The arrival of the Ice Empress's Four Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation drew ever closer.
Chen Mo finally finished his final modifications to the Faraday Cage.
This time, he had not only improved its defenses, electrical resistance, and weight, making the entire cage sturdier.
He had also modified the hooks.
He considered how the temperature in the Far North remained dozens of degrees below freezing all year round.
And the closer one got to the Core Circle, the lower the temperature fell.
The ground there was bound to be an incredibly hard layer of permafrost.
So he ground the hooks to sharper, keener points.
That would make them easier to drive into the ground.
Aside from that.
He also improved the cage's appearance.
So it no longer looked quite so shabby.
After preparing his "cheat" for resisting the lightning tribulation, Chen Mo left the sect again.
He purchased all sorts of cold-weather gear.
Earmuffs with triple-thick fleece, clothes and trousers with double the insulation, gloves, and more.
Once everything was ready.
Chen Mo found an excuse and told Du Busi that his vacation was about to end.
Then he pretended to return to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
In reality, however, he flew toward the Far North.
The Far North lay along the northern frontier of the Heaven Dou Empire.
For Chen Mo, setting out from the Body Sect meant a relatively shorter journey.
He arrived in just a few days.
On the outskirts of the Far North.
Wind and snow filled the sky.
Across the vast expanse of snow-white ground.
Wearing a full set of extra-insulated gear and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's shed skin, Chen Mo surveyed his surroundings through a pair of simple homemade goggles.
The freezing climate made his soul-powered flying device unusable.
Even if it worked, he would probably freeze stiff before he flew very far.
So he could only proceed on foot.
The bitterly cold wind scraped across his face like spikes of ice.
"Hiss—"
"The Far North certainly lives up to its reputation as a forbidden zone for humans!"
"No wonder even Titled Douluos don't dare linger here for long."
"These conditions really are brutal."
After he finished complaining about the Far North's harsh climate.
Electrolux's voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
"Xiao Mo, didn't you say you were going back to school? Why have you suddenly come to this bitterly cold place?"
Chen Mo made something up. "Master, while I was cultivating earlier, I had a sudden inspiration and sensed that there was a fortuitous opportunity here in the Far North."
"A fortuitous opportunity?"
Hearing that, Electrolux.
Could not help freezing for a moment.
This newly accepted disciple of mine can actually sense opportunities through some unseen connection?
Could he be blessed with extraordinary fortune?
Chen Mo had no idea what Electrolux was thinking.
After checking that his equipment, dry rations, and fresh water were all in order.
He willed it into action.
He activated the system's real-time navigation to the Ice Empress's location.
Then he quickened his pace toward the Core Circle where she was.
He could already faintly see lightning flashing within the distant clouds.
Presumably, that was the Ice Empress's Four Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation.
Within the Core Circle of the Far North.
On the glacial plain stood a scorpion whose entire body was an interwoven blend of icy white and emerald green.
Although she was only about a meter and a half long, an extreme chill radiated from her entire body.
She was the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion—the Ice Empress, ranked second among the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, with three hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred years of cultivation!
The Ice Empress stood still, her eyes turned toward the sky.
As she watched the thick tribulation clouds continually gather and pile up, unprecedented gravity filled her gaze.
Then a clear, slightly girlish voice rang out, utterly at odds with her appearance.
"Damn it!"
"My Four Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation wasn't supposed to arrive for another hundred years."
"Why has the lightning tribulation suddenly descended? Could it be because of those pieces of ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow I ate a few days ago?"
The Ice Empress's thoughts returned to a month earlier.
While she was out hunting for food, the ground suddenly collapsed into a large pit.
Inside were several pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow!
She recalled how passing her Three Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation had damaged her origin, leaving her unable to recover for a long time.
If she could absorb this Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, she would surely recover.
Unable to resist the temptation, she ate every last piece of the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow.
Then she returned to refine it.
She had never expected.
Before it had refined even a tenth of the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, its Four Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation descended ahead of schedule.
But in her current condition, her chances of surviving the lightning tribulation were so slim they were practically nonexistent.
What am I supposed to do now?
Should I ask the Snow Empress for help?
The moment that thought arose.
The Ice Empress shook her head repeatedly.
No!
The Snow Empress's Seven-Hundred-Thousand-Year Tribulation is approaching too. If she helps me...
She'll have almost no chance of surviving her own Seven-Hundred-Thousand-Year Tribulation.
After turning it over in her mind.
A flicker of resolve crossed the Ice Empress's eyes.
"I'll stake everything on this!"
"It's only a Four Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation. I refuse to believe I can't withstand it!"
"And if I can't, the worst that can happen is death."
The Ice Empress had barely finished speaking.
When a thunderclap exploded overhead!
Boom!!!
The lightning tribulation seemed to have sensed the Ice Empress's determination to face it.
Countless flashes of lightning converged into a single bolt, which plunged straight toward the Ice Empress below.
This strike was clearly only a probe before the true tribulation began.
But even against a mere probe, the Ice Empress dared not be careless.
Her two enormous front pincers gathered Ultimate Ice energy and fired it upward to collide with the lightning.
Boom!!!
A piercing explosion erupted.
Lightning and Ultimate Ice energy mingled and dispersed into the world around them.
As though it had now ascertained the Ice Empress's true strength.
In an instant.
Thunder rolled across the heavens.
The once-white lightning gradually turned purple, radiating unparalleled destructive power.
At that moment, the Four Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation officially began!
In mere moments.
A bucket-thick pillar of lightning took shape and struck straight at the Ice Empress!
The Ice Empress was already prepared.
She first unleashed her domain, then used Ice Emperor's Protection to further bolster her defenses.
The pillar of lightning soon struck her body.
Accompanied by the sizzling of Ultimate Ice under sustained scorching.
"Rumble—crack!"
The ultimate ice crystals she had formed with Ice Emperor's Protection shattered.
Fortunately, she weathered the first strike, shaken but unharmed.
The lightning tribulation gave the Ice Empress no chance to catch her breath.
The second tribulation bolt swiftly took shape.
Its power was several times greater than that of the first!
The Ice Empress dared not underestimate it and brought every means at her disposal to bear.
Using Ultimate Ice, she formed several thick walls of ice overhead.
At the same time, immense soul power gathered between her pincers into a sphere of ultimate ice energy.
As the second tribulation bolt descended, its power swiftly smashed through the ice walls above.
When the last ice wall shattered.
The Ice Empress hurled out the energy she had gathered, colliding with the tribulation lightning once again.
Fortunately, she survived the second tribulation bolt without serious harm.
But the Ice Empress was already beginning to show signs of fatigue, and seven bolts remained, each stronger than the last.
"It seems the odds are stacked against me this time!"
Then.
The third tribulation bolt... the fourth tribulation bolt...
By the time the fifth tribulation bolt arrived.
The Ice Empress could no longer hold on and spat blood.
Even her incredibly tough body bore scorched marks from the lightning strikes.
Facing the fifth tribulation bolt, which she could not possibly withstand.
The Ice Empress closed her eyes in despair and let out a sorrowful sigh. "It seems this is the end for me."
But just then.
A panicked voice came rushing toward her from the distance.
"Holy shit! It's too slippery! I can't stop!"
Before you continue