After a brief conversation between the two,
Snow Empress removed the Soundproofing Method and led Ice Empress back to the neighboring courtyard.
"Oh, you two finished talking?"
Ye Feng was basking contentedly in the sun.
Seeing them return, he straightened slightly and smiled at them.
"Yes, I've made up my mind. Ice Empress can stay here. I won't object."
Snow Empress nodded, but as if remembering something, she added, "But you must promise not to let Ice Empress suffer any grievances. Otherwise, even if Bi Ji and Zi Ji protect you, I'll make you pay!"
Her tone carried a clear threat as she spoke the latter part.
"Snow Empress, what are you doing? Ye Feng isn't like that—he's never bullied me!" Ice Empress quickly defended Ye Feng upon hearing this.
She had already discussed things with Snow Empress earlier, so why was Snow Empress suddenly saying this? It was putting her in an awkward spot...
"Ice Empress, you don't understand humans. Their promises are false—even their emotions can be fake. Even if he treats you well, you can't fully trust him."
Snow Empress said this without any regard for Ye Feng's presence, making it clear she didn't trust him.
After all, having lived so long, she had visited the human world and witnessed countless couples who once swore undying love turn on each other over trivial matters.
Not just couples—humans could even kill their own kin!
She had to remind Ice Empress to stay vigilant and never be deceived by human appearances.
"Snow Empress, I won't deny there are many bad humans, but Ye Feng is definitely not one of them."
Ice Empress was now slightly angry, placing her hands on her hips and puffing her cheeks. "Snow Empress, you've never been in love or had a partner—you'll never understand!"
Snow Empress: "..."
"Ice Empress, you—"
Snow Empress felt as if she had suffered a critical hit, an inexplicable pang of sorrow washing over her.
"Alright, alright, why are you two arguing all of a sudden?"
Ye Feng quickly intervened, then turned to Snow Empress, still unwilling to give up. "Snow Empress, are you sure you won't stay? You know what I said isn't an exaggeration—the 100,000-Year Snow Lotus won't help you successfully overcome your tribulation. And if you undergo Shape-shifting, there's no safer place in the world than the Star Sect."
"Why not undergo Shape-shifting early and keep Ice Empress company?"
At this point, Ice Empress chimed in to explain for Snow Empress. "Ye Feng, Snow Empress said that snow lotus still needs 1,000 years to mature. Even if she wanted to force Shape-shifting now, she couldn't... She'd have to wait 1,000 years..."
"The Star Sect is indeed a good place. If I fail my tribulation in a thousand years... Well, but by then, the Star Sect might not even exist anymore."
Snow Empress sighed faintly.
While Ice Empress was willing to let Ye Feng absorb her origin energy, she wasn't. She wanted to take her chances.
No matter how slim the hope, she had to try.
"Still 1,000 years left, huh? What if I told you I have a way to make that snow lotus reach 100,000 years ahead of time?"
Ye Feng suddenly spoke up.
His Heart of Nature inherently had the ability to accelerate plant growth. Combined with his blood, forcing 1,000 years of maturation shouldn't be too difficult.
He could rapidly advance A Yin's cultivation by tens of thousands of years in a short time, but the effect would be significantly weaker when applied to the snow lotus.
After all, snow lotuses belong to the category of natural treasures and cannot cultivate autonomously, being among the slowest-growing varieties.
However, accelerating its growth by 1,000 years might be worth a try.
Ye Feng had another motive for doing this beyond persuading the Snow Empress to join the Star Sect.
If the Snow Empress used this 100,000-Year Snow Lotus to undergo her tribulation, the Thunder Tribulation would undoubtedly be extremely powerful. By then, he could absorb a massive surge of lightning energy—perhaps even gaining a sliver of control over the Lightning Rule...
"What? You have a way to accelerate plant growth?"
The Snow Empress was thoroughly shocked by his words.
At the same time, an inexplicable surge of joy welled up in her heart.
"Mhm."
Ye Feng nodded. "If you trust me, Snow Empress, I can help. But if you don't, then forget it."
The Snow Empress bit her red lips, clearly hesitating.
"Snow Empress, what are you waiting for? Hurry and agree! I'll go with you—Ye Feng definitely won't harm you!" The Ice Empress, upon hearing this, was pleasantly surprised and immediately urged her.
"Fine. But you must promise not to damage the snow lotus!" The Snow Empress nodded, willing to let Ye Feng try.
On one hand, it was because of the Ice Empress.
On the other, she also wanted to see just what abilities this Ye Feng possessed.
"Don't worry, my growth-acceleration ability has no side effects."
To ease her concerns, Ye Feng casually flicked a streak of green light toward a patch of withered grass in the distance.
In the next moment, under the glow of the light, the grass began to grow at a visible rate.
Within moments, the once-limp weed had transformed into a half-meter-tall, thriving… weed.
It looked vibrant, brimming with such intense life energy that it seemed ready to overflow.
Ye Feng's ability could effortlessly accelerate the growth of spiritual herbs. Even for ordinary weeds, the effect was astonishingly potent even without using his bloodline pressure.
"A nature-based power… Your Martial Soul is dragon-kind, isn't it? How do you have this ability?"
Now it was the Snow Empress's turn to be stunned.
She could clearly sense the draconic bloodline within Ye Feng—his aura was domineering and majestic, so his abilities should lean toward combat.
Unless he was a wood-attributed dragon, how could he possess such a power?
This was simply unbelievable.
"Hehe, that's a secret of the Star Sect~ Since you're still an outsider, Snow Empress, of course we can't tell you~" The Ice Empress quickly interjected, speaking mysteriously.
"I see."
The Snow Empress had naturally heard about this from the Ice Empress before, but witnessing it firsthand still left her amazed.
Perhaps this was also one of the reasons the Ice Empress had chosen to follow Ye Feng.
"Let's go. I'll take you to where the snow lotus is."
The Snow Empress nodded, gently taking the Ice Empress's hand as she prepared to leave.
"Uh… the Land of Extreme North is still too far from here. How about using my Space Teleportation instead?"
Ye Feng thought for a moment before making the suggestion.
"You can use Space Teleportation—and even bring others along?!"
The Snow Empress widened her beautiful eyes, once again thoroughly shocked.
No matter how strong Ye Feng's potential was, there was no way he could master such an overpowering ability like Space Teleportation, right?
Even she could only manage short-distance spatial tears for teleportation, and even that carried risks. How could a mere human accomplish this?
"Snow Empress, Ye Feng's Space Teleportation is really fast~"
Hearing this, the Ice Empress immediately released Snow Empress' hand and threw herself into Ye Feng's embrace.
"Ice Empress, you..." Snow Empress was stunned.
They were just supposed to teleport, but now they were flaunting their affection out of nowhere? Wasn't this going too far?
(End of Chapter)