"Buzz!"
Light pulsed around the Ice Empress as she finished refining the medicinal power of the Lovesick Heartbreak Red. She slowly opened her eyes and fixed them on the fifteen pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow.
The Heavenly Tribulation was coming, and she had to pick up the pace.
The Ice Empress unleashed the full extent of her cultivation. Icy power enveloped the fifteen pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow around her, and she began absorbing them all at once.
As the pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow dimmed one by one, the Ice Empress's cultivation-her own cultivation age-rose rapidly.
A Soul Beast's age did not necessarily mean it had lived that long; more often, it was a measure of its cultivation.
Of course, it was certain that the longer a Soul Beast lived, the higher its cultivation would be.
"Buzz..."
The Ice Empress's presence grew stronger and stronger.
"Bing'er's cultivation has already reached 450,000 years. At this rate, it should reach around 470,000 years," the Snow Empress said.
"Her cultivation is equivalent to a Level 98 Peak Douluo's, and her strength is definitely at the Peerless Douluo level. She'll be even stronger fighting alongside you," Beiming Yuan said.
The Snow Empress nodded.
Neither she nor the Ice Empress was at her strongest when fighting alone. Only by joining forces could they display the true Pride of the Ice and Snow Emperors.
Together, they were definitely the strongest under Beast God Di Tian.
"Rumble!"
At that moment, the 400,000-year Heavenly Tribulation descended. Its oppressive might was immense, enough to kill a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with ease.
The Ice Empress watched the descending Heavenly Tribulation without a trace of fear in her eyes.
The Heavenly Tribulation at the end of her allotted lifespan had always filled her with dread, but now she no longer feared any threat from it. It was merely a test of whether she was worthy of possessing this strength.
She... was fully worthy!
"Hmph!"
The Ice Empress snorted and went to meet the Heavenly Tribulation head-on, letting it wash over her.
The first bolt of the Heavenly Tribulation passed, and the Ice Empress was unharmed.
The second and third bolts followed, but neither posed a problem. The Ice Empress endured them with ease and remained unscathed.
Next came the most important bolt of the Heavenly Tribulation: the fourth.
"Rumble!"
The fourth bolt was terrifying, several times more powerful than the first three combined. It was like heaven's wrath descending in judgment.
"Ha!" the Ice Empress cried, releasing all her icy power as the giant phantom of an Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion appeared behind her.
Once again, the Ice Empress chose to meet the Heavenly Tribulation head-on!
Gradually, the Heavenly Tribulation's presence weakened, while the Ice Empress's grew ever stronger.
At last, the dark clouds dispersed, and the Heavenly Tribulation vanished.
The Ice Empress had successfully overcome her 400,000-year Heavenly Tribulation and raised her cultivation age to 470,000 years.
"Bing'er."
Beiming Yuan and the Snow Empress looked at the Ice Empress with smiles on their faces.
"Xiao Yuan, Xue'er." The Ice Empress beamed as she descended from the sky and threw herself straight into Beiming Yuan and the Snow Empress's arms.
The three embracing looked just like a family of three.
A long while later.
"Xue'er, you're next," Beiming Yuan said, looking at the Snow Empress.
"Xue'er, Xiao Yuan and I will be waiting for you." The Ice Empress nestled in Beiming Yuan's arms like a little girl, cheering the Snow Empress on.
"Mm."
The Snow Empress nodded, and with a flash, she was several miles away.
Like the Ice Empress, she first consumed the Lovesick Heartbreak Red and refined its medicinal power.
The difference was that the 700,000-year Heavenly Tribulation did not come.
The medicinal power of the Lovesick Heartbreak Red was not enough to bring the Snow Empress's 700,000-year Heavenly Tribulation early. She still needed the help of the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow.
The Snow Empress beckoned with a jade hand, and twenty-five pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow hovered around her. Their lustrous, jade-white sheen dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Rumble-"
A low peal of thunder sounded, and dark clouds gathered once more. They covered an even greater area this time, blanketing almost the entire core region.
