Volume 34, Chapter 473.1: Father? Grandfather?
The Snow Empress smiled, like a flower that bloomed everywhere across the icy plains. The soul beasts who didn’t dare to even breathe heavily all exhaled in relief, because they could feel the Snow Empress’ happiness at the same time.
The Snow Empress raised her hand and placed it gently on the bear’s enormous nose. She stroked it tenderly and said softly, “You’ve grown fat again, Little Bai.”
Little Bai…
This fellow is “little”?
The corner of Huo Yuhao’s mouth twitched. Is he the Snow Empress’ pet?
The Ice Empress’ voice rang out next to Huo Yuhao’s ear. “The Snow Empress found Little Bai as a tiny ice bear when she first called herself queen, and he has been living with the Snow Empress ever since. It has been at least two hundred thousand years. Little Bai rules over his own domain now, but he’s always treated the Snow Empress like a mother. That’s the reason why I didn’t let you harm his descendants.”
More than two hundred thousand years of cultivation; that meant the enormous ice bear in front of Huo Yuhao could be considered a Savage Beast!
The Ice Empress lowered her voice and said, “Little Bai’s strength is comparable to that of the Tai Tan Snowdevil King, but the Snow Empress asked him not to fight the Snowdevil King. Furthermore, he doesn’t want to share the same status as the Snow Empress, and that’s the reason why the outer world only knows about three of us, the Extreme North’s Three Heavenly Kings.”
“Mm.” Huo Yuhao nodded softly. He was full of complicated emotions. The Snow Empress’ rising power was a good thing for him, but he felt as if she was getting further and further away from him. It seemed like the Snow Lady was never coming back.
Little Bai seemed very blissful as the Snow Empress continued to caress him. He whimpered from time to time, and his enormous white buttocks would twitch again and again in bliss.
Right at this moment, the circle of soul beasts that was several hundred meters thick separated once more as a gigantic figure appeared in Huo Yuhao’s vision. There was a whole pack of other enormous shadows that appeared along with the first one.
The soul beasts that had formed a circle swiftly separated and opened a path for then. The enormous figure that was at the forefront strode into the inner circle.
This figure looked a lot larger than the Ice Bear King, Little Bai; this soul beast was just too tall!
This soul beast was at least one hundred and twenty meters tall. It was the largest species of soul beast that Huo Yuhao had ever seen; even the Beast God wasn’t this tall if he was prostrate. Furthermore, the Beast God always showed himself in human form.
What was even stranger was that this enormous, terrifying soul beast had a build that was very similar to that of humans. It had long and slender arms, and snowy white fur covered its entire body. Even its face had similar features to that of humans, except there were many wrinkles on its forehead, and its skin had a copper tint. It had two large fangs, showing its true colors as a soul beast.
Huo Yuhao didn’t need the Ice Empress to explain for him to guess what this species of soul beast was: the Tai Tan Snowdevils that the Ice Empress had just mentioned!
Only the Tai Tan Snowdevils could have such enormous sizes. More importantly, the Tai Tan Snowdevils were a community.
There were more than a hundred Tai Tan Snowdevils behind this one. Even though they were not as tall as the first one, their average height was more than eighty meters. More than ten of those who were exceptionally powerful were at least a hundred meters tall, and their muscular frames seemed like they could hold up the skies.
The other soul beasts that resided in the icy plains clearly created an even larger path when the Snowdevils came, and nobody dared to block their path.
“Snow Empress.” The Tai Tan Snowdevil King didn’t continue forward once he entered the innermost circle. Instead, he knelt down on a single knee and called out respectfully. He was speaking the human language, and was the only soul beast that dared to actively address the Snow Empress directly among all the other soul beasts. He greeted the Snow Empress while glancing at the Ice Bear King who was lying down next to her, and the envy in his eyes was obvious.
The Snow Empress nodded at the Tai Tan Snowdevil King and said, “Tai, it’s been a long time.”
The Tai Tan Snowdevil King hurriedly answered respectfully, “Yes! It’s been long time, Snow Empress. Ah! You – you’re the Ice Empress?” His eyes quickly landed on the Ice Empress, who wasn’t far behind the Snow Empress.
The Ice Empress didn’t hide her own aura, so she was easily recognized.
The Ice Empress nodded at the Tai Tan Snowdevil King, but said nothing. The Snow Empress was there, so this wasn’t the time for her to speak. The Snow Empress’ authority and majesty in the Extreme North was something that no soul beast would dare to violate.
The Snow Empress said plainly, “Ah Tai, you can get up.”
“Alright,” the Tai Tan Snowdevil King acknowledged as he hurriedly got to his feet. The group of Tai Tan Snowdevils behind him had already fallen to their knees like dominos long ago, and they all appeared as reverent as could be.
