Chapter 37: When the Ice Empress Appeared Amid the Storm
The clouds thickened above, smothering the sunlight in a suffocating darkness.
Lightning twisted within them like furious serpents, searching for the moment to strike.
Tang Hao's wrath had shaken the very continent itself — yet within the Thousand-Mile Mountains and Rivers Painting, Wang Dong'er's eyes suddenly flew open as she gasped for breath, as if her very soul had been torn away by force.
Memories flooded into her mind — not her own, yet every moment felt as though she had lived it herself.
The pain, the betrayal, the torment that shattered the heart of her other self — all of it surged through her like a merciless storm.
She trembled violently, her fragile body collapsing into Ji Lin's arms. Her voice came out hoarse and broken, dripping with unbearable sorrow:
Ji Lin… they lied to me… all of them… Uncle Er Ming, Uncle Da Ming… everything was a lie.
I… I saw it with my own eyes, I felt it all! Tell me… tell me I'm not just a fragment… not just Tang Wutong's shadow…
Ji Lin held her tightly, his hand trembling upon her back, his voice low yet burning with unwavering resolve:
No. You are Wang Dong'er. You're mine — my precious treasure.
Even if the whole world denies you, even if Tang San himself says you're just a fragment — to me, you're real.
You breathe, you cry, you laugh — and I love you. That alone is enough.
Her tears burst forth even more, soaking into his robes as her trembling fingers clung to him desperately —
as if he were the last lifeline keeping her from falling into an endless abyss of despair.
A full day has passed around me, and yet Tang Wutong still hasn't recovered from the shock she suffered — not even with all my attempts to comfort her.
I don't think anyone could accept something like that so easily… but still, I'm certain that time will heal everything.
Anyway, it seems that Wu Feng's martial soul has evolved — transforming into the Crimson Abyssal Demon Dragon.
As for Ning Tian, her martial soul has advanced into the Nine-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda after consuming the exquisite Silk Tulip Flower.
Now… it's time to obtain the Ice Empress.
My innate spiritual power has broken through its limit, reaching level thirty — higher than Qian Renxue's innate level, which was only level twenty.
However, thanks to the bloodlines of Tang San, Sanju, and the Uchiha, flowing within me, I managed to reach level thirty without the need for lengthy training.
That means I can now acquire three spirit rings for my Martial Soul Awakening — whether it be the Blue Silver Emperor, my Original Body Spirit, the Eye Spirit, or even the Clear Sky Hammer.
Yet, none of them — not the Clear Sky Hammer, not the Blue Silver Emperor, nor the Original Body Spirit — have awakened yet.
Which means I must undergo the awakening process once more.
I will… but not now.
For now, I am in Tang San's era, at the far northern reaches of the continent.
My goal is simple and clear — to obtain the Ice Empress.
After I obtain the Ice Empress and the Snow Empress, I will head straight to the world of DxD.
However… time is unbearably tight — the Spirit Tournament will begin soon in Huo Yuhau's era, and I must prepare as fast as I can.
Even if it's only one battle, that will be enough to pave the way for my next plans… for revenge.
At this moment, a vast expanse of white snow filled my vision completely.
Wherever I looked, the sky was draped in that endless whiteness.
I walked over the snow; the sound of my steps cut through the surrounding silence as my shoes sank into that merciless cold.
Since we officially entered the far north, I felt the temperature dropping more and more… as if the very air had turned into ice knives piercing my skin.
I continued the journey with Di Tian, the snow gradually rising until it reached my knees.
By my estimate we had been traveling for a full day, and now we found ourselves over two hundred miles deep into this harsh north.
Along the way several spirit beasts attacked us, but Di Tian dispatched them with absolute ease.
With a single kick or a casual slap, he sent them flying like mere insects.
I clearly remember when he struck a giant ice bear — nearly ten meters long — it flew into the air as if a mountain had crumbled.
Then Di Tian turned to me, his golden eyes gleaming, and asked in a majestic voice: How are you now?
I raised my hand and pointed forward, a strange feeling fluttering in my chest.
The feeling is clearer… our destination is at the deepest point.
Di Tian furrowed his brow, his deep voice echoing in my ear:
The central area of the far north?
His eyes flashed lightly, as if my words had awakened something within him.
A short silence passed, then he said with unshakable resolve: Now that we've located it, there's no point in wasting time… let's go straight to the deepest part!
Before I could reply, I felt his powerful arms wrap around my body.
We shot up into the air suddenly, the wind slapping my face fiercely.
Everything around me vanished in an instant.
There was nothing left but the roar of the raging wind screaming in my ears as we surged forward at a speed that seemed to shatter the limits of sight.
In less than fifteen minutes, Di Tian suddenly came to a halt.
Before us stretched the central region of the Extreme North — a frozen heart that pulsed with a mysterious power.
Di Tian frowned, his gaze piercing through the pitch-black darkness behind him, as though something dreadful was lurking deep within.
From the distant northern sky, a turquoise light suddenly burst forth, slicing through the gloom with its cold brilliance.
With its appearance, a fierce aura swept across the land — savage, ruthless, and sharp as blades of ice.
"Hmph!"
Di Tian snorted, and with his exhale, snowflakes surged upward, rising hundreds of meters into the air.
From the horizon, another aura erupted — overwhelming and immense — tearing through layers of snow and shaking the very earth, scattering icy dust that filled the heavens.
Then, a clear voice echoed from afar, reverberating through the freezing winds: Is that you… Di Tian?
The crushing aura gradually receded, but within that voice, a faint tremor could be heard — a tone of fear that could not be hidden.
Buzz——!
With a resonant hum, the sky turned into pure turquoise, and waves of azure light rippled across the horizon like a sea of aurora.
In the blink of that mesmerizing radiance, a spirit beast appeared before Di Tian.
It wasn't massive, yet its beauty was breathtaking — delicate to the point of disbelief.
It was a scorpion — yes, merely a scorpion — but one of such exquisite elegance that it shattered all expectations.
Beauty and scorpions were never meant to coexist, and yet, before my eyes in that very moment, the contradiction itself took form — alive, impossible, and mesmerizing.