Trapped, the Ice Empress flew into a rage. She stopped holding back, and a terrifying pressure burst from her body. Her immense Soul Power instantly drove back the petrification spreading over her.
With a wave of her hand, she shattered the Azure Hair Bull Python, then planted her foot on Chu Qing's face.
"Ice Empress, you're not fighting fair!"
Chu Qing was furious, but as he felt the small, delicate foot against his face, a strange feeling inexplicably stirred in his heart.
With a sweep of the Ice Empress's hand, wind and snow rose, separating the human and the beast. She said:
"Ice Empress, you saw it too."
"Though humans have short lives, their comprehension far surpasses that of us Soul Beasts. In a mere few decades or a century, their cultivation can catch up with ours. Throughout history, quite a few have even been able to threaten our existence."
"Even if we rely on the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow to survive this heavenly tribulation, what about the next one? We still won't be able to transcend it."
"And if you recultivate as a human, Ice Empress, do you think you can still surpass him? Are you confident you can become a god?"
"There have been Soul Beasts who recultivated before, but have you ever seen one become a god?"
The Ice Empress still refused to concede. She said:
"Snow Empress, you think far too highly of humans. Even if my talent can't match his, wouldn't the two of us together be enough?"
"I don't know." The Snow Empress fell into thought.
After a while, she said:
"Let's go get the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow first."
She looked at Chu Qing.
"Bug, don't worry. Take us to the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, and I won't hurt you."
Chu Qing hesitated, then said:
"All right, I'll take you there."
The Earth Dragon Sect was in Dragon City, a fortress in the north of the Heavenly Soul Empire. It didn't take the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress long to bring him there.
Near the Earth Dragon Sect, Chu Qing feared being recognized later. He concealed his true form and used Man Faced Demon Puppet to assume a random appearance, then warned them:
"I won't go in. The Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow is in a cold spring inside the Earth Dragon Sect."
"Try not to hurt anyone. Take it and leave quickly."
The two Ferocious Beasts immediately turned into streaks of white and green light and shot into the Earth Dragon Sect.
Chu Qing waited anxiously outside, hoping only that they would hurry and not cause too much trouble.
"Hey! What are you skulking around outside our Earth Dragon Sect for?"
A sweet, lively voice suddenly called out, making him jump.
He turned and saw a cute pink-haired girl, but before he could get a clear look at her, the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress suddenly appeared beside him.
The Ice Empress was about to attack Nan Qiuqiu, but the Snow Empress merely glanced at her and said:
"Pay her no mind. Let's go."
The pink-haired girl sensed that something was wrong, but realizing how powerful the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress were, she could only watch them leave.
Soon, someone came chasing out of the Earth Dragon Sect.
Nan Shuishui asked:
"Qiu'er, did you see anyone suspicious here just now?"
Realization dawned on Nan Qiuqiu, and she said:
"I did. Mom, what happened?"
Nan Shuishui said bitterly:
"Two powerful ice-type Soul Masters just destroyed one of our cold springs."
Nan Qiuqiu found that strange. She said:
"A spring?"
"Did they have nothing better to do?"
Seeing that there was no trace of them anywhere, Nan Qiuqiu sighed and said:
"Beneath that cold spring was also a rare vein of ice-attribute metal."
"Only the sect master has ever known about it. I don't know how those thieves got wind of it and came to plunder it today."
Back in the Far North, the Snow Empress took out a Hundred-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus she had found and asked:
"Ice Empress, do you want to break through your lifespan limit, recultivate as a human, or make other plans?"
Hearing this, the Ice Empress still couldn't believe that the Snow Empress-the proud Snow Empress-was actually preparing to become a human's Soul Spirit.
She knew she couldn't talk her out of it for the moment. Frowning, she said:
"Give me the Snow Lotus. I'll recultivate."
"But Snow Empress, I need you to protect me until I reach rank seventy."
She hoped the Snow Empress would change her mind in the future.
