Leaving the Mountains with the Arbor

Three days later.

In the Snow Empress's cave abode.

Lin Yuan opened his eyes, the Soul Power within him slowly settling.

His injuries had yet to heal completely, but they no longer hindered his movements.

Several consecutive battles to the death, followed by the collapse of the iceberg, had long since pushed his body close to its limit.

Recovering this much in three days was already astonishing enough.

"Awake?"

The smiling mask hung upside down from the icy ceiling.

"Aha thought you were planning to live here."

Lin Yuan rose and moved his right arm.

"Were you quiet while I slept?"

"Of course."

The mask sounded earnest.

"Aha only sang seven songs."

Lin Yuan paused.

No wonder I kept having nightmares these past three days.

At the center of the cave abode, the profound ice sealing the Ambrosial Arbor had shrunk considerably.

The Snow Empress had compressed the ice block, originally several meters tall, into a profound ice case half a person's height.

The case was crystal clear.

Yet cold mist filled its interior, obscuring the Ambrosial Arbor's exact appearance.

Only an iron arrow pierced straight through the ice, pinning the pale golden branch firmly in place.

After the ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow had merged into the case, the ice had become several times sturdier than before.

Yet the Ambrosial Arbor still had not fallen completely dormant.

Thump.

A faint tremor came from inside the ice case.

Like a heartbeat.

Lin Yuan walked up to the profound ice case and pressed his palm against its surface.

Pale golden light immediately lit up.

Tiny rootlets awoke within the icy mist, swiftly gathering toward his palm.

Hum!

The blue-green Power of The Hunt seeped through his palm into the ice.

The rootlets abruptly stopped.

The next moment, they all withdrew into the Ambrosial Arbor.

The light went out.

The profound ice case fell quiet again.

"How much have you recovered?"

The Snow Empress approached from the depths of the cave abode.

"Seventy percent."

"Enough to take it back?"

"Enough."

Lin Yuan withdrew his palm.

The Ice Empress stood on the other side of the profound ice case, frowning at the pale golden shadow within.

"What if this thing suddenly starts growing on the way?"

"I'll pin it back down."

"What if you run out of Soul Power again?"

"Then I'll deal with it before I run out."

The Ice Empress stared at him.

"Do all you humans talk like you're begging for a beating?"

Lin Yuan glanced at her.

"Only to those who ask too many questions."

A vein twitched at the Ice Empress's temple.

Jade-green cold instantly surged out.

The smiling mask immediately floated between them.

"Fight!"

"Aha supports the green-haired one."

The Ice Empress struck out with her palm.

The mask was frozen into the ice wall on the spot.

"Shut up."

Muffled laughter came from within the ice.

The Snow Empress ignored it.

She raised her right hand, slowly curling her fingers toward the profound ice case.

The extreme cold continued to compress.

Crack!

The profound ice case's outer shell contracted inward.

It rapidly shrank, finally becoming an ice case three feet long.

A drop of ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow floated in the center of the lid, like a milky-white ice core.

Snowflake patterns spread from it across the entire ice case.

"I left three layers of seals inside."

The Snow Empress said:

"As long as the ice case doesn't break, the Ambrosial Arbor's power won't be able to leak out on a large scale."

"But it will still erode the seals."

"How long will they last?"

"One month."

"That's enough."

Lin Yuan reached out and grasped the ice case.

Bone-piercing cold immediately spread along his palm.

His Martial Soul was not ice-attributed, so he could not absorb the power within.

Nor could he allow the cold to invade his meridians for long.

The Imperial Bow trembled lightly.

A layer of blue-green light covered the ice case, isolating both the escaping cold and the presence of Abundance.

A trace of surprise flashed through the Ice Empress's eyes.

"Your power is rather convenient."

"Only when it comes to prey."

Lin Yuan took out several tough leather straps and secured the profound ice case to his back.

The iron arrow pinning the Ambrosial Arbor resonated faintly with him.

If the Ambrosial Arbor stirred, he would sense it immediately.

The Snow Empress looked at him.

"Are you planning to return straight to Spirit City?"

"I'll go to the outskirts of the Far North first."

Lin Yuan recalled the people from Skywater Academy who had been rescued.

Whether they had left safely and whether Spirit Hall had received the message both needed confirming.

The Ice Empress folded her arms.

