Qian Renxue, Sister!

The wind and snow grew fiercer.

Shui Xinlian released her Soul Power, raising a water-blue barrier around them.

The biting wind was kept outside.

Yet the faces of several students continued to turn pale.

The earlier Frost Breath had invaded their bodies.

Now, after standing still and waiting for so long, they were nearly unable to hold on.

One student kept rubbing her hands together.

"He's been gone for a long time."

"Could he have changed his mind?"

Shui Yue'er immediately looked at her.

"Impossible."

"Qian Chen already promised us."

"He's so powerful. How could he go back on his word?"

Another student said quietly,

"How long have you even known him?"

"How do you know he'll definitely come back?"

Shui Yue'er could not find an answer for a moment.

She turned to Shui Bing'er.

"Sister, what do you think?"

Shui Bing'er stood at the edge of the barrier.

She had been watching the direction in which Qian Chen had left.

"He'll come back."

Several students immediately looked at her.

One of them wore a teasing smile.

"Bing'er, you're actually speaking up for him too."

"You always keep your distance from everyone, yet just now, you even took the initiative to brush the snow from his brow."

"Don't tell me you've fallen for him?"

Shui Bing'er's fair cheeks swiftly flushed red.

"No."

"He saved us. I was only showing my gratitude."

The students beside her burst into laughter.

"He saved us too."

"Why didn't we see you brush the snow off us?"

"You even personally invited him into the academy."

Shui Bing'er pressed her red lips together.

"I invited Qian Chen because of his talent."

"If the academy misses out on him, that would be the real loss."

She maintained a calm expression on the surface.

Yet the beating in her chest quietly quickened.

The figure in white standing before the Ice Red-Chain Snake appeared in her mind once more.

One student propped her face up with both hands.

"Qian Chen is so handsome, and his talent is so strong."

"Who wouldn't like him?"

Shui Yue'er nodded in deep agreement.

"Exactly."

Only after saying it did she realize her sister was looking at her.

Shui Yue'er immediately turned her face away.

"I'm only telling the truth."

Shui Xinlian gave a light cough.

The students immediately fell quiet.

They thought their instructor was about to reprimand them.

But Shui Xinlian said solemnly,

"If I were ten years younger, I would definitely pursue Qian Chen boldly."

The students froze for a moment.

The next instant, laughter rang out within the barrier.

A smile appeared on Shui Xinlian's face as well.

"Outstanding people are naturally popular."

"But the most important thing for you now is to cultivate diligently."

"Otherwise, once Qian Chen joins the academy, you won't even be qualified to spar with him."

Shui Bing'er gently let out a breath.

Just as she was about to speak, two figures appeared in the distance.

Qian Chen walked in front.

The Ice Empress walked beside him.

"He's back!"

Shui Yue'er was the first to run out of the barrier.

The other students hurriedly restrained their laughter and straightened the dresses the wind had rumpled.

Shui Bing'er tucked the blue hair that had fallen beside her face behind her ear.

The blush on her face had yet to fully fade.

Qian Chen came before the group.

The Ice Empress followed behind him.

Her cultivation far surpassed everyone present, so their earlier conversation had naturally not escaped her senses.

The Ice Empress glanced at Shui Yue'er, then looked toward Shui Bing'er.

"One took the initiative to invite him."

"One said everyone would like him."

"And one wished she were ten years younger."

She felt increasingly displeased.

The Qian Chen she had raised with her own hands had only just prepared to leave the Far North, and already so many people had their eyes on him.

Shui Bing'er noticed her.

The woman before her was delicate and dazzlingly beautiful.

Her emerald-green hair fell to her slender waist, while a dark green short skirt wrapped around her exquisite figure. Her pair of snowy white legs stood out especially amid the wind and snow.

She stood very close to Qian Chen.

Their relationship was clearly quite intimate.

Shui Bing'er stepped forward.

"Qian Chen, who is this?"

The Ice Empress stepped in front of Qian Chen.

She sized Shui Bing'er up from head to toe.

"What does it have to do with you?"

Shui Bing'er's expression froze.

She did not understand why she was being met with such hostility.

Shui Yue'er stopped as well.

The students exchanged looks.

The Ice Empress looked extremely young.

Standing beside Qian Chen, both were exceptionally attractive, and their manner was very intimate.

If not for the difference in age, it would indeed have been easy to mistake them for lovers.

Qian Chen reached out and took hold of the Ice Empress.

"She is the Ice Empress."

"She is also my sister."

Only then did everyone understand.

Shui Bing'er gave a solemn bow.

"Sister Ice Empress."

"I am Shui Bing'er."

"I was the one who invited Qian Chen to join Skywater Academy just now."

When the Ice Empress heard her call her sister, her expression softened slightly.

"I know."

Shui Bing'er recalled their earlier conversation, and her cheeks heated up again.

Since the Ice Empress had already arrived nearby, she had most likely heard all of it.

Shui Xinlian stepped forward.

"Since everyone is here, let's leave this place as soon as possible."

"The Ice Red-Chain Snake could return at any time."

The Ice Empress gave a soft snort.

"It won't dare come back."

She did not explain why, merely taking Qian Chen by the hand and heading toward the outskirts of the Far North.

Everyone from Skywater Academy immediately followed.

The group gradually moved away from the core region.

After walking some distance, Qian Chen suddenly stopped.

He turned and looked toward the snow-covered peaks stretching into the distance.

Shui Bing'er came to his side.

"What are you looking at?"

Qian Chen watched for a long while.

Those snow peaks remained quiet.

At last, he withdrew his gaze.

"Nothing."

Qian Chen turned around.

His white brocade robe fluttered gently in the wind.

The group's figures gradually vanished into the boundless snowfall.

The core region of the Far North.

At the summit of a snow peak.

The Snow Empress stood alone amid the wind and snow.

Her pure white dress clung to her slender waist, its hem lifted by the cold wind to reveal a stretch of fair, slender calf.

Her silver-white hair flowed over her shoulders and down her back, drifting behind her.

Her noble, peerlessly beautiful face remained calm.

Yet her eyes had been fixed on the direction in which Qian Chen had departed.

Even after everyone's auras had completely faded into the distance, the Snow Empress still did not look away.

Twelve years of companionship had long made Qian Chen the most important person in her life.

She had once hoped Qian Chen would remain in the Far North forever.

But she understood even more clearly that Qian Chen should not be trapped in this expanse of snowfields.

He would see a broader world.

He would meet more people.

He would also reach heights beyond her imagination.

The Snow Empress slowly closed her eyes.

A snowflake landed on her eyelashes.

"Chen'er."

"Come back safely."

Time passed.

Skywater City.

Skywater Academy.

The academy's main gates slowly opened.

A man in a gold-and-white robe walked at the very front.

He had handsome features, his long golden hair neatly tied behind his head. His brows were gentle, and every gesture carried the unique nobility of the Heaven Dou Royal Family.

He was Xue Qinghe, the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire.

The Imperial Fighting Team followed behind him.

Yu Tianheng walked at the front of the group, with Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling walking side by side.

The remaining members were also dressed in the uniforms of Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Skywater Academy's dean, Shui Xinrou, had been waiting for quite some time.

She wore a long aqua-blue dress tied at the waist with a silver-white sash. Her light blue hair fell behind her shoulders, and her bearing was gentle and dignified.

Xue Qinghe walked up to her.

"Dean Shui has come to welcome us in person. Qinghe is deeply honored."