By the time Huo Yuhao and the beast kings returned to the Far North, the Snow Empress had already gathered the Far North's Soul Beasts in the Core Zone.
Howl after howl echoed and overlapped, finally converging into a terrifying, deafening wave of sound that shook the heavens.
The Snow Empress stood high in the sky, her snowy hair dancing wildly in the wind, her robes snapping.
Her eyes brimmed with fury held under crushing restraint. "All Soul Beasts of the Far North over ten thousand years old, cease your infighting immediately."
"From this day forward, the Far North enters full war readiness!"
"All Soul Beasts, assemble by clan around the outskirts of the Core Zone!"
The Snow Empress's voice pierced the wind and snow, reaching every Soul Beast's ears clearly.
"All Soul Beasts under ten thousand years old, retreat to the Far North Core under the Ice Bear King's protection!"
"All Soul Beasts over ten thousand years old, follow the Titan Snow Demon King's commands from this moment onward!"
"The Sun Moon Empire dared invade our Far North. One day, they will repay us in blood! No rest until death!"
The beasts cried out as one, unleashing ferocity that surged to the heavens.
Snow Demons trampled the ice plains, Ice Bears beat their chests toward the sky, and the hooked tails of Ice Jade Scorpions gathered into a magnificent river of aurora...
The Ice Empress manifested from the Niwan Palace.
As she watched the Far North Beasts roaring ceaselessly below, tears slipped from the corners of her eyes for the first time in years.
These tears were not weakness, but the Ice Empress's boiling blood.
This was the Far North, the frozen domain the Ice Empress had patrolled throughout her long years.
The Ice Empress had been born here,