It wasn't just the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy where this was happening.
The Sun Moon Empire's royal family had received the news as well.
And beyond that,
the same thing was happening in the imperial palace of the Star Luo Empire.
Xu Jiawei held the report in his hand, his expression shifting between light and dark.
"What's the story with that Spirit Transmission Academy? The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect... Ning Qingyun, that shrewd woman, actually staked her entire sect on it?"
"What did she see that made her dare to make such a decision?"
However, the Heaven Dou Empire and the Dou Ling Empire were clearly much slower to receive the news.
Though geographically, these two empires were actually closer to Shrek Academy.
But their lack of real strength couldn't be helped; their intelligence networks were full of holes.
By the time the report reached them, they were already several days behind the Sun Moon Empire and the Star Luo Empire.
In any case, nearly every power of any standing on the continent fixed its gaze on Shrek Academy and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Spirit Transmission Academy at the same time.
Countless eyes watched these two places intently.
Everyone wanted to know what would happen next.
The balance of power on the continent had been stable for far too long.
Even the slightest stir could herald another reshuffling of the board.
At that very moment,
two uninvited guests appeared outside the Spirit Transmission Academy, which Gu An had just left.
"Appeared" wasn't quite the right word, since these two uninvited guests were very, very, very far from the academy.
So far away that they stood only atop a towering mountain peak.
From there, they gazed toward the Spirit Transmission Academy.
They were none other than the Clear Sky Sect's current masters, Niu Tian—Da Ming, and Tai Tan—Er Ming.
Er Ming stood at the mountain's edge, his thick arms folded across his chest.
His rugged face was filled with conflict and reluctance.
He stared toward the Spirit Transmission Academy and finally couldn't hold back any longer.
"Da Ming... what exactly is that person planning? We watched Xiao Qi grow up. How could he... how could he split off her other half and send it to a place like that?"
Before he could finish, Da Ming shot him a sharp glance. His usually gentle eyes had turned fierce.
"Watch your tongue! How could you and I presume to fathom that person's thoughts?"
Da Ming's tone was stern.
Er Ming's lips moved. He had a bellyful of things he wanted to say, but out of respect for Da Ming, he swallowed them.
Da Ming looked away, his tone softening a little.
"Xiao Qi is his biological daughter. He must care for her more than we do."
"Now that Tang Qi has joined the Spirit Transmission Academy safely, our mission is complete."
"The rest isn't for us to concern ourselves with. Don't ask questions."
The two of them sighed at the same time.
Then, as if in unspoken agreement, they turned their heads and gazed in another direction.
"The Star Dou Great Forest..."
Er Ming murmured, his voice heavy with indescribable melancholy.
"We... probably can never go back."
The next second, both figures vanished from the mountaintop.
The mountain wind howled past, leaving not even a single footprint behind.
Several days slipped by.
Beneath the northern sky, white stretched across the mountains and plains.
Snow fell in flurries from the gloomy sky. The bitter wind cut like knives, bringing with it sharp, shrill howls.
The outline of a city appeared and vanished in the blizzard.
This was a small city on the very edge of the Far North.
The people in the streets were bundled in thick fur coats, hurrying along. No one wanted to spend a moment longer than necessary outdoors.
Gu An stood at the city gate, looking up at the frozen world before him.
Every breath he let out formed a thick cloud of white mist.
A thin layer of frost soon gathered on his eyelashes.
Zi JI stood behind him, her long purplish-black hair whipping in the wind.
The Far North's temperatures were nothing to the Hell Demon Dragon King.
But her face bore unmistakable exasperation and displeasure.
She hated this frozen wasteland.
It was the opposite of the Lake of Life; every cell in her body screamed in protest.
"Master... Xiao An."
Zi JI lowered her head and looked at the little one before her, her voice turning serious.
"The moment we enter the Far North, the Heavenly Snow Woman will sense my arrival."
"As a fellow Ferocious Beast, this is her territory. No outsider's aura can escape her perception."
"Snow Empress is... very strong. Extremely strong."
"If a fight breaks out, I can only do my best to hold off both her and the Ice Empress. When that happens, take my Reverse Scale and leave at once. Don't look back."
She opened her palm. A purplish-black scale rested there, its dark purple patterns shimmering as it gave off a faint Dragon Might.
Honestly, she couldn't understand why Xiao An hadn't brought Leng Yaozhu with him.
Apart from Mother Gu, Zi JI didn't care about anyone else at the Spirit Transmission Academy.
If those people died, so what? What did it have to do with her?
How could their safety matter more than Gu An's?
If Leng Yaozhu were here too, the two of them could join forces and face the Ice Empress and Snow Empress with much greater confidence.
Gu An glanced at the Reverse Scale in Zi JI's palm and reached out to take it.
"Don't worry. The fact that I dared to come to the Far North means I'm prepared."
Zi JI's brows furrowed slightly, but when she saw the certainty on Gu An's face, she ultimately didn't press him further.
She sighed helplessly.
In terms of raw strength, she could hold off the Ice Empress at most.
But Snow Empress—the Heavenly Snow Woman, whose cultivation had reached six hundred and ninety thousand years, and the true ruler of the Far North—was not someone Zi JI believed she could defeat.
She wasn't afraid of dying, but Xiao An couldn't be allowed to come to harm. Absolutely not.
There were only a handful of beings across the entire Douluo Continent capable of defeating Snow Empress in the Far North.
Gu An had no intention of explaining.
He had summoned twice. The first time, he had drawn Zi JI, the Hell Demon Dragon King, a Ferocious Beast-level fighter. But the second summon...
That was his real trump card, the reason he dared to come to the Far North with only Zi JI at his side.
Zi JI took a deep breath and lifted Gu An into her arms.
One arm wrapped around his small frame while her other hand shielded his head, blocking the howling wind and snow.
"Let's go."
She pushed off with one foot and carried Gu An past the city limits, officially entering the icy plains of the Far North.
Just as Zi JI had said,
not long after they entered the Far North,
two pairs of eyes opened almost simultaneously deep in its central region.
The Green-Haired Loli's eyes flashed with the cold, piercing light of a ten-thousand-year Ferocious Beast.
"This aura... it's from the Dragon Clan!"
Without another word, she stamped her foot.
Her whole body turned into a streak of emerald light and shot toward the source of the aura.
They might both have green hair, but she was far stronger than Xiao Xiao.
At the same time,
deeper in the Far North, inside a palace carved entirely from ten-thousand-year-old ice,
Snow Empress slowly set down the Hundred Thousand Year Snow Lotus blooming in her hand.
She rose to her feet, her long white hair cascading from her shoulders like a waterfall.
Her face was exquisitely beautiful, without the slightest flaw.
She was like... no, she was an elf born from the purest ice and snow in all the world.
"Dragon Clan... what are you doing in my Far North?"
Her voice was cool and ethereal, without a hint of emotion.
But the next instant, she vanished from the palace.
The two most powerful auras in the Far North raced toward Gu An and Zi JI, one ahead of the other.