"Mm, all right."
Ling Luochеn instinctively did as Yu Tianqing said and took a few steps back. She watched as he planted his feet in a horse stance and lifted the Ice Spirit's body from the ground with both hands.
Then he drew a deep breath. The muscles all over his body swelled as he hurled the Ice Spirit high into the air.
The Ice Spirit's body rose rapidly, soon becoming a tiny speck.
Yu Tianqing came over to Ling Luochеn and dusted off his hands. "I threw it into the air. When it lands, it'll shatter because it can't withstand the impact. Even if it doesn't break, that's fine. We can just try a few more times."
"That way, it should be the same as if it had fallen off a cliff on its own. The Soul Ring won't belong to anyone, so you can absorb it."
"Ah, can you really do that?"
Just as the two of them looked up at the sky, Nan Shuishui suddenly appeared behind them and swiftly wrapped a slender arm around their waists.
With a tap of her toes, she carried them quickly away from where they had been standing.
Before either of them could react, a green figure abruptly appeared in that spot.
The green figure was humanoid, with long dark green hair hanging loose and a jade-green dress. Her skin was fair, with an almost translucent quality.
Her eyes were fixed on Yu Tianqing, filled with delight, desire, and excitement.
"I finally found you, hahaha."
"Who are you, and why did you launch a sneak attack on my two juniors?"
Nan Shuishui stared tensely at the newcomer. Her Rouge Dragon Martial Soul Avatar manifested around her, covering her body in pink scales.
Her delicate figure grew more slender, brimming with explosive strength. Her arm around Yu Tianqing and Ling Luochеn did not loosen in the slightest; instead, she held them even tighter.
Yu Tianqing and Ling Luochеn were pressed tightly together, but he had no improper thoughts. From Nan Shuishui's tense expression, it was easy to see that something unexpected must have happened.
The Ice Empress stuck out her tongue and licked the corner of her lips, then took a deep sniff of the air in front of her. A look of blissful pleasure appeared on her face.
"That's the smell. Human brat, you came right to my door yourself. You stay, and the others can..."
Before the Ice Empress could finish, she suddenly felt the light dim.
Immediately afterward, a huge chunk of ice fell from the sky and struck her squarely on the head. A crisp crack rang out as the ice shattered.
A pitch-black Soul Ring slowly floated out. The Ice Spirit was dead.
The Ice Empress, who had taken the full force of the impact, looked as though nothing had happened to her. She was merely a little dazed, unable to react for a moment.
Where did that attack come from?
Nan Shuishui had no intention of pondering that question for her. She had already used her greatest speed to carry the two of them swiftly away.
The wind howled past their ears, blowing so fiercely that Yu Tianqing could barely keep his eyes open.
Just as the green figure dwindled to a mung bean-sized speck in their vision, the terrifying presence of a Ferocious Beast erupted. A blast of air swept up the snow on the ground, sending snowflakes swirling through the air and blotting out the sky and sun. Even the sky darkened.
A blizzard formed in an instant.
Nan Shuishui was already half a kilometer away, but her footsteps on the snow still faltered.
Even so, she dared not stop, nor did she dare utter a word. Clenching her teeth, she ran a little faster.
A moment later, an icy female voice, laced with anger, came from behind them.
"How dare you kill one of my subjects in the Far North! You all deserve to die!"
"It's the Ice Empress."
There were the features he had glimpsed earlier, the terrifying presence of a Soul Beast, and the fact that she could appear here in the Far North.
Who else could it be but the Ice Empress?
Yu Tianqing's face darkened. How had they run into the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion just by approaching the core region? She ranked second among the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, an overwhelmingly powerful Ferocious Beast with a full 390,000 years of cultivation.
He had no time to dwell on how unlucky he was.
They had hunted a Soul Beast of the Far North right in front of the Ice Empress. Faced with the already hot-tempered Ice Empress, there was no longer any possibility of turning things around.
The immediate priority was to escape.
But Nan Shuishui, the strongest of the three, had already done everything she could. She had retreated the instant the Ice Empress was dazed, and her current speed was already her limit.
The blizzard grew fiercer, and visibility grew worse.
Nan Shuishui could not see where she was going at all and could only rely on her instincts.
Yu Tianqing glanced at Ling Luochеn beside him. Her face was deathly pale, her lips had turned slightly blue, and her brows were tightly furrowed, as though she were resisting something.
Yu Tianqing could guess what it was.
Their bodies were pressed tightly together, so he could feel Ling Luochеn's temperature gradually dropping.
Her ice-element Martial Soul had instinctively shown submission upon encountering a higher-ranking ruler of ice and wanted to merge into Ultimate Ice.
That would help purify her ice-element Martial Soul, but Ling Luochеn was still only a Soul Ancestor. The Ice Empress's understanding of the ice element could only harm her, not benefit her.
At best, it would lessen her control over her Martial Soul; at worst, the Martial Soul would turn against her.
A trace of warmth wound around Yu Tianqing's arm as he wrapped it around Ling Luochеn's waist.
The sudden warmth startled Ling Luochеn awake. She gave Yu Tianqing, who was close at hand, a grateful glance, then continued concentrating on restraining the Martial Soul stirring restlessly within her.
The wind and snow grew fiercer. Ice crystals mingled with the flying snow, as though they meant to grind everything to pieces.
The two in Nan Shuishui's arms, however, remained unharmed.
A pale pink barrier of Soul Power enclosed them tightly. Ice crystals struck it with a series of sharp smacks.
Suddenly, Yu Tianqing felt the jolting stop. Nan Shuishui had halted because a green shadow was slowly appearing in front of the three of them.
It was no longer humanoid, but shaped like a scorpion.
It was about a meter and a half long, its entire body jade-green as though carved from jade. Its two pincers were covered in neat hexagonal facets that shimmered with a dim blue light. Its tail stood high, the stinger hanging down, seemingly ready to strike forward at any moment.
The Ice Empress had blocked their path.
Nan Shuishui looked down at Yu Tianqing and Ling Luochеn in her arms. Determination flashed through her beautiful eyes, and she spoke to Yu Tianqing in a voice only the three of them could hear.
"Tianqing, I'll hold the Ice Empress off for a little while. Seize the chance and take Luochen away."
"I'm sorry to trouble you, but please look after Qiuqiu too. Aunt Nan believes in you. You'll be able to handle everything."
"It's just a little regrettable that I won't get to see the day you marry and have children."
Nan Shuishui's voice gradually softened, as though she were bidding farewell to the world with a final trace of attachment and reluctance to leave.
The Ice Empress herself was comparable to a Super Douluo. Here in the Far North, her strength came infinitely close to that of a Limit Douluo.
Nan Shuishui, on the other hand, was just an ordinary Soul Douluo.
The difference in their strength was as vast as the gap between heaven and earth.
Now, the only thing Nan Shuishui could do was buy her juniors a little more time and a sliver of hope for survival.