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Night descended once more, and Sea God Island was enveloped in a profound tranquility.
The cheerful laughter of the maidens from earlier in the day had long since faded, and the Ice Crystal Castle glowed with a cool, clear light under the moonlight.
Xuan Ming's figure appeared silently outside the castle. He did not head towards the residences of Hu Liena and the others, but instead turned towards the temporary dwelling on the other side of the island, constructed from ultimate ice.
The moonlight spilled onto the crystalline ice walls, reflecting a cool, clear radiance.
He knocked on the door, and after receiving permission, he entered.
Snow Empress was still in a white dress, as cold and pure as a snow lotus, seated on a chair made of ice crystals. Ice Empress, meanwhile, stood with her arms crossed, her scorpion tail gently swaying, her emerald eyes scrutinizing him.
Bi Ji and Zi Ji were not present, seemingly having deliberately left space.
"Is something the matter?" Snow Empress's voice was like ten-thousand-year-old ice, devoid of emotion.
Xuan Ming did not beat around the bush; he went straight to the point: "I came to discuss matters between us."
Ice Empress raised an eyebrow, a hint of playfulness in her tone: "What? Finally remembered to deal with us old folks? Or did Gu Yuena force you to come?"
Xuan Ming shook his head, his expression calm: "It has nothing to do with her. I came on my own."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Snow Empress and Ice Empress, "Regarding you two, I truly have no improper thoughts, at least not yet."
His directness caused both Snow Empress and Ice Empress to be slightly taken aback.
"As for what the future holds, I don't know either," Xuan Ming continued, his tone unruffled, "I don't have the mental capacity to consider such things right now. Hu Liena and the others need to resolve their inner demons because their God Test is imminent. But you… you still have plenty of time, there's no need to rush."
Ice Empress snorted: "Who's rushing? Don't flatter yourself."
Xuan Ming ignored her stubbornness and changed the subject: "As for this so-called Fourth Trial of mine, I don't care whether it succeeds or fails."
A flicker of emotion finally crossed Snow Empress's clear eyes: "You don't care?"
"Mm." Xuan Ming nodded, "Or rather, this so-called Seagod Nine Trials, from the very beginning, I wasn't very concerned with it."
His voice was very calm, yet it carried an indifference that saw through to the essence: "Rather than saying I'm undergoing an assessment, it's more accurate to say I just found a direction to strive for, a reason to become stronger. But now, this Fourth Trial…"
He frowned slightly, "It's very boring. Because it was impossible to complete from the start."
"Impossible to complete?" Ice Empress couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
"Qian Renxue." Xuan Ming uttered a name, his tone calm, yet with an undeniable certainty, "Everyone else, whether Bo Saixi, or you two, I have a way to deal with. But Qian Renxue… I have no way."
He didn't explain why he had no way, but both Snow Empress and Ice Empress could feel the helplessness and… a hint of indescribable complexity in his words.
"So," Xuan Ming concluded, "I never expected to complete this trial. I've already prepared to charge into the God Realm, and as for the outcome of the trial, let it be."
He raised his hand, and a flash of light appeared in his palm. Two crystals, emanating extreme cold yet containing vast Life energy, appeared in his hand.
The crystals were like the purest ice-blue diamonds, with what seemed like a flowing galaxy within. Their mere appearance caused the temperature of the entire ice house to plummet, making even Snow Empress and Ice Empress feel their own ice and snow power resonate and stir.
"Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow?!" Ice Empress gasped in surprise, her emerald eyes filled with disbelief. Even Snow Empress's perpetually icy face, unchanged for tens of thousands of years, showed clear emotion for the first time.
Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow was the supreme treasure for ice-attribute Spirit Beasts. Not only could it greatly enhance cultivation, but more importantly, the extreme ice attribute energy and Life Origin it contained were enough to help them resist or even resolve the terrifying Heavenly Tribulation! With these, their chances of surviving the next Heavenly Tribulation would greatly increase, meaning they would possess tens of thousands, or even more, years of Life!
"I found these in the Extreme North Land this afternoon," Xuan Ming's tone remained flat, "With the Divine Sense of the Divine Origin Realm and my control over ice and snow, finding them wasn't too difficult. These should be enough to help you two pass your next Heavenly Tribulation."