The Snow Empress saw through her thoughts and said:
"Absorb all this Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow too. Recultivate after you've overcome the Four Hundred Thousand Year Tribulation, so you'll have a stronger foundation."
The Ice Empress felt no joy at all upon hearing this. Instead, she grew furious and said:
"Snow Empress, are you really going to become this human's Soul Spirit?"
The Snow Empress nodded and said:
"This bug's potential surpasses mine."
"But he doesn't even have the ice attribute."
The Ice Empress's voice grew angrier, becoming almost heart-rending.
"Believe it or not, I'll kill him right now!"
The Snow Empress said calmly:
"Ice Empress, be reasonable. It's true that our talents and bloodlines are powerful, but if recultivating could really make us gods, we wouldn't have to worry about the great tribulations."
"You know it, don't you? Without this Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, neither of us would survive this lifespan limit."
The Ice Empress fell silent.
She looked at Chu Qing and said:
"Tell me the Soul Spirit Secret Method, and I won't eat you."
Chu Qing then told them both the Soul Spirit Ceremony Secret Technique.
After listening, the Ice Empress frowned.
"Why is it a master-servant contract?"
Chu Qing said:
"The Soul Master is the foundation and acts as the vessel. Isn't that perfectly normal?"
The Ice Empress frowned.
"Snow Empress, I suspect there may be some hidden risks in this Soul Spirit Ceremony. Let this brat freeze here for now; I'll help you study it."
The Snow Empress spat a flawless, pure white inner core from her mouth, handed it to Chu Qing, and said:
"This is my Snow Pill. You can use it to get accustomed to my power in advance. While you hold it here in the Far North, I can sense your presence at any time."
Chu Qing was startled. He said:
"Snow Empress, you trust me that much?"
The Snow Empress said:
"Ten thousand years ago, seven of you humans became gods. I heard they even took their families with them after ascending."
"I have only one request for you. If you really become a god, take the Ice Empress with you someday."
Without the slightest hesitation, Chu Qing said:
"If I can take her, of course I will."
"Good."
The Snow Empress nodded in satisfaction. Snowflakes swirled around them, and she and the Ice Empress both vanished.
Chu Qing looked at the Snow Pill in his hand, his eyes full of delight. It was much better than the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Jade Marrow Bed. Not only did it contain the Snow Empress's insights, but it also protected him with abundant spiritual power.
Using it, he cultivated and contemplated the Radiance of the Azure Eyes. The results were remarkable, and before he knew it, he was immersed in it.
A month later, the Snow Pill floating above his head suddenly stirred.
Snowflakes whirled around him as the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress appeared, and the Snow Pill immediately flew back into the Snow Empress's body.
Chu Qing could clearly feel that the Ice Empress's presence was even more imposing than before, presumably because she had already consumed the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow. He gave a slight bow and said:
"Snow Empress, I've been in the Far North for quite a while now. Thank you for looking after me. I'm planning to go back."
The Ice Empress snorted coldly and said:
"Go back?"
"Where do you think you're going?"
As she spoke, the snowy plain immediately began to tremble.
Chu Qing looked around in alarm and uncertainty as countless flashes of emerald light flew in from every direction.
When they landed, he saw that they were all Ice Jade Scorpions with terrifying levels of cultivation. More than a dozen Ice Jade King Scorpions had even surpassed a hundred thousand years of cultivation.
The Ice Jade Scorpion swarm surrounded him in a dense mass. Their terrifying presence spread out, staining even the dim sky a deep, dark green.
This terrifying swarm of Ice Jade Scorpions had gathered in one place, with the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress presiding over them. It could be said that no force in the world would dare come to the Far North and face such a formidable lineup.
Chu Qing knew that even if the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress wanted to kill him, they wouldn't need to mobilize such a force. Still, though he wasn't worried about his safety, he felt immense pressure and found it strange.
"Ice Empress, what is this?"