"Go on."
Beiming Yuan put away the Ice and Snow Fan and lifted his foot.
The Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Wolf scrambled to its feet and ran off. Its figure soon disappeared into the vast expanse of white snow, and its presence vanished with it.
"Xiao Yuan, well done. Your close-quarters fighting is getting better and better." At some point, the Ice Empress had appeared beside Beiming Yuan.
Five years had passed, but the Ice Empress was as petite and lovely as ever, without the slightest change in height.
Standing beside Beiming Yuan, she looked like his "little sister."
"Not bad."
Beiming Yuan nodded and smiled faintly. "But close combat is only the icing on the cake. My strongest move is still an endless chain of Soul Skills."
"That's true. Ordinary Soul Masters and Soul Beasts are just asking for trouble when they fight you. As long as you don't give them an opening, they basically can't get close."
The Ice Empress knew full well that Beiming Yuan's strength lay not in close combat, but at range.
With limitless Soul Power and the "multiple Soul Skills" of Beiming Yuan's Ice and Snow Fan Martial Soul, enemies of the same rank, or even one or two ranks higher, simply couldn't get close.
Beiming Yuan really could keep an opponent under control until they died!
"Where's Xue'er? Hasn't she come back yet?" Beiming Yuan put away his Martial Soul and instinctively reached out to pat the Ice Empress's little head.
"Stop patting me all the time. The more you pat me, the shorter I'll get." The Ice Empress shot Beiming Yuan a glare, then changed the subject. "Xue'er went to a human city to 'get' a few things, to prepare for us to leave the Far North and enter the human world in a few days."
"Mm."
Beiming Yuan nodded.
"Why do we have to go to the human world? Isn't it nice here in the Far North?" the Ice Empress asked in puzzlement.
"The Douluo Continent is more than just the Far North. The world outside is fascinating too."
Beiming Yuan smiled. "Besides, there are plenty of good things in certain places. I know the general location of one of them right now, and what's there would benefit all of us."
"What is it?"
"It's a secret."
"Xiao Yuan, you're doing it again!" The Ice Empress looked at Beiming Yuan indignantly. "It's been five years. How have you gotten more and more fond of keeping us in suspense?"
"I'll tell you both when Xue'er gets back," Beiming Yuan said.
"Hmph, that's more like it." The Ice Empress gave a soft huff, the corners of her lips curling into a smile.
"Let's go back first and wait for Xue'er."
"Okay."
Beiming Yuan and the Ice Empress then returned to the palace in the core area. Over the past five years, it had become a "home" for the three of them.
Because Beiming Yuan possessed the Ice God Pearl, which could aid the cultivation of ice-attribute beings, the Snow Empress and Ice Empress often cultivated beside him.
The closer they were to Beiming Yuan, the faster the Snow Empress and Ice Empress could cultivate.
So the three of them sometimes even slept together, sleeping in complete innocence, without anything dirty involved.
After a quick wash, Beiming Yuan took a few spirit fruits from the jade pendant at his waist and lay on the ice jade bed, munching on them.
The jade pendant at his waist was a storage Soul Tool the Ice Empress had given him a few years ago. It was called the Ice Jade and contained a hundred cubic meters of space, enough to store both living and inanimate things.
Although this is the Douluo I timeline, the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cave has existed for far longer than ten thousand years. I should be able to find it, Beiming Yuan thought.
That was right. He planned to take the Snow Empress and Ice Empress in search of the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cave. It wouldn't be easy to find which city had preceded "Dragon City" ten thousand years ago.
But as far as Beiming Yuan knew, it was a city near the Far North.
If they searched city by city, they would find it eventually.
Once the Ice and Snow Empresses received the aid of the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow in the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cave and survived their Heavenly Tribulations, their strength would surely stabilize at the "Peerless Douluo" level.
With two Peerless Douluo demon kings protecting him, he could basically run "wild" across the entire Douluo Continent.
