Okay, Mom Will Wait for You

"Xue'er, you..."

Before Ice Empress could continue questioning her, Snow Emperor raised her head and looked seriously at Ice Empress with those icy blue eyes.

"There's a high chance I won't survive this seven-hundred-thousand-year tribulation."

Snow Emperor's voice was calm, as though she were merely stating a fact.

Ice Empress's lips trembled slightly.

She wanted to say something, but found herself unable to utter a word.

Snow Emperor continued,

"So, I intend to take human form and cultivate all over again from the beginning."

Take human form.

Those four words struck Ice Empress's heart like a heavy hammer.

Snow Emperor had chosen to take human form, cultivating from scratch as a human.

For a soul beast, this was practically equivalent to a human being reincarnated.

Ling Xiao, nestled in Snow Emperor's arms,

went rigid the instant he heard the words "take human form."

He sat motionless in Snow Emperor's embrace as if frozen in place.

He had read the original Douluo Dalu 2 novel and knew what would happen after Snow Emperor chose to take human form.

Snow Emperor did not notice anything unusual about Ling Xiao and continued in a calm tone,

"Since those seven people from ten thousand years ago could cultivate to godhood, why can't I?"

Her tone brimmed with unmatched confidence, as though everything were under her control.

Yet upon hearing Snow Emperor's resolve, Ling Xiao's heart sank bit by bit.

"Mom..."

Ling Xiao's voice came out in broken fragments, carrying a trace of tremor.

"Mom... you absolutely must not take human form. You'll be in danger."

Ling Xiao spoke softly, but every word was exceptionally earnest.

However...

Before Snow Emperor could react, Ice Empress suddenly laughed.

"Oh~!"

Ice Empress leaned her face close to Ling Xiao's, a teasing glint flashing through her emerald-green eyes.

"You little burden, you actually know taking human form is dangerous!"

She reached out and pinched Ling Xiao's cheek, deforming his little face slightly.

"Then why don't you hurry up and grow up already? That way, Xue'er won't have to worry so much about you."

Although Ice Empress still wore that disdainful expression, her eyes had softened considerably.

Under Ice Empress's teasing,

the tense atmosphere within the Ice Crystal Palace gradually turned relaxed and cheerful.

Watching Ice Empress pinch Ling Xiao's cheek at the side, Snow Emperor's lips could not help but curve upward slightly.

Ling Xiao bared his teeth from the pinching, flailing his little hands in an attempt to push Ice Empress's hand away.

"Auntie... it hurts..."

Ling Xiao cried out indistinctly.

Ice Empress paused slightly, then snorted and withdrew her fingers.

"Hmph, who told you to be so small? I didn't expect you to be so little fun."

The atmosphere within the Ice Crystal Palace gradually warmed.

Snow Emperor and Ice Empress continued chatting, trading questions and answers as naturally and tacitly as they had in every interaction over the past tens of thousands of years.

Ling Xiao stayed quietly in Snow Emperor's arms, silently listening to their conversation.

Although he still had a smile on his face, a closer look would reveal

a gravity utterly unfitting for his age hidden deep within his eyes.

Because Ling Xiao knew

what would happen after Snow Emperor took human form.

In the original novel, Snow Emperor had still chosen to take human form. During the process, she entered her most vulnerable embryonic stage.

It was during that most vulnerable moment that a ninth-rank soul engineer from the Sun-Moon Empire appeared.

Using a ninth-rank soul tool—the God-Sealing Platform—he sealed Snow Emperor in her embryonic state.

The sovereign of the Far North, the Ice Sky Snow Maiden, a seven-hundred-thousand-year innate spirit, was sealed away inside a soul tool just like that.

Reduced to an auction item for humans.

Ice Empress's situation was not much better.

In the original novel, unable to break through the four-hundred-thousand-year threshold, Ice Empress likewise faced the threat of heavenly tribulation.

In the end, Sky Dream Iceworm persuaded her to cast aside the dignity of a Far North sovereign and become Huo Yuhao's second martial soul.

The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion.

A peak powerhouse of four hundred thousand years.

She joined the so-called God-Making Project and became a stepping stone on another's path to godhood.

The Ice and Snow Emperors.

Two supreme powerhouses of the Far North, two of the proudest beings of ice and snow.

Yet because of the suppression of the heavens and the threat of heavenly tribulations, they had no choice but to cast aside their pride and become Huo Yuhao's martial soul and soul spirit, respectively.

That was the fate of the Ice and Snow Emperors.

When Ling Xiao had read this part in his previous life, he had trembled with rage.

He could not understand it.

Why should Snow Emperor be sealed away? Why should Ice Empress submit to a human? Why should the proudest beings of ice and snow be forced to bow their heads?

But this life was different.

He was an Innate Chaotic Thunder Spirit. Snow Emperor was his mother, and Ice Empress was his aunt.

He would never let those things happen!

Ling Xiao clenched Snow Emperor's lapel tightly and silently swore an oath in his heart.

Mom would not take human form.

Auntie would not become someone else's martial soul.

They would forever stand atop the Far North, revered by all beasts and feared by heaven and earth.

Whoever dared touch even a hair on their heads, he would turn them to ash!

For now, he needed to grow up as quickly as possible and gain the strength to protect them.

"Little thing, what are you thinking about?"

Snow Emperor's voice sounded by his ear.

Ling Xiao came back to his senses and looked up at Snow Emperor, who was looking down at him.

A hint of curiosity flashed in her eyes.

She had noticed that Ling Xiao had been quiet for quite some time, which was unlike him.

Ling Xiao looked at Snow Emperor and said seriously,

"Mom, I was thinking..."

"Someday, I'll definitely become very strong—strong enough to protect Mom and Auntie."

Ling Xiao's words were somewhat indistinct, but every word was exceptionally earnest.

Ice Empress was briefly stunned before bursting out laughing.

"Hahaha, you?"

Ice Empress laughed so hard that she bent forward and backward.

"A little burden like you wants to protect us? Learn how to walk first!"

Snow Emperor did not laugh.

She looked down at Ling Xiao, at his bright and determined eyes.

"..."

Snow Emperor fell silent for a moment.

Then she smiled faintly.

"Okay." She gently rubbed Ling Xiao's head. "Mom will wait for you."

Snow Emperor gently rubbed Ling Xiao's head, a faint smile lingering on her lips.

The sight made Ice Empress pause in surprise.

In all the tens of thousands of years she had known Snow Emperor, she had never seen this side of her.

Gentle.

Patient.

Without reservation.

An indescribable emotion welled up in Ice Empress's heart.

She opened her mouth, just about to say something, when she suddenly thought of something else.

A worm—the culprit that had brought her and Snow Emperor into their current predicament.

Sky Dream Iceworm.

Ice Empress's expression instantly darkened.

Not only had he found the Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow, he had eaten every last bit of it!

That was Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow!

The most precious ice-element treasure!

For ice-element soul beasts, the value of Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow was beyond measure.

If the Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow were still there, why would she and Snow Emperor be in such a passive position before their heavenly tribulations?

But the Profound Ice Marrow was gone.

That damned worm had eaten it all.

What was even more infuriating was that after Sky Dream Iceworm had devoured all the Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow, he had simply vanished! He had not left behind so much as a hair!

Their Ice Jade Scorpion Clan had always fed on the Iceworm Clan.

If that worm had not disappeared, Ice Empress only needed to catch and eat it for her cultivation to soar. Breaking through the four-hundred-thousand-year threshold would be just around the corner.

But now?

The worm had fled.

The Profound Ice Marrow was gone.

She and Snow Emperor could only stare helplessly.