Storm Approaching

A human boy who looked no older than twenty walked up to her without fear or servility even under the full force of her pressure, and then...

He told her to become the gatekeeper of some sect?

"Ha..."

A short breath escaped Ice Empress's red lips.

Then—

"Ha ha..."

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Her fury drove her to laughter!

Deafening laughter rang across the icy plains, shaking the ice clouds in the sky until they churned violently. With her laughter, a freezing current more than ten times more terrifying than before erupted from her body!

"Arrogant hu-man!"

Ice Empress's laughter stopped abruptly, replaced by killing intent enough to freeze time and space!

"You! Are! Seeking! Death!"

Crack! Crack!

Visible to the naked eye, the air where her words fell condensed into vast patches of jade-green ice crystals before shattering explosively!

That jade-green cold current was no longer an invisible aura. It became a tangible tsunami and surged toward Yu Chen on the ground!

Wherever it passed, space itself seemed frozen. Light warped, and sound vanished!

This was Ice Empress's furious strike!

It was enough to freeze every living creature present aside from Yu Chen, souls included, into their most basic particles!

Wang Dong'er's face instantly turned pale. She wanted to shout something, but even her throat had frozen, leaving her unable to make a sound.

The fervor in Ma Xiaotao's eyes was replaced by terror. Before that power, she could not even summon the thought of resistance!

And yet.

Yu Chen, facing that world-destroying blow head-on, did not even raise an eyelid.

He simply stood there quietly.

Just as that jade-green tide of death was about to touch the corner of his robes.

Buzz—

A sudden change occurred!

To his left and right.

Two utterly opposing yet equally supreme auras emerged from behind Yu Chen.

On the left was absolute light.

Sacred and warm, like the first ray of light at the dawn of creation, it could purify every impurity in the world and melt ice sealed for eternity. The phantom of a pure white giant dragon flashed past, its azure eyes indifferent and lofty.

On the right was absolute darkness.

Tyrannical and devouring, like the final black hole at the end of the universe, it could swallow all matter and energy and return the very concept of existence to nothingness. The phantom of a pitch-black giant dragon flashed by as well, its crimson pupils filled with the desire for destruction.

Light and darkness did not intertwine. They stood distinctly on either side of Yu Chen's body.

Then, the jade-green cold tide capable of freezing all things vanished the instant it touched that domain of light and darkness, like snowflakes thrown into blazing fire.

No, it did not even make the spectacle of snow melting in flames.

It simply... disappeared.

The light vaporized one part directly, while the darkness silently devoured the other.

There was no earth-shattering collision.

No explosion from clashing energies.

It was erased just like that, lightly and without a trace, like wind passing by.

As if it had never existed at all.

"Ha... ha..."

Ice Empress's laughter, enough to shatter glaciers, caught in her throat like a duck being strangled.

The fury on her face and that godlike majesty froze completely.

Her jade-green eyes widened, her pupils shrinking into the most dangerous needlepoint!

What had she seen?

Those fleeting phantoms just now...

That aura of light was so sacred and pure that even her Ice Jade Empress Scorpion bloodline seemed to be gazing up at a god!

And that aura of darkness made her tremble from the depths of her soul. It was a pure, unreasonable power whose very essence was destruction and devouring!

Either of those powers stood far beyond the limits of anything she could comprehend!

They even...

Surpassed those so-called first-class gods of the God Realm in her understanding!

Why did two utterly opposing powers that should have been incompatible as fire and water appear within the same human?!

And so... harmoniously, at that?

This man...

What exactly was he?!

The shock in Ice Empress's heart could no longer be described with words.

Everything she had known for over three hundred thousand years was utterly overturned and crushed to pieces in that instant.

Just as her mind faltered and she stood frozen in place.

The black-haired man in white on the ground finally made another move.

He slowly raised his right hand, extended one finger, and gently wagged it at her.

The gesture was like he was disciplining a disobedient kitten.

"I'll give you one chance."

Yu Chen's voice rang out again, still calm, as though he were merely stating a fact.

His gaze swept over Ice Empress's stunning face, drained of color by shock, before finally falling upon the Ice Jade Scorpion beneath her feet. It had gone completely limp like mud and did not dare release even a trace of its aura.

"Submit."

"Or..."

He paused, announcing her second option word by word.

"Become my mount, like the scorpion beneath your feet."

"You're courting death!"

A jade-green halo spread outward from Ice Empress's body.

