A thin trail of crimson traced down the corner of Shui Bing'er's lips.
But she had no time to care.
Her breath came short and quick as she forced herself to calm down.
"Quick… go find Li Zhexian!"
Shui Yue'er and the six other girls immediately supported her up,
Following the enormous footprints left in the snow.
The blizzard howled on,
And before long, a weary figure stumbled up from behind.
One of the girls frowned and asked,
"Isn't Shrek at odds with Li Zhexian?"
"Now that you know who he really is, why are you still following us?"
Oscar's face, cracked and wind-burnt from the cold, was expressionless.
After a long silence,
He muttered hoarsely—his words torn apart by the wind and snow:
"I'm going to find my Captain Ji."
——
Roughly two hours later.
Deep in the core of the Extreme North, where the snow cut like blades, the Ice Devil Titan King still clutched Li Zhexian in its massive hand, charging forward without pause.
"Where are you taking me?!" Li Zhexian gritted his teeth.
The Ice Devil Titan King gave no answer.
Boom—!
Another step fell—
and the entire snowfield trembled.
But the next sight—
made Li Zhexian's pupils shrink sharply.
The sight before him…
The world before him seemed to shatter like glass—
as if he had broken through a mirage,
or torn aside an invisible veil that covered the heavens.
The barren, storm-torn landscape before his eyes slowly transformed…
The violent snow softened into gentle drifting flakes,
the jagged mountains smoothed into elegant peaks.
And in the midst of those layered, graceful ranges—
stood a magnificent palace of pure ice crystal, glittering with unearthly beauty.
A flicker of shock crossed Li Zhexian's eyes.
This place—
was nothing like the lifeless, frozen wasteland outside.
When they crossed into this strange domain,
even Ice Devil Titan Demon King seemed subdued.
Its thunderous steps softened as it approached the crystalline palace.
Inside—
Soft, radiant light spilled down from above,
illuminating an interior far grander than Li Zhexian could have imagined.
The vaulted ceiling was high enough to hold clouds.
Fine snow drifted down in silence,
melting the instant it touched the glassy floor.
Streams of icy springs flowed through the hall,
rising in pale mist that glimmered like silver fog.
Clusters of rare frost flowers, unseen anywhere else in the Extreme North,
bloomed in one corner, releasing a cool, delicate fragrance.
Snow-white Spirit Beasts—small, round creatures—rolled and tumbled playfully among the blossoms.
A group of tiny snowmen, no taller than a foot each,
gasped when they saw the strange human visitor,
then scrambled to hide behind the trunks of ice-crystal trees,
poking out their little heads to stare curiously.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes—
who could have believed that such a living paradise existed
within the desolation of the Extreme North's heart?
Just then—
a cold, crystalline voice echoed through the great hall:
"Ah Tai… is this the human you have chosen?"
"Yes."
The Ice Devil Titan King's voice rumbled like thunder.
"This human is not ordinary.
His Spirit Power is weak—
Yet he managed to wound me."
With that,
The massive hand opened.
Li Zhexian plummeted toward the ground.
He twisted in midair, landing lightly on both feet.
His dark eyes, calm as deep water, swept across the strange, shimmering palace.
Click—
Click—
A crisp sound of footsteps could be heard approaching from far away. A bone-chilling cold wind blew over his face.
Li Zhexian focused his gaze—
and several meters away stood a creature of breathtaking, lethal beauty.
Its body gleamed with a jade-green carapace,
its surface translucent like carved ice.
Two immense pincers extended before its chest,
while a segmented tail, composed of five sharp joints, curved elegantly upward—
its swollen stinger poised above its head like a jewel-tipped crown.
It was… magnificent.
And utterly terrifying.
Li Zhexian felt the cold explode in his chest.
Every muscle in his body went taut as iron.
Every muscle in his body tightened.
This being—
was none other than the Ice Empress,
second among the Three Kings of the Extreme North,
a Spirit Beast with a cultivation nearing four hundred thousand years.
His dark eyes reflected a mix of awe and wary confusion.
By now—
he finally understood.
That piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow had been nothing but a trap—
a snare the ferocious beasts of the Extreme North had set specifically for humans.
Yet…
For beings as terrifying as the Ice Empress and the Titan Snow Demon King—
why would they go to such lengths to bring him here alive?
"You are one who walks the path of the Sword?"
The Ice Empress's voice carried not a trace of warmth.
The stinger suspended above her icy crown flashed—
a streak of emerald light that shot straight toward Li Zhexian's face.
But Li Zhexian was ready.
Though startled, he did not lose composure.
Clang—!
A sharp sword-light flared to life.
The temperature within the ice crystal Palace dropped even further.
Ding—!!!
The piercing clash of metal rang through the air.
Li Zhexian felt a tidal wave of power surge through his sword,
so immense it was as if mountains and seas had collapsed upon him.
His Qinglian Sword bent into a dangerous arc.
The crystal floor beneath his feet split open, gouging two deep furrows.
He was hurled backward dozens of meters before he could steady himself—
his arm already numb beyond feeling.
The Ice Empress drew back her stinger.
At its tip—
the surface of the ice layer condensed from her ultimate frost—
a single hairline cut had appeared.
"…Hm?"
For the first time in ten thousand years,
a faint note of surprise crept into that eternally cold voice.
Then, without another word—
she exhaled a mist of frost.
The icy vapor wrapped around Li Zhexian like a living shroud
and swept him deeper into the heart of the palace.
"Sister Xue!"
"This human… may truly be the one!"
In just a few breaths,
The world spun again—
Li Zhexian landed in an even colder area.
.As soon as his body stabilized, he almost instinctively placed the Qinglian Sword horizontally in front of him, adopting a strict defensive posture.
His gaze fixed ahead.
Roughly ten meters away,
A mound of blue snow rose from the ground.
Mist drifted ceaselessly from it.
And within that hazy glow—
A slender silhouette stood silently.
Her figure was graceful, her posture serene;
Long, cascading hair fell to her ankles.
To sit upon the throne of this palace—
And to be called "Sister Xue" by the Ice Empress—
Her identity could only be one.
The first among the Three Kings of the Far North—
The undisputed ruler of this frozen world—
A Spirit Beast nearing seven hundred thousand years of cultivation—The Snow Empress.
The Snow Empress raised a delicate hand.
Boom—
Boom—
The icy floor at the center of the hall split apart with a deafening crack.
Li Zhexian steadied himself and looked toward the widening crevice glowing with blue light.
Before his eyes—
a crystal platform slowly rose from the depths.
Upon it glittered countless shards of blue crystal—
Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow,
so dense with spiritual energy it was almost liquid.
A thick mist of condensed essence blanketed the platform's core.
From within came the faintest sound—
a weak, labored breath,
as if life itself was on the verge of flickering out.
The mist parted, drawn away by an unseen force.
And then—
the scene at the platform's center revealed itself before Li Zhexian's eyes.
He saw—
a snow-white beast lying motionless within the Ice Marrow.
It had the body of a lion, but dragon horns rose from its head.
Its eyes, once radiant, were now pale as death.
What froze Li Zhexian's breath—
was that the creature held between its fangs
a cracked sword,
and beside it lay a pale egg etched with the mark of a sword.
("The Sword-Bearing Yazi.")
"…Another existence absent from the original story."
Li Zhexian drew in a long breath of icy air and asked quietly:
"What kind of Spirit beast is this?"
From the throne, the Snow Empress's clear voice echoed, untouched by emotion—
"The one upon whom the fortune of the Extreme North converges…"
"The Guardian Auspicious Beast of this land..."
"The Sword-Bearing Yazi."