Snow Empress

In the Northernmost Land, a streak of emerald light cut across the sky, flying toward its very core.

The instant Huo Yuhao stepped into the Ice God Palace, his breathing abruptly stopped.

Not because of the cold. Although the temperature here was so low that his blood seemed to freeze in his veins, Tian Meng's remains swiftly emerged to shield him from the chill.

There was no throne in the depths of the Ice God Palace, only a patch of icy clouds. Amid the wisps of cloud sat a figure.

His memories contained Snow Empress's appearance. The beauty of the Ice Sky Snow Lady dancing alone in the snow had once amazed Huo Yuhao, but it was nowhere near as shocking as seeing her in person.

She wore a long ice-blue dress, its hem cascading down like a waterfall and blending into the surrounding icy clouds, making it impossible to tell where the dress ended and the mist began. Her silver-white hair flowed like moonlight, its strands adorned with tiny ice crystals. Her face was peerlessly beautiful, yet carried an inhuman holiness and majesty. When she opened her eyes, those crimson pupils seemed to shine straight into Huo Yuhao's heart.

"Snow... Snow Empress..." Huo Yuhao's voice was dry, as though it had been scraped by sandpaper. Ice Empress's abnormality had shattered his sense of control from foreknowledge. He knew clearly that the one before him was not Snow Lady, his soul spirit, but the ruler of the Northernmost Land—the Snow Empress, whose cultivation had reached seven hundred and eighty thousand years.

When Snow Empress's gaze fell upon him, Huo Yuhao felt as if he had been thrown into an ice cellar that had not thawed for hundreds of millions of years. There was no curiosity or scrutiny in that gaze, only the indifference of one looking down upon an ant, as though she were looking at an ice pebble that happened to be in her way.

The icy clouds suddenly churned, and Snow Empress's figure became increasingly imposing beneath the reflection of her crimson eyes. Huo Yuhao instinctively stepped back, only to discover that his feet had already been stuck to the floor of the Ice God Palace. Golden runes crawled upward from his ankles, as if measuring the dimensions of a sacrifice.

The cocoon of light formed from Tian Meng's remains suddenly swelled, protecting Huo Yuhao at its center. Huo Yuhao clenched his fists, the icy blue within his Spirit Eye nearly condensing into substance—he knew that from the moment he had entered this place, all his "foreknowledge" had become a joke. Every step ahead would have to be gambled with his life.

The icy mist within the Ice God Palace suddenly dispersed, then surged madly toward Huo Yuhao. Carrying the pressure of seven hundred and eighty thousand years of soul power, it completely engulfed him.

Fine cracks split the cocoon of light formed from Skydream Iceworm's remains with a crack. At the same time, Tian Meng cried out in terror within the Sea of Spirit, "Yuhao, my remains won't be able to hold on much longer! Shouldn't we run?!"

Huo Yuhao stared fixedly at Snow Empress's figure, which flickered in and out of view amid the icy mist, his mind racing wildly.

Something was wrong. It should not have been like this.

Even without the advantage of "foreknowledge," judging from how Ice Empress had held back at every turn, Snow Empress could not possibly react like this.

Unless Snow Empress wanted to test something!

With that thought, Huo Yuhao simply withdrew the protection of Tian Meng's remains.

If he won, Snow Empress would accompany him down an entirely different path. If he lost, he would die here. He refused to become the version of himself in his future memories!

The instant he withdrew Tian Meng's protection, Huo Yuhao felt as though he had been tossed into a tempering pool. Extreme cold burrowed through his pores. Even the sound of blood flowing through his body became sluggish. The white frost on his skin thickened at a visible rate, and even his eyelashes froze into icy spikes. Everything in his vision was covered in a bleak white layer.

"Crazy! Huo Yuhao, you've gone crazy!" Skydream Iceworm howled hysterically in the Sea of Spirit. The cocoon of light from his remains still hovered in midair, icy mist seeping from its spreading cracks. "This is suicide! The pressure of seven hundred and eighty thousand years of soul power can freeze your bones into powder!"

Huo Yuhao ignored Tian Meng's cries. He stared unblinkingly at Snow Empress's crimson eyes within the icy mist. Amid the extreme agony, his Spirit Eye instead became extraordinarily clear—Ice Empress's mercy had not been an illusion. Hidden beneath Snow Empress's killing intent was deliberate sharpness. This was more like a test disguised as pressure, and what he was gambling on was that Snow Empress needed a reason to find someone who dared to break the deadlock.

The instant the icy mist touched Huo Yuhao's body, a streak of orange radiance suddenly surged out from within him. Rather than damaging his body, the icy mist merged into it under the influence of the orange light as naturally as water blending with milk.

A warm sensation spread through him. In that instant, the cold of the Ice God Palace seemed to vanish entirely, and Huo Yuhao finally relaxed. He knew he had won the gamble.

Huo Yuhao's body no longer trembled, and the white frost on his skin receded even faster, revealing skin flushed with healthy color. He could even feel the icy mist entering his body nourishing his Ice Martial Soul. The elementalized markings along his collarbone were stained with a faint golden glow, several times more solid than before.

Snow Empress's figure became clear amid the orange light. For the first time, obvious ripples appeared in those deep crimson eyes. The lava-like radiance churning in their depths gradually receded, replaced by an expression mixed with surprise and understanding. Her fingertip, suspended in midair, paused lightly, and the icy mist that had been rushing toward Huo Yuhao abruptly stopped, as though its source had been severed by an invisible hand.

"Fortune Power..." Snow Empress's voice sounded once more. "Tian Meng has found himself quite a good host."

Huo Yuhao's heart trembled. He had never imagined that the orange radiance emerging from within him, so similar to Qiu'er's, truly was Fortune Power. He could clearly feel that as Snow Empress spoke, the orange radiance became increasingly active, merging even more closely with the icy mist within him. Like two old friends reunited, they flowed joyfully through his meridians.

Huo Yuhao ignored Tian Meng's question. His gaze remained firmly fixed on Snow Empress's crimson pupils. At this moment, besides surprise and understanding, her eyes held an added measure of scrutiny, as though she were reassessing his worth.