Ling Han: ...
How did I never notice, when I read the original story, that this guy had such a wild imagination?
"Who said I was going to stew you in an iron pot? Hurry up and gather some firewood. I'm making something delicious!" Ling Han said irritably.
Hearing that he apparently wasn't going to die, Light Feather Douluo felt as though he'd been given a second chance at life.
He nodded at once and began gathering firewood in the nearby forest.
A mighty Super Douluo, the Fifth Enshrined Elder of Spirit Hall, reduced to gathering firewood in a remote forest. If word got out, people would laugh themselves sick.
But under Ling Han's tyranny, Light Feather Douluo had no choice but to obey.
Once he had gathered a pile of firewood, Ling Han sent him to the river to catch fish.
Light Feather Douluo was furious, but there was nothing he could do.
He went to the riverbank and used his Soul Power to catch several fish with ease.
Then he watched Ling Han conjure a huge barrel of oil out of thin air and pour it into the iron pot.
That was right. Ling Han was frying fish again!
Light Feather Douluo watched from the side, as curious as a child.
Ling Han gutted and scaled the fish in one smooth motion.
Then he prepared them using his secret recipe.
The final step: frying!
The instant the fish hit the oil, a mouthwatering aroma filled the air.
Light Feather Douluo couldn't help swallowing.
"What kind of method is this? How can it make fish smell so good?"
Ling Han gave him a mysterious smile. "It's my secret recipe. I can't tell you."
"Hmph! As if I care to know!"
The aroma rising from the pot made Light Feather Douluo want to reach straight into it and grab a fish.
He was a Super Douluo, after all. Hot oil like this couldn't hurt him.
Ling Han stopped him.
"Hey, little brother, don't rush. Fish needs time to fry. Haste makes... Ahem. Just wait, all right?"
Light Feather Douluo withdrew his hand reluctantly, but he couldn't take his eyes off the fish.
When the time was right, Ling Han waved his hand and lifted several fish out of the hot oil.
"Come on, little brother. Try my cooking!"
Faced with the golden, crispy fish, Light Feather Douluo couldn't hold back any longer.
He wrapped his hand in Soul Power, picked up a piping-hot fish, and took a bite.
Crisp outside, tender inside, and bursting with juices—it tasted even better than the delicacies he'd eaten at the Worship Hall.
"Your cooking is incredible! I want more!"
Three days later, in the Core Area of the Far North.
"Xue'er, Bing'er, today I'm going to find the Ten-Thousand-Year Nine-Grade Ginseng King and take a huge step toward reviving you both!"
Standing on the frozen plains of the Far North, Ling Han gazed down over the vast white expanse and spoke within the Sea of Consciousness.
"All right. I believe in you," the Snow Empress replied, her expression full of warmth.
"Hmph. Just be careful. And stop calling me Bing'er! Only Xue'er gets to call me that!"
The Ice Empress was as proud as ever, but her attitude toward Ling Han had changed a great deal.
Ling Han smiled and let it pass.
Ever since Er Ming had told him that the Ten-Thousand-Year Nine-Grade Ginseng King might be in the Far North, Ling Han had been making plans.
"One person can only do so much against a place this vast. Xue'er, Bing'er, could we ask your people in the Far North to help?"
Ling Han was now as powerful as a Limit Douluo, perhaps even a quasi-god. But finding a Ten-Thousand-Year Nine-Grade Ginseng King that could move around somewhere in the immense Far North would still be difficult without help.
"I have no people. I'm an ice-and-snow spirit born of nature. But I do have an adopted son. You can seek him out. He's a Soul Beast king who rules his own territory now."
The adopted son the Snow Empress meant was, of course, Ice Bear King Xiaobai, whose cultivation was approaching three hundred thousand years.
"I do have some people," the Ice Empress said. "Go ahead and find them."
Although the Ice Empress had died, her clan still had members whose cultivation exceeded a hundred thousand years. Communicating with Ling Han would be no problem.
Ling Han decided to find Ice Bear King Xiaobai first.
With the Snow Empress's soul present, talking to that big oaf shouldn't take much effort.
Following the Snow Empress's directions, Ling Han arrived at the Ice Bears' habitat.
"Let me handle this."
A spot of icy blue light flashed between Ling Han's brows.
The Snow Empress's illusory figure appeared before him.
Then, drawing on Ling Han's Soul Power and her own soul power, she spread her aura outward.
Seconds later, the ground in the distance began to shake as though an earthquake were coming.
A huge white bear, as massive as a hill, charged toward them.
"Mom! Mom!"
A childlike voice rang out from afar.
The instant Xiao Bai sensed the Snow Empress's aura, she rushed over in a frenzy.
She stopped only when she reached the Snow Empress's soul.
Xiao Bai gazed at her excitedly, then suddenly realized the Snow Empress was in soul form.
"Mom, what happened to you?"
Before the Snow Empress could answer, Xiao Bai spotted Ling Han beside her.
"Was it this human?!"
Xiao Bai looked from Ling Han to the Snow Empress's soul and immediately imagined the worst.
"You wretched human!"
A massive bear paw came crashing down toward Ling Han.
But Ling Han was no easy target.
For the Snow Empress's sake, Ling Han held back from dealing Xiao Bai a fatal blow.
He merely raised his right hand and blocked her paw.
Then he slapped her, sending the hill-sized bear flying.
"Xiao Bai, it isn't what you think!" the Snow Empress cried when she saw them fighting.
Xiao Bai got up in surprise. She was about to attack again when the Snow Empress's words sank in.
She was stunned by the human's strength, too. Before him, she had been as helpless as a child.
"Mom, what happened to you? How did you end up like this?"
The Snow Empress briefly explained how she had sacrificed herself for Ling Han.
"He's the one I chose. I sacrificed myself of my own free will. Xiao Bai, we came to ask you for help. Will you help me?"
The enormous Ice Bear stood up and thumped her chest with a paw in an almost human gesture. "Just tell me what you need, Mom. If Xiao Bai can do it, I'll help!"
The Snow Empress glanced at Ling Han. "You tell her."
Ling Han nodded and explained his plan to Xiao Bai.
"No problem! You're a pretty decent human after all. If finding that Ten-Thousand-Year Nine-Grade Ginseng King will help Mom, Xiao Bai will do everything she can! I'll tell my clan right away!"
Without another word, Xiao Bai hurried back the way she had come.
"Now it's time to find Bing'er's people."
With a thought, Ling Han flew toward the Ice Empress's clan.
Communicating with the Ice Empress's people was much easier.
After the Ice Empress left, several clan members with more than a hundred thousand years of cultivation had taken charge together.
Once the Ice Empress explained matters to them, they all agreed to help Ling Han.
They, too, looked forward to the day their queen returned.
With both clans enlisted, Ling Han set out to search the Far North himself.
Before you continue