Word Count: 3,109 Words
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Ling Bai flew in from the distant waters toward the center of the battlefield, where he found Ling Qiuxi wearing a proud little smile, the Death Abyss Bone Dragon trailing beside her like a colossal hound presenting its master with a prize.
Golden Crown Mermaid Li Ya, Silver Crown Mermaid Li Jing, the Floating Nether Blue Whale, and the Sword Tail Sea Snake King. All four 100,000-year spirit beasts wore dark, desolate expressions, as though they had already foreseen their miserable fates.
This battle had snapped the spine of the hardcore Sea God faction. Of the remaining sea spirit beasts, some no longer held firm enough faith, while others simply refused to follow the Sea God's orders.
Ling Bai opened the Spectral Gate, and the undead army surged into the Spectral Demiplane like a tide, hauling the ice-sealed Floating Nether Blue Whale and Sword Tail Sea Snake King along with them. He still did not lay a finger on the two mermaid princesses. The Death Abyss Bone Dragon padded obediently at his side, its massive claws cupped shut around the sisters.
On the other side, the Snow Empress had finally reunited with the spirit beasts of the Extreme North. Her beautiful face, usually veiled in frost all year round, softened into a faint smile. She tossed the Sea Princess, still immobilized under Snowless Glacier, toward the Death Abyss Bone Dragon and spoke.
"Let's go. We're heading to the Extreme North."
…
The group retraced their path to the Extreme North Ice Plains in a mighty procession. Ling Bai and Ling Qiuxi stood atop the bone dragon's skull. Qiuxi gazed at the Snow Empress's aloof, solitary silhouette in the distance, then shot Ling Bai a pointed, questioning look:
"The continent's Third Great Beast, ruler of the Extreme North, the Snow Empress... she's actually been inside your body this whole time?"
"We've traveled together for six years now. I couldn't have made it this far without her. The Seraphim's seventh spirit ring was formed from the Snow Empress, and afterward she lingered in my Spiritual Sea as an Intelligent Spirit Ring."
"Six years... Spiritual Sea..."
Ling Qiuxi's expression turned slightly sour. By that timeline, didn't it mean the Snow Empress had witnessed everything she and Ling Bai had ever shared together? She had no secrets left in front of that woman at all!
"Wait."
Something clicked, and her brows knit tight. "When you're mating with that bunch of women, can the Snow Empress see that too?"
Ling Bai nearly tumbled off the top of the Death Abyss Bone Dragon's skull. This girl and her smut-track mind. Of course that's what she zeroed in on!
At the front of the procession, the Ice Empress gazed at the Snow Empress, whose body had grown noticeably more ethereal after the great battle. Heartache filled her voice:
"Xue'er, we haven't seen each other in several hundred years. Weren't you in seclusion to resist your 700,000-year tribulation? How did you end up in the Extreme North Ice Sea fighting the Sea Princess, and without even your physical body?"
"Bing'er, back then I failed to condense Yin-Yang Complement Twin Spirit Cores. My origin suffered a heavy blow. I couldn't survive the seventh great tribulation, and I was forced to find another path."
The Snow Empress stroked the Ice Empress's emerald-green body as she reminisced. "I roamed every corner of the Extreme North until I found a Snow Lotus with 100,000 years of cultivation that had yet to birth wisdom. I planned to absorb it and re-cultivate in a human body.
Unfortunately, beast proposes, heaven disposes. At the critical moment of my re-cultivation, two humans broke into the snowy mountain lotus pool and sealed me. Then Ling Bai appeared."
She paused and glanced back at Ling Bai before continuing. "We killed those two humans together, but my re-cultivation failed all the same. I had less than a hundred years of life left before the tribulation, so we forged a soul contract.
I voluntarily offered up my spirit ring and spirit bone to help him walk the road to Godhood. If one day he ascends to a God Position, the Extreme North will gain a God's protection. If he fails, he will take my place and guard a hundred years of peace for the Extreme North, and do his utmost to help you survive your 400,000-year tribulation."
"Xue'er..."
