The Far North, the Snow Empress's palace.
The pale golden light flowing around Dai Youheng gradually receded. On the forehead of the Evil Shadow Demon Tiger phantom behind him, the character for "king" blazed one final time before the phantom slowly sank into his body and disappeared.
He let out a long breath of stale air, which condensed into a white ribbon in the freezing air and lingered without dispersing.
His eyes opened, gleaming brilliantly. His earlier exhaustion and minor hidden injuries had been swept away, and his condition had reached an unprecedented peak. Soul Power surged abundantly within him.
"How are you feeling?" the Snow Empress's mental voice asked just then.
"Better than ever." Dai Youheng clenched his fists, feeling the power coursing through his body. Brimming with confidence, he said, "We can begin."
A trace of solemn resolve entered the Snow Empress's mental voice. "Good. Xiao Bai!"
At the palace entrance, the mountain-sized Ice Bear King raised her head at the call.
"Take human form and come in with us! We may need your strength to help suppress it down below," the Snow Empress commanded.
"Yes, Mother!" Xiao Bai answered in a muffled rumble. Intense ice-blue light suddenly erupted from her enormous body, then rapidly contracted and changed shape.
In the blink of an eye, the fearsome, imposing overlord of the Far North vanished, replaced by a little chubby girl who looked to be in her teens.
She had a plump figure and a round, fleshy face, and wore an ice-blue fur coat. Her large eyes held an honest simplicity and curiosity, making her look almost adorable. Only the powerful fluctuations of ice energy faintly radiating from her hinted that she was far from an ordinary girl.
This was Dai Youheng's first time seeing Xiao Bai's human form.