With the tremor of the ice layers, the trail of massive footprints gradually receded into the distance.
Only then did the young girl slowly release her grip, her voice trembling with shock.
"Your Highness, Saint Son… just now, that was…?"
"Titan Snow Demon. Even in its juvenile stage, a Snow Demon stands over ten meters tall. Once fully grown, it reaches a height of more than fifty meters. And just now… that one should have been one of the three overlords of the Extreme North — a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, the Titan Snow Demon King."
Neuvillette's eyes narrowed slightly, both hands resting on his staff.
"But this also confirms that we've arrived at the core region of the Extreme North."
"Heh heh, not bad at all. For someone I've taken a liking to, your knowledge is already a tenth of mine," Tianmeng Iceworm chuckled, though his tone quickly grew serious.
"But from here on, the real challenge begins."
"We'll need to travel for at least another full day into the core area. By then, I will lure the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion here."
Neuvillette gave a faint nod.
Truth be told, even if things fell apart at that time, he was confident he could take Huo Yutong and leave unharmed — though the methods he had in mind were best left unused unless necessary.
Another day of trudging through the endless white.
"Alright, here will do," Tianmeng Iceworm announced, surveying their surroundings from atop the girl's head and nodding in satisfaction.
Snow still filled the sky, but the temperature here had dropped by an immeasurable margin. Without Tianmeng's protection, the girl would have been frozen solid into an icicle.
Hum!
In the next instant, a dense wave of spiritual energy surged outward, spreading across the endless snowfields.
Golden light lit up in the girl's eyes. Through shared vision, her consciousness rose into the sky alongside Neuvillette's.
From above, the vast, boundless core of the Extreme North stretched for over ten thousand square kilometers. Suddenly, the light above dimmed, and an invisible pressure spread in all directions.
Tianmeng's slender body now gleamed entirely gold, radiating the oppressive might unique to a million-year soul beast — a presence that made every creature in the Extreme North's core feel an instinctive urge to submit.
Neuvillette rested one hand on his staff, his expression curious.
As expected of a million-year beast… to the unknowing, this kind of display could be intimidating.
But to the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion — a ferocious beast of 390,000 years — such pressure was nothing. She had always regarded Tianmeng as nothing more than food.
Boom!
The clouds above churned violently. From the far end of the sky, a dazzling emerald light burst forth, sweeping toward them.
The color, pure as a gemstone, made the entire sky seem transformed into a giant emerald crystal — beautiful and strange all at once.
"Tianmeng, I didn't expect you'd dare to come back," came a leisurely voice from the horizon.
Where the voice passed, snow on the ground leapt three meters high, like waves crashing on a shore — an awe-inspiring sight.
Moments later, a figure appeared before the two humans.
It was a scorpion, its entire body a translucent emerald green, about one and a half meters long — a flawless work of art crafted by nature.
Such a soul beast, radiant as a jewel, could only be described as beautiful.
A flicker of surprise crossed Neuvillette's eyes.
No wonder Tianmeng had never forgotten her…
"Imagine that — you delivering yourself right to my door, and bringing two human meals. Hahaha! In that case, I'll gladly accept."
The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's crisp voice echoed as if from every direction, naturally amplified.
"Wait, I have something to say!"
Tianmeng's spiritual voice carried a rare seriousness.
"Ice Bing, you know the depth of my love for you — from hundreds of thousands of years ago, I had already fallen for you deeply."
"This time, my return to the Extreme North is for you."
"Oh? For me? Then let's hear it." The Ice Emperor's tone was cold, tinged with mockery.
"From my observation, you should be at 390,000 years by now. In less than a few hundred years, your next tribulation will arrive. And more importantly — even if you were to eat me, your chances of surviving that fourth tribulation would be less than five percent!"
Tianmeng's tone was calm.
"Yes. But life and death… after nearly four hundred thousand years, I am already content," the Ice Emperor replied after a pause.
"Heh, are you truly content?" Tianmeng's smile was faint, yet it seemed to strike straight at the core of her heart.
"As one of the rulers of the Extreme North, even after hundreds of thousands of years, you still yearn for the eternal — I think in that, we are the same."
"That's why I've thought of a plan… to create a god."
"You mean… a human?"
The Ice Emperor's voice faltered as her gaze swept over Neuvillette and Huo Yutong.
"Heh, as expected of my Bing Bing — we think alike," Tianmeng said.
Humans may have short lifespans, but they are nature's favored children. In just a few decades of cultivation, they can match what takes us tens of thousands of years."
"More importantly, humanity's highest peaks are heights we soul beasts can never reach. Do you still remember what happened ten thousand years ago?"
"The heavens changed color… and one became a god in an instant," the Ice Emperor replied.
"Exactly. For humans, becoming a god is far easier than for us, soul beasts. Even if I break through the million-year barrier, the path to godhood would still be impossibly far away…" Tianmeng sighed.
"I understand what you mean," the Ice Emperor said, hesitation in her voice.
She knew better than anyone how little time she had left.
At last, moved by his words, she asked in a deep voice, "How much confidence do you have?"
Tianmeng's voice turned fervent. "Seventy percent! I have seventy percent confidence!"
"This boy, at just seventeen years old, already possesses a soul power of level seventy-nine. His talent, in the entire recorded history of humankind, is one of the rarest.
Perhaps even equal to that man from ten thousand years ago. If you are willing to sacrifice yourself to him and become his soul ring, then when the day comes that he ascends to godhood… that will be the day of our eternal life!"
But just as Tianmeng prepared to further persuade her, a terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from the Ice Emperor.
Boom!
Without warning, frost and ice swept the world.
In this land of ice and snow, the temperature plummeted further still.
Countless creatures of the Extreme North shivered in terror, burying themselves deep beneath the snow.
This… was true, unrestrained ice sealing ten thousand miles.
Neuvillette's pupils contracted sharply.
He slammed his staff against the ground, a pale blue ripple spreading out — but it could only slow the advance of the ice for a moment.
Seizing the dazed girl at his side, who had yet to react, he shot backward into the air.
Beneath his feet, a black soul ring surged upward.
With a crash, a wall of water burst through the ice below, rising to encase them both in its protective embrace.
(End of chapter)