"Holy shit! It's too slippery! I can't stop!"
"Little scorpion up ahead, move aside!"
Hearing the voice, Ice Empress turned to look.
Her pupils instantly contracted.
A human bundled in white winter clothing was riding a homemade makeshift sled, his face filled with panic as he flailed his arms and legs.
He slid right past her with a whoosh.
"A human?"
"How strange. Why would a human appear here?"
"More importantly, why would he appear while I'm undergoing my tribulation?"
Ice Empress was utterly bewildered.
What puzzled her even more was that this human's body...
Was giving off a familiar aura.
That aura... smelled like her favorite food.
The person riding the sled was none other than Chen Mo.
Seeing himself slide farther and farther away from Ice Empress...
Chen Mo decided without hesitation to sacrifice his backside.
He jumped up.
Then landed sitting on the frozen ground.
He immediately felt as though his backside were about to split into eight pieces.
"It's clearly snowing, yet there isn't any snow accumulated on the ground."
"And why is this ground so damn hard?"
"It hurts like hell."
Chen Mo stood up and rubbed his backside.
He had originally been some distance from Ice Empress's location.
It would have taken another three or four hours on foot to reach her.
But Ice Empress's Four Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation had already begun.
If he really continued at his current pace, then by the time he arrived...
Ice Empress would already have been blasted to bits by the lightning tribulation.
There was no other choice.
To keep his mission from failing...
Chen Mo decided to pick up the pace.
He immediately used materials at hand to make a makeshift sled in very little time.
Then he switched from walking to sliding, even asking Elder Yi to give him a speed boost along the way.
Unexpectedly, he kept sliding faster and faster until he could no longer stop.
"Human! Why are you here?!" Ice Empress demanded in a voice she believed carried tremendous majesty.
Though she was already gravely injured...
As the second-ranked of the Far North's Three Heavenly Kings and the seventh-ranked of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts...
She could not lose face.
Hearing Ice Empress's demand...
And looking at the clearly marked target on his system's navigation...
Chen Mo took off his goggles, keeping a relatively safe distance from Ice Empress.
He asked despite already knowing the answer, "You must be Ice Empress, right? My name is Chen Mo."
"A human brat?"
Looking at Chen Mo's young face, Ice Empress was greatly surprised.
She had imagined that whoever came might be some powerful expert, or at the very least a Titled Douluo.
Someone who had happened to see her injured during her heavenly tribulation.
And wanted to seize the opportunity to reap an easy windfall.
Never had she expected the human who appeared to be nothing more than a brat.
Judging by his appearance and build, he probably had not even grown all his hair yet.
What confused her even more was...
How had a brat like this appeared in the Far North without anyone accompanying him?
And why the hell did this child carry that fellow Tian Meng's aura?
Could he be Tian Meng in human form?
Hearing what Ice Empress called him, Chen Mo protested unhappily, "Hey, hey, hey. Call me a kid if you want, but why do you have to make it 'brat'?"
Granted, he really was a child right now.
But his soul belonged to a grown man.
Ice Empress had no desire to waste words and demanded sharply, "Shut up! Answer my questions. Why are you here? And why do you carry that fellow Tian Meng's aura?"
Chen Mo immediately seized on the contradiction and corrected her. "Look at you. You're telling me to shut up while also telling me to answer your questions. How am I supposed to..."
Before he could finish...
Ice Empress roared, "Enough nonsense! Speak! If you dare say one more word that has nothing to do with my questions, I'll eat you!"
Chen Mo waved his hands repeatedly. "All right, all right. Don't get worked up. I'll tell you."
"I came here to help you survive your Four Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation."
"You? A human brat?" Three words were written all over Ice Empress's face.
Not buying it.
Chen Mo also knew that Ice Empress certainly would not believe him.
So he continued, "Don't be so quick to interrupt. Hear me out."
"A month ago, while I was cultivating, I suddenly had a feeling..." Chen Mo immediately switched into fabrication mode.
He hoped to use this to hoodwink Ice Empress.
Two minutes later.
Perhaps because its last strike had been too fierce, the thundercloud was still gathering the fifth bolt of tribulation lightning.
"You're saying that a month ago, while cultivating, you vaguely sensed something guiding you to the Far North?"
"And that thing also instructed you to help me survive my Four Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation?"
"And you just happen to have the ability to help me survive it?"
"And you happened to pick up Tian Meng's shed skin while out hunting?"
Ice Empress skeptically repeated what Chen Mo had just told her.
"Exactly!" Chen Mo nodded eagerly, then asked, "You believe me?"
"No!"
Ice Empress blurted it out without the slightest hesitation.
She was somewhat angry now.
Did this human brat take her for an idiot?
If he was going to make up a story, he could at least make it convincing.
Not even a ghost would believe such a stale old story.
Some mysterious guidance had brought him to the Far North, and he was supposed to help her survive her heavenly tribulation?
Did this boy even know what a heavenly tribulation was?
Of his entire story, only the part about finding Tian Meng's shed skin had any real credibility.
Seeing that Ice Empress did not believe a word despite all his talking...
Chen Mo wasted no more words.
He took out the Faraday Cage he had prepared beforehand.
Once everything was ready, he said, "Hearing is unreliable; seeing is believing. This is the divine tribulation-surviving tool I prepared for you—the Faraday Cage! Just climb inside, and I guarantee your chances of surviving the Four Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation will exceed ninety percent."
Ice Empress cast a sidelong glance.
She looked at the so-called "divine tribulation-surviving tool."
Disdain involuntarily filled her eyes.
Leaving aside whether this lousy cage could help her survive her heavenly tribulation...
Its ugly appearance alone...
Was utterly unworthy of her beautiful body.
She would rather die than climb inside.
After explaining the Faraday Cage's marvelous uses, Chen Mo said excitedly, "A tribulation survival rate of over ninety percent! Well? Isn't that high?"
"What about the remaining ten percent?"
Ice Empress asked coldly.
Chen Mo awkwardly rubbed his nose. "The remaining ten percent is because the Faraday Cage has only been tested with ordinary lightning. It hasn't actually been tested against a heavenly tribulation."
"But I'm very confident in the Faraday Cage's effectiveness!"
"Would you like to try it?"
"No!"
Ice Empress blurted out her refusal without the slightest hesitation.
Chen Mo continued, "Trust me. This thing really works."
"I don't."
"Never mind whether this thing works as well as you claim."
"Just look at it. How could something this ugly be worthy of me?"
Ice Empress still did not believe him.
Chen Mo paused briefly and looked at his improved Faraday Cage.
Was it ugly?
Compared to before, it did seem only a tiny bit better-looking.
"Looks don't matter."
"What matters? Results!"
"Trust me. This thing really can help you survive your great tribulation."
For the sake of his mission...
Chen Mo patiently tried to persuade her.
But all he received in response was Ice Empress's scorn. "Heh. Trust you? You're nothing but a brat. Why should I believe you?"
"Besides, I am a mighty Ferocious Beast. It's merely a trifling heavenly tribulation."
"Why would I need help from that piece of junk?"
"Since you're so young, I'll spare you. Get lost at once, or don't blame me for swallowing you whole!"
After hearing Ice Empress's words...
Chen Mo was utterly speechless.
If not for the severe lightning-inflicted injuries covering Ice Empress's body...
He might almost have believed her.
As expected of the queen who ruled over pride in the Far North. Even in this state, she was still so stubbornly defiant.
Faced with this situation, Chen Mo knew ordinary methods would not work.
He had to provoke her.
"Ice Empress, do you dare make a bet with me?"
Before you continue