The thunder dragon had locked onto... the Ice Crystal Palace! The one inside the palace...
A thought that made her heart stop flashed through her mind!
"Oh no!"
Snow Empress's cry rang out almost at the same time as the destructive thunder dragon's roar!
A torrent of frigid power erupted around her as she tried to stop the dragon before it struck the Ice Crystal Palace!
Ice Empress reacted too. With a sharp cry, an emerald-green aura surged skyward, and she rushed without hesitation to meet the thunder dragon!
However, they were a fraction of a second too late.
Before the interception powers of Snow Empress and Ice Empress could fully take shape, the thunder dragon, which had gathered the might of heaven and earth, had already—"BOOM-CRACK!!!!!!!"
It struck the dome of the Ice Crystal Palace dead-on, without the slightest flourish. The dome was built from Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice and reinforced with Snow Empress's power!
"BOOM—CRACK!"
The sturdy roof, built from Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice and steeped in Snow Empress's power for years, should have been unbreakable. Yet under the impact of that destructive bolt of lightning, it let out a groan of protest and exploded apart!
Countless massive chunks of mysterious ice, mixed with raging thunder energy, came pouring into the palace! "ROAR—!"
At that critical moment, Xiao Bai let out an earth-shaking roar from inside the palace!
Its body, which it had deliberately shrunk down, swelled wildly in an instant, reverting to its true form as a Titan Snow Demon Bear. No longer holding back its ferocious, violent aura, it sent every shard of ice and piece of stone near Xue Chen flying!
Faced with the thunder dragon bearing down from above, Xiao Bai didn't hesitate for a moment. Its enormous frame stood firm as it surged skyward, carrying the power of extreme cold and a torrent of blood and vitality strong enough to shake mountains.
"BOOM—!!!"
The thunder dragon collided head-on with its paw!
A dazzling blue-white flash of lightning swallowed Xiao Bai's enormous body, and destructive thunder surged wildly through it.
The tremendous roar and shockwave made the entire Ice Crystal Palace shudder violently, as if it might collapse at any moment.
Even Xiao Bai's mountain-shaking body sank slightly beneath the thunder dragon's force, its thick arms trembling violently.
It let out a muffled groan. Clearly, holding back the attack was no easy feat.
"Xiao Chen! Stay close to me! Right up against me!"
Xiao Bai's urgent voice cut through the thunder's roar.
It shielded Xue Chen with its broad, sturdy back, building one last barrier between him and the danger.
Stunned by the sudden turn of events, Xue Chen instinctively pressed close to Xiao Bai's side.
However, the numbness and pain he had expected from the thunder's aftershock never came. Instead...
An extremely strange feeling stirred deep in his heart.
The thunder dragon, formed from pure thunder, radiated a terrifying pressure that made even his soul tremble. Xiao Bai's struggle to hold it back was proof enough.
And yet, as Xue Chen watched the raging blue lightning and felt the violent energy leaping within it, he felt no fear. Instead... he felt an indescribable sense of familiarity and affinity.
It was as though this wasn't a destructive tribulation at all, but... a power of the same origin calling to him?
Even his body, the Thunder Dragon Emperor Martial Soul that had just awakened within him, and the Radiant Thunder Dragon Spear all seemed to yearn for it. He felt an urge to reach out and absorb that thunder energy!
"Strange..."
Xue Chen couldn't help murmuring, his little face full of confusion:
"Why... does it feel... so familiar? As if it... wouldn't hurt me?"
The thought was so absurd that he could hardly believe it himself.
This was a terrifying thunder tribulation that even Xiao Bai was struggling against!
How could it possibly feel familiar to him?
And yet the stirring from deep within his bloodline, from the very instincts of his Martial Soul, felt utterly real.
It was as if it were telling him, clear as day, that this sudden thunder tribulation was connected to him in some extraordinary way.
Just as Xue Chen struggled with this strange sensation and Xiao Bai fought to withstand the thunder punishment, another change took place!
The thunder punishment had been locked in a stalemate with Xiao Bai, the two sides steadily exhausting each other's strength. Suddenly, it seemed to lose all hostility and force.
Its massive dragon head abruptly came apart. But rather than erupting into destructive energy, it broke into countless streams of blue lightning, as gentle as a flowing creek.
As if guided by an invisible hand, the lightning flowed around the dumbstruck Xiao Bai, strand by strand, converging like rivers returning to the sea toward Xue Chen, who was pressed against Xiao Bai's side!
"What?!"
Xiao Bai's eyes widened, and it couldn't make sense of what it was seeing.
Xue Chen, meanwhile, felt himself enveloped by warm, immense thunder energy. The destructive aura that had made his heart quiver was gone, leaving behind only a sense of peace and harmony.
The two Thunder Martial Souls within him sprang to life on their own, greedily absorbing the incredibly pure thunder energy...
Xiao Bai's massive eyes were round with disbelief.
The sight turned everything it knew on its head, leaving its mind nearly blank with confusion.
"Xiao Chen!"
Xiao Bai let out an anxious growl. Ignoring the lingering numbness in its arms, it swept a massive paw, wreathed in cutting cold, toward the blue lightning coiling around Xue Chen, trying to drive it away.
But when its power touched the lightning, it was like mud sinking into the sea. It couldn't budge it in the slightest!
The thunder seemed to have chosen Xue Chen. Brimming with joyful, lively intelligence, it clung stubbornly to him and seeped into his body.
"What's going on? I can't drive it away!"
Xiao Bai grew even more frantic, its face full of panic.
It didn't dare use too much force, afraid it might hurt Xue Chen.
Just then—"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Two streaks of light, one white and one green, shot into the wrecked Ice Crystal Palace. They were Snow Empress and Ice Empress.
"Mother! Look at Xiao Chen!"
As if it had just spotted its savior, Xiao Bai cried out in haste.
Snow Empress and Ice Empress instantly fixed their eyes on Xue Chen.
When they saw him engulfed by radiant thunder energy, with the remaining body of the thunder dragon in the air still breaking apart into streaks of light and streaming into him, their hearts leapt into their throats.
"Chen'er!"
Snow Empress's voice trembled.
"Xiao Chen!"
Ice Empress cried out in alarm, instinctively rushing forward.
Snow Empress reacted faster. Her face was as cold as frost, and a hard glint flashed in her eyes.
Though she was filled with doubts, the remaining thunder dragon energy was still converging on Xue Chen. Without hesitation, she raised a hand and struck the half-dissipated dragon in midair with a palm!
Vast, frigid Soul Power condensed into a beam of white light and struck the remnants of the thunder dragon.
"Boom!"
The remains of the thunder dragon scattered on impact, bursting into a sky full of stray arcs of lightning.
But to Snow Empress and Ice Empress's shock, the scattered arcs of lightning didn't vanish.
Instead, as if pulled by some invisible force, they turned around and rushed toward Xue Chen below, who was wrapped in lightning. They poured into the blue cocoon of light around him!
"What?!"
Ice Empress cried out. The sight was far too strange.
Snow Empress's heart sank, and she instantly moved to Xue Chen's side.
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