"They have no way out now. Before death, it's natural to spill everything—otherwise, they might leave regrets…" Xu Cheng commented with a smile.
He was rather curious—after the two beasts were rescued, would they fall into despair from sheer embarrassment?
"..."
The Ice Empress fell silent. She, too, was very intrigued by the two of them.
Having lived alongside them for hundreds of thousands of years, she had never seen this side of them.
"No, it's not the same…"
The Titan Snow Demon King sighed. "You're Snow Empress' child, but I… I love the Snow Empress…"
Xiaobai's face froze in place, a massive question mark surfacing on her expression.
"I wanted to compete with you, and you wanna be my dad?!"
"Do you remember, tens of thousands of years ago, I confessed to the Snow Empress, and she shattered every bone in my body—except for my skull. I spent a thousand years slowly recovering. Ever since then, aside from admiration, I've come to deeply respect her," the Titan Snow Demon King said wistfully. "She's like a fairy from the divine realm—enchanting and untouchable…"
"And I learned one thing: The Snow Empress cannot be defiled."
He said this softly.
Xiaobai's jaw dropped into an O-shape, staring at him in disbelief.
As the saying goes: A man's dying words are always kind. Now that he realized there was no escape and he might become a human's spirit ring, the Titan Snow Demon King no longer concealed anything.
"No wonder that one time, ten thousand years ago, you looked half-dead, like you'd been beaten into a mangy dog… I didn't expect…" Xiaobai gulped.
Her massive body shifted uncomfortably.
"That's it?"
The Ice Jade Scorpion Clan Chief asked, still wanting more.
It was only at this moment—
The Titan Snow Demon King looked around…
Only to realize that nearly a hundred members of the Titan Clan, tens of thousands of Ice Jade Scorpions, and thousands upon thousands of soul beasts from the Extreme North were all staring at him in shock…
The Titan Snow Demon King shook his head. "Forget it. I'm about to die anyway—whether I reveal these secrets or not doesn't matter anymore."
"In fact… the Ice Empress also loves the Snow Empress."
Xiaobai: Σ()
Tens of thousands of soul beasts in the Extreme North: Σ(°△°|||)︴
The onlooking humans: "..."
"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!!!"
The Ice Empress' furious voice boomed out from the sea of consciousness.
"Calm down! Bingbing, calm down!"The Skydream Iceworm trembled in fear.
But in his eyes, the flames of gossip burned bright.
"Ice Empress, lend me your body," Xu Cheng said with a slight smile.
"..."
The Ice Empress was momentarily stunned.
Then her face flashed with both embarrassment and rage. "Fine, enough talk."
As she spoke, a green gleam flickered through Xu Cheng's eyes.
In an instant, the Ice Empress took over his body.
His consciousness drifted in the spiritual sea, watching the scene unfold on the mental projection above.
"At the time, it was me, the Ice Empress, and the Snow Empress…"
Just as the Titan Snow Demon King was lost in nostalgic recollection—
He suddenly stumbled forward.
Annoyed, he turned around—only to see a teenage boy behind him, wearing an angry expression, coldly staring at him. This made the Titan Snow Demon King instinctively scratch his head nervously—this boy looked just like someone he used to know…
"Ah Tai!"
What truly sent chills down his spine was the fact that the boy accurately called out his name. The boy looked just like the Ice Empress, and the gritted, feminine voice made him more and more certain—
"I-Ice… Ice Empress?!"
"The Extreme North is facing a great enemy, and you still have the leisure to gossip? Is this how I and the Snow Empress entrusted things to you? As the leader of the Extreme North… If I still had my original body, I'd beat you half to death!" the Ice Empress roared.
"It really is you, Ice Empress?!"
The Titan Snow Demon King's face lit up with joy.
He started breathing heavily.
"But why…" He looked at her now inhabiting a human body, and then at the words she had spoken earlier—he was speechless.
"Enough nonsense!"
The Ice Empress snorted.
Her gaze shifted toward Shrek and the others in the distance.
"Humans—starting now, if anyone remains in the Extreme North after thirty minutes, they shall be killed without mercy!"
"..."
The crisp voice echoed across the skies.
Both Xuanzi and Du Busi's expressions darkened significantly.
They had just found an alternative to the Star Dou Forest—one that could sustain them for a long while, even giving them a break from the Sun Moon Empire's stranglehold. But they didn't expect… this brat to chase them all the way here!
"Xu Cheng, give mercy when it's due!" Du Busi shouted angrily.
The moment he saw Xu Cheng, along with the Ice Empress temporarily possessing him, he immediately understood what had happened.
"So that's it!" Xuanzi's eyes widened.
He suddenly recalled—during the Continental Soul Master Academy Tournament two years ago, this boy had once invoked the true form of the Ice Empress—
With a presence so overpowering it ruled over all.
He had crushed Ma Xiaotao, who was in full evil flame mode, while she was in peak condition.
At the time, Xuanzi's first impression was that Xu Cheng might actually be a 100,000-year-old soul beast who had taken human form—but what he didn't expect was… the Ice Empress had sacrificed herself to Xu Cheng and had become his soul ring!
"Now that artificial soul rings exist, you can spend gold soul coins to buy them from the Sun Moon Empire. There's no need to hunt soul beasts anymore. If Ditian can issue a ban, then as one of the Three Great Kings of the Extreme North, I too have the authority to issue one!" the Ice Empress said coldly.
"From now on, aside from native inhabitants of the Extreme North (human offshoots), anyone else who dares to hunt soul beasts here—no matter who they are backed by—I and the Snow Empress will personally hunt them down!"
"..."
As the Ice Empress' voice faded—
Countless soul beasts of the Extreme North knelt in excitement.
Facing her figure in the sky.
Titan Snow Demon King and Xiaobai exchanged glances, both seeing the same spark in each other's eyes.
From the Ice Empress' words, it seemed Snow Empress… was still alive!
There was still hope for the Extreme North!
"Snow Empress…"
Xuanzi and Du Busi glanced at each other.
Looking at the girl in light blue beside "Xu Cheng,"
Their faces grew even more grim.
During the battle in Mingdu, they had seen this girl before.
She'd felt vaguely familiar—but only now did they realize… she might very well be the true ruler of the Extreme North: the Snow Empress!
"Ice Empress, Snow Empress—I can let them go. But the soul beasts of the Extreme North that we already captured—we're not sending them back," Xuanzi said through gritted teeth.
Clearly, with the Sun Moon Empire now involved, and the Ice and Snow Empresses still alive, devouring the entire Extreme North was no longer possible. But part of Shrek's advance force, led by Xian Lin'er, had already captured some soul beasts and returned first.
"Heh…"
"Xu Cheng" let out a cold chuckle.
He waved his hand.
At the end of the snowy horizon behind him, soul beasts of the Extreme North surged forward.
Many bore wounds, their faces furious as they glared at Xuanzi and the others in the sky.
"I told them to scram." "Xu Cheng" waved again impatiently.
On the way over, they had run into Xian Lin'er and her team escorting soul beasts.
She'd been beaten to a pulp by the Snow Empress—but her life was spared.
After all, Xu Cheng still had use for this woman.
But now…
Shrek and the others' scheme—had utterly collapsed.
(End of Chapter)