The scene was just too mind-blowing. The Tai Tan Snowdevil’s tremendous size was absolutely unrivaled among ground-walking soul beasts. So many Tai Tan Snowdevils kneeling was just too spectacular.
The Snow Empress waved at the Tai Tan Snowdevil and said, “Come, sit down beside me.”
“Alright, alright.” The Tai Tan Snowdevil King immediately ran over joyfully to the Snow Empress’ side. The disturbance he created was comparable to the Ice Bear King as he jogged over.
Huo Yuhao witnessed a very amusing detail in this moment. The Ice Bear King was still enjoying the Snow Empress’ caresses, but his eyes were closed into slits as he side-eyed the Tai Tan Snowdevil King. The small part of his pupils clearly exuded disdain. It was evident that his relationship with the Tai Tan Snowdevil King wasn’t very amicable.
Dong, dong, dong... The Snowdevil King trod over to the Snow Empress and sat down with his legs crossed next to the bear. The Ice Bear King and the Snowdevil King were just too immense, and Huo Yuhao immediately felt as if another mountain had appeared in front of him.
The Snowdevil King didn’t dare to mess around in front of the Snow Empress. However, he clearly touched the Ice Bear King’s body when he sat down, and those two shoved each other forcibly, but neither got the better of the other. However, a series of cracking sounds could be heard on the tough ice beneath them.
Such terrifying fellows!
Huo Yuhao made some rough judgments about the soul beasts in the Extreme North over this period of observation. He realized that the soul beasts on the icy plains were much more cohesive and united compared to the Great Star Dou Forest’s soul beasts. Both the Ice Bear King and the Tai Tan Snowdevil King were at the apex of the food chain in this place, but they still didn’t dare to mess around in front of the Snow Empress at all. They submitted completely to the Snow Empress, and the other soul beasts did the same. The Snow Empress was a dictator, in the truest meaning of the word.
The Extreme North’s overall strength perhaps wasn’t sufficient to fight against the Great Star Dou Forest, but that would only be the case if the battle happened in that region. If this battle happened in the Extreme North, then Huo Yuhao was inclined to believe that the Extreme North’s soul beasts were more likely to emerge victorious. After all, the environment in this place was far too vile for typical soul beasts.
The Snow Empress said plainly, “Alright, since almost everyone is here, we can begin. I haven’t seen everyone in such a long time, and I am very happy to be back.”
Even though there wasn’t a single hint of a smile on her face, the thousands of soul beasts immediately cried out in joy once she said those words. Deafening roars and soundwaves forcibly tore the apart hurricanes across the icy plains. Every single soul beast grew excited, as if they were overcome with mass bloodlust.
The Snow Empress gradually raised her right hand and pressed it against the air. The ear-splitting howls of thousands and thousands of soul beasts immediately stopped, and everything returned to silence.
The Snow Empress eyed the Tai Tan Snowdevil King beside her. The Snowdevil King could feel her gaze, and immediately lowered his head to curry favor with her.
The Snow Empress said, “I have been in closed-door cultivation over these few years, and I have been working hard to break through the next bottleneck. Every one of you knows that I’m not young anymore, and I have been alive for far too long. Di Tian, the Evileye, and I have reached the end. The world of the future belongs to you.”
“The Extreme North is a paradise. The thing that has made me most content is peace in the Extreme North. I have gathered everyone here for two important matters. First, I’m here to announce to everyone that I will be going into another episode of closed-door cultivation after meeting everyone here today, and I don’t know how that will turn out. I am here to bid everyone farewell. It’s very likely that this is the last time we will meet. Secondly, I’m here to appoint my successor.”
The Snow Empress’ words caused an uproar across the Extreme North’s soul beasts.
The Snow Empress was the Extreme North’s divine guardian! The Snow Empress said that she could be leaving this world soon, and she wanted to attempt a very tough breakthrough. That was just unbelievable, and like a calamity for them.
Powerful roars and howls could be heard as the Tai Tan Snowdevil King suddenly got to his feet. He hammered his broad chest heavily, and his furious howls crackled so explosively that they suppressed the uproar from all the other soul beasts.
A formidable aura mixed with boundless murderousness permeated the skies as the soul beasts who were just making a racket lowered their heads frightfully. However, that didn’t cause their emotions to settle. The Snow Empress was God in the Extreme North. Could the Extreme North still be the same place without their God?
The Tai Tan Snowdevil King surveyed everyone coldly before he sat down beside the Snow Empress once more.
The Snow Empress said plainly, “I declare that Ah Tai will succeed me from this moment onwards. He will become ruler of the Extreme North, and you have to respect him like you respect me and listen to his orders, and you have to support him to maintain peace in the Extreme North. Ah Tai is a little rough and crude, but he is honest and sincere, and he is very honorable. He doesn’t rely on his strength to overpower other species, and he is the most suitable candidate.”