The Ice Empress was instantly reduced to a sobbing mess. The Ice Bear King and Ice Devil Titan King's eyes reddened as well. The Snow Empress commanded the devotion of every spirit beast in the Extreme North partly for her overwhelming combat strength, but what truly lay at the heart of it was this spirit of dedication, thinking of the Extreme North's future even in the face of her own death.
The tears shimmering in the eyes of the three Great Beasts drew a helpless sigh from the Snow Empress.
"What are those expressions for? You're making it look as if I failed."
"Huh?"
The three beasts froze as one. Becoming a God was unimaginably difficult for spirit beasts and humans alike. None of them believed anyone in this era could actually pull it off.
The Snow Empress smiled. "Ling Bai isn't even eighteen yet, and his cultivation is already at Rank 89 Spirit Douluo. His talent far surpasses that of the seven who became Gods ten thousand years ago. You saw his combat strength with your own eyes. He defeated the Deep Sea Nether Dragon Emperor head-on.
The blood of two great Gods flows in his veins. We've already obtained the recognition of a 1st Class God. Once he completes the divine trials, he will inherit a God Position.
We're nearly at the end of the road. But a 1st Class God Position isn't enough. We want more."
"It... it actually worked?!"
The three Great Beasts looked at one another as a tidal wave of joy crashed through their minds. The Extreme North worshipped the Ice God, but the Ice God was a 1st Class God at best, and rarely paid any heed to the spirit beasts here. Now the Snow Empress had made an early investment in a human destined to become at least a 1st Class God himself. A textbook case of backing the dragon before it soared!
"Xue'er, you're incredible..."
Infatuation filled the Ice Empress's crystal-yellow eyes. Her five-segmented emerald-green scorpion tail swayed unsteadily as it curled toward the Snow Empress's slender, supple waist.
In the past, the Snow Empress would have paid no mind to the Ice Empress's little gestures. They were the closest of friends, after all, and a bit of intimacy was only natural. This time, however, she drifted to the Ice Bear King's side as if by chance, raised a hand, and gently pinched the giant beast's pink nose.
The Ice Bear King beamed with delight, nuzzling her palm with his snout, the picture of bliss. The Ice Empress refused to give up. She hurried after her, scorpion tail inching closer and closer.
Just as the tip of that tail came within a breath of its target, the Snow Empress suddenly turned her head. That devastatingly beautiful face let out a soft sigh, and she shook her head, slowly but resolutely.
The Ice Empress shattered.
The Ice Jade Scorpion Empress cracked into pieces inside. Once upon a time, she could snuggle up to the Snow Empress whenever she pleased. Now, at their long-awaited reunion, the Snow Empress wouldn't give her so much as half a chance!
"Bing'er, I've already made my choice."
The Snow Empress's voice was soft. She was no fool. She had always known about the Ice Empress's unusual feelings. Rather than let things tangle into a hopeless knot, she would rather cut cleanly with a single stroke. Better a short pain than a long one.
The Ice Empress let out a dispirited hum, lowered her head, and charged forward without another word.
…
The Ice Plains and the Ice Sea both belonged to the Extreme North. 100,000-year spirit beasts moved at terrifying speeds, and it was only moments before they crossed into the territory of the Ice Plains.
A world of ice and snow stretched out without end. The wind cut like a blade. So harsh was the Extreme North that life could barely cling to it, and yet at the junction of the Ice Plains and the Ice Sea, spirit beasts were gathering of their own accord.
Ice Jade Scorpions, Ice Devil Titans, Ice Bears, Ice Plain Pale Wolves… They numbered in the thousands and tens of thousands. Further out, more were still racing toward the gathering at the fastest speeds their bodies could muster, and even the rare flying spirit beasts of the Extreme North had come.
Every one of them thrummed with excitement, craning their necks toward the sky, waiting for their ruler to descend upon the Extreme North once more.
The vast tide of beasts was reflected in the Snow Empress's clear, sky-blue eyes. The corners of her lips slowly curved into a beautiful arc. An empress whose very name was written in ice and snow now gave her warmth to her people.
Ling Bai's gaze swept across the gathering, and he formed a rough measure of the Extreme North's overall strength.
