Hundred Thousand Year Snow Lotus, Snow Empress Descends (Seeking Recommendations)

Liu Yueming rose to her feet and recounted, one by one, the gains she had made after absorbing the head spirit bone. Along with the spirit bone, her first, fourth, and sixth soul skills had all undergone slight changes.

Jing Hongchen and Yi Hongchen found it perfect upon hearing this. A spirit bone could influence soul skills to a certain extent and bring about more variations—this was a good thing!

However, Liu Yueming concealed the true state of her spiritual sea. She did not want them to worry. As long as it recovered later, everything would be fine.

The four regrouped. Liu Yueming still took the lead, while Jing Hongchen and Yi Hongchen guarded the flanks, with Yan Hongchen in the middle. This time, they advanced even more cautiously.

Yan Hongchen followed closely behind Liu Yueming, the heart deep in his chest beating ever more fiercely.

"Be careful," Liu Yueming suddenly said in a low voice, a trace of gravity in her tone. "I feel as if something is suppressing my abilities. It's a strange feeling, like I've encountered some supreme existence."

Yan Hongchen's heart jolted. To make Liu Yueming—a Soul Sage who had just fused a fifty-thousand-year soul ring and absorbed a head spirit bone—feel "suppressed"...

"Grandpa, Mom, Dad, we may need to hurry. Be careful of that woman I mentioned before..." That was all he could say. If there truly was no other way in the end, they could only trade the clue to the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Cave for a chance to live.

Where there was life, there was hope.

Jing Hongchen and Yi Hongchen likewise remained alert as they listened. They had to take Yan Hongchen's warning seriously; they were determined to return safely together.

After walking for roughly the time it took an incense stick to burn, the ice formations ahead suddenly grew sparse, replaced by a relatively open depression. Towering ice walls surrounded it on all sides, like a natural crystal basin.

At the center of the basin lay a pool of crystal-clear spring water. Despite the extreme cold of dozens of degrees below zero, the spring had not frozen. Its surface was as still as a mirror, reflecting the gray-white sky above.

Most astonishing of all, at the center of the pool, a snow-white, lotus-like plant was quietly in bloom!

The snow lotus was crystalline and translucent all over, its petals layered upon one another, each seeming to have been meticulously carved from the purest ice and snow. Their edges glimmered with a faint silvery-blue halo.

Its stamen was a pure gold, like a miniature sun, radiating a warm and sacred glow.

The entire snow lotus was about large enough for one person to wrap their arms around. It floated quietly on the water, holy and aloof, as though it were the sovereign of this spring.

At this moment, the snow lotus was truly right before their eyes, within reach!

Jing Hongchen and Yi Hongchen both found it extremely familiar and spoke at the same time. "Snow lotus!"

Liu Yueming said nothing, merely nodding as she looked at the enormous snow lotus in the pool. Her voice turned grave. "This snow lotus is far older than the one I absorbed back then."

"How old?" Jing Hongchen asked. Of course, he knew which snow lotus Liu Yueming meant. It had been one of the Duke's Estate's treasures, though Liu Yueming had already absorbed it, turning it into part of her foundation.

Judging from the snow lotus's overall growth, Liu Yueming said, "At least one hundred and ten thousand years."

The moment those words left her mouth, all three of them sucked in a sharp breath. One hundred and ten thousand years!

That was an existence beyond the hundred-thousand-year limit, a priceless treasure that would drive every Titled Douluo on the continent mad!

Hundred-thousand-year soul beasts were already rare, and plant-type soul beasts capable of breaking through that barrier and surviving to one hundred and ten thousand years were rarer still!

The value of such an existence could no longer be measured simply by soul rings and soul bones.

Jing Hongchen looked at Yan Hongchen. "It seems Little Yan's dreams are truly remarkable. We must pay closer attention in the future."

Yan Hongchen's heart raced. This snow lotus was very important to him, but reason told him that the more it was at times like this, the more vigilant he needed to remain.

