Spring in the Far North

After Lin Xiao returned to his room.

Xiao Wu pulled the covers over her head.

Her face was bright red.

Those three hours had opened even this hundred-thousand-year-old rogue rabbit's eyes.

She had never imagined that the Grandmaster who had been so arrogant back then, so certain she would ruin herself after she refused to become his disciple.

Would one day become Scarface's...

The more Xiao Wu thought about it, the less she could sleep.

She had never imagined that her love of juicy gossip would make her accept Lin Xiao's invitation and leave her sleepless all night!

So when Lin Xiao called Xiao Wu to get up the next morning.

The rabbit had dark circles under both eyes, her face full of weariness and exhaustion.

An hour later.

Xiao Wu munched on a carrot, looking at Lin Xiao in embarrassment and shame.

Yet her gossip-loving heart kept driving her to find out more.

"Master, Lin Xiao! Did that Yu Xiaogang really...?"

"Of course. This is a serial, too!"

"A serial?" Xiao Wu froze. "You mean there'll be more stories about Yu Xiaogang and that Lang Yi fellow?"

Lin Xiao smiled mysteriously. "Who knows?"

The two strolled along the street, feeling the morning breeze brush against them.

There were still a few days before Tang San obtained his external soul bone.

He had already spoken to the Myriad Demon King.

Every plant-type soul beast in the Star Dou Great Forest could serve as his eyes.

Once Tang San's trail was found, Lin Xiao's hunt would begin.

"I haven't seen Xue'er in so long. I really miss her, and Bing'er, too. I wonder if she's been fooling around in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well again."

The Snow Empress's figure kept appearing in his mind.

Lin Xiao decided to go back for a visit.

With a thought, he sent a voice transmission to Xuan Zi.

"Xuan Zi, where are you now? Take us back to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."

After receiving an affirmative reply, Lin Xiao sat on a roadside bench and pondered what would happen next.

Soon, Xuan Zi appeared beside him.

"Young master."

Lin Xiao's eyes were half closed, and it was unclear whether he was resting or thinking. Xiao Wu silently gnawed on a carrot beside him.

So Xuan Zi called softly to Lin Xiao.

"You're here. Let's go."

Lin Xiao opened his eyes and stood up.

Meanwhile, inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

With a burst of her aura, the Snow Empress achieved another breakthrough.

Not only had her cultivation reached seven hundred and fifty thousand years, but she had also formed her own yin-yang complementary dual soul cores during the Ice God's god trials.

By now, when the Snow Empress used the Ice God's divine power, she had reached the level of a peak quasi-god.

It could be said that few on this continent could rival her anymore.

Suddenly, she sensed something and turned her beautiful eyes to the side.

Lin Xiao was walking toward her with a broad smile, and he gently gathered her into his arms.

"Long time no see. Did you miss me, Xue'er?"

The Snow Empress gave a soft huff and pushed at Lin Xiao's wandering hands.

"Mm~ Of course I missed you. Why are you back so soon? Did you find the Man Faced Demon Spider's nest ahead of time?"

Before leaving, Lin Xiao had told her that he was going to obtain the external soul bone, the Eight Spider Lances.

But he had returned after only a few days, which puzzled the Snow Empress.

"I missed you, so I came back. The Myriad Demon King is keeping watch in the Star Dou Great Forest. That external soul bone isn't going anywhere."

Grinning, Lin Xiao leaned his face closer to the Snow Empress and puckered his lips slightly.

The Snow Empress felt helpless, but she still obliged him.

Smack.

Blushing a little, she gave him a light kiss.

"Satisfied now? Bing'er is waiting for you inside."

Compared with the Snow Empress's tenderness now, the Ice Empress had remained a tsundere throughout their six years together.

Yet every time Lin Xiao held her in his arms, she only struggled lightly, always calling him a small fry.

She had never once truly wanted to leave his embrace.

Her face would be red, yet her expression disdainful.

Lin Xiao gently pushed open the door to the ice house.

The Ice Empress was sitting on the sofa, holding the chibi Ice Empress figurine Lin Xiao had carved two years ago with a small knife from the ultimate ice she had released.

She was smiling foolishly at the figurine.

"Xue'er, you're here."

