The area and scope of the Extre North far surpassed those of the Star Dou Great Forest. However, due to its harsh environnt, the number of soul beasts within was far fewer, and they were much more scattered.
But in terms of overall strength, even if the creatures of the Star Dou Great Forest banded together, they might still not be able to overpower the soul beasts of the Extre North.
Under these frigid conditions, the soul beasts here had special environntal advantages that made them virtually invincible.
Most importantly, the Extre North was ho to three absolute overlord-level beings, each with strength surpassing the hundred-thousand-year level, reaching the realm of true Savage Beasts.
These three were known as the Three Great Kings of the Extre North: the Snow Empress, ranked third among the Ten Great Savage Beasts; the Ice Empress, ranked seventh; and the Titan Snow Demon King, who was not listed but possessed equally fearso power.
Among them, the Snow Empress was a naturally born Snow Maiden, the absolute ruler of the Extre North.
The Ice Empress was the most powerful of the Ice Jade Scorpion race—an Ice Jade Empress Scorpion. The Titan Snow Demon King, on the other hand, was the sovereign of the Titan Snow Demon clan.
Zhou Sicheng's target this ti was the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion—the Ice Empress.
However, unlike Huo Yuhao from the original story, Zhou Sicheng did not intend to use the Ice Empress as his third martial soul. Instead, he aid to obtain her soul ring to attach to his second martial soul, and her soul bone to enhance his physique and potential.
He had already discussed this with Elder Yi. If Zhou could obtain both the Ice Empress's soul ring and soul bone, his body would likely be able to withstand the third martial soul derived from Elder Yi's transformation.
Thus, this journey was a mission of great importance to Zhou Sicheng.
If all went well, Zhou's strength and foundation would receive a massive boost.
...
When Zhou Sicheng reached a certain location within the core region, he stopped and expressionlessly stared at the endless snowy expanse before him. The breathtaking scenery stirred an inexplicable feeling within his heart.
In the Sea of Spiritual Consciousness, Tianng's voice slowly rang out:
"Sicheng, I'll need to lure Bingbing out next. Work with ."
Zhou Sicheng nodded slightly, relaxed his mind, and allowed Tianng to take control.
With Zhou's cooperation, a platinum-colored soul ring erged from his body.
It was the manifestation of his main martial soul.
Being in a fused state with his contracted soul beast did not prevent Zhou from using his second martial soul.
That radiant platinum soul ring—one that had existed for a million years—shone brightly. Tianng's terrifying spiritual power began to radiate outward through Zhou Sicheng's spiritual sea.
At that mont, Zhou felt his consciousness extend far into the distance, expanding rapidly.
The sensation was akin to gazing down from the sky upon the world below—completely different from the usual feeling of using Spiritual Detection.
As Tianng's imnse spiritual force spread out, the light over a vast area of the Extre North—spanning more than ten thousand square kiloters—suddenly dimd, as if day had abruptly turned to night.
A terrifying, invisible pressure burst forth, centered on Zhou Sicheng, accompanied by an overwhelming spiritual force that rippled outward.
His platinum soul ring glowed even more brilliantly. Under the influence of Tianng's vast power, the ring produced effects far beyond Zhou's current abilities.
As Tianng's spiritual energy swept out, rumbling thunder began to echo in the overcast sky.
Golden light began to erge from Zhou's forehead. Back when Tianng Iceworm fused with him, it had left behind ten golden orbs—Tianng's spiritual essence, the core of its power.
Now, nine of those orbs floated outward, with only one remaining behind in Zhou's spiritual sea to maintain the connection between them.
The nine golden orbs gently descended from the sky. The first fell into the snow, followed by the second, stacking atop each other. As they accumulated, their total size shrank, but their golden hue grew ever denser.
At this mont, Zhou could clearly sense the overwhelming strength of Tianng's spiritual power—a power so great it could even alter celestial phenona.
Even Elder Yi let out a soft hum of surprise within the spiritual sea, clearly impressed:
"This giant worm... really is sothing."
The nine golden essence orbs fused and slowly ford into a golden humanoid figure.
That golden figure rose from the ground and soared into the sky.
It looked exactly like Zhou Sicheng—so much so that one could even sense the sa domineering aura that Zhou carried.
Then, a powerful ntal projection erupted the mont Tianng's spiritual body took shape:
"Ice Empress, I know you've sensed . I, Tianng, have returned—for revenge. Do you dare face ?"