He pushed the two Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow towards Snow Empress and Ice Empress.
Snow Empress didn't immediately take them. She raised her ice-blue eyes, staring intently at Xuan Ming, her voice filled with unprecedented confusion: "Why?"
Ice Empress was equally puzzled: "We… don't seem to have helped you with anything."
Their relationship with Xuan Ming was more of a cooperative one, based on Gu Yuena and the Spirit Beast Clan's stance, and even had an element of scrutiny and hostility in the Early Stage.
Why would Xuan Ming go to such lengths for them? This far exceeded the scope of cooperation.
Xuan Ming looked at them, his gaze calm: "Consider it a favor from a friend."
Friend? Snow Empress and Ice Empress felt a jolt in their hearts. This word, spoken from Xuan Ming's mouth, carried an indescribable weight.
"What's more," Xuan Ming paused, his voice deepening slightly, "if in the future… something happens between Gu Yuena and me, the Spirit Beast Clan might only be able to rely on you two."
Snow Empress's brow furrowed even deeper. She finally asked the question that had been suppressed in her heart for a long time: "I don't understand, Xuan Ming. Why do you take on so much responsibility? What does the so-called responsibility of the Spirit Beast Clan have to do with you?"
Her tone carried a hint of incomprehension, even a trace of questioning: "Just as the top echelons of humanity don't care much about the lives of ordinary humans, we powerful Spirit Beasts likewise don't care about the lives of weaker Spirit Beasts. Perhaps it sounds heartless to say this, but the so-called greater good of the Spirit Beast Clan is, for us, more of a choice within our capabilities. If I were presented with a choice between the greater good of the Spirit Beast Clan and my own path to God Realm, I would unhesitatingly choose the latter."
Although Ice Empress didn't speak, her eyes conveyed the same meaning.
They had lived too long, accustomed to the law of the jungle. The so-called greater good of the clan sometimes seemed pale and powerless in the face of a long Life and individual power.
Snow Empress continued, her voice carrying a hint of confusion that she herself hadn't noticed: "To put it bluntly, I don't really care about the lives of those unfamiliar Spirit Beasts. Even Di Tian and the others are the same; they constantly talk about the greater good of the Spirit Beast Clan, but what they truly care about are only the powerful Spirit Beasts. Weaker Spirit Beasts are worthless in their eyes.
The greater good of the Spirit Beast Clan… Many times I don't understand what this 'greater good' actually is. It seems as if all Spirit Beasts are born burdened with this responsibility, born to sacrifice everything for it as a matter of course."
She looked at Xuan Ming, her ice-blue eyes filled with scrutiny: "I have cultivated for hundreds of thousands of years, always in the cold, icy snow, always alone. I have no interest in the so-called greater good. I wanted to ask you a long time ago, Xuan Ming, why do you go to such lengths? What does the future of the Spirit Beast Clan have to do with you, a human?"
Facing Snow Empress's series of Soul-piercing questions, Xuan Ming remained silent for a long time.
Only the faint hum of the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Marrow remained in the ice house.
Finally, he raised his head. There was no anger of being offended in his ice-blue eyes, only a bottomless calm.
"It doesn't matter," he said, his voice clear and certain, "I don't care either."
This answer made Snow Empress and Ice Empress freeze again.
"I don't care about the greater good of the Spirit Beast Clan," Xuan Ming said slowly, "I don't have such a thing."
"I'm just fulfilling my promises."
"The Ice Dragon King wants the Dragon Clan to be revived; I am working on it."
"Gu Yuena wants the future of the Spirit Beast Clan to change, not to be slaughtered to extinction by the ever-growing human Spirit Masters; I will help her."
He paused, looking at Snow Empress and Ice Empress, his eyes candid to the point of cruelty:
"What I care about has never been some greater good. I am not that noble."
"I am a very selfish person."
"Everything I do is just to fulfill my promises to those I care about, nothing more."
As his words fell, a long silence descended upon the ice house.
Snow Empress and Ice Empress looked at the human youth before them, at the undisguised "selfishness" in his eyes, yet a monstrous wave surged in their hearts.
So… that was it.
No grand, righteous cause, no burden of responsibility for the world.
Only the purest, and also the heaviest… promise.
This "selfishness" shocked them far more than any passionate declaration of a greater good.