When Lin Xiao opened the door, she mistook him for the Snow Empress.

She merely greeted him softly, never taking her eyes off the sculpture.

Lin Xiao slowly approached, then suddenly scooped the Ice Empress up and sat her on his lap.

"Lin Xiao, why is it you! Put me down right now, you human small fry!"

The Ice Empress carefully set the sculpture aside, then began putting on a show of struggling.

Watching the Ice Empress struggle while her hands kept lightly clutching his clothes.

Lin Xiao immediately went on the offensive and planted a gentle kiss on her head.

The Ice Empress instantly quieted down, a faint blush coloring her earlobes.

"Why did you come back so early?"

Her voice was soft as she turned around, wrapped both arms around Lin Xiao's neck, and buried her head in his chest.

"I missed you."

Lin Xiao's answer made the Ice Empress tremble once more.

He felt a tickle against his chest as the Ice Empress gently rubbed her head against him like a kitten.

Lin Xiao stroked the Ice Empress's emerald hair affectionately.

Before long, the Ice Empress began making soft purring sounds in his arms.

She's asleep?

"She really is just like a kitten."

Looking at the Ice Empress in his arms.

Lin Xiao felt more and more that this little female scorpion ought to be stuffed full with plenty of ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow.

He did not get up, simply letting the Ice Empress sleep against his chest.

The Snow Empress came in then, giving Lin Xiao and the Ice Empress in his arms a meaningful look.

Then she walked behind Lin Xiao and gently began massaging his shoulders.

"Bing'er is heavy. Don't wear yourself out."

Lin Xiao lightly rested his chin and the corner of his mouth against the Ice Empress's head.

"She's not heavy. But you, Xue'er-I haven't tried holding you to see if you're heavy yet."

At Lin Xiao's teasing, the Snow Empress merely narrowed her eyes slightly, considering something.

"Can you come to my room tonight? There are some things about the Ice God's god trials I want to ask you."

"Sure."

Lin Xiao remembered that the Snow Empress was already preparing for the sixth trial.

Perhaps she would become the Ice God before long.

The Divine Realm of today was not like the Divine Realm Tang San would control ten thousand years later.

The old gods of kindness and evil, along with the current Asura God, only wanted to find suitable successors so they could retire in peace.

They would not even react very strongly to a soul beast becoming a god.

Not only did the Divine Realm already have the Beast God.

But the current Life God King's true form was the Life Ancient Tree.

Even if the Snow Empress became the Ice God and ascended to the Divine Realm in the future, they might merely be curious about how someone had broken the Dragon God's rule that soul beasts could not become gods.

As long as the Dragon God himself did not appear, they could not be bothered to interfere.

Time passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, evening had arrived.

He had long since sent Xiao Wu off to cultivate on the outskirts of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

So he quietly held the sleeping Ice Empress for the entire afternoon.

The Ice Empress slowly opened her eyes, letting out a soft murmur as though she wanted to linger in bed.

She lifted her head from Lin Xiao's chest.

"Morning~"

Lin Xiao gave her head another vigorous rub.

"It's evening, you lazy little pig. You clung to me and slept all afternoon. You nearly wore me out, and you got drool all over my clothes."

"How are you going to make it up to me, little Bing'er?"

The Ice Empress was a little embarrassed now, too.

She slowly climbed off Lin Xiao.

She stood beside him with her head slightly lowered, fidgeting with her fingers in mortification.

Looking at the impossibly adorable Ice Empress, Lin Xiao gave her soft little cheek a firm pinch as punishment.

"You really are a troublesome Bing'er. Xue'er needs me for something, so I'm going in."

Lin Xiao walked toward the Snow Empress's room.

On the way, he suddenly turned and made a face at the Ice Empress.

"Bing'er is soft and smells lovely, and she's a little cool to the touch. She's very comfortable to hold."

Realizing she had been teased, the Ice Empress turned into a steam maiden, heat rising steadily from the top of her head.

"Lin Xiao, you big meanie!" She gave him the internationally friendly gesture.

She shouted softly, her face red.

By then, Lin Xiao had already pushed open the Snow Empress's door.

The Snow Empress was wearing loose pajamas, her dazzlingly pale thighs resting sideways on the bed.