At that mont, Zhou, who was inherently linked with Tianng, also experienced the world through its vast spiritual perception.
He may not be good at fighting, but Tianng's mastery over spiritual force was worth studying in depth.
Seconds ticked by. The previously darkened sky—blanketed by oppressive clouds due to Tianng's spiritual pressure—suddenly trembled violently.
From the northern horizon, a layer of erald green light swept forth in an instant.
The pitch-black sky was swiftly replaced by a brilliant, crystalline green, as if the heavens had transford into a massive gemstone of pure erald.
The oppressive atmosphere vanished in that instant, completely dissolved.
"Tianng, you're still alive," a crisp voice echoed from all directions.
"Truly worthy of being the oldest creature in the Extre North."
With the voice ca a terrifying sonic wave. The snow on the ground surged three ters high, like waves crashing against a shore.
Only the area within a hundred-ter radius around Zhou's body, protected by Tianng's essence and imnse spiritual power, remained calm and undisturbed.
"You're still alive, Ice Empress. Why shouldn't I be?" the golden Zhou said with a playful smile. Tianng's voice softened.
"Do you rember what I said back then?"
"If I didn't die, I would one day beco your mate."
At those words, Ice Empress's voice grew cold and filled with killing intent:
"Tianng... you're courting death."
The erald sky darkened to an ominous forest green. The murderous pressure fell like a crashing tide, shrinking the previously protected zone around Zhou from a hundred ters to just ten.
Fortunately, in terms of pure spiritual power, Tianng was not afraid of the Ice Empress.
The golden Zhou's handso face curved into a charming smile.
"Bingbing, I ant every word."
"I've lived for a million years. Most of that ti I spent in sleep."
"But deep within my heart, the only one who ever left a mark—the only one who ever made feel anything—was you."
"Do you know why I ca back now? Because I calculated that within a century, you'll reach your limit—a dead end."
"At that ti, you won't be able to overco your next tribulation. You'll vanish in this cold, lifeless world."
"I ca back to save you, to be with you."
"I can't wait any longer. Life has lost all aning to , and I don't have much ti left either."
"I returned... so that you could live, and so that we could truly be together."
Sharing consciousness with Tianng, Zhou Sicheng watched this strange version of himself spouting such words with a greasy smile and couldn't help but feel deeply disturbed...
Why did it feel like he was watching himself make a disgusting love confession?
After hearing Tianng's emotional speech, the Ice Empress fell silent. It seed Tianng had touched a nerve, and she began quietly contemplating.
The golden Zhou stared nervously at the green sky.
"I've co back, Bingbing. After all these years... won't you at least show yourself?"
The Ice Empress's cold voice responded once more:
"Tianng, do you not realize... my species is the natural enemy of yours?"
...
Tianng, still using Zhou Sicheng's appearance, continued to argue with the Ice Empress. anwhile, both Zhou and Elder Yi listened to their conversation with increasingly strange expressions.
A Forbidden Love Between Natural Enemies? A Taboo Romance Between the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress?
When Tianng and the Ice Empress had almost finished their conversation, the dark sky turned a brilliant jade green once more.
A streak of erald light carved a glowing arc across the sky—sothing was approaching at incredible speed. It was almost as if the green light had rely flickered, and in the blink of an eye, a soul beast appeared directly across from the golden figure of Zhou Sicheng.
Zhou Sicheng saw the Ice Empress's form clearly—it was indeed an astonishingly beautiful Ice Jade Scorpion Empress.
The Ice Empress asured about 1.5 ters long and had two distinct colors on her body: the icy blue of frost, and a vibrant, translucent jade green.
The front of her body consisted of four stacked segnts, each a bit longer than half a foot. Her head was attached to the foremost segnt, and her silvery-white mouthparts glinted with a faint, chilling light.
The upper half of her body was covered in a special kind of plating—not scales, strictly speaking, but protrusions.
These protrusions were hexagonal in shape, dazzling with an extraordinary luster like finely cut diamonds.
They were densely packed across her upper body and along her six long, powerful legs.
Under the gleam of the snowy terrain, they shimred with a brilliant radiance. At this mont, she seed less like a living being and more like a radiant source of light itself, scattering beams of color in every direction.
Her two front pincers were each a ter long, covered in those sa crystalline hexagonal bumps. Only the very tips of the claws, like her mouthparts, glead with a mirror-like silver sheen.