More than ninety percent of the spirit beasts here carried the ice attribute. On the Douluo Continent, however, ice-attribute Spirit Masters were a small minority. Few were willing to risk the bitter cold to hunt, and so the spirit beasts of the Extreme North had grown to a remarkably powerful level.
The Snow Empress's silhouette grew clearer in the distance, and the assembled spirit beasts prostrated themselves in the most reverent of postures. Even the 100,000-year spirit beasts returned to the ground. The Ice Devil Titan King and the Ice Bear King did the same. Only the Ice Empress remained aloft, a privilege the Snow Empress had granted her alone.
"Almost everyone is here," the Snow Empress said calmly. "Then let us begin. It has been a long time, and I'm glad to see you all again."
A roar of cheers exploded across the frozen plains. The rolling tide of sound shredded the howling gales of the Extreme North. The Snow Empress slowly pressed her hand downward, and the clamor cut off in an instant. Silence returned to the frozen land.
"These past years, I have been in seclusion, striving to break through a bottleneck." The Snow Empress paused. "Whether it is me, Di Tian, or the Evil Emperor, we have all lived in this world for far, far too long.
We have already pressed close to the bloodline limit of the spirit beast race. Breaking through to the next realm is all but impossible. Yet I have found hope for the Extreme North's everlasting prosperity."
She floated to Ling Bai's side. With every eye upon them, she gently laced her fingers through his and raised their clasped hands high toward the sky. The sun poured down, its light seeming to weave the two of them into one.
"Ling Bai. He is an inheritor of a God Position, an eternal friend of the Extreme North, and the one I have chosen. From this moment on, his will is my will. You must respect him as you respect me, and offer him your faith without reservation!"
Ascending to a God Position required faith and power above all else. The Snow Empress shared one heart and one body with Ling Bai, and she knew exactly what needed to be done. She was planting the seeds of faith among the spirit beasts of the Extreme North well in advance.
Ling Bai turned a warm smile on her, and noticed at once that her whole body radiated a quiet discomfort. Her face remained perfectly composed, yet she kept adjusting the rhythm of her breathing. She was, in plain terms, sneaking deep breaths.
Announcing her choice before her subjects amounted to a sincere confession. There was no blushing or shyness, of course. Such reactions were utterly incompatible with the Snow Empress. But the thread of nervous tension running through her was impossible to hide.
The Snow Empress felt Ling Bai's gaze on her and realized he had already seen straight through her. Her expression only grew colder, though the deliberate frost only made the truth more obvious.
The Ice Empress trembled from head to tail. She glared at Ling Bai with murderous intensity, nearly grinding a mouthful of steel teeth to powder in a remarkably human display of what it meant to gnash one's teeth in fury.
The Ice Devil Titan King looked dejected and heartsick. The Ice Bear King scratched his head and lowered his booming voice to a furtive mutter:
"Am I… getting a dad?!"
With Ling Bai's position now established, the Snow Empress said a few more words and dismissed the rest of the spirit beasts. Only the Ice Empress and the Ice Bear King remained.
Ling Bai stepped down from the Death Abyss Bone Dragon. His target was clear. He went straight to the Ice Bear King, his expression warm and bright.
"I hear from the Snow Empress that your name is Xiao Bai?"
"Yeah! Mom gave it to me," the Ice Bear King answered honestly.
"Xiao Bai doesn't quite work.
Dad'll give you a new one. We'll call you Xiao Pang."
Three faces turned in unison. The Snow Empress's expression darkened with embarrassed anger. Ling Qiuxi's eyes grew a shade colder. The Ice Empress's fury shot through the roof.
"Mom…"
The Ice Bear King stared blankly, mouth opening and closing in mute appeal. The Snow Empress offered nothing in reply, as though she could not be bothered to respond, or perhaps had already tacitly agreed.
"Don't worry, Xiao Pang. Dad won't change your name for nothing."
Ling Bai swept his fingers across his Storage Spirit Guidance Device and produced a glittering ice-blue pearl. "An Extreme Ice Pearl nurtured by a 100,000-year Ice Frost Cold Armored Clam. Consider it a meeting gift between father and son."