"Xiao Yuan, Xiao Bai sent over something good that'll help you!" The Ice Empress's voice suddenly rang out, and she ran in, brimming with excitement.
"What is it?"
Beiming Yuan was somewhat puzzled.
"Whale Rubber, and it's a hundred-thousand-year specimen."
The Ice Empress jumped straight onto the ice jade bed and handed him what she held. "Xiao Bai was catching fish to eat in the northern waters not long ago, and caught a hundred-thousand-year sea whale for her clan."
"This Ten Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue came from that hundred-thousand-year sea whale. It's excellent quality and should give your physique a big boost."
For the past ten-odd years, all the Whale Rubber Beiming Yuan had consumed had come from the Ice Bear clan. After all, the Ice Bears were quite fond of eating fish.
Whenever they hunted down a whale-type Sea Soul Beast and obtained Whale Rubber, they would bring it to Beiming Yuan, no matter how old it was.
Over the years, Beiming Yuan had consumed mostly hundred-year and thousand-year Whale Rubber, though there had been some ten-thousand-year specimens too. Today was the first time he had seen a hundred-thousand-year specimen.
"Bing'er, thank Xiao Bai for me." Beiming Yuan smiled faintly as he accepted the piece of Ten Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue, a trace of heat in his eyes.
A hundred-thousand-year specimen of Whale Rubber was sure to strengthen his physique considerably.
"As long as you remember Xiao Bai, that's enough." The Ice Empress waved a hand and smiled. "Xiao Bai may be a little slow, but she's very obedient."
"Mm, I'll always remember her."
Beiming Yuan smiled and nodded.
He had met Xiao Bai several times himself. Just as the Ice Empress had said, he wouldn't go so far as to call her simple-minded; she was simply very obedient.
"Hurry up and take it."
The Ice Empress spoke.
"Mm..." Beiming Yuan thought for a moment, then finally nodded. "All right."
He had taken plenty of Whale Rubber before. Although there was that embarrassing aspect to it, over the years he had more or less trained himself into a "pure yang body."
Of course, the main reason was still that he had the Ice God Pearl to help him guard his mind.
It should work this time too.
Beiming Yuan took fire-starting tools out of the Ice Jade. They were no ordinary tools, but top-grade firestones from the human world, capable of producing flames of extremely high temperatures.
Under the constant heat of the top-grade firestones' flames, the piece of Ten Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue slowly melted into a lump, its fragrance filling the air.
Gradually, the Whale Rubber was heated into a jelly-like substance.
Beiming Yuan didn't hesitate. He ate it in a few bites, and it melted in his mouth. A warm current flowed through his limbs and bones, nourishing every part of his body.
His physique slowly improved.
"The effect is good." The Ice Empress watched and nodded in satisfaction. "We really have to thank Xiao Bai this time. To think she managed to catch a hundred-thousand-year sea whale."
"Mm..."
Suddenly, Beiming Yuan let out a muffled groan.
The hot current that should have warmed his whole body had turned scorching instead. His skin reddened faintly all over, and his blood boiled.
Beiming Yuan quickly activated his Martial Soul and drew on the Ice God Pearl to suppress the scorching heat.
"It looks like the effect is too strong. Xiao Yuan will have to endure it for a while." The Ice Empress could see what was happening to Beiming Yuan, but she didn't panic, because this wasn't the first time.
Beiming Yuan had endured it each of the previous times he had taken Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue.
This time should also...
"Hmm?"
Seeing Beiming Yuan's presence grow increasingly restless, the Ice Empress's expression changed. She hurriedly said, "Xiao Yuan, guard your mind and refine the Whale Rubber. I'll protect you!"
She had thought this time would be the same, but judging by the situation, it seemed different. Both she and Beiming Yuan had underestimated the medicinal power of the Ten Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue.
The Ice Empress quickly stepped forward, preparing to use Ultimate Ice to stabilize Beiming Yuan's mind.
But she was a little too late.