"Those humans have already left the Far North."

"Last night, two Titled Douluo arrived at the outskirts."

Lin Yuan's gaze shifted slightly.

"What did they look like?"

"One had blue-green hair."

"The other had white hair, carried a bow, and had quite a temper."

Lin Yuan immediately guessed who had come.

Azure Luan Douluo.

Light Feather Douluo.

The warning arrow he had fired had already reached Spirit City.

His teacher had come too.

"Where are they now?"

"They're heading here from the outskirts."

The Ice Empress sneered.

"The one with the bow caught quite a few Soul Beasts along the way to ask for directions."

"Unfortunately, not one understood what he was saying."

Lin Yuan fell silent for a moment.

That certainly sounded like something Guang Ling would do.

The smiling mask squeezed half its face out of the ice.

"Your teacher is so interesting."

"Aha is already starting to like him."

Lin Yuan swung his hand.

The Imperial Bow smacked against the ice.

Crack!

The entire block of ice flew into the depths of the cave abode, mask and all.

"Heartless!"

The voice grew more and more distant.

The corner of the Ice Empress's eye twitched at the sight.

Even her palm strike earlier had failed to trap the mask completely.

Yet Lin Yuan dared to smack it directly with his bow.

Between the man and the mask, which was more abnormal?

The Snow Empress raised her hand.

A diamond-shaped ice crystal condensed in her palm.

Inside the ice crystal floated a snowflake.

She tossed the ice crystal to Lin Yuan.

"Take it."

"What is this?"

"My presence."

"When you enter the core region of the Far North in the future, take it out, and ordinary Soul Beasts won't attack you unprovoked."

The Ice Empress stepped forward and lightly tapped the ice crystal's surface.

A streak of jade-green light merged into it.

"And this empress's too."

She turned her head aside.

"Don't get any ideas."

"It's only so you won't get eaten by Soul Beasts before you even see us the next time you come back."

Lin Yuan put away the ice crystal.

"Thank you."

The Ice Empress gave a soft huff and did not reply.

The Snow Empress turned to look into the depths of the profound ice cave abode.

"Remember our agreement."

"If the power of Abundance appears in the Far North again, you must return."

Lin Yuan shouldered the profound ice case.

"Even without the agreement, I would come."

As long as Abominations of Abundance appeared.

The Hunt would not stop.

The Snow Empress raised her right hand.

Rumble!

The ice wall ahead slowly parted to either side.

Blinding white light flooded into the cave abode.

A fierce wind swept snowflakes into his face.

An icy path leading outside appeared before Lin Yuan.

The smiling mask flew back from afar and landed on the black ice case.

"Traveling with a piece of wood that can grow legs."

"The trip back is sure to be lively."

Lin Yuan strode toward the cave entrance.

The Ice Empress suddenly called out from behind him:

"Human."

Lin Yuan stopped.

"Don't die halfway there."

"That piece of rotten wood is still waiting for you to deal with it."

Lin Yuan did not turn around. He merely raised his right hand and waved.

"You too."

"Stop touching things of unknown origin."

The Ice Empress's expression darkened.

"Get lost already!"

Lin Yuan stepped out of the cave abode.

Wind and snow hit him head-on.

Inside the black ice case, the Ambrosial Arbor trembled gently.

The ice door behind him closed.

With the arrow of The Hunt and the wood of Abundance on his back, the young man walked alone into the boundless snowfields.

The Snow Empress stood at the cave entrance, silently watching his retreating figure.

Amid the wind and snow, the smiling mask flew circles around Lin Yuan.

"You're walking too slowly with such a heavy ice case on your back."

"Want Aha to help?"

"No need."

"Aha can give the ice case two legs."

"Shut up."

"Four legs work too."

"Get lost."

The man and the mask bickered as they vanished into the far reaches of the boundless snowfields.

The Ice Empress folded her arms, unable to resist a cold snort.

"Two weirdos."

Gazing in the direction Lin Yuan had left, the Snow Empress said softly:

"To be chosen by two unknown powers at once..."

"This human's future may well be even more dangerous than this snowstorm."

The Ice Empress frowned slightly.

"You think that highly of him?"

The Snow Empress turned and walked back into the cave abode.

"It's not that."

"I just have a feeling."

"Wherever he goes, there will be no peace."