At the sight of the dark thunderclouds in the distance, many living creatures in the Far North felt a surge of panic and instinctive fear.
"Rumble!"
The first bolt of the Heavenly Tribulation fell, its power equal to that of the third bolt the Ice Empress had faced.
But this bolt did no real harm to the Snow Empress. It did not even slow her absorption of the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble..."
Several more bolts fell, but they still failed to harm the Snow Empress.
On the contrary, the Snow Empress's presence was immensely powerful after she finished absorbing the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, and her cultivation age had reached around 720,000 years.
"Rumble!"
The sixth bolt fell. The Snow Empress met it with her body and endured it with ease.
Then, all the thunderclouds in the sky gathered together, forming a dragon-shaped bolt of Heavenly Tribulation that struck fiercely downward.
"RUMBLE!!!"
The sound was so loud that it shook the entire Far North.
Facing this final bolt of Heavenly Tribulation, the Snow Empress finally grew serious. She raised a jade hand and gathered a mass of ice and snow power that resembled the moon.
Then the power surged upward to meet the Heavenly Tribulation.
The forces collided, and the shock waves spread outward, stirring up waves of snow more than ten meters high. They rolled out in all directions before slowly falling.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble..."
After the clash, the power of ice and snow proved more enduring. The thunder dragon of Heavenly Tribulation began to falter and was finally frozen solid.
With a crack, the thunder dragon of Heavenly Tribulation shattered completely and vanished without a trace.
The Snow Empress had successfully overcome her 700,000-year Heavenly Tribulation!
At that moment, her cultivation age stabilized at 730,000 years.
"Xue'er!"
The Ice Empress, lying in Beiming Yuan's arms, waved to the Snow Empress in the sky.
The Snow Empress smiled faintly, then flickered over to the two of them.
"Xue'er, congratulations." Beiming Yuan walked forward with the Ice Empress in his arms.
"Xiao Yuan, thank you."
"Bing'er and I were able to overcome our Heavenly Tribulations thanks to you."
The Snow Empress's eyes were still full of tenderness.
"Xue'er, you're being too distant. We're all family." The Ice Empress held out her arms to the Snow Empress like a little girl asking to be held.
The Snow Empress did not refuse. She reached out and took the Ice Empress into her arms, looking at Beiming Yuan with a smile in her beautiful eyes.
"Bing'er is right. There's no need for thanks among family." Beiming Yuan chuckled, then changed the subject. "I'm also ready to consume an Immortal Herb. Sorry to trouble you both to keep guarding me."
"Mm."
The Snow Empress and the Ice Empress nodded.
Beiming Yuan sat down directly on the pristine white snow and took out an Immortal Herb that gave off a faint golden glow: a chrysanthemum.
The Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum was a neutral immortal-grade medicinal herb. When consumed, it sent Qi flowing through the limbs and blood coursing through the eight meridians, allowing one to cultivate a Vajra Indestructible Body.
This Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum was very old, and its effects were among the best of the Immortal Herbs. It could strengthen the body and improve physical health.
After consuming it, Beiming Yuan could definitely attempt to choose a fourth Soul Ring with an age of 50,000 years.
"Whew..."
Beiming Yuan took a deep breath and ate the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum's sky-reaching stamen first, then its petals one by one. The roots and stem were useless.
As he refined its medicinal power, a pale golden glow appeared on the surface of his body and grew increasingly intense.
Time trickled by as Beiming Yuan's body frantically absorbed the medicinal power of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. Its power flowed through his limbs and bones, strengthening his muscles and bones and nourishing his internal organs, forming a Vajra Indestructible Body.
Along with his physical improvement, his Soul Power also rose at an astonishing speed.
Level 36, Level 37, Level 38, Level 39...
It stopped only at the peak of Level 39, a mere half step from Level 40. He would certainly break through within half a month.
Although the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum was not an Immortal Herb purely meant to increase Soul Power, it had still raised Beiming Yuan's Soul Power Level by nearly five levels.