After Tian Meng finished transmitting his message, Lin Qian also hid himself, concealing his aura and preparing to provide support at any moment.
He was neither a weakling like Huo Yuhao nor a lowly simp. If Tian Meng fell into danger, he would absolutely choose his good brother without hesitation over a woman he had only met by chance.
Not to mention that this "person" was actually a three-hundred-thousand-year-old scorpion...
Rumble!
After Tian Meng finished speaking, the golden light on his body grew even fiercer, and the dark clouds pressed lower and lower, seemingly forcing the other party to make a decision.
"When Bingbing hunted me down back then, she was already nearing her four-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation. To get through it successfully, she injured her origin during her preparations. So don't hit her too hard later. Go easy on her!"
Lin Qian had never seen Tian Meng's strength, and Tian Meng had likewise never seen his. He could only roughly infer his master's terrifying power through his spiritual perception. The Ice Empress absolutely could not contend with him, especially with her origin injured. She definitely would not escape.
"Enough simping. Show some backbone as a man!"
Fortunately, Lin Qian was buried in the snow. Otherwise, this bug really would have made him steam with anger.
The Ice Empress was very slow to arrive. Although she released her pressure early on, she still refused to show herself. It took so long that Lin Qian had a nap before the sky finally began changing color.
The blackness of the originally gloomy sky slowly turned emerald green, like a jade gemstone giving off an alluring luster.
The oppressive aura vanished, replaced by air carrying a delicate fragrance.
"Tian Meng, you're actually still alive. A scourge really does last a thousand years!"
Perhaps because he had not been on the run for as long as ten thousand years, the Ice Empress spoke angrily, her words brimming with resentment.
Lin Qian, who had just been thinking how powerful Tian Meng was, only understood that there was always someone stronger when he saw the Ice Empress.
The accumulated snow rose thirty feet high, surging like ocean waves. Only as it approached the core area around Tian Meng did this strange phenomenon settle down.
"Ice Empress, you're still alive and well. How could I possibly die? I told you, one day I'll win you over!"
Upon meeting her in person, Tian Meng's simping nature erupted completely. The corners of his mouth were harder to keep down than an AK as he spoke sweetly.
Despite knowing his motives were impure, Lin Qian still wanted to rush out and beat him up.
If even he felt that way, there was no need to mention anyone else.
"Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, you're courting death!"
The Ice Empress's originally clear voice instantly filled with murderous intent.
The emerald sky turned dark green, seething with killing intent, and the protective range that had originally stretched a hundred meters instantly shrank to ten.
Even so, the Ice Empress retained the vigilance of an extremely high-ranking Soul Beast. She did not reveal herself lightly, instead continuing to probe with spiritual power rather than Soul Power.
As the one being fawned over, she knew exactly what the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was like. He could not possibly have come unprepared. He certainly had something else to rely on.
Tian Meng turned his head slightly, signaling for Lin Qian to hide more deeply, and continued enticing her with mushy words. "No, everything I said came from my heart..."
He rattled on and on. Whatever the Ice Empress thought of it, Lin Qian was truly tired of listening.
He felt that Tian Meng still lacked confidence in his strength. There was really no need for this!
If even the Ice Empress required this much trouble, what methods would they need to deal with the even stronger Snow Empress afterward?
"...So I'm thinking of you too. I want to be with you for lifetime after lifetime, even if I can't have you."
Tian Meng finally finished, then gazed earnestly in the Ice Empress's direction, hoping she would agree. He thought that as long as she agreed, she could undergo Sacrifice and become his master Lin Qian's Soul Spirit, sparing her the suffering of being forced.
But a simp was a simp. There was a reason he had failed to win over his goddess after so many years.
Her anger had not subsided to begin with, and her heavenly tribulation was still at least ten thousand years away. Unlike her portrayal in the original story, the Ice Empress rejected him outright without even considering it.
"You're so sure I can't survive my heavenly tribulation? As long as I eat you, won't breaking through four hundred thousand years be as easy as reaching out and taking it?"
Having prepared himself, Tian Meng was not disappointed. Instead, he continued calling out, "We haven't seen each other in so many years. Ice Empress, won't you come out and take a look at me?"
As he spoke, he secretly signaled for Lin Qian to get ready.
The two then crossed verbal swords again, and the Ice Empress was finally persuaded, gradually moving toward them as she followed his aura.
To increase her chances of surviving the tribulation, she felt it was necessary to take a little risk. At worst, she could run away!
A quarter of an hour later.
The dark green sky turned pitch-black.
As the Soul Beast more than three hundred thousand years old approached, the spiritual power Tian Meng took such pride in was instantly dismembered. It began teetering on the brink of collapse, shattering into smoke.
"Here she comes? Good!"
Tian Meng spoke to himself in something between a murmur and a sigh of release.
"As you wished, I'm here."
With a flash of emerald light, the Ice Empress made her dazzling entrance, coldly looking down at the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm on the ground.
Just as imagined, when facing one of her own kind, the Ice Empress remained in beast form for ease of combat.
"I'm glad you're here."
Upon seeing her in person, Tian Meng looked even more intoxicated, his gaze burning as he stared at her.
"Hm? Why do you look different?"
After observing him for a while, the Ice Empress discovered that Tian Meng no longer had a physical body. All that remained was a phantom condensed from spiritual power.
Naturally, she assumed he did not dare reveal his true body for fear of being eaten.
"Tian Meng, you're too naive. From the moment you entered my territory, you were already unable to escape my grasp. So what if it's spiritual power? So what if it's a phantom? I'll find you and eat you eventually!"
Despite saying this, the Ice Empress still did not dare let her guard down. While they traded barbs, her spiritual power kept scanning, checking their surroundings for any unusual movement.
Having undergone Sacrifice long ago anyway, Tian Meng remained unmoved and continued provoking her. "Look at your tail. It's almost gone from six segments to five. Your final limit isn't far off. Are you really not going to consider my proposal?"
After another long wait, the Ice Empress could no longer endure Tian Meng's fawning gaze. Just as she had during countless previous hunts, she raised her tail high and stabbed it into the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's body.
"Whatever schemes you're plotting, since you've come here, I won't hold back. Come, become my nourishment and help me survive my tribulation!"
The white threads shooting from her tail gradually expanded, frantically eating away at the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's body in an attempt to shred him in one stroke.
Yet Tian Meng remained motionless throughout, seemingly letting her take whatever she pleased. "I wanted to chat a little longer, but since you're so heartless, let me begin ahead of time... Huh?"
Just as Tian Meng was about to trap the goddess of his dreams with the Shed Husk and then slowly refine her, the ground on the other side began trembling.
Unlike his spiritual power and the Ice Empress's Soul Power, this force was so immense and formidable that even the Ice Empress, a sovereign of the Far North, briefly showed a slight change of expression.
As a spiritual-type Soul Beast, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm should not have been capable of trapping her. The only thing she needed to be wary of was the helper he had brought.
And now, the unforeseen factor she had guarded against in every possible way finally revealed himself. From the moment he appeared, he was impossible to ignore, his imposing momentum soaring like a rainbow.
Thunderous Might!