The storm swept up chunks of ice and slashed across Wang Dong'er's face. She huddled behind Yu Chen, her teeth chattering from the cold as both hands clutched tightly at the corner of his clothes. She had never even seen anyone speak loudly at Shrek Academy. Now, facing the ruler of the Far North, her legs were too weak to hold her up.

Ma Xiaotao raised her head and stared fixedly at the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion in the air. Even her breathing grew heavy. Phoenix Soul Power rampaged through her meridians, yet it could barely protect her heart. Her hands pressed against the ground, melting a shallow pit in the solid ice with her evil fire, only for it to freeze over again at once.

Yu Chen did not move.

He did not even lift a finger.

To his left, the phantom of the pure white giant dragon raised its neck. Its azure eyes reflected the blizzard filling the sky. The power of light spread outward, sheltering Wang Dong'er and Ma Xiaotao within it.

To his right, the black dragon phantom spread its wings. Only the urge to destroy remained in its crimson eyes.

The two pressures intertwined, forcing back the extreme cold Ice Empress had unleashed inch by inch.

Ice Empress's proud three hundred thousand years of cultivation stopped at the boundary between light and darkness.

It could not advance even half a step.

"What kind of monster are you?" Ice Empress's voice trembled. The venomous stinger on her tail twitched twice, but she ultimately did not dare strike.

Yu Chen yawned.

"Guard the gate, or become a mount." His tone was even. "Pick one."

Ice Empress gritted her teeth, the hooked barb of her scorpion tail gleaming with cold light behind her. She had lived for three hundred thousand years. In the Far North, even a million-year soul beast like Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could only serve as a snack to her. She wanted to fight to the death, to stake the dignity of the Far North on one desperate gamble.

But the suppression brought by those two dragons seemed to have exceeded even the gods of her understanding, though she could not be completely certain.

Even the laws of the Far North rejected those auras of light and darkness, yet they could do nothing but be crushed apart.

She did not dare move.

"Human, don't be too arrogant." Ice Empress forced herself to keep up appearances. "This is the Far North, not your inland territory. If we really fight, the soul beasts of the Far North could drown the few of you with a mouthful of spit each."

"I don't have the patience to listen to nonsense." Yu Chen took a step forward.

Cracks in the ice spread forward from the tip of his foot.

Black flames crawled from those cracks, burning the ancient ice that had never melted for ten thousand years into nothingness.

Ice Empress retreated half a meter, and her body hanging in the air sank slightly as well. Her proud ice attribute had no room even to resist before that black fire.

She wanted to flee, but the surrounding space had already been sealed shut.

Before the conference table in Sea God's Pavilion, the atmosphere was so quiet that breathing could be heard.

Mu En sat in his wheelchair and began coughing violently.

"Pavilion Master, take care of your health." Yan Shaozhe handed him a handkerchief.

Mu En waved a hand and clenched the handkerchief in his palm.

"Have you found anything regarding Heavenly Dragon Gate?"

One elder tapped the table. "According to the news from Suotuo City's Great Soul Arena, that boy called Thunder Dragon definitely did not possess the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul. That black flame burned away the arena along with its defensive barrier. The reserve team of the Seven Monsters was utterly defeated. Huo Yuhao did not even release his martial soul before coughing blood and falling unconscious. He still hasn't awakened."

"The inner court has lost all its face!" An irascible elder slammed the table and rose to his feet. "I say we send the elite students of the inner court to teach them a lesson. Those reclusive sects are far too arrogant. We have to suppress them hard!"

Yan Shaozhe pressed him back down. "No, that boy's strength is impossible to gauge. Wang Dong'er also ran off with him, and we cannot explain that to the Clear Sky Sect. Why not send someone to test the waters first? What if some old monster is backing him..."

The elder who had just slammed the table sat back down and stroked his beard. "Testing the waters isn't impossible. If we directly start a war, Shrek cannot bear the losses either. Given the current situation, those people from the Star Luo Empire are all waiting to laugh at us."

They argued for a long time, but no one came up with a firm answer. Their positions shifted back and forth until they all looked toward Mu En, seated at the head of the table.

Mu En opened his clouded eyes. "There's no need to send anyone."

The room fell silent.

"The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament is about to begin." Mu En pushed a gold-edged invitation to the center of the table. "Send this to Heavenly Dragon Gate in Shrek's name."

Yan Shaozhe frowned. "Pavilion Master, you mean..."

"Before the entire world, we will win back our honor openly and fairly with Shrek's foundation."

Mu En leaned back in his chair.

"Shrek's glory cannot be lost in some place hidden from the light. That person called Thunder Dragon is still young in the end. The tournament has its own rules."

Several elders exchanged glances.

"But Thunder Dragon's strength..." Yan Shaozhe still wanted to say something.

Mu En waved his hand.

His words were cut off halfway, and no one mentioned the matter again.

Yan Shaozhe put away the invitation and left the conference room.

The sunlight outside was somewhat dazzling. He looked up at the sky, feeling as though something was slipping beyond Shrek's control.

Who could stop that kind of black flame?

Yan Shaozhe shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

Within the mist-shrouded God Realm Committee.

Tang San sat in the seat of honor, tapping his fingers against the table one after another.

Sea God's Trident stood beside him, giving off a faint glow.

He had just finished reading the feedback on fate and fortune sent from the lower realm.

The flow of fortune on Douluo Continent had deviated.

The fortune that should have gathered upon Shrek and Huo Yuhao had been forcibly drawn away by an outside power. The child of fortune, who should have grown step by step along the path Tang San had laid out, was now lying on a sickbed at Shrek. Even the spiritual power he had been so proud of had been crushed by half.

Even the divine-sense seal on Dong'er had developed cracks. It was the safeguard Tang San had left behind, yet someone had managed to shatter it through sheer aura alone.

Tang San gripped the armrest, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

He could not allow the lower realm to slip from his control. Douluo Continent was his private garden, and every bit of fortune there had to flow according to his rules.

But the God Realm had rules. Gods could not casually interfere with the lower realms. God of Destruction and his group were watching him closely, looking for any mistake.

Conventional methods would not work.

Tang San rose to his feet, walked to the edge of the hall, and looked down upon the clouds of the lower realm.

His gaze pierced through the planar barrier and fell upon a hidden valley somewhere on Douluo Continent.

It was shrouded in mist all year round, and the laws of heaven and earth within it were completely chaotic.

Valley of Love Questions.

"Since conventional methods won't work, then I'll change the game."

Tang San raised his hand, gathering a ball of divine power in his palm before striking it toward the lower realm.

That ball of divine power passed through the clouds and descended into the Valley of Love Questions.

The mist within the valley began to churn.

Ancient formation patterns carved into the stone walls lit up with red light.

Sooner or later, this trap would ensnare that variable. Tang San turned around and did not look below again.

Back in the Far North.

The cracks across the ice were still spreading.

Yu Chen was preparing to subdue this ungrateful scorpion by force.

In the deepest, most central region of the Far North, the glacier split apart.

The blizzard halted, and even the temperature stopped falling.

This was not extreme cold. It was a domain that transcended the very concept of temperature.

The aura drifting out from the center of the storm drew closer and closer.

Ice Empress's expression changed.

"Snow Woman..." she murmured.

Yu Chen raised an eyebrow and looked into the depths of the blizzard.

There was the faintly visible silhouette of a woman.

Her white hair streamed in the wind; even the raging storm around her seemed to grow tame before her.

The true ruler of the Far North.

Wang Dong'er tightened her grip on Yu Chen's clothes. She could sense that the woman approaching was a hundred times more dangerous than the Ice Empress before them.

The fervor in Ma Xiaotao's eyes did not diminish. She stared fixedly at that white figure as phoenix flames flickered uneasily across her body.

"Master, should I...?" Ma Xiaotao gritted her teeth as she spoke.

Yu Chen raised a hand to stop her.

"No."

He watched the figure grow clearer and clearer.

Meanwhile.

Heavenly Dragon Gate's encampment.

The elder left behind to guard the place sat in the main hall, holding a cup of hot tea.

A disciple hurried in from outside, carrying a gold-edged letter in his hands.

"Elder, Shrek Academy sent this."

The elder set down his teacup and accepted the letter.

Shrek's iconic monster emblem was stamped on the envelope.

He opened it and pulled out the invitation inside.

Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament.

The elder slapped the invitation onto the table.

The teacup wobbled, spilling a few drops of tea.

"So, it has finally come..." The elder looked at the glittering golden card.

He rose to his feet, walked to the entrance, and gazed toward the Far North.

The wind whipped the hem of his robes with a sharp rustle.

"Young Master, it is time for the entire continent to witness the might of a true dragon!"