Crisis

"Ferocious beast? Could these tribulation clouds have been drawn here by Snow Empress?"

Yao Shi watched as the dark clouds continued gathering in vast swathes, his shock apparent.

"From the looks of it, it can only be her." Ice Empress's expression was grave. "There are only a handful of ferocious beast-level soul beasts in the Far North, and the only one capable of drawing tribulation clouds of this level is the foremost of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North—the Ice and Snow Maiden, Snow Empress."

"But why has her heavenly tribulation come so soon?"

Rumble—

While Ice Empress was still reeling in shock, a thunderclap exploded, and the first heavenly tribulation bolt crashed down.

The residual force from that first bolt made the entire snowy expanse of the Far North shake violently. Countless low-year soul beasts dwelling in the Far North were frightened into fleeing in every direction.

"This is already her seventh great tribulation... No, I have to go see her."

Seeing that the second lightning tribulation was about to descend, Ice Empress's face filled with worry as she prepared to head toward the tribulation clouds.

"Take me with you."

Just as Ice Empress was about to take flight, Yao Shi tugged at the hem of her clothes. When she turned around, she saw him smiling at her.

She stared deeply at Yao Shi. "Why is a three-ring soul master like you joining in? Are you looking to die? If that heavenly lightning touches you, even a Titled Douluo at the limit might perish on the spot."

Yao Shi merely chuckled. "Did you forget my third soul skill?"

"That's right!" Only then did Ice Empress suddenly realize.

She had been so worried about Snow Empress that she had actually forgotten about the human beside her who possessed a divine skill for surviving tribulations.

"Come. Leave with me now. If Snow Empress can't withstand it, I hope you can help her. Consider it... consider it a favor owed to you by this Empress."

With that, Ice Empress hurriedly grabbed Yao Shi and sped toward the direction of Snow Empress's tribulation.

They flew past one snow mountain after another, but during their journey, the second and third lightning tribulations had already descended in succession.

A lightning tribulation came once every hundred thousand years, and each bolt grew stronger than the last. Snow Empress was currently attempting to break through the seven-hundred-thousand-year threshold, which meant she still needed to endure four increasingly powerful lightning tribulations.

The first bolt had already been so powerful that the seventh was unimaginable. If Snow Empress failed to withstand it, her body would be destroyed and her soul scattered on the spot.

In the air, Ice Empress continuously explained the power of the heavenly tribulations brought about when ferocious beasts underwent their tribulations.

"Don't worry. As long as Snow Empress can enter my Pure Land smoothly, even an eight- or nine-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation won't be able to strike her. Of course, unless someone called Lan is here, no one but me can open it."

Yao Shi proudly boasted about his Glazed Abundance Pure Land.

He truly was not bragging. The Glazed Abundance Pure Land was only relatively small because his cultivation was low, but none of its innate abilities had been diminished.

"Oh? Who is Lan? Is he very strong?"

Hearing Yao Shi's words, Ice Empress immediately grew curious.

"Uh, he should be pretty strong. I haven't met him, but I can tell you this: that guy is known as the Calamity Ancestor of the Demon Bow. If he fired an arrow at us from here, not only would we perish on the spot, even the Douluo Continent might be destroyed in an instant."

"Is this Lan really that strong?" As she listened to Yao Shi go on and on about this person named Lan, Ice Empress could not help but be shocked by his strength.

"Of course. My third soul skill is powerful, right? Even deities can't open it without my permission, but Lan, the Calamity Ancestor of the Demon Bow, can open it for a short time. Do you know what that means?"

"What does it mean?"

Ice Empress asked curiously.

"He's specifically made to counter me!"

Ice Empress was speechless. "..."

"Enough. Keep bragging and I'll throw you down." Hearing Yao Shi talk about deities and being countered, Ice Empress had now decided that everything he had said before was just boasting. She replied irritably.

One arrow to destroy the Douluo Continent.

The Calamity Ancestor of the Demon Bow.

This brat actually dared to mess with me. Outrageous!

Yao Shi immediately protested, "What I said is true! The Calamity Ancestor of the Demon Bow really does counter me!"

"Fine, fine, yes, yes, he counters you, all right? Hold on tight. We're almost there. If you keep moving around, I really will throw you down."

Ice Empress could not be bothered to listen to Yao Shi continue boasting. He had annoyed her so much that she only gave him a few perfunctory replies.

She truly had not expected that Yao Shi had seemed so serious and dependable when he first came to discuss cooperation with her. How had he become such a clown after only spending a little time with him?

"We're here."

While the two were talking, they arrived at the place where Snow Empress was undergoing her tribulation. However, Ice Empress did not dare underestimate the power of a seven-hundred-thousand-year lightning tribulation. She did not rashly approach Snow Empress at once, instead landing several thousand meters away from where she was facing the tribulation.

"Yao Shi, after this heavenly tribulation descends, I'll use the gap to immediately fly you to Snow Empress's side. Then you'll pull us into that space of yours. Do you understand?"

Watching the fourth lightning tribulation prepare to descend, Ice Empress spoke seriously to Yao Shi. Snow Empress's safety was at stake, so she could not afford to take this lightly.

Yao Shi readily agreed. "No problem. Leave your safety to me."

"Mm. I'll thank you here on Snow Empress's behalf, Yao Shi." Ice Empress thanked him, a smile rarely appearing on her face.

At that moment, the fourth lightning tribulation crashed down. Several seconds passed before its residual force finally dissipated.

"Yao Shi, now!"

Seeing the fifth heavenly tribulation beginning to slowly gather, Ice Empress immediately grabbed Yao Shi's hand and shouted.

Just as she was about to dash forward...

"Wait!"

Yao Shi stopped her with a single sentence.

Only now did Yao Shi remember that in the original story, Huo Yuhao discovered Snow Empress while he was in the Sun Moon Empire. If Snow Empress was undergoing her tribulation at this point in time, it meant that powerful figures from the Sun Moon Empire might be hidden nearby, waiting specifically for Snow Empress to fail her tribulation so they could capture her.

Thinking of this, he had no choice but to stop Ice Empress.

Ice Empress, who had been halted by Yao Shi's shout, was somewhat angry. "Why did you stop me? Do you know that this is the best chance to get close to Snow Empress?"

"Calm down first. I think I can sense experts at the level of Titled Douluo or above nearby. If we rush forward, they might kill us."

Yao Shi explained this to Ice Empress.

"Besides you coming here to find me, who else would be bored enough to come to this godforsaken pla... No, that's not right!"

Ice Empress clearly did not believe Yao Shi when he said human experts were lying in ambush nearby. She was just about to retort when her tone suddenly turned shocked and fearful.

"It seems... there really are human experts nearby!"

Ice Empress's powerful spiritual power spread through the ice and snow as she answered blankly.

"Two thousand meters to the north... there are four people. More than fifteen hundred meters to the west, there are around twenty people..."

"At least five of them are Titled Douluos or even stronger, and they seem to have brought several strange machines with them!"