At the first hint of dawn, the bright, gentle sunlight once again dispelled the darkness. Shu Yan awoke from his sleep, and just as he opened his eyes, he heard suppressed laughter coming from beside the bed.
Shu Yan sat up helplessly, feeling speechless as he looked at the Ice Empress, who was sitting on a chair by his bed, swinging her short legs.
"Isn't it a bit too casual to enter a boy's room, my dear Sister Ice Empress—"
The Ice Empress looked at Shu Yan with a playful smile, then tutted twice. "You're even getting shy now!" she said. "I'm giving you face. If it were anyone else, even if they knelt and begged me, I wouldn't spare them a single glance..."
Shu Yan's mouth twitched. He said softly, "Can't you learn from the Snow Empress? You're a girl after all, this kind of behavior..."
Before Shu Yan could finish speaking, a cold voice suddenly came from the balcony. "What about me?"
Yes, this was the balcony of Shu Yan's room.
Shu Yan looked at the Snow Empress, who walked out of his room's balcony openly and grandly. He was silent for a moment. "Nothing," he finally said. "Let's go eat breakfast. If there's nothing else today, we'll travel at full speed. We can rest properly when we finally reach Star Luo City."
The Snow Empress had no objection. Seeing her nod, the Ice Empress hesitated for a moment, then also nodded.
The two waited for Shu Yan to finish washing up. The three of them went downstairs together for a simple breakfast, and then, after leaving the city, they hurried south again. They maintained their usual fast pace, not stopping again until dusk and sunset.
A Test of Power
At the speed of the Ice and Snow Two Empresses, if they persisted for just one more night, they would likely enter the territory of the Star Luo Empire by early morning. Long-term flight is undoubtedly a huge drain on a Soul Master's spirit power, but the Ice and Snow Two Empresses are both peak powerhouses, so this small consumption of spirit power is naturally nothing they need to worry about.
Super Douluo level powerhouses can easily fly for three or four consecutive days if they need to. As for Limit Douluo, no one has personally tested it yet, but they would certainly be even stronger than a Super Douluo.
A soft, ice-blue halo enveloped Shu Yan's body. He took an exquