Morning light broke through the darkness once more, soft and radiant. As Shuyan stirred from his dreams and slowly opened his eyes, he was met with the sound of barely-suppressed giggling from beside his bed.
He sat up helplessly, only to find the Ice Empress swinging her short legs playfully from a chair next to him, leaving him speechless.
"Isn't it a bit inappropriate to barge into a guy's room so casually, my dear Ice Empress?"
The Ice Empress grinned at him and clicked her tongue twice before replying,
"Getting shy now? You should be thankful. If it were anyone else, even if they got on their knees and begged, this Empress wouldn't spare them a glance."
Shuyan's mouth twitched slightly. He muttered under his breath,
"Can't you learn a little from the Snow Empress? You're a girl too, after all. This kind of behavior…"
Before he could finish, a cool, crisp voice echoed from the balcony:
"Oh? What about me?"
Yes his balcony.
The Snow Empress stepped out of Shuyan's room with perfect composure. Shuyan was silent for a moment before he replied,
"Nothing. Let's get some breakfast. If there's nothing else today, we'll keep moving and rest once we reach Star Luo City."
The Snow Empress nodded without complaint. Seeing this, the Ice Empress hesitated for a moment before reluctantly following suit.
Once Shuyan had freshened up, the trio headed downstairs for a quick breakfast. Soon after leaving the city, they resumed their rapid journey southward, traveling at high speed without pause until sunset.
With the Snow and Ice Empresses setting the pace, another night of travel would likely bring them within the borders of the Star Luo Empire by dawn. For soul masters, prolonged flight was exhausting, but for top-tier powerhouses like the Ice and Snow Empresses, such soul power consumption was trivial. Super Douluo-level experts could fly for three to four days straight without issue. As for Limit Douluo—no one had ever really tested the limits, but they were certainly even stronger.
A soft icy-blue glow enveloped Shuyan as he pulled a detailed map of the continent from his soul tool. Under the moonlight, he roughly estimated their current location.
Since the fusion of the two continents, the landmass had nearly doubled in size. The major cities remained in their original positions, but many sects and power centers had relocated. Among the most notable were the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Coincidentally, the trio was now flying directly over the region where the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had resettled—practically skimming the rooftops.
A vague sense of unease stirred in Shuyan's heart. But when he glanced at the two women beside him, he chuckled to himself. Honestly, if anyone should be feeling nervous, it was the people down below.
The night air flowed like water, and below them the endless rice fields had vanished, replaced by dense green forest. Faint roars of soul beasts echoed beneath the canopy. Fireflies drifted like glowing spirits in the darkness, lending the forest an air of mysterious beauty.
They weren't flying especially high—barely ten meters above the treetops. Snow Empress flew slightly behind, carrying Shuyan, while Ice Empress sped ahead on her own.
It was nearing the latter half of the night when, after gliding over a lake that mirrored the moonlight like a sheet of glass, both Snow and Ice Empress suddenly frowned. Their eyes met, and Snow Empress spoke quietly:
"Roughly five kilometers ahead, there's a human aura Title Douluo level. Two others are Soul Saints. The rest are all below Soul King level. Should we go around?"
Before Shuyan could answer, Ice Empress scoffed:
"Who cares? Judging by the aura, that guy's maybe level ninety-three at best and he's fire-type. If he dares ruin my good mood, this Empress will slap him into the ground."
Shuyan rubbed his temple and ignored her. He turned to Snow Empress and said gently,
"Let's avoid them if we can. They haven't offended us. There's no point in picking unnecessary fights."
Snow Empress nodded. A moment later, a surge of icy-blue soul power swept out. The eager Ice Empress, who had just surged ahead, suddenly lost control of her body and was yanked to the side mid-flight.
Though clearly annoyed, she didn't dare defy Snow Empress, and could only sulk in silence.
Back in the Extreme North, there were few who could challenge Snow Empress. Her hands had been itching for a decent opponent for a while now, and this had seemed like the perfect chance. But thanks to Shuyan's interruption, that opportunity slipped away. Ice Empress fumed internally—next time, she vowed, she would get her revenge…
As for Snow Empress? Don't be ridiculous. How could anyone blame such a gentle, adorable, fairy-like girl? Obviously, it was all Shuyan's fault!
What the three didn't know was that, the moment they chose to detour, a group in the forest below finally dared to breathe again. For a long while, they had remained motionless, stiff with terror, fearing they'd be torn apart at any second.
At the head of the group stood an elderly man in red robes, his crimson hair cropped short. Though aged, he exuded a quiet authority. Merely standing there, he seemed to stir the fire element in the air around him.
This was the fire-type Title Douluo Ice Empress had mentioned—the unfortunate soul who'd just dodged a fatal encounter.
Only after sensing the two monstrous auras recede into the distance did the red-haired elder manage to swallow a dry gulp. His stiff expression eased slightly as he turned and forced a smile.
"We're safe now, Miss."
As his words fell, the group of young men and women behind him began to relax. A noble-looking, golden-haired girl stepped forward, surrounded by attendants. Beside her, a tomboyish girl with short red hair also let out a sigh of relief.
Ning Tian stared at the peaceful, moonlit sky, trying to calm her racing heart.
Moments ago, the Ice Empress's casual surge of battle intent had nearly caused the entire group to collapse. Some of the younger ones had dropped to the ground, tears streaming from their faces. Even Wu Lao, the Red Dragon Douluo leading the soul beast hunting expedition, had been nearly crushed under the pressure, ready to sacrifice himself to ensure Ning Tian's escape.