Especially that Ice Jade Scorpion.
It exuded a faint pressure that made this ice-type soul master feel suffocated. He felt these people were wrong—very wrong! (Ice Jade Scorpions shrink as they grow stronger after 100,000 years; few know this. He assumed it was a mere thousand-year scorpion.)
Everything about them was odd.
Even as a Soul King, his scalp tingled.
But they'd already noticed him.
Several heads turned. He had to steel himself, step forward with a smile. "Friends, I am An Lie of Anyang City, this is my granddaughter An Lengye. We ran into the blizzard—might we shelter here a while? Many thanks..."
"..."
"Elder, rest here a bit," the Snow Empress said after a glance at Su Wen and his nod.
Her casually revealed beauty stunned An Lengye.
"Sigh..." An Lie hurriedly tugged An Lengye to give thanks. The two then sat a little ways off and took out prepped flatbreads to chew. In the Extreme North, even in Anyang City, anything hot doesn't stay hot; flatbreads are the easiest to carry.
Only downside—rock-hard, poor texture...
"Grandpa, look."
An Lengye's eyes widened.
She tugged his sleeve. He had just bitten the bread, grimacing as he chewed, then looked where she stared.
The boy was roasting snow-pig, a knife skewering a slab like sculpture, the other hand carefully brushing sauce.
As the fire rose and the juices tightened with sizzles, the pair swallowed in unison.
Barbecuing in the Extreme North?!!
And snow-pig?
Such extravagance?
Are they really sightseeing?
"..."
Su Wen felt someone staring.
He looked up—the pair's eyes were glued to the roast, drool about to drip.
The comparison hurt.
Next to the fragrant, balanced roast, the frozen rock-hard bread felt flavorless.
"Want some?" Su Wen smiled.
"Er... haha." The old man grinned awkwardly, then rummaged his storage soul tool and produced a snow-ganoderma. "Young friend, a small token from us. I hope you don't mind."
On the market it fetched at least two thousand gold soul coins—not top-tier, but not cheap.
In his eyes, more than worth a bite of roast.
He could vaguely tell Su Wen held high status here.
Though too young, An Lie, a veteran of the soul master world, wouldn't dare look down. He minded his manners.
"Hehe, then I'll accept," Su Wen said cheerfully.
He handed over a big hunk of roasted Snow Spirit Pig, clapped his hands, and continued grilling, thinking while the wind howled outside—a vibe.
"Huh? This taste... Snow Spirit Pig?!!" An Lie split his share with his granddaughter. With the first gulp, his eyes bulged.
There's an essential difference between common snow-pig and Snow Spirit Pig.
One's a common beast; the other's a soul beast.
The former is everywhere in Anyang; every restaurant serves it. The latter... is rare.
And this wasn't ordinary hundred-year Snow Spirit Pig, judging by the meat.
As a big name in Anyang, he'd eaten it—but it's rare. Even he had only tasted it three or four times in his life, priced sky-high—ten thousand gold soul coins for a piece!
Suppressing his shock, he glanced at the serene Su Wen with growing suspicion...
Too strange.
Like seeing a ghost in broad daylight.
"Ice Empress, Snow Empress, in a few days you'll have to come with me," Su Wen mused.
Use available muscle.
Bring two hitters. Offer the Earth Dragon Sect some benefits—mutual exchange.
After much thought, he decided to try reason. If reason failed, let Ice and Snow Empress do the talking.
"Mm," the Snow Empress replied coolly.
The Ice Empress snorted as well.
Just that snort made An Lie shiver.
How could a 'thousand-year-sized' Ice Jade Scorpion speak human words?
He'd assumed it was a beast controlled by a human, but apparently not...
And those names—did he mishear "Ice Empress" and "Snow Empress"?!!
Maybe it was auditory hallucination?
"Perfect—let's do it today," Su Wen said to the Snow Empress.
"Okay."
"Ah Tai!"
The Snow Empress's cold voice sounded.
"I'm here!"
A colossal head suddenly appeared. The ground-shaking movement of his massive body made An Lie snap his head up. Only then did he see, not far away beyond the blizzard, a hundreds-of-meters-tall form rise, blood-red eyes gazing down indifferently.
"Send these two out of the Extreme North."
"Yes!"
The Titan Snow Demon King rumbled.
He bent, offering his palm. "Get on."
Even in a soft voice, it was like muffled thunder to them.
His half-hidden form in the blizzard, like an iceberg's tip, was breathtaking.
An Lie's legs went weak, but he forced down his terror, pulling his granddaughter onto the palm.
Ah Tai bent his legs,
then launched like a cannon round, bounding through the storm.
His form vanished.
The rumbling like thunder and the trembling ground faded.
Su Wen swallowed the last bite of Snow Spirit Pig, clapped his hands, and stood.
"Let's go~"
...
"Off you go, humans."
At the Extreme North's edge.
Farther on, Anyang City's lights were visible.
Ah Tai lowered his palm for them to hop off, then without looking back, leapt away into the storm.
"Grandpa, we..." An Lengye's voice trembled, still stunned.
"This tale will be enough to brag about for a lifetime," An Lie drew a deep breath.
"Good granddaughter, we may have met the true rulers of the Extreme North."
"You mean..." An Lengye's eyes widened, disbelief stark.
"They were all..."
"The Snow Empress, the Ice Empress, and... the Titan Snow Demon King."