To maintain secrecy, she hadn't even notified her "dear son," the Ice Bear King, to protect her...
It's over... it's all over...
Just as the Snow Emperor was preparing to accept her fate, the surrounding air suddenly fluctuated violently. Immediately after, a layer of jade-green light spread from afar, and a thick killing intent descended from the sky. Even these five human powerhouses turned pale with shock amidst this bone-chilling aura, as feelings of dread welled up in their hearts.
This is...
"To trespass in my Extreme North is to seek death!"
A cold female voice seemed to drift in from the horizon, accompanied by a terrifying sonic wave. The snowflakes on the surrounding ground were swept up, surging toward the five humans. Not far away, a giant jade-green scorpion, hundreds of meters in length, appeared; its pair of yellow eyes shone brilliantly like gemstones.
From the rear of its body, a long, upturned tail lashed out. A beam of jade-green light pierced through the air, shooting directly toward that Rank 8 Soul Engineer.
Fiend Star Douluo Huang Jinxu roared, "It's a Ferocious Beast of the Extreme North!"
As the leader, he naturally took the lead. Nine Soul Rings flashed, transforming into a star-shaped shield to block the jade-green beam for the Rank 8 Soul Engineer.
BOOM!
The light turned into frigid frost, instantly freezing a large area. Even Huang Jinxu found his body covered in a layer of thin ice.
Fear continued to spread in their hearts, and their bodies trembled violently in the cold. Almost instinctively, Huang Jinxu was the first to transform into a streak of light and flee outward.
"It's the second of the Three Great Heavens of the Extreme North, the Ice Emperor! Run!"
On one side was a 100,000-year-old Soul Beast in the middle of transformation; on the other was a Ferocious Beast whose cultivation was enough to rival a Super Douluo. Between profit and life, the choice was not difficult to make.
Combining the strength of four Titled Douluo didn't mean they couldn't fight a Ferocious Beast, but this was, after all, the opponent's home turf. Furthermore, if that transforming 100,000-year-old Soul Beast were to self-detonate, they wouldn't gain anything.
But the key was... this scene, this Ferocious Beast, was simply too terrifying.
No one objected. Especially that Rank 8 Soul Engineer, who activated his Rank 8 Flight Soul Tool and ran even faster than the Titled Douluo.
...
"Puff..."
Not far away, Huo Yuhao, who had buried himself in the snow, spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood and collapsed into the snowbank.
Blood even seeped from his eyes, but Huo Yuhao no longer had the strength even to cover them.
He had performed far beyond his limits. To scare away four Titled Douluo and one Soul Douluo did not rely on Skydream's Simulation, nor was it the Ice Emperor controlling his body to unleash the [Wrath of the Ice Emperor] at the cost of self-harm.
Rather, it was the power of emotion possessed by the Spirit Eye: [Fear].
Huo Yuhao hadn't actually mastered this power; he only had a superficial understanding of it.
Because this power simply didn't belong to the human realm, the amount of Mental Power Huo Yuhao lost by forcibly activating it was beyond imagination.
Huo Yuhao amplified the emotion of [Fear] within the hearts of those five powerhouses and combined it with the potent [Wrath of the Ice Emperor], finally scaring them off.
In truth, if Huang Jinxu had sensed it carefully, he would have realized that the [Wrath of the Ice Emperor] wasn't actually that powerful; he could have blocked it without much effort. Moreover, Huo Yuhao only had enough strength for that single strike.
"...I'm... really done for." His head tilted to the side, and Huo Yuhao fainted in the snow.
...
The transforming Snow Emperor was completely stunned. What was going on? "...Bing'er?"
She knew that the Ice Emperor, like herself, was approaching the end of her lifespan. Originally, she had planned to find the Ice Emperor after her successful transformation and have her become her Soul Ring and Soul Bone, so the sisters could storm the God Realm together.
But she hadn't expected the Ice Emperor to come on her own.
However... the power of that [Wrath of the Ice Emperor] just now was all bark and no bite, not even reaching a tenth of the Ice Emperor's usual attack power.
What happened? "Xue'er, it's me, I'm here!" The Ice Emperor's voice rang in the Snow Emperor's ear.
Hearing the Ice Emperor's voice, the Snow Emperor was momentarily stunned, followed by uncontrollable excitement and joy.
"Bing'er, where are you? Why can't I see you?"
"Um... Xue'er, don't be anxious. Hurry and continue your transformation and cultivation; I'll explain it to you in a bit."
The Snow Emperor was confused, but she knew this wasn't the time for questions. She continued to absorb the power of the Snow Lotus for her transformation.
Skydream approached the Ice Emperor anxiously: "Bingbing, Yuhao's Mental Power and Soul Power are almost entirely exhausted. If those people come back, we won't be able to protect the Snow Emperor and Yuhao."
"I know! That's why I called Xiao Bai over."
"...When? Never mind, you must explain things clearly to the Ice Bear King. Don't let him hurt Yuhao."
The Ice Emperor gave Skydream a frustrated eye-roll; how could she not know that?
In less than five minutes, ripples began to form on the surface of the Ice God Lake, and the earth began to shake.
It was a giant white bear. From a distance, it looked like a small mountain of white.
"Snow Emperor! Snow Emperor!"
Strangely, the voice coming from this massive fellow was quite simple and muffled, like a child's voice.
A voice interrupted the white bear's calls.
"Xiao Bai, long time no see."
"Eh? Ice Emperor? You are..."
Using Skydream's Mental Power, the Ice Emperor briefly explained the situation to the Ice Bear King.
The Ice Bear King was exceptionally simple-minded. Without a shred of doubt, he lay down by the shore of the Ice God Lake to protect the Snow Emperor.
With a Ferocious Beast-level powerhouse here, the Snow Emperor's transformation was finally safe.
Watching the Ice Emperor gazing longingly at the Snow Emperor, Skydream felt as if he were drinking lemon water after eating a peppermint—it was an indescribably sour feeling.
"Bingbing, stop staring. You should pay more attention to Yuhao's side."
The Ice Emperor retorted crossly, "None of your business!"
"Hey, if Yuhao hadn't risked his life to step forward, the Snow Emperor might have been captured by those humans."
The Ice Emperor looked at the fallen Huo Yuhao with a complex expression and sighed. "...I know. That's why I'm using my own Origin Power to help Yuhao recover. We just have to wait for him to wake up."
Only then did Skydream notice a dark green glow rippling over Huo Yuhao's body. His previously withered aura was gradually stabilizing.
Skydream suddenly felt that Yuhao not letting the Ice Emperor give him a Soul Bone was a very wise choice. He then released his own Spiritual Origin to replenish Huo Yuhao's nearly dried-up Sea of Consciousness.
"Ah!"
While the Ice Emperor and Skydream were helping Huo Yuhao recover, a sudden burst of jade-green light erupted from Huo Yuhao's body. A massive life aura overflowed and spread in all directions, instantly enveloping the Ice God Lake in a surge of vibrant vitality.
The Ice Bear King muttered to himself in a daze, "What's going on?"
No Soul Beast does not crave life energy. As a battle-hardened Ferocious Beast, he knew exactly what to do. He immediately closed his large eyes and began to silently accept the baptism of this rich life energy.
The ice-white lotus that the Snow Emperor had transformed into swayed. In the next second, a suction force even stronger than the Ice Bear King's emanated from the lotus, as if it intended to sweep all the life energy away.
Though she didn't know where this dense life energy came from, for the current Snow Emperor, it was undoubtedly "charcoal delivered in a blizzard"—a timely rescue.