Seeing that the Ice Empress understood what she meant, the Snow Empress smiled. "That's why I asked you to come. I hoped to maintain my peak combat strength until I formally took human form, so I could help you survive this heavenly tribulation."
"That way, you could take over as ruler of the Far North and safeguard its peace, while I could put my worries aside, burn my boats, and set out on this path..."
But before she could finish, she saw the same bitter smile she had worn earlier on the Ice Empress's face.
"Xue'er, your plan is a good one, but I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you." The Ice Empress flopped backward like a maggot and stared at the glacier overhead, looking utterly done with life. "Your origin was damaged when you failed to condense a Soul Core, leaving you unable to survive your next heavenly tribulation."
"But I'm the same. When I faced my three-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation, my origin was also gravely injured. That's why I hunted that Ice Silkworm everywhere ten thousand years ago. Only the power of the ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow inside it could heal my injuries and let my strength break through again."
"Without a treasure like the ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow, I have no hope of surviving my next heavenly tribulation, just like you. Even with your help, it still wouldn't work..."
"Huh? Bing'er, you too..." The Snow Empress froze, shocked by the news.
The Ice Empress merely nodded in silence, looking even more resigned to giving up the struggle and lying flat.
The two sisters in misery stared at each other, and the atmosphere grew awkward.
They really did live up to their name as the Three Great Maggot Kings of the Far North, each more outrageous than the last. This had left a gap in the Far North's top fighting strength, laying the groundwork for the later abyssal invasion and the Far North's destruction.
The blame for this had to be pinned firmly on the Snow Empress.
"It's all right, Snow Empress. Go ahead and take human form!" The Ice Empress quickly pulled herself together, her expression turning somewhat wild.
"After you take human form, you'll need some time to recover your cultivation, and I still have some time before my next heavenly tribulation. If I suppress it with all my might, delaying it for a few decades won't be a problem. I can last until you've grown strong."
"In the meantime, I can stay hidden by your side and protect you."
"Once you've cultivated to a certain level and have the strength to protect yourself, I'll sacrifice myself to you. We'll combine our strength and strive for the god level. I believe that together, we can reach that realm!"
The Snow Empress's eyes lit up as she listened, and the fighting spirit in her heart began to blaze.
Yes, since both of them had already reached the end of the road, they might as well stake everything and fight for a chance. If they died, it would all be over, and that would be the end of everything.
If they succeeded, the two sisters could ascend to the divine realm and lead the Far North to its peak!
"All right! Bing'er, I..." The Snow Empress began excitedly, but halfway through her sentence, a powerful tremor interrupted her, bringing a massive fluctuation of Soul Power with it.
Boom!
Boom!!!
The sisters, who had been eagerly discussing their future moments ago, sprang to their feet. After exchanging a glance, they flew out of the glacier together and sped toward the source of the tremors.
Outside.
At the edge of the Extreme North Core Circle.
Permafrost that had endured for ten thousand years split under an enormous force. Snowflakes and ice fragments were blasted into the air, joining the chaotic currents between heaven and earth to form a vast storm.
At the heart of the storm, a towering figure nearly a hundred meters tall was being treated like a rag doll. A seemingly tiny human figure had seized him by the arm and was swinging him wildly in every direction, smashing a great crater into the ground with each blow.
Glaciers shattered, and snow surged.
The figure swinging the hundred-meter behemoth around was, of course, Ming Zhao.
The unlucky fellow he had used like a rag doll to smash countless icebergs was A-Tai, the Titan Snow Demon King, the only one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North who spared them from complete disgrace.
After leaving Dragon City, Ming Zhao had rushed straight to the Extreme North Core Circle. He had expected to find the Ice and Snow Empresses easily, only to discover that the Far North was impossibly vast, with ice and snow everywhere.
To an outsider like him, every part of the Far North looked the same, with nothing to distinguish one place from another. He had no idea where powerful Soul Beasts lived.
Nor was the Far North like Star Dou, where there was a place like the Lake of Life. As long as one went to the Lake of Life, the boss Di Tian was guaranteed to spawn.
After flying around without encountering the Ice and Snow Empresses, he had instead run into the last of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North first: A-Tai, the Titan Snow Demon King, with two hundred and ninety thousand years of cultivation.
After Ming Zhao spotted him, A-Tai also noticed Ming Zhao, a human flying brazenly through the skies over the Far North, and anger surged within him.
"Human, you dare trespass into the forbidden territory of the Far North? You'll stay here today!"
Ming Zhao couldn't be bothered to waste words on him. A mere ant of two hundred and ninety thousand years had no right to spout such nonsense before him.
And so the scene before them had come to pass.
Ming Zhao had activated his Ghost Bride Martial Soul Possession and lit up the Fire Dragon King's Soul Ring, which he had obtained from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Tremendous strength poured into his body, and his whole style instantly became overwhelmingly brutish.
Fire Dragon King Soul Skill-Holy Flame Dragon Body!
Of course, judging by the Soul Skill's effect, Ming Zhao would actually have preferred to call it Bronze Throne.
After using the Soul Skill, Ming Zhao's body swelled to three zhang in height. Muscles knotted all over him, each massive bulge solid and sculpted as though cast from gold and iron. A layer of lava-like dragon scales covered his body, and every strand of hair exuded the charm of raw stats.
Whoa!
A million jin of horsepower, Chaotic Cloak smashing technique!!!
With the blood throughout his body burning, Ming Zhao could think of nothing but the thrill of battle. He first used the power of space to travel before the Titan Snow Demon King. He slammed a fist into the top of his skull, knocking him to his knees, then grabbed his arm and began smashing him around wildly.
Only when an ice-blue beam of sword light descended from the sky, slashing toward Ming Zhao's neck, did he swing the Titan Snow Demon King, whose fate was already unknown, and hurl him at the sword light.
When its target was forcibly changed from Ming Zhao to the Titan Snow Demon King, the killing intent and sharpness within the sword light abruptly changed. Upon striking his body, it turned into ice blossoms that filled the sky and gently caught him.
"Just as I thought. Rather than go to the trouble of searching for them myself, it's better to let them come to me." Ming Zhao's lips curled upward as he watched the Titan Snow Demon King land.
Looking toward the source of the sword light, he saw two figures, one ice-white and one emerald-green, standing above the storm and approaching side by side. Ice and snow covered half the sky.
"You trespassed into this pure land of the Far North and attacked the people of our Far North. Human, have you decided how you want to die?" The Snow Empress's cold, clear voice, filled with anger, echoed between heaven and earth.
The Ice Empress said nothing, but the phantom outlines of pincers were already gradually appearing around her hands.
"Enough nonsense." Ming Zhao released his Holy Flame Dragon Body and returned to his original form, nine Soul Rings slowly pulsing around him.
"I've come to conquer you. Either kneel and submit, or die!"