"Found them!"
Spotting Shui Yue'er, Xue Wu, and the other girls being chased by more than a dozen Spirit Beasts of the Extreme North, Ye Yu's eyes flashed. Carrying Shui Bing'er, he swiftly descended.
At this moment, on the vast white snowfield—
Earlier, in Shui Bing'er's battle with several Ice Feather Hawks, she had drawn away the Spirit Beast packs that were tracking them.
Thus, on the way back along their original route, planning to leave the Extreme North, Shui Yue'er, Xue Wu, and the others had not encountered any large-scale Spirit Beast pack attacks.
They had only run into more than a dozen Spirit Beasts, ranging from hundred-year to thousand-year cultivation.
Even without Shui Bing'er, a control-type Spirit Master, they still had Xue Wu providing control support.
With most of the Skywater Team's formation intact, they had been able to fight and retreat safely out of the inner region of the Extreme North.
However, as they fled, more and more Spirit Beasts discovered them.
Following the orders of the Snow Empress, the Extreme North Spirit Beasts snarled viciously the moment they spotted Shui Yue'er and the others, chasing them relentlessly.
Although the girls worked together to take down any Spirit Beasts they could, the number pursuing them only grew.
Just as despair began to creep in—
Ye Yu arrived with Shui Bing'er!
Transforming into a flash of lightning, he descended from the sky, landing in the snow and sending up a spray of snowflakes.
In the next instant, the Blue Silver Spirit Jade Tree Martial Soul flared behind him.
Its roots—like massive blue crystal pythons—erupted from beneath the snow, whistling through the air. They either bound the Spirit Beasts tightly or lashed them away, sending them tumbling to the ground howling.
"Yue'er, Xue Wu, are you alright?"
Following Ye Yu, Shui Bing'er landed lightly, hurrying over to the two girls with concern.
"Sis, we're fine!"
Shui Yue'er shook her head, but her icy-blue eyes turned curious and teasing as they shifted to Ye Yu.
"Is this Brother Ye Yu? Sis, when did you get together with him?"
Shui Bing'er's pretty face instantly turned red.
"Yue'er! Don't talk nonsense!" she said in a flustered, coquettish tone.
"Ye Yu and I… aren't together yet! We just happened to meet by chance. He was chivalrous and saved me, and I asked him to help rescue you all."
"Oh so that's how it is"
Shui Yue'er's delicate face curved into a sly grin, her tone drawn out, full of implication.
Of course she believed her sister's words… but from Shui Bing'er's expression and the way she phrased it, Yue'er could tell something had changed in her sister's attitude toward Ye Yu.
Otherwise, if she'd been asked such a question before, Shui Bing'er would have seriously denied it without leaving any room for misunderstanding—
not say "we're not together yet."
Clearly suspicious!
Ye Yu, however, didn't care about the exchange and instead asked the group,
"How are you all? No one's badly hurt, right?"
"We're fine," Shui Yue'er said with a laugh.
"Brother Ye Yu, you came just in time. We only have some minor injuries, but if this kept up, it might have turned dangerous. Thank you!"
Shui Bing'er also expressed her gratitude again. Then, cheeks flushing with embarrassment, she added:
"Ye Yu… could you come with me to find the Headmistress? Now that Yue'er and Xue Wu are safe, I'm worried she may be in even greater danger. I feel like this disturbance might involve all the Spirit Beasts of the Extreme North. And I've heard there's more than one hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast here… so I can only ask you again."
At her request, Ye Yu smiled faintly.
"Of course."
Since the situation was a consequence of his earlier actions, he was not stingy about fixing the problem when the opportunity presented itself.
After that, Ye Yu led Shui Bing'er, Shui Yue'er, Xue Wu, and the others toward the inner region of the Extreme North once more.
At the same time, he pushed his Blue Silver Domain to the limit, probing the surroundings.
Soon, he detected an area radiating strong Spirit Power fluctuations.
Nine times out of ten, it was Skywater Academy's Headmistress, Shui Linglong, fighting against the Spirit Beasts of the Extreme North.
"Let's go!"
Ye Yu sped toward the location with the group in tow.
It wasn't long before they saw her—
A majestic Condensed Water Flying Luan, its plumage ice-blue, tail feathers splendid, and neck elegantly long, hovered in the air. Eight Spirit Rings—two yellow, two purple, four black—circled around it.
She was battling three Spirit Beasts at once: a sixty-thousand-year Profound Armored Ice Dragon, a seventy-thousand-year Sky Wing Swift Ice Leopard, and a fifty-thousand-year Extreme Cold Sky Rift Eagle.
Without overwhelming strength and outnumbered, the Flying Luan's dazzling tail feathers were more than half torn away, much of her plumage ripped out, her body covered in snow and wounds—she looked extremely battered.
On a nearby snowy peak stood a tall, graceful woman in a pure white gown. Her figure was flawless, her long hair snow-white, and her sapphire-like eyes clear and ethereal. Her noble, icy aura was like a plum blossom in the twelfth month—unyielding in the frost.
Beside her loomed two massive Spirit Beasts: the towering Ice Bear King, Xiao Bai, over fifty meters tall, and the Ice Devil Titan King, over a hundred meters, with long, thick arms and a body covered in dense white fur, resembling a colossal ape.
They were none other than the Snow Empress, the Ice Bear King, and the Ice Devil Titan King!
"Human, tell me—what is your scheme, and who killed the Ice Empress? If you won't speak, you'll be buried here forever!"
Her cherry lips parting, the Snow Empress's cold voice carried across the battlefield as she stared at Shui Linglong in her Flying Luan form.
In the air, Shui Linglong was barely holding on, Spirit Power nearly spent, her wounds worsening under the relentless attacks.
"I told you, I only brought my students to hunt Spirit Beasts in the Extreme North! I have no scheme, and I don't even know what this 'Ice Empress' you speak of is!" she shouted angrily.
But even facing death, Shui Linglong's words rang with truth.
The Snow Empress's fine brows furrowed.
It seemed this human truly didn't know who had killed the Ice Empress. She had thought that, by finding the strongest human Spirit Master present, she might uncover a clue to the Ice Empress's death… but clearly, it wasn't so simple.
Still—if Shui Linglong couldn't give her the answer she wanted, then in her fury over the Ice Empress's death, her killing intent toward all humans had already reached its peak.
Coldly, she gave the order for the Profound Armored Ice Dragon, Sky Wing Swift Ice Leopard, and Extreme Cold Sky Rift Eagle to finish Shui Linglong off.
"Wait!"
At that moment, Ye Yu arrived.
Controlling the roots of his Blue Silver Spirit Jade Tree Martial Soul, he lashed all three Spirit Beasts away in an instant, sending them crashing into the snow.
He stepped in front of Shui Linglong, meeting the gaze of the Snow Empress, Ice Bear King, and Ice Devil Titan King on the snowy peak, and smiled unhurriedly.
"You're looking for the Ice Empress? Come out!"