The Snow Empress had yet to appear...

Though the original story never explained how this flower had appeared, this snow lotus itself might be a trap. For now, all they could do was remain cautious. But no matter the outcome, now that they had come this far, how could they leave without taking it?

"Grandpa," Yan Hongchen said in a low voice, vigilance glinting in his eyes, "be careful. It's a one-hundred-and-ten-thousand-year heavenly treasure. Even if the snow lotus has no offensive ability, we still need to watch out for a sudden attack."

There was no helping it. Yan Hongchen knew the Snow Empress would come, but she rarely revealed her true appearance before human soul masters. It would be too strange if he said it outright.

Jing Hongchen looked at Yan Hongchen approvingly. It was truly rare to remain clearheaded in the face of such temptation. He nodded slightly and said in a deep voice, "You all step back. I'll retrieve it at once. If anything happens, retreat immediately."

With that, Jing Hongchen flashed forward and swept toward the pool's edge. He had a certain degree of confidence in his own strength and the soul tools in his possession. Even if someone truly attacked him, his cultivation was enough to deal with it.

Even if he encountered an unknown and overwhelming attack, Jing Hongchen was confident that the ninth-grade soul tool Red Dust Blessing on his body could activate instantly to protect him, while the Ring of Teleportation could take him away.

He rose into the air and sped toward the sacred snow lotus at the center of the pool.

Thirty meters... fifteen meters... nine meters...

Jing Hongchen extended his hand, slowly reaching for the snow lotus—

Just as his palm was about to touch a petal!

Two streams of sword qi descended from the sky without any warning!

They were only about a foot long, crystalline and translucent, yet they radiated a terrifying aura that made even Jing Hongchen's heart tremble!

The sword qi was incomparably sharp and bone-chillingly cold, carrying an edge capable of tearing through space!

One slashed precisely toward Jing Hongchen's outstretched arm, while the other cut straight at Jing Hongchen himself!

"Boom—!"

The instant the sword qi fell, Red Dust Blessing on Jing Hongchen's chest—that ninth-grade defensive soul tool—suddenly erupted with blinding golden light!

A golden barrier instantly enveloped his entire body and collided explosively with the sword qi!

The deafening blast shook the heavens! The pool water exploded! Countless ice crystals sprayed through the air!

The Ring of Teleportation on Jing Hongchen's hand activated in time and carried him away. The terrifying shockwave sent him reeling back several meters, carving long ripples across the water's surface.

Jing Hongchen steadied himself, his expression changing drastically. The power of those two streams of sword qi had far exceeded his expectations. They had nearly shattered his defenses.

Had Red Dust Blessing not automatically protected its master and been powerful enough, and had the Ring of Teleportation not carried him away, he would have suffered at least serious injuries!

And just as he looked up, a figure slowly descended from the sky.

It was a woman. She looked no more than seventeen or eighteen, her snow-white hair drifting without wind and falling to her waist.

Her features were breathtakingly beautiful, yet so cold she seemed inhuman, like a work of art carved from ten-thousand-year ice.

Most striking were her eyes—ice-blue, profound as ancient black ice. There was not the slightest emotional ripple within them, only pure, absolute indifference.

She wore a long white dress, its hem fluttering lightly in the wind. Visible frigid mist coiled around her body as she floated in midair, looking down upon the four below like a deity gazing upon ants.

And with her arrival, an incomparably terrifying pressure descended from the heavens as though it had taken physical form!

The pressure was so powerful that Jing Hongchen found it hard to breathe. Yi Hongchen let out a muffled groan and staggered, nearly unable to remain standing. Liu Yueming gritted her teeth and shielded Yan Hongchen behind her, only to find that even moving had become incredibly difficult!

Yan Hongchen remained calm, as though it was unexpected, yet entirely reasonable.

So she came after all... the foremost of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North—the Snow Empress!