An unknown stretch of time passed.
Tian Chen emerged from the bamboo cottage and stretched, gazing up at the sky, which had already turned pitch-black.
"Although this Map of Mountains and Rivers is only a replica, and its effects fall far short of the original, it is already a treasure without equal in the Douluo Plane," Tian Chen said. For now, this world had been built according to his imagination.
Tian Chen walked through the night toward the Ice Empress and Snow Empress's residence. The blue flagstones beneath his feet were damp with dew and cool to the touch.
From afar, he spotted the ice house wreathed in cold mist, which he had built especially for the Ice Empress and Snow Empress. Tiny ice crystals clung to the window frames, gleaming faintly silver in the moonlight.
He gently pushed open the half-closed door, and a rush of crisp, cold air greeted him. The room was dim. The Ice Empress was already sound asleep, curled up on a stone bed covered in white fox fur, her jade-green hair spilling across it and a pure white nightdress draped over her body.
Tian Chen softened his footsteps. Just as he was about to turn away, he noticed a slender figure sitting in an ice chair in the corner, gazing out at the moonlight.
The Snow Empress wore a moon-white outer robe, her long hair cascading like a waterfall. The moonlight traced her profile, lending it a cool, aloof beauty. When she noticed his gaze, a faint ripple stirred in her ice-blue eyes.
Tian Chen's gaze shifted from the sleeping Ice Empress to the Snow Empress's cool profile. The night seemed to bathe her in a hazy halo.
He approached quietly, still carrying the languid ease of someone fresh from the bamboo cottage. Keeping