"Alright! Thanks, Dad!"
The Ice Bear King's eyes lit up. With a delighted howl, he tipped back his head and swallowed the Extreme Ice Pearl in one bite. For a bear, anyone who filled his belly was as good as Dad!
The ice-attribute energy locked within that pearl would greatly strengthen his bloodline foundation and send the success rate of his 300,000-year tribulation soaring!
The Ice Empress watched the Ice Bear King grovel so shamelessly, and the blaze in her chest finally burst from its cage. She brandished her front pincers, claws flailing, and roared:
"I refuse to accept you! If you've got the guts, fight me fair and square!"
The Snow Empress let out a quiet sigh. The Ice Empress had always been hot-tempered, and in the end she simply hadn't managed to swallow her anger.
"We fight in the core region of the Extreme North. You don't use your second Martial Spirit. Do you dare?!"
She reckoned that with the home-field advantage and a ban on the Spider Emperor Clone, she had a fifty percent chance of winning!
"If you lose, you take human form and do whatever I tell you. Do you dare?" Ling Bai shot back.
The Ice Empress had already gone red with fury. How could she stand to be provoked further? "Bring it on! Who's afraid of whom?! This Empress will show you what the Extreme North's Ultimate Ice truly means!"
Man and beast squared off on the spot. The Snow Empress had no intention of intervening. They couldn't kill each other anyway. Better to let the Ice Empress blow off some steam.
Two figures charged, one from the ground, one from the air!
BANG—
"Wait! If you've got the guts, let this Empress get back up!"
SMACK—
"This Empress slipped! Again!"
CRASH—
"There isn't enough room here! Again!"
WHOOSH—
"Forget it. You're really no fun."
The mighty Ice Empress, brought low in a few short rounds!
She spat out a mouthful of black mist. Who could possibly understand her suffering? The Angelic Domain could actually purify ice elements, and the Extreme North's ambient energy gave her no boost at all!
A flash of jade-green light, and the Ice Empress took the form of a small girl with twin pigtails. She stiffened her neck and puffed out her cheeks in indignation.
"Hey. What do you want this Empress to do?"
Pull on those pigtails for a bit…
A joke, of course. The Snow Empress was watching from the side like a tiger ready to pounce, so Ling Bai abandoned that tempting little thought and said instead:
"Bring those three fish over."
"Oh."
The Ice Empress dragged the three mermaids forward. The Sea Princess's bloodline had been frozen solid, leaving her unable to move, while Li Ya and Li Jing bore wounds across their bodies from the Golden Dragon. All three stared at their tormentors in despair.
Ling Bai eased a third of Snowless Glacier's power from the Sea Princess, restoring her ability to move. She drew her two daughters behind her at once and spoke coldly:
"Demon of the Sea! Snow Empress! Extreme North!
The great Sea God will never let you go!"
"Oh, don't get me started!"
The Ice Empress rolled up her sleeves and lunged forward, intent on landing two solid punches on the Sea Princess, only for Ling Bai to catch hold of those twintails of destiny.
"Don't be hasty, Ice Empress. I've never been one for violence. We should win people over with reason."
Ling Bai's smile was bright, yet there wasn't a trace of warmth in it.
"Any living creature can be tamed. The method is simple. Find what she treasures most in her heart, take it out, and destroy it right before her eyes. Watch her helpless face. Even the fiercest lion will turn into a docile cat."
He plucked Li Ya and Li Jing from the Sea Princess's side, one in each hand. His palms came to rest lightly on the backs of their heads, fingers gently stroking. On the surface, the gesture was unmistakably affectionate, but given the hostility between them, in the Sea Princess's eyes those hands could twist two beautiful heads clean off at any moment.
"There's an old human saying. Those who recognize the times are wise."
Ling Bai went on soothing the two mermaid princesses as their delicate bodies trembled with terror.
"Conquer the sea for me. Erect statues. Harvest the faith of the sea spirit beasts.
Or become spirit rings and spirit bones for humans.
Sea Princess, whether you and your daughters live or die is entirely up to you."