Crimson, orange-gold, orange-gold, orange-gold, orange-gold!
Five Soul Rings, one red and four orange, shone against the ground, giving the illusion of a karaoke show. Of course, anyone actually there who understood the power of those Soul Rings would not have thought so.
"Emperor Cold Heaven: Snow Dance Shining Sun.
Emperor Palm: Great Cold Without Snow.
Emperor Sword: Ice Extreme Peerless.
Pride of the Ice and Snow Emperors.
These are the Soul Skills my four Soul Rings have bestowed on you, along with a domain skill-Snow Dance Extreme Ice Domain. Since I'm attached to the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion Martial Soul, I'll merge with the Ice Empress, making it a hundred times more powerful than before."
The Snow Empress introduced the Soul Skills she had brought Lin Qian.
Of course, she knew Lin Qian was exceptionally gifted and could infer three things from one example. She believed he would certainly develop even more powerful special techniques from these Soul Skills.
"The Martial Soul is finished, and the Soul Rings have all been added. Shouldn't we get going?"
With the task complete, Tian Meng reminded them from within the Sea of Consciousness.
It was the Snow Empress who answered him. "No hurry. Before we leave, I still have a few things to explain."
With that, she let out a cry. It was not loud, yet it resounded across the entire Far North Ice Plains.
Such was the presence of the Far North's foremost heavenly sovereign. Whenever and wherever she summoned them, every Soul Beast of any standing in the Far North would hurry over.
"Mother, what happened?"
The first to arrive was the Snow Empress's adopted son, Ice Bear King Xiaobai, who lived closest.
He had an enormous body, only slightly smaller than the Titan Snow Demon King's. Even on all fours, he stood over fifteen meters tall, and his shimmering silver fur made one long to touch it.
"Xiaobai, call him Dad."
Once he arrived, the Snow Empress gave him that command.
Lin Qian: "..."
Xiaobai: "Huh?"
The Snow Empress had found him when he was young and taken him in as her adopted son. To him, the Snow Empress was his mother.
As for Lin Qian, he was her master, and there was also a certain special reason, so the Snow Empress had told Xiaobai to call him Dad without a second thought.
After hearing the whole story behind the Sacrifice, Ice Bear King Xiaobai considered it for a while, then declared resolutely, "I want to perform a Sacrifice too!"
"Huh?"
This time, it was the Snow Empress and the others' turn to be surprised.
Xiaobai said, "Mother, you raised me in the first place. Now that you're leaving, I don't want to stay here alone either. Please take me with you!"
Despite calling the Snow Empress Mom, Xiaobai was actually a high-level Soul Beast of three hundred thousand years, stronger even than the Titan Snow Demon King. And because she had taken him in, he enjoyed more favor than the Titan Snow Demon King and could enter and leave the Ice and Snow Palace as he pleased.
So, upon hearing this, the Snow Empress soon agreed. "Very well. You'd be too bored here all alone, so come with us."
"Hooray!"
With that, Xiaobai performed his Sacrifice on the spot.
A deep blue halo rippled out from his body, slipped over Lin Qian, and tightened in an instant. Once again, there was no resistance whatsoever. As this power merged into him, it worked imperceptibly, becoming part of his body directly.
The Ice Bear King's aura gradually disappeared, replaced by a crimson Soul Ring bearing three pale golden markings that slowly emerged from beneath Lin Qian's feet.
"It worked!"
Xiaobai emerged from the Sea of Consciousness in his Soul Spirit form. He was overjoyed to be with his mother again!
Since he had performed his Sacrifice for the Snow Empress, his ring was naturally added to the Second Martial Soul, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion.
Red, gold, gold, gold, gold, red.
Six Soul Rings pulsed in orderly rhythm, and Lin Qian's imposing aura rose another notch.
Ice Meteor, Ice Bear Blizzard.
There were likewise two Soul Skills. Unfortunately, just like the Snow Empress, Xiaobai had not yielded a Soul Bone. All his energy had gathered in the Soul Ring.
Fortunately, Lin Qian had plenty of choices and had little interest in these few melons and dates.
After Xiaobai's fusion was complete, the Snow Empress turned to the business at hand.
With light, graceful steps, she ascended the slope, where thousands upon thousands of Soul Beasts were already waiting.
No land was as united as the Far North. All the Soul Beasts had rushed over and prostrated themselves at her feet, listening to the address of their shared sovereign, the Heavenly Snow Woman.
The Snow Empress stood there, lovely and graceful, yet her expression was utterly cold. She radiated a sovereign's majestic authority to an intoxicating degree.
To prepare for her tribulation, she had gone far too long without appearing. Yet even so, upon the lands of the Far North, none dared forget her aura.
Since she had begun ruling this place, conflicts had rarely arisen in the Far North, and none dared offend their queen's majesty. Any occasional troublemakers had been strangled in the cradle in good time, dying beneath her three ultimate techniques.
From then on, there had been only one voice in the Far North: that of the Heavenly Snow Woman.
The surrounding Soul Beasts continued to increase in number, yet the entire ice plain remained utterly silent, save for the sound of their breathing.
Snow Spirits, Ice Jade Scorpions, Titan Snow Demons...
Soul Beasts of every kind gathered together, respectfully listening to their queen's teachings.
Today, however, they had guessed wrong. Their noble queen, the strongest ruler of the Far North, was about to leave, perhaps never to return.
"Your Majesty, are you leaving?"
An ape, taller even than the Ice Bear King, with long arms and a body covered in snow-white fur, stepped out of the crowd of beasts.
It was none other than the Titan Snow Demon King who had pursued Lin Qian earlier.
The Snow Girl did not deny it. She turned her Soul Spirit body around. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Why?!"
The Titan Snow Demon King's expression grew agitated.
"A-Tai, come over here."
Unlike before, the Snow Empress beckoned gently, her expression exceptionally tender, rather than immediately throwing a punch.
A-Tai, the Titan Snow Demon King, looked delighted and thundered over to stand beside the Snow Empress.
The Snow Empress turned back to face the Soul Beasts. "Since nearly everyone is here, I have an announcement to make. From today onward, the ruler of the Far North will no longer be me, but the Titan Snow Demon King!"
An uproar erupted!
More explosive than a pan of boiling oil, the Soul Beasts roared and bellowed, unwilling to accept this reality.
"Roar-!"
Rather than being happy to become the new ruler, A-Tai pounded his chest in protest.
Unmoved, the Snow Empress continued, "You must respect and cherish the new lord of the Far North Ice Plains as you have me, and preserve peace in the Far North.
As for me, I will pursue a higher star and break through the shackles no Soul Beast has broken through in tens of millions of years. Whether I succeed or fail, in life I am a soul of the Far North, and in death I shall remain its ghost!"
"Roar, roar, roar!"
Countless roars rose from the ice plain, and A-Tai dropped to his knees, his body trembling continuously.
"Go, my subjects. Let me look upon you and sear this moment deep within me!"
The Snow Empress stood against the wind, crystalline tears welling at the corners of her eyes.
Though they obeyed, the Soul Beasts were still deeply reluctant to part, looking back three times with every step as they left.
It took a full hour for all the Soul Beasts to depart, bringing the handover ceremony to a perfect conclusion.
Three days later, only after A-Tai had grown accustomed to his role as the Soul Beasts' shared sovereign and successfully reassured the various beast clans did the Snow Empress decide to set out and leave the Far North.
Politely declining a send-off, Lin Qian took out the Snowmobile again and drove out of the Far North, carrying the beasts who had now become Soul Spirits.
This time, no Soul Beasts blocked or pursued him, and he left the ice plains unhindered.
Rumble!
The tractor-like noise resounded across the wilderness, receding farther and farther until it finally vanished over the horizon...