But the most striking feature was her eyes.
They were a crystalline amber, just like Tianng's, resembling two flawless yellow diamonds set in place. Also hexagonal in shape, they sparkled with an inner brilliance that seed to glow like a sacred gem.
In those glittering eyes, there was a faint, indescribable emotion.
If her upper body was already resplendent, then the long, arched tail trailing behind her was the true focal point of her srizing beauty.
Unlike the multi-jointed tails of ordinary scorpions, the Ice Empress's tail consisted of just five segnts, each one radiating a rich, vibrant green full of life.
All five segnts shared the sa hue, though the one nearest to the body was the widest, with each subsequent segnt narrowing progressively.
At the tip of the final segnt was a stinger, raised high like a diamond-encrusted dagger. The hook at the end glead with that sa mirror-like silver finish.
Though her body was only 1.5 ters long—shorter than Ah Da—the difference in strength between them was imasurable.
Even now, despite having mastered the power of Ultimate Ice, Ah Da couldn't even summon the courage to make a move in front of the Ice Empress.
At that mont, fused with Zhou Sicheng, Ah Da's emotions of awe and fear were clearly felt by him.
Through their spiritual link, Zhou Sicheng whispered softly, "Don't worry, Ah Da."
As soon as he saw her, Zhou Sicheng—his form glowing with golden light—couldn't help but reveal an expression of infatuation in his beautiful eyes. He stared intently at the Ice Empress. "You've co."
The Ice Empress looked at Tianng's radiant golden figure. Though she could tell it was purely ford from spiritual power, she was clearly surprised. Her crystalline yellow eyes flickered with a curious gleam.
Though soul beasts and humans had different standards of beauty, the Ice Empress had lived long enough to understand human aesthetics quite well.
And she had to admit, this spiritual projection of Tianng was the most handso she had ever seen—whether male or female.
Most striking of all was that the Snow Empress took the form of a human woman... and now, strangely, the Ice Empress felt that the human form before her might even surpass the Snow Empress in both looks and aura...
The very mont this thought surfaced, she forcefully suppressed it and said coldly, "Tianng, do you think that hiding your body and eting with a form created from pure spiritual power will prevent from finding your true body?"
"Even if your spiritual power is strong enough to take on form—and look this... dashing... in human shape—you can't be far from your original body."
Noticing the brief flicker in the Ice Empress's eyes, Tianng suddenly regretted choosing Zhou Sicheng's appearance.
He knew Zhou Sicheng had universal appeal within Shrek—beloved by both n and won—but he hadn't expected even soone like Bingbing to be montarily swayed by a human's appearance?
Still, at that mont, Tianng's eyes were full of longing. He gazed at the Ice Empress, whom he hadn't seen in so many years, practically drooling. "Bingbing, you're as alluring as ever. I rember the last ti I saw you, your tail still had six segnts. Now it's fused into five!"
"I've always loved that seductive green of yours. Seems my mory hasn't failed —you really are approaching your final limit."
The Ice Empress scoffed in disdain. Her crisp, feminine voice rang out again. "Sweet words will only speed your death. You've done well to hide all these years. And now you show up out of nowhere—just to die?"
No matter what she said, the golden-faced Zhou Sicheng only looked at her with sincere affection, expressing Tianng's deep yearning and love for the Ice Empress.
Zhou Sicheng and Elder Yi stood silently at the side like two glowing light bulbs, watching as Tianng and the Ice Empress conversed.
But suddenly, mid-conversation, the Ice Empress launched an attack.
To her, if she could devour Tianng's energy, she'd have a chance to break through her fourth life limit and ascend to the 400,000-year level!
Unfortunately for her, Tianng had already anticipated this. The remaining two-thirds of his spiritual cocoon silently erged and trapped the Ice Empress within.
The spiritual husk left behind from Tianng's million-year cultivation was undoubtedly one of the most refined materials in existence. Even the Snow Empress would struggle to break free from its binding.
With Tianng's swift movents, the terrifyingly powerful Ice Jade Scorpion Empress vanished.
Golden Zhou Sicheng let out a wistful sigh toward the sky. "Who would've thought... that after losing my body, I could finally use abilities I never dared attempt before."
"It's a pity... this is my one and only chance. Bingbing, oh Bingbing... I hope you won't disappoint ."
****
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