She was reading a book.

Seeing Lin Xiao enter, she put the book down.

Just as Lin Xiao began to feel puzzled.

The Snow Empress suddenly released a strand of soul power and froze the door behind him shut.

"Xue'er, what are you doing?"

Lin Xiao looked at the strangely behaving Snow Empress, then at the frozen door behind him.

He immediately felt that something was amiss.

The Snow Empress approached him.

Thud.

She pinned Lin Xiao against the wall.

"Xue'er, what are you doing?"

Before Lin Xiao could finish speaking, a soft, warm sensation with a trace of coolness pressed against his lips.

The Snow Empress gently cradled Lin Xiao's face and kissed him.

One minute passed, then two.

Only when Lin Xiao was nearly out of breath did the Snow Empress finally release his lips.

"Sweet?"

She asked.

"Sweet... Xue'er, what are you trying to do?"

The Snow Empress held a delicate finger to Lin Xiao's lips, signaling him to be quiet.

"If it's sweet, don't ask so many questions."

Then the Snow Empress pushed Lin Xiao onto the bed and climbed straight on top of him.

Looking into the Snow Empress's gentle yet determined eyes.

Lin Xiao felt as though something had struck his head hard.

He had previously coaxed her into becoming his wife and given her the position of Ice God.

Feelings between soul beasts were utterly pure.

The Ice God also seemed to have lent a hand, including content related to him in the god trials.

From that moment on, the Snow Empress had been somewhat at a loss.

Already quite fond of him, the Snow Empress had chosen him after receiving that message.

Originally, she had intended to seize hold of the future.

But after truly spending time together.

She did not know how to be a good wife, nor did she know what she should do next.

As her strength grew, smiles began to appear on her and Bing'er's faces, which had remained cold for so many years.

The Snow Empress felt that no moment had ever brought her more happiness than those she had spent following Lin Xiao.

Ever since this world had first brought her into being, she had lived amid endless competition.

The Snow Empress simply felt as though she owed Lin Xiao far too much.

Only after meeting Lin Xiao had she and Bing'er taken the initiative to learn about human society.

Before that, at most, they had stolen a few glances at the human villages on the outskirts of the Far North.

She was the Heavenly Snow Woman, the one who most closely resembled a human.

Yet she knew very little about love between humans.

Even after spending these past few years together, she and Bing'er still only half understood it.

But she also understood that someone was prying open, step by step, the heart forged by years in the company of ice and snow.

This warmth went far beyond the shyness she had felt when she first agreed to be with Lin Xiao, with only a faint fondness for him and a willingness to give it a try.

As the God Trial progressed.

The Snow Empress increasingly felt an inexplicable affection stirring within her heart.

Ice God: Hehe, buddies, I'm back again.

Now that those feelings had built up for long enough.

The Snow Empress decided to express her love for Lin Xiao in the simplest way Soul Beasts knew.

"Didn't you want to try holding me?"

"Lin Xiao, I love you so much. Do you know that?"

She spoke slowly, a trace of grievance in her voice.

"But I've always felt that I owe you something. I don't know how to express my love for you, or how to be a good wife."

"So, would you teach me?"

Looking at the Snow Empress, Lin Xiao gently wrapped one arm around her soft waist.

"All right."

Lin Xiao froze for a moment, but said nothing more.

After six years together, their love for each other had already soared beyond the heavens.

The debt the Snow Empress spoke of was merely an excuse for her to express her love.

Everything had already fallen naturally into place, like water flowing into a channel.

"Lin Xiao, say you love me!"

"Xue'er, I love you!"

Oh-ho-ho-ho.

A sleepless night.

At noon the next day, Lin Xiao slowly opened his eyes.

The Snow Empress was still sleeping in his arms.

Lin Xiao glanced at a freshly plucked rose lying on the bed.

Without disturbing the Snow Empress, he slowly got up.

Just as he finished getting dressed and was about to head out.

The door the Snow Empress had frozen shut once again left him deep in thought.

(As the principal wife, the Snow Empress definitely deserves a little more serious attention. If you dear readers want to see some of that oh-ho-ho stuff, leave a comment. Yiyue will write some later.)