"Xue'er, about this... why don't you give it some more thought?"
"The seven hundred thousand year heavenly tribulation may be terrifying, but it isn't impossible to withstand. Didn't Di Tian and the Evil Emperor make it through back then?"
"You're a spirit born and nurtured by the Far North itself, ranked below only Di Tian and the Evil Emperor on the Ferocious Beast Ranking. Surely you can survive the seven hundred thousand year heavenly tribulation too!"
Atop a snowy peak deep within the Far North, fierce winds carrying extreme cold swept relentlessly across this land forbidden to humans.
Beneath the snowstorm filling the sky, two figures stood proudly at the summit.
One wore sheer gauze, her exposed, jade-like skin even fairer than the ice and snow of the Far North.
Her ice-blue eyes were cold and clear, yet for some reason, a trace of sorrowful resentment lingered on her stunning face.
(Beautiful picture of the Snow Empress)
"Bing'er, back then, I wanted to follow Di Tian and the Evil Emperor's example and condense a Yin-Yang Complementary Soul Core, but I forgot that lone yin cannot give birth to life."
The Snow Empress's lips moved, and a bitter smile tugged at her indescribably beautiful face.
"In the end, I failed to condense the Soul Core and even damaged my own origin."
"There is no way I can make it through this seven hundred thousand year heavenly tribulation."
Beside the Snow Empress stood a scorpion a full meter and a half long, a scorpion of exquisite beauty.
Crystal-like silver and jade-green armor covered her entire body, shining with incomparable brilliance in the light reflected off the snow.
"Then... then you could choose to take human form and cultivate anew!"
The Ice Empress couldn't help waving her silvery-white front pincers before her, a hint of incomprehension in her voice.
"Haven't you already prepared a hundred-thousand-year-old snow lotus to seal away most of your origin?"
"As long as you reincarnate and cultivate anew, you should be able to reach the maturity stage very quickly by relying on your sealed origin."
"By then, even ordinary Titled Douluo would have trouble identifying your true form!"
For a Soul Beast cultivating anew as a human, the maturity stage corresponded to level seventy for a Soul Master.
Once they reached the maturity stage, their Soul Beast presence would become better concealed and harder to detect.
"It's not that easy!"
The Snow Empress reached out and stroked the Ice Empress's head, unable to hold back a sigh.
"There are more and more powerful human Titled Douluo, and their levels keep rising."
"The maturity stage can fool Titled Douluo below level ninety-five, but it can't escape the eyes of those Super Douluo."
"But..."
The Ice Empress wanted to say more, but a clear voice suddenly rang out behind them.
"Sister Xue'er, Sister Bing'er!"
The newcomer was a boy who looked twelve or thirteen. Though he still appeared somewhat young, his face was extraordinarily handsome, and he possessed an ethereal bearing very similar to the Snow Empress's.
"Chen'er, you're here?"
At the sight of him, a smile immediately appeared on the Snow Empress's previously worried face.
Taking two steps forward, the Snow Empress gently gathered the boy into her arms and stroked his head dotingly.
Xue Chen lightly sniffed the delicate fragrance lingering around his nose, while his arms wrapped around the Snow Empress's soft waist, so slender it could barely fill a hand.
"Sister Xue'er, did you call me here for something?"
More than ten years had passed since a truck had sent him to the Douluo Continent.
Even Xue Chen didn't know whether he counted as a human or a Soul Beast after transmigrating here.
All he knew was that he had been born deep within an icy abyss during a great earthquake in the Far North, and the Snow Empress, who had come to investigate, had happened to find him.
He hadn't awakened a Martial Soul, nor did he have what Soul Beasts called a true form. His only distinction was that he didn't fear the Far North's freezing temperatures.
According to the Snow Empress, he was a being born and nurtured by the Far North itself, just like her.
So the Snow Empress had raised him and told him to call her his sister.
"You little brat, you only have eyes for Xue'er, don't you?"
The Ice Empress huffed, raised her large pincers, and lightly knocked Xue Chen on the head.
"All that kindness I've shown you was wasted!"
"Sister Bing!"
Xue Chen rubbed his head and gave the Ice Empress an aggrieved look.
"I clearly called out to you just now too, Sister Bing!"
How should he put it? Although the Ice Empress's true form was considered an exceptionally beautiful existence among Soul Masters, Xue Chen truly couldn't find anywhere to put his hands on a meter-and-a-half-long Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion.
Surely he couldn't ride on her back?
If he really climbed onto her back, then with the Ice Empress's temper, Xue Chen would be in for a world of suffering!
"Still talking back!"
A jade-green light lit up around the Ice Empress.
When the light faded, the Ice Empress's true Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion form had vanished, replaced by a girl who looked slightly older than Xue Chen.
The girl's long jade-green hair was tied into a long braid behind her head, and her short white-and-jade-green dress made it hard not to look her way.
After taking human form, the Ice Empress was naturally an exquisite beauty as well.
But unlike the Snow Empress's cool, aloof beauty, the Ice Empress's beauty was vibrant, sharp, and flamboyant.
Wrapping an arm around Xue Chen and trapping him beneath her armpit, the Ice Empress flicked his head hard.
"If you dare talk back to me again, just see how I deal with you!"
Unlike the Snow Empress's mature, voluptuous figure, the Ice Empress's transformed body clearly hadn't fully developed.
Xue Chen felt as though the Ice Empress's ribs were about to squeeze him to death!
"Sister Bing... I can barely breathe!"
Watching the two roughhouse, a faint smile appeared on the Snow Empress's face.
"All right, you two, stop fooling around!"
Only then did the Ice Empress rather reluctantly release Xue Chen.
"Chen'er."
Bending down to straighten Xue Chen's collar, the Snow Empress's expression grew tender.
"You've stayed in the Far North all these years. Would you like to see the human world?"
Hearing this, the Ice Empress's expression shifted slightly. She opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something.
But under the Snow Empress's stern gaze, she ultimately left those words unspoken.
"Sister Xue'er, the Far North is my home. I'm not going anywhere!"
At her words, Xue Chen immediately threw himself into the Snow Empress's arms and spoke in a muffled voice.
Ever since learning that he had transmigrated into the world of the Douluo Continent, Xue Chen had thought about leaving the Far North and considered how he might become a god.
But he hadn't awakened a Martial Soul, and he didn't even know whether he was human.
Besides, after all these years together, he had long since come to regard the Snow Empress, the Ice Empress, and Xiao Bai as his family.
Now, suddenly hearing the Snow Empress ask whether he wanted to leave the Far North, his first reaction was reluctance to part.
"Good child, although you and I are both beings born and nurtured by the Far North, there are still some differences between us."
The Snow Empress gently stroked Xue Chen's back and sighed softly.
"You don't have the slightest trace of a Soul Beast's presence. No matter how anyone looks at you, you're human, so naturally, you should venture into the human world."
"But don't worry. I'll go to the human world with you!"