"Heavenly Snow Woman, Snow Empress!"
Shen Suwei stared intently at her.
The Snow Empress had left a deep impression on her. She was the ruler of the Far North and possessed formidable strength.
"You must be Little Wuchen's mother, I presume?"
The Snow Empress smiled at Shen Suwei. "Little Wuchen has my absolute protection. If you don't believe me, ask him yourself. Isn't that right?"
Gu Wuchen, who had been secretly snickering, realized the Snow Empress had turned the conversation on him and immediately restored his original expression.
"Wuchen, is what the Snow Empress said true?"
Shen Suwei asked.
Gu Wuchen nodded. "Mother, everything Sister Xue said is true. She also gave me the power to protect you."
He immediately activated the effects of Far North Resonance and Ten Thousand Beasts Submit.
The instant his presence spread out, it was identical to the Snow Empress's!
"Do you understand now?"
The Snow Empress smiled. "His presence shares the same source as mine. No one in the Far North would dare hurt him. I also know how you parents worry about your child!"
Shen Suwei felt reassured. With a presence like that, he could indeed walk sideways through the Far North.
Ye Yuan'er covered her cherry-red lips, her eyes flickering with surprise.
The Snow Empress was a Soul Beast of nearly seven hundred thousand years, yet her bond with the young master ran so deep. It seemed the young master was truly a crouching tiger, a hidden dragon!
"No matter what, thank you!"
Shen Suwei bowed solemnly.
"There's no need to stand on ceremony. Since you're here, Little Wuchen will come with me first!"
The Snow Empress beckoned to Gu Wuchen. "I'm taking him to meet some other friends."
"Mother, Father, and Bishop Ye, I'll be away for a while. You can head back."
After speaking, Gu Wuchen walked over to the Snow Empress.
Seeing how confident she looked, he whispered, "Sister Xue, the difference between how you act in private and how you're acting now really makes me want to laugh."
The Snow Empress rolled her eyes at Gu Wuchen. "Little fellow, I'll make you pay for that when we get back!"
She reached down and picked Gu Wuchen up, then turned and headed deeper into the Far North.
After all that had happened, his parents were naturally reassured.
Gu Linchuan looked at the enthralled Ye Yuan'er. "Bishop Ye, this must never be spoken of to anyone!"
Ye Yuan'er came back to her senses and immediately nodded. "Don't worry, I understand."
"Let's go home," Shen Suwei said.
Deep in the Far North, the Snow Empress was choosing a second Soul Beast for Gu Wuchen.
"Let Sister Xue help you find your second Soul Beast!"
As the Snow Empress searched, Gu Wuchen had his own choice for his second Soul Beast. "Sister Xue, I want to find a Far North Ice Shadow Marten around six thousand years old!"
He had already made preparations for choosing his Second Soul Ring back at Spirit Hall.
"Sister Xue will look for one for you."
The Snow Empress closed her eyes, spreading her spiritual power over the entire Far North.
A moment later, she opened her eyes. "Ten li away, there happens to be an Ice Shadow Marten feeding!"
The next moment, the Snow Empress vanished from where she stood.
In the space of a breath, she had arrived above the Ice Shadow Leopard.
"This is the one, right? But it seems to be six thousand eight hundred years old!"
Gu Wuchen said, "Sister Xue, this is the one. My physique, combined with my own strength, is enough for me to absorb it!"
Seeing that Gu Wuchen had said so, the Snow Empress said no more. With a flick of her fingertip, the phantom of an Emperor Sword appeared and shot toward the Ice Shadow Leopard, piercing through her body.
The Ice Shadow Leopard looked up, her eyes full of terror, but this was not a blow she could dodge.
Her body was pinned to the ground, blood gushing from her wound.
Seeing this, Gu Wuchen gripped the Dustless Sword he had condensed and slashed horizontally.
The gasping Ice Shadow Leopard fell silent at once, and a purple Soul Ring floated out.
The Snow Empress landed, her feet sinking into the snow.
"Absorb it. Sister Xue will stand guard for you!"
Gu Wuchen nodded and immediately sat cross-legged, guiding the Thousand-Year Soul Ring until it floated above his head.
As he absorbed it, Gu Wuchen tried to blend the power of extreme cold with the Snow Empress's power.
That way, he would get twice the result with half the effort when absorbing it.
Just as Gu Wuchen was absorbing it, a familiar voice rang out from the sky.
"Xue'er, you snuck out for a human boy!"
The voice gradually grew clearer, and a woman in a long emerald-green dress landed on the ground. She was slightly shorter than the Snow Empress.
"Bing'er, he's different. Besides, his name is Gu Wuchen, not 'human boy.'"
The Snow Empress put her hands on her hips, correcting the Ice Empress.
"Xue'er, it's been a long time since I've seen you stand up for a human like this."
The Ice Empress was a little jealous.
The last time Xue'er had snuck out, she hadn't offered much of an explanation either.
This time, the Ice Empress had finally caught her, only to find it was for a six- or seven-year-old child.
"Bing'er, you just don't understand. Little Wuchen is different!"
The Snow Empress shook her head. Explaining too much to the Ice Empress would be of no use; it was better to let her find out for herself.
"Xue'er, I have to say, Little Wuchen is growing fast, and he has such delicate, handsome features. You haven't taken a fancy to him, have you?"
After looking him over, the Ice Empress turned to the Snow Empress with a smile.
The Snow Empress squirmed under her gaze. "Nonsense! How could I?"
How can Bing'er say whatever comes into her head?
Luckily, Little Wuchen is absorbing his Soul Ring. Otherwise, if he heard that, who knows what he'd think?
The Ice Empress raised an eyebrow. "I only mentioned it. Why are you so nervous?"
"But I don't seem to have noticed what you were talking about."
Aside from his young age and his rather heroic looks, she hadn't noticed anything else remarkable about him. And he was absorbing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring?
In theory, the first two Soul Rings were yellow, and only the Third Soul Ring could be a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
"Silly Bing'er, sense the power inside him," the Snow Empress said.
"The power inside him?"
The Ice Empress reached out and touched Gu Wuchen with one finger. The fluctuation from the land of extreme cold made her eyes widen.
"The power of extreme cold? How could this power appear in a human?" the Ice Empress exclaimed.
Just as the Ice Empress was marveling, the Thousand-Year Soul Ring above Gu Wuchen's head slowly merged into his body. He opened his eyes and froze the moment he saw her.
"Ice Empress!"
The Ice Empress said in surprise, "You actually know my name?"
Gu Wuchen backed away a few steps, putting some distance between them. "Of the three great rulers of the Far North, you, the Ice Empress, rank second only to the Snow Empress!"
"Clever," the Ice Empress said with a smile.
Little Wuchen reacted quickly. Just as she was about to reach out and have her way with Gu Wuchen,
the Snow Empress picked him up first. "Bing'er, put those little schemes of yours away!"
The Ice Empress pursed her lips. "Xue'er, don't be so stingy. I'll just take a look and won't do anything, all right?"
"In your dreams!"
They had lived together for so long that the Snow Empress knew exactly what little tricks the Ice Empress had in mind, and refused outright.
"Sister Xue, I want to try out my Second Soul Skill."
"No problem!" The Snow Empress put Gu Wuchen down.
With a thought, Gu Wuchen summoned the Dustless Sword into his hand.
"Second Soul Skill, Dustless Fleeting Shadow!"