Communing with Heaven and Earth

Though the Ice Empress said she did not want to feed him anymore, she was only saying it.

If they wanted to find the Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow sooner, they had to help Ling Xiao grow up faster.

After all, the Snow Empress's seven-hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation would not wait for Ling Xiao to slowly mature.

Whenever the Snow Empress felt tired, the Ice Empress would still silently take Ling Xiao from her.

She would take over and continue feeding him.

Watching this scene from the side, a faint smile appeared on the Snow Empress's lips.

No one knew why.

Although the Ice Empress had been feeding him for several days already, her movements were still not as practiced as the Snow Empress's.

Perhaps it was because...

She truly regarded Ling Xiao as a child and had been caring for him wholeheartedly.

Every movement and every detail carried an instinct that was almost maternal.

As for the Ice Empress...

The Ice Empress's feelings toward Ling Xiao were complicated.

Though she called him a little burden, her actions were more proactive than anyone else's.

Ling Xiao truly lived up to being an Innate Elf.

Under the constant feeding of the Ice and Snow Emperors, he grew far faster than anyone had expected.

In just a week, Ling Xiao's body had grown to the size of a one- or two-year-old child.

This rate of growth...

Even the well-informed Ice and Snow Emperors found it somewhat unbelievable.

"This little thing is growing so fast."

At this rate, they would soon be able to search for the Myriad-Year Profound Ice Marrow.

However...

During his growth, Ling Xiao suddenly became especially mischievous. Ling Xiao himself did not see it that way, because he was trying to control this body.

It was the Snow Empress and Ice Empress who thought he was being mischievous.

"Ling Xiao! What are you doing?!"

The Snow Empress's voice suddenly rose several pitches.

She immediately stood up from the ice bed.

A trace of panic flashed through her eyes, because Ling Xiao was doing something dangerous.

He stood at the edge of the ice bed, his body leaning slightly forward as though preparing himself.

Then...

The tiny Ling Xiao suddenly jumped.

The ice bed was half a meter high.

And he was only the size of a one- or two-year-old child.

Yet he had actually jumped without hesitation.

Bang!

Ling Xiao ultimately landed on the ground unsteadily, then turned back and flashed the Snow Empress a smile.

Once she confirmed that Ling Xiao was unharmed, the Snow Empress's face instantly turned cold.

"Ling Xiao." Her voice was terrifyingly calm. "Do you know how dangerous that was just now?"

"Uh..."

Ling Xiao's smile froze on his face.

"Mo... Mom. I was exercising. I'm trying to control this body..."

"Exercising? Controlling your body?"

The Snow Empress's voice turned even colder.

"How old are you? You jumped from half a meter up, and you call that exercising?"

"You're so practiced at it that this clearly isn't your first time. Let's see how I teach you a lesson!"

The Snow Empress's expression was icy.

The Ice Empress covered her mouth at the side, stifling a laugh.

"Come here."

The Snow Empress's tone allowed no refusal. Ling Xiao shrank his neck and obediently walked over.

Then...

Smack! Smack! Smack!

The Snow Empress showed him no mercy and firmly smacked his bottom three times.

The pain made Ling Xiao bare his teeth.

"Mom... It hurts..."

"It's good that it hurts! If you dare jump off the bed again, it won't be just three smacks."

The Snow Empress spoke with a cold face.

Ling Xiao only felt bitter inside!

If he had not wanted to change the fates of the Snow Empress and Ice Empress as soon as possible, he would not have been in such a rush to control this body.

But Ling Xiao did not compromise because of this.

After all, only by quickly gaining control of this body could he bring down heavenly lightning sooner.

Ling Xiao thought to himself:

To change Mom's and Auntie's fates, every bit of suffering my butt endured was worth it.

Over the following days.

Ling Xiao kept looking for opportunities to train, so naturally, he could not avoid being smacked by the two of them.

Later on.

Perhaps because they felt Ling Xiao's reasoning made sense, the Snow Empress gradually eased up when she smacked him.

Without the pain from before, Ling Xiao felt somewhat unaccustomed to it for a while.

After Ling Xiao's persistent training, he finally gained complete control of this body.

He gradually became quiet as well.

Ling Xiao's soul had long since reached adulthood, so naturally, he would not run around everywhere like a child.

The reason he had been so "mischievous" before was simply to gain control of his body.

However, though Ling Xiao stopped being mischievous, he began doing something else.

Aside from eating and sleeping, he spent all his remaining time sitting quietly to one side.

At first.

They thought Ling Xiao was merely spacing out, but they soon realized something was wrong.

From time to time, an extremely faint purple lightning arc flickered across his body.

"What is that little burden doing now?"

The Ice Empress's brows furrowed slightly.

"I don't know. But I can sense fluctuations of lightning aura from his body."

The Ice and Snow Emperors exchanged a glance, each seeing a trace of vigilance in the other's eyes.

They had to be careful.

Who knew what sort of commotion an Innate Thunder Spirit might cause while tinkering with something?

The Ice and Snow Emperors truly deserved to be the rulers of the Far North.

Their instincts were correct. Ling Xiao was indeed working on something major.

After gaining complete control of his body.

He had been studying his inherited memories, especially the memories of "Communing with Heaven and Earth."

Within his inherited memories.

He could resonate with Heaven and Earth through the Thunder Spirit, thereby drawing down heavenly lightning from above the Ninth Heavens.

Heavenly lightning was the food of an Innate Thunder Spirit and also the key to an Innate Thunder Spirit's cultivation.

His appetite was growing larger and larger.

The Ice and Snow Emperors had been feeding him constantly, but it was already becoming insufficient for Ling Xiao.

His Thunder Spirit Origin was growing rapidly, and his demand for energy was multiplying as well.

Therefore, he needed heavenly lightning.

He needed food that truly belonged to him.

Ling Xiao did not want to trouble the Ice and Snow Emperors anymore.

If he could successfully draw down heavenly lightning, he could feed himself.

Not only would he no longer consume the Ice and Snow Emperors' Soul Power, he would also gain energy better suited to himself.

It was simply killing two birds with one stone.

Thus, Ling Xiao began studying day after day, which was why he appeared so quiet.

On this day.

The two of them finished feeding Ling Xiao as usual.

After supplying Soul Power for days on end, both the Ice and Snow Emperors felt somewhat exhausted.

Ling Xiao's appetite was simply too great. Even taking turns was becoming difficult for them.

"Whew..."

The Ice Empress lay sprawled over the ice bed, her jade-green twin ponytails hanging limply behind her.

"So tired..."

The Snow Empress slowly exhaled as well, leaning against the headboard of the ice bed and closing her eyes to rest.

"Let's rest for a while."

"Mm."

At that moment, the Ice and Snow Emperors were preparing to properly recover the Soul Power they had expended.

However...

Ling Xiao was currently in a corner, quietly working on something.

He sat cross-legged, his eyes closed as he sensed Heaven and Earth, while layers of electric arcs coiled around him.

He could already feel it!

The lightning above the Ninth Heavens was still sleeping, waiting for Ling Xiao's will to awaken it.

Ling Xiao slowly focused his mind.

His consciousness passed through the dome of the Ice Crystal Palace, through the hundred-meter-thick ice layer, through the biting winds of the Extreme North, and reached the Ninth Heavens.

Buzz...

A silent resonance.

It spread from Ling Xiao's origin and instantly swept across the entire Far North.

Above the Extreme North, beneath clear skies stretching for thousands of miles, a mass of thunderclouds suddenly gathered.