On the ice plains.
Ling Xiao was running at top speed, heading straight toward Snow Empress and Ice Empress.
"Mom! Auntie!"
Ling Xiao shouted from far away.
His voice was strong and clear, reaching the ears of the Ice and Snow Emperors.
Snow Empress watched his running figure, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her lips.
Ice Empress snorted when she saw Ling Xiao, though the corners of her mouth still could not stop curling upward.
"You little burden, what are you running so fast for? What if you fall?"
Ice Empress grumbled, but her feet unconsciously took a step forward.
She scooped Ling Xiao up in her arms.
Ling Xiao said excitedly, "Mom, Auntie, I've grown stronger again!"
"I'm already at eighty thousand years!"
Snow Empress looked at him and said calmly,
"Mm, I know."
Her voice sounded utterly composed, but her hand had already reached out unconsciously.
Ling Xiao chuckled, then dove headfirst into Snow Empress's embrace.
"Mom!"
"I'll definitely become stronger in the future, strong enough to protect Mom and Auntie."
Snow Empress did not speak after hearing that.
She gently rubbed Ling Xiao's head.
Seeing this, Ice Empress crossed her arms and could not help letting out a cold snort.
"Hmph, who needs your protection?"
Inside Ice Crystal Palace.
Ling Xiao's cultivation was rapidly increasing, but he had vaguely noticed a problem.
So he told the two of them.
"Mom, Auntie."
"The Heavenly Thunder I've been drawing down recently... it feels like it's getting weaker every time."
The Ice and Snow Emperors looked at Ling Xiao at the same time, while Ling Xiao tried hard to organize his thoughts.
"It feels like... I've drawn down lightning too many times, and now it doesn't want to come anymore."
After hearing him, the Ice and Snow Emperors simultaneously recalled the recent instances of lightning being drawn down.
That did seem to be the case.
They had both been focused on Ling Xiao's cultivation before and had not noticed this detail.
Now that Ling Xiao mentioned it, they finally understood.
Ling Xiao had been drawing lightning too frequently.
As a result, the power of lightning above the Far North had been almost completely used up by him.
"What do we do?"
Ice Empress said with a frown.
"We don't know how to draw lightning either. What, are we supposed to point at the sky and curse it a few times?"
Ice Empress sounded irritated. Though she called him a little burden, whenever Ling Xiao encountered a problem, she was more anxious than anyone else.
Ling Xiao did not know what to do either.
Just as the Ice and Snow Emperors were still considering a solution, Ling Xiao suddenly had an idea.
He thought of a way, one that could kill two birds with one stone.
"Mom."
Ling Xiao took the initiative to speak.
"This is what I'm thinking."
"Are there any Soul Beasts in the Far North that are about to break through to one hundred thousand years but can't survive their heavenly tribulation?"
Ling Xiao's tone became serious.
"We can find them and let me try to help them get through their heavenly tribulations."
"That way, I can not only absorb Heavenly Thunder, but also help them break through their bottlenecks."
The moment he said that,
Ice Crystal Palace instantly fell silent.
The Ice and Snow Emperors exchanged a glance, and both their eyes lit up.
This really was a good method.
The Heavenly Thunder that descended when Soul Beasts underwent tribulation was purer and more powerful than natural lightning.
It was lightning punishment sent down upon Soul Beasts by the Heavenly Dao, containing true power of Destruction.
If Ling Xiao absorbed the lightning punishment, he could not only raise his cultivation but also help Soul Beasts survive their heavenly tribulations. That would be an immense blessing for the Soul Beasts.
But the problem was...
The Ice and Snow Emperors knew very well that Soul Beast tribulations were exceedingly dangerous.
When a Soul Beast faced its one-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation, success meant a massive increase in lifespan and strength, while failure meant being reduced to ashes, not even leaving behind a soul bone.
If an outside force interfered with the heavenly tribulation, its power would multiply.
That was not help. That was courting death!
Therefore, no Soul Beast was willing to take such a risk, much less gamble with its life.
What was more...
This was Ling Xiao's first time doing something like this, and neither of them knew how confident he was.
The atmosphere grew heavy for a moment.
Ice Empress and Snow Empress exchanged a glance.
Ice Empress looked conflicted, but in the end, she slowly spoke.
"Actually..."
"There are several members of our Ice Jade Scorpion Clan who are preparing to break through to one hundred thousand years."
When Ice Empress said this, a trace of complicated emotion flashed through her eyes.
Ling Xiao's heart trembled slightly when he heard this. He knew very well how great Ice Empress's sacrifice was.
Who in the Extreme North did not know how much Ice Empress valued her clansmen?
She had raised the entire clan with her own hands, and every clansman was incomparably important to her.
If he was not mistaken...
The few clansmen Ice Empress spoke of were the final safeguards she had left for her clan.
She had to face her four-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation, so she had no choice but to leave some contingency plans for her clan.
But now...
Ice Empress had actually taken the initiative to offer her own clansmen as an experiment for Ling Xiao.
That trust from the depths of her heart
made warmth rise in Ling Xiao's chest, but it also brought even greater invisible pressure.
Because Ice Empress was gambling!
If Ling Xiao failed to save them, Ice Empress would carry that guilt for the rest of her life.
Snow Empress understood Ice Empress's resolve.
She lowered her head to look at Ling Xiao, who was sitting nearby, and softly asked him,
"Little one, have you thought it through?"
"To support you, your auntie is letting her own clansmen help you."
Ling Xiao fell silent for a moment.
His gaze gradually became firm.
"I have!"
"If I can't even get past this hurdle, how can I protect Mom and Auntie?"
Seeing how certain Ling Xiao sounded, Ice Empress gradually relaxed a little as well.
Still, she haughtily said, "Stop talking big. Get through this first, then we'll talk!"
If one looked carefully, one would find a trace of gratification flash through Ice Empress's eyes.
They set off at once.
They set off at once.
The Ice and Snow Emperors took Ling Xiao directly to the territory of the Ice Jade Scorpion Clan.
When the three of them arrived, the Ice Jade Scorpion clansmen hurried over to greet them.
"Clan Chief!"
"Lord Snow Empress!"
"Clan Chief!"
A group of jade-green little scorpions swarmed over, enthusiastically greeting the Ice and Snow Emperors.
They really were just a group of little scorpions.
Because Soul Beasts needed to reach two hundred thousand years before they could take human form, Ice Empress's clan was entirely in scorpion form.
Their bodies were jade-green all over, and they scampered nimbly across the ice.
Of course, they only looked so small when they were safe.
They could enlarge their bodies at any time. That was their true combat form.
Ling Xiao looked at the little scorpions before him with a curious expression.
Because their cultivation had not reached one hundred thousand years,
these Ice Jade Scorpions could not yet speak the human language and could only communicate in their own tongue.
The Ice Jade Scorpion Clan's language was rather novel, sounding like low humming noises mixed with strange vibrations.
Ling Xiao could not understand any of it and stared blankly as they communicated with a chorus of "buzz buzz buzz."
"???"
Before you continue