep, knew the truth.
After nearly half an hour of discussion, the source of Xue Chen's true origins remained shrouded in mist, but the central point had been made clear.
"Wait," the Ice Empress said, folding her arms and furrowing her willow-shaped brows as she raised the key question.
"Even if your Master sensed something, none of the people in the Star Dou Forest—including you, Scarlet King—has ever met Xue Chen.
How can you be so certain that he's the young master you're looking for? What if you've got the wrong person?"
Snow Empress and Xiao Bai shared the same doubts.
Coming all this way to demand someone on the basis of a vague sensation was hardly convincing.
The Scarlet King seemed to have anticipated the question.
The middle head dipped slightly, and one of his forepaws rose. In its palm, the shimmering silver scale appeared once more.
At that moment, the scale was giving off a soft but steady glow.
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