The Foolish Ice Empress

Xuan Xiao looked at the green-haired little girl before him, then at Snow Empress standing beside her, and his mind struggled to process it.

"Wait, you mean by adding more payment, you mean adding her?"

Snow Empress nodded as if it were only natural.

"That's right. Ice Empress, one of the three great kings of the Far North and the ruler of the Jade Ice Scorpion Clan. How many stalks is she worth?"

Xuan Xiao's mouth twitched. He looked at Ice Empress, then at Snow Empress, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Heavens bear witness!

When he said he wanted more payment, he had only meant he wanted a Soul Beast.

Ice Empress jumped up in fury and pointed at Snow Empress's nose as she cursed.

"Xue'er! Have you gone mad? You're actually selling me!"

Snow Empress remained unfazed as she replied evenly.

"Bing'er, calm down. This is for your own good."

"For my own good? Selling me to a human brat is for my own good? Are you still my best sister or not?!"

"It's precisely because I'm your best sister that I found you such a good home."

"A good home? He's only twelve! He's smaller than my fingernail!"

"Age isn't a problem. He has Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow."

Ice Empress fell silent instantly.

Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something, but she swallowed the words before they came out.

Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow...

Those words were like a key, instantly unlocking the door in her heart.

She truly needed Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow. There were less than a hundred years left before her Heavenly Tribulation.

Without it, she would most likely fail to survive.

But with Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow, things would be different.

Not only could she repair her origin, but she could also raise her cultivation and increase her chances of surviving the tribulation.

Ice Empress bit her lip, looking at Snow Empress and then Xuan Xiao as a fierce battle raged within her heart.

Xuan Xiao looked at the two women. One was a mature beauty, the other a little girl; one cold and aloof, the other proud and tsundere. Standing together, they made quite a striking pair... It didn't seem impossible, either.

He stroked his chin before asking.

"So, the two of you, bundled price?"

Snow Empress nodded.

"Bundled price."

Ice Empress panicked. Tugging at Snow Empress's sleeve, she whispered.

"Xue'er, are you crazy? You really want to go with him?"

Snow Empress turned to look at her, her gaze calm.

"Bing'er, we have no other choice."

Ice Empress fell silent.

She knew Snow Empress was right.

They really had no other choice.

Without relying on Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow, neither of them would survive their Heavenly Tribulations.

When that time came, they would either die beneath the Heavenly Tribulation or take human form and cultivate anew from the beginning.

Neither outcome was what they wanted.

Ice Empress gritted her teeth, raised her head, and glared at Xuan Xiao.

"Twenty stalks! Ten each for Xue'er and me! Not one less!"

Xuan Xiao nodded, his answer crisp and decisive.

"No problem."

Ice Empress froze. She had not expected Xuan Xiao to agree so readily.

Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something, but she swallowed the words again.

She suddenly had the feeling that she had been tricked.

Snow Empress covered her face, her voice carrying a trace of helplessness.

"Bing'er, that's practically giving yourself away for free.

"Huh?"

Ice Empress clearly had yet to grasp what was going on.

Snow Empress sighed. Looking at her bewildered expression, she explained helplessly.

"Bing'er, I already have twenty stalks myself."

Ice Empress froze.

Twenty stalks?

Xue'er already had twenty stalks herself?

Then when she had just asked for twenty stalks, hadn't she practically given herself away for free?

Ice Empress's face instantly flushed bright red. She turned and glared at Xuan Xiao, her voice filled with embarrassed anger.

"You! Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

Xuan Xiao shrugged and answered innocently, "You didn't ask."

Ice Empress was choked speechless by that response. She could only glare fiercely at him before turning back and tugging on Snow Empress's sleeve as she whispered.

"Xue'er, I didn't know you..."

"Sigh!"

Snow Empress sighed and looked somewhat sheepishly at Xuan Xiao, who was trying hard not to laugh.

Xuan Xiao wiped away the tears he had held back from laughing, then took out Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow from the system storage. He gave twenty stalks to Snow Empress and ten to Ice Empress.

"Face your tribulations separately. Especially during the tribulations, gather every force under your command that you can mobilize. Don't let other human Soul Masters take advantage of the situation."

He knew that in the original story, Snow Empress had been captured and sent to an auction house while taking human form to cultivate anew.

He would never allow something like that to happen to his own people.

Ice Empress accepted the ten stalks of Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow. Feeling the pure ice-element energy radiating from them, complicated emotions rose in her heart.

Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, only two words came out.

"Thank you."

Xuan Xiao waved his hand, his tone teasing.

"Don't thank me just yet. If you can't beat the Heavenly Tribulation, then the two icy-cold humanoid body pillows I bought at such a high price will be scrapped."

Ice Empress's face reddened again. This time, it was not from anger, but embarrassment.

She stamped her foot, turned away, and ignored him.

Watching Ice Empress's proud little display, Snow Empress's lips curled into a faint smile. Then she raised her head to look at Xuan Xiao, her gaze carrying a hint of seriousness.

"Don't worry. We'll succeed."

Xuan Xiao rubbed his hands together, and the expression on his face made both women shudder. They unconsciously took a step back together.

Xuan Xiao's face instantly darkened.

"Are you serious about that synchronized step backward?"

Ice Empress watched him warily, her voice tinged with nervousness.

"Y-you... What are you trying to do?"

Xuan Xiao rolled his eyes.

"Do... Pah, Soul Beasts, Soul Beasts! At most, I'll definitely break through to Rank 40 tonight."

Snow Empress patted her chest and let out a breath of relief. She had thought they were going to do that today.

Seeing her relieved expression, Xuan Xiao chuckled.

"It'll happen sooner or later. You can't run away."

Snow Empress looked at him, and a radiant smile appeared on her face, dazzling amid the snowstorm.

"Aren't you afraid I'll go back on my word?"

Xuan Xiao said nothing. He merely slowly released his Soul Rings.

Two purple and one black Soul Ring appeared beneath his feet, rotating slowly as they radiated a palpitating pressure.

"How do you think I successfully absorbed my third Soul Ring?"

"Explosive Giant Fist is currently sealed. I can undo that seal at any time. Want to find out whether it can turn the two of you into dust with one punch?"

Snow Empress instantly stopped smiling.

She could tell that Xuan Xiao was not joking.

The aura emanating from that giant phantom filled even her, a ferocious beast with cultivation nearing seven hundred thousand years, with deep fear.

She fell silent for a moment before changing the subject.

"What kind of Soul Beast do you want?"

Xuan Xiao withdrew his Soul Rings, his tone becoming relaxed again.

"Wind, strength, speed, any of those will do. It needs to be over forty thousand years old."

Snow Empress thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Have Bing'er take you to the dungeon. There are Soul Beasts there that you need. I can no longer suppress my Heavenly Tribulation, so I need to start preparing immediately."

After saying that, she gave Xuan Xiao a deep look, then turned into a streak of light and flew deeper into the Far North.

Xuan Xiao watched her back vanish into the wind and snow. Then he turned to Ice Empress with a grin. "Let's go. Lead the way."

Ice Empress snorted, but she obediently turned around and flew in another direction.

Xuan Xiao followed behind her, watching her tiny back as he could not help but sigh inwardly.

Women only slow down the speed at which I draw my sword, but rich women only replace it with a sharper sword.