"The Sun Moon Empire's royal family, as of yesterday, withdrew its forces from the front lines, completely retreating south of the Mingdou Mountains. The emperor abdicated and passed the throne to the fourth prince, Xu Mochen. There's drastic turmoil within the royal family. The news of Kong Deming's death has leaked out…"
Nana, dressed in the classic black maid outfit, reported the news while lightly biting her red lips, her eyes hazy as she gazed at Su Wen.
The latter's hands were far from behaving, but she was just a little maid—how could she resist such hands? Her legs trembled ever so slightly, but she persisted in finishing the report.
"Heh, Xu Mochen…"
Su Wen chuckled, leaning back.
As he did, he wrapped his arm around Nana's slender and soft waist. The beauty naturally fell into his embrace, her crimson lips softly exhaling a teasing breath. Her eyes were dreamy.
Though her skin was wheat-colored, it revealed a sense of health and vitality. Her physique was like that of a she-leopard; clear abs on her belly marked her as a melee soul master.
"The fourth prince, huh…"
Su Wen folded his hands behind his head, eyes thoughtful.
Meanwhile, Nana caught the unspoken implication, glanced at the closed door, bent down, brushed her hair to one side, and swallowed softly.
"It's a pity…" Su Wen said quietly. "If it were Xu Tianran, that ambitious hero, perhaps I'd consider working with him… After all, it does take courage and ability to unify the continent. But unfortunately, he's dead, and all that's left is this idle, useless prince."
"The Sun Moon Empire—you've lost the lead in soul equipment technology and the drive that once united your people against the world. There's no reason for me to use you anymore."
"So… the Star Luo Empire it is…"
He pondered aloud.
One hand gently stroked Nana's hair as he thought it over.
"There's no need for the Sun Moon Empire to stay in play."
"Send the order. It's time to end this farce. The continent should form a federation. Let the Star Luo Empire take the lead and hold negotiations at Shrek Academy, with me overseeing it personally."
"Glug…" Nana coughed twice after swallowing, gave Su Wen a glare, and wiped her lips. "Even now, you're still giving such orders…"
"My Lord truly is…"
"Unromantic."
"In that case, I'll just add a little romance for you today." Su Wen smirked, sweeping the tabletop clean with one motion.
The Extreme North
"Sigh, you're all so hateful! You aren't even trying to keep things from me anymore? My Snow Empress, wuwuwu… My beloved Snow Empress…"
Ice Empress, having taken the form of a little girl, wept beside Snow Empress.
Su Wen crossed his arms over his chest, watching with a smile while Ice Empress threw her tantrum. Even Snow Empress looked at Ice Empress with soft eyes, gently stroking her head.
"She and I are both Lord's favored pets, so we naturally work together better. And honestly, Ice and Snow Empresss are more in sync casting skills with each other than either of us with you—so there's nothing to be done about it," Snow Empress explained.
Ice Empress began to cry harder.
All she could feel like was an incompetent wife. Even her hair was green—though, to be fair, it was always green.
"So… how much do you two know about the Ancient Ice God?" Su Wen asked with a smile.
He had brought Ice Empress and Snow Empress here for one purpose—regarding the Ancient Ice God.
In the original story, the Ice God was always a mystery, never explained fully, not even in the later God Realm plot. The matter simply faded away.
Many speculate that, since the Ancient Ice God used its own bloodline to create all northern soul beasts in the Extreme North, its identity must have been a soul beast—possibly a million-year one, and whether it became a god would depend on if it lived at the same time as the Dragon God.
Su Wen's guess leaned towards the latter.
After all, an existence capable of using its bloodline to give birth to the entire Extreme North soul beast population—creating the Ice Jade Scorpion and Snow Lady clans—simply isn't something even a million-year soul beast could do. Even the Heavenly Dream Iceworm or Deep Sea Demon Whale King couldn't achieve such a feat. This bordered on a level akin to the Beast God… or even creation itself.
That's right; exaggerated as it sounds, the actions of the Ancient Ice God had a touch of the creator to them. The entire Extreme North revered it, much like how the Dragon God created the soul beasts.
Thus, Su Wen believed the Ancient Ice God existed before the Dragon God—a true god in every sense.
That's why it's called "Ancient" Ice God. Nowadays, the Ice God has disappeared. Even in the original, when Huo Guafly ascended to the God Realm, they didn't find a single trace.
The mighty, high-ranking Ancient Ice God most likely perished in the calamity wrought by the Dragon God.
Back in those "ancient" days, nearly half the gods of the God Realm were wiped out. In the eyes of those old monsters, even the gods of Destruction and Life today are little more than children.
So—to meet the true Ancient Ice God was something Su Wen found very interesting.
Back when he was being hunted by the Chong Li brothers, he and Wang Dong'er performed their Martial Soul fusion technique, and a goddess's shadow appeared. He'd always suspected that was the Ancient Ice God. Yet, afterward, no matter how he tried, he could never summon that mysterious woman again.
"Ancient Ice God? Legend has it our Titan Snow Demon Clan is descended from her and the Ancient Titan Giant. She is the totem of the entire Extreme North… but not much more is known," the Titan Snow Demon King scratched his head.
"So you, Ice Empress, and Snow Empress all share her bloodline—but your final evolution has nothing to do with the Ancient Ice God?" Su Wen asked thoughtfully.
"Could it be… you two need to combine?"
"What are you trying to do?!" Ice Empress's face paled, not with fear but anger, wishing she could stab Su Wen with her tail.
"If Lord wants to see the Ancient Ice God reborn, I am willing," Snow Empress replied in a soft voice, her eyes gentle, tinged with adoration.
"Cough—no, you misunderstand," Su Wen quickly waved his hand.
"Not that kind of combining. I have no such hobbies. I mean using the pride of the two of you to do something like a Martial Soul Fusion."
"That'd still be pretty impressive…" Ice Empress's eyes welled with tears.
"If you two were to combine, completely activating the Ancient Ice God's bloodline, and then ascend to godhood, what level would that reach, I wonder?" Su Wen mused.
"Perhaps… even beyond the Ancient Ice God herself."
The Ancient Ice God was at least on par with the Dragon God, Su Wen reckoned.
Yet Ice Empress and Snow Empress, even at their strongest, were nowhere near Gu Yuena in her Dragon God state—not even close. This proved just how high the Dragon God's bloodline ranked.
If he could somehow manufacture another Ancient Ice God—one even stronger—it would be well worth it.
"So what now?" Ice Empress grumbled.
"Keep looking for a suitable cultivation method. When I return after ten thousand years, I'll get my hands on that Ice God Pearl," Su Wen said, deep in thought.
If anything in the original linked most closely to the Ice God, it would be that Ice God Pearl. Its power was self-evident—assessed to be sufficient as the core of a Godslayer Cannon shell, and later used to freeze Tang Wulin and the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena for ten millennia. Even with energy lost over countless years, it retained such strength.
In the books, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud became the Sea God's Pearl. Thus, Su Wen reasoned that the Ice God Pearl was either the Ancient Ice God's artifact or her legacy.
...