Although the Snow Empress had slumbered for a long time, she was not entirely unaware of the outside world.
Just as she was about to continue, a familiar presence suddenly emerged from Xiao Yan's Sea of Consciousness.
It was Ultimate Ice!
The instant she sensed it, the dormant ice-blue light surrounding the Snow Empress flickered fiercely.
"Bing'er?"
The Ice Empress gazed at the Snow Empress within the sphere of ice-blue light, a complex look flashing through her emerald-green eyes.
"Sister Xue'er..."
The Ice Empress's voice was full of longing and barely concealed excitement.
"Is it really you?"
The Snow Empress's voice wavered as well.
"Bing'er, why are you here? Weren't you..."
She stopped abruptly halfway through.
She remembered many things. They had been together for so many long years that the bond between them had become like that of family.
At that moment, the Snow Empress's spiritual fluctuations grew extremely unstable.
"Bing'er, what happened to you?"
"Why are you in a human's Sea of Consciousness? Could it be that you..."
She did not continue, but her concern went without saying.
The Ice Empress fell silent for a moment, then sighed softly.
"Sister Xue'er, it's not what you think..."
"I'm all right. I'm still here, safe and sound."
As she spoke, she released her own spiritual presence.
That familiar power of Ultimate Ice flowed slowly outward, resonating subtly with the Snow Empress's consciousness.
Although the Ice Empress had become Xiao Yan's Soul Spirit, her consciousness remained intact.
The Snow Empress sensed it carefully for a long time and finally confirmed that the presence before her did indeed belong to the Ice Empress. Only then did her tense spiritual fluctuations ease slightly.
"But..."
The Snow Empress still found it difficult to accept.
"How did you end up like this?"
The Ice Empress did not answer immediately. She glanced in the direction of Xiao Yan's consciousness before saying to the Snow Empress:
"It's a long story. Once you come out, I'll tell you all about it."
"Come out?"
The Snow Empress's voice grew low again.
"Bing'er, do you mean..."
The Ice Empress understood what she was worried about.
They both knew that once a Soul Beast was hunted and killed by a human, it usually meant the end of its life.
Even though the Snow Empress was now in an embryonic state, that did not mean she was willing to place her fate in the hands of a stranger.
"Bing'er, first tell me exactly what your situation is."
Her voice gradually grew calmer, but concern still showed through.
"Were you forced to become this human's Soul Ring?"
"If that's the case, you don't need to cover for him. Even if this is all that remains of me now, I will never stand by and watch you be manipulated."
As her words fell, the chill throughout the spiritual world suddenly intensified.
It was not simple hostility.
It was the anger the Snow Empress had instinctively released upon learning that something might have happened to the Ice Empress.
Listening to her, the Ice Empress was both touched and somewhat helpless.
Of course she knew the Snow Empress's temperament.
She usually seemed cold and indifferent, but whenever someone she cared about was involved, she would never easily back down.
And the bond between them had only gradually grown to what it was now through the long years they had spent together.
"Sister Xue'er, you're overthinking it."
The Ice Empress's tone softened. "I wasn't forced."
"What?"
For a moment, the Snow Empress failed to understand.
"I volunteered to become Xiao Yan's Soul Spirit."
The Ice Empress spoke earnestly.
"Back then, my lifespan was already nearing its limit. Even if I had stayed in the Far North, I might not have survived the next heavenly tribulation."
"He gave me another path."
"Although this path carries risks too, at least up to now, I don't regret my choice."
The Snow Empress said nothing for a long time.
She could tell that the Ice Empress was not lying.
The Ice Empress's spiritual presence was still intact, even more stable than she remembered it being as the heavenly tribulation approached.
Yet that only made her more shocked.
"A Soul Spirit? What is a Soul Spirit? You volunteered to become his Soul Spirit?"
"Mm."
The Ice Empress answered softly.
"Xue'er, I know what you're worried about."
"But hear me out first, all right?"
The Snow Empress was silent for a moment before finally drawing in her power.
"All right."
At last, a trace of long-absent warmth entered her voice.
"I'm listening."
Xiao Yan had not interrupted once.
He could tell that the exchange between the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress was far more than a simple reunion between Soul Beasts. It was a bond built up over many long years.
To the Snow Empress, the Ice Empress's safety mattered far more than any condition he might offer.
And to the Ice Empress, being able to speak with the Snow Empress again was just as meaningful.
Xiao Yan had no intention of interrupting them now.
He needed the Snow Empress to become his Soul Spirit, but that did not mean he would use the bond between the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress to force her into a decision.
Moreover, if the Snow Empress truly was willing to become a Soul Spirit, then the relationship between her and the Ice Empress would also be something he would have to consider carefully in the future.
After a long while, the Ice Empress finally finished giving a general account of her experiences.
She did not deliberately paint Xiao Yan in a better light, nor did she conceal the risks involved.
She simply told the Snow Empress exactly what she had experienced.
After listening, the Snow Empress fell into a long silence.
She had imagined countless ways she might reunite with the Ice Empress.
But she had never imagined that, by the time she heard the Ice Empress's voice again, she would have become a human's Soul Spirit.
Even so, she had to admit that the Ice Empress's current condition was indeed much better than she had expected.
At the very least, she could tell from the Ice Empress's spiritual fluctuations that she had not lost her free will.
That finally allowed the Snow Empress's tense heart to relax a little.
"So..."
The Snow Empress spoke slowly.
"You want me to choose this path too?"
The Ice Empress did not answer immediately.
"I want you to live."
At last, the Ice Empress spoke earnestly.
"As for whether you become Xiao Yan's Soul Spirit, you can decide that for yourself."
"I won't make the decision for you, and I won't ask you to accept him just because of our relationship."
"But Sister Xue'er, I don't want you to disappear like this."
By the end, her voice had grown noticeably softer.
"We've been together for so many years. I don't want a day to come when I can no longer sense your presence."
The Snow Empress's spiritual fluctuations trembled slightly.
She was silent for a long time before answering softly.
"Bing'er..."
At last, her voice revealed a trace of barely concealed emotion.
"I understand."
A moment later, the Snow Empress turned her consciousness back toward Xiao Yan.
By now, her attitude was no longer as hostile as it had been at first.
But that did not mean she trusted Xiao Yan completely.
"Human."
She spoke slowly.
"I can hear your conditions."
Xiao Yan knew that the real conversation was only beginning now.
"My conditions are simple."
He did not beat around the bush.
"I want you to become my Soul Spirit and my Seventh Soul Ring."
"I believe that if Soul Masters and Soul Beasts can establish a more stable connection, then both sides may gain new opportunities."
"I want to test that possibility."
The Snow Empress listened quietly.
She did not immediately trust Xiao Yan because of those words, but neither did she release her hostility outright as she had at first.
"I need time."
The Snow Empress finally spoke.
"All right."
Xiao Yan nodded.
The Snow Empress said nothing more.
Her consciousness gradually sank deep into the embryo, but before she fell completely silent, she sent another spiritual message to the Ice Empress.
"Bing'er, once this is over, I still have so much to say to you."
The Ice Empress gazed at the sphere of ice-blue light as it gradually settled, her eyes growing much softer.
"All right."
"I'll be waiting for you."