When Jiang Qingtong asked, Ma Xiaotao's face instantly darkened. Hands on her hips, she scolded sternly, "Girl, have you forgotten what I told you before the holiday?"
Before the holiday?
Jiang Qingtong blinked and suddenly remembered.
"Oh!"
The lunch invitation!
Seeing the sheepish look, Ma Xiaotao snapped, "What's going on with you? You go all the way back to the Sun Moon Empire and already forget your senior sister? Is it that good there?"
"Senior Xiaotao, don't be mad. How about tomorrow?" Qingtong offered hopefully, glancing at Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao.
Ma Xiaotao shook her head firmly. "No, it's today!"
"But I have others…" Qingtong trailed off, motioning to Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao.
Ma Xiaotao dismissed her concern with a wave. "What's it matter? You little rascals come along! It's just a meal and the Academy subsidizes inner‑court students a lot."
Students admitted to the inner court often stayed on after graduating—or even if they left, they'd become powerful figures in their home countries. So the Academy heavily invested in them.
"Then so be it!" Qingtong declared brightly, turning to Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao. "Tonight we'll treat Senior Xiaotao to a feast!"
"We… can?" Xiao Xiao replied hesitantly.
Wang Dong sighed, "Silly, of course not!"
He didn't know exactly how wealthy inner‑court students were, but Ma Xiaotao was Yan Shaozhe's personal disciple. She'd surely have deep pockets.
Ma Xiaotao chuckled, "If you can eat us broke, then all credit to you."
They chattered while heading toward the new restaurant Ma Xiaotao had mentioned. But halfway there, Qingtong's expression suddenly turned pale. Her brow furrowed, her right hand trembled.
Wang Dong noticed immediately. "Qingtong, what's wrong? You look terrible—did you get hurt during the assessment?"
Xiao Xiao hurried forward to help Qingtong but recoiled at her touch: "It's freezing!"
Freezing?
Ma Xiaotao frowned and rushed to grasp Qingtong's right hand. An earthy chill surged up her arm, and she instinctively summoned her Phoenix of Evil‑Flame's heat to counter it.
But Qingtong's complexion darkened dramatically—and she fainted.
"What's wrong? Class rep, senior sister—Qingtong fainted!" Xiao Xiao panicked.
Without hesitation, Ma Xiaotao scooped Qingtong into her arms. Phoenix wings of radiant flame unfurled behind her. "I'll take her to the instructors now!"
Then she shot off toward the inner court.
In her arms, Qingtong's body continued to radiate an icy chill.
Meanwhile, far away in the Sun Moon Empire, Jing Shengyu faced an even more urgent crisis. Qingtong's fainting spiked his concentration.
Before him, the Snow Empress's embryo glowed with icy blue-white light. A sweeping blizzard of chilling cold seeped into Jing Shengyu's being.
He smiled wryly: "So much for my showing off—I got struck by lightning."
He had merely intended to borrow the Snow Empress aura—but never expected to arouse its attention in slumber.
Snow began gathering in the entire room. His defensive collection of ninth-rank soul-guided devices became active, layers of light shielding him—but the brutal chill still worked its way through.
The Snow Empress—a seventy-thousand-year-old ferocious beast—was rivaled only by the strongest Douluo. Even the embryo's essence contained purer power than the adult.
Jing Shengyu realized his soul-guided devices couldn't hold for long.
Yet if he fled the scene and the embryo erupted, the blast would obliterate the neighborhood. He had to think of a solution.
Turning to approach the embryo, a barrier of freezing wind and ice—feet-deep snow—blocked his advance.
At that moment, a knock sounded at the door.
"Who's knocking at a time like this?" he called over, struggling toward the door.
"Who's there?" he asked again once near enough.
"It's me, Huo Yuhao!" came the voice outside.
Relief washed over Jing Shengyu. Seeing this as fate intervening, he chuckled—"You're just in time!"
He flung open the door, yanked Huo Yuhao in, and shut it.
Huo Yuhao barely registered before a deadly chill hit. Instinctively, he released his Ice-Scorpion spirit. The scorpion's emerald-green exoskeleton shimmered as he absorbed the cold.
"Cousin, what's wrong?" Huo Yuhao exclaimed, staring at the swirling embryo.
Before Jing Shengyu could speak, the spirit Tianmeng Bingcan called out in alarm: "Snow Empress aura—it's coming from the embryo! What's happening?"
"Snow Empress?" Huo Yuhao repeated in disbelief.
"Indeed," Jing Shengyu said between tensed breaths. "But why is it in embryonic form? The Snow Empress is a top-tier fierce beast—ranked third among the Ten Great Fierce Beasts of the Extreme North!"
Tianmeng continued, incredulous: "The embryo is even purer. Even a peak Douluo wouldn't wake it like this."
Jing Shengyu pressed on, clutching the embryo as winter's cold attacked. "Enough speculating—help me figure out how to contain it!"
"Cousin… You know Tianmeng?" Huo Yuhao asked.
"Obviously! He's made it clear the bond between us," Jing Shengyu snapped.
Tianmeng materialized between them from Huo Yuhao's spirit. Looking at the embryo, he asked, "Where did you get the Snow Empress embryo?"
"From the Extreme North," Jing Shengyu answered. "Do you know how to deal with it?"
The spirit shook its head. "I don't—I can't contain the Snow Empress's force. Its Extreme Ice power surpasses even the Ice Empress. And I've lost most of my spiritual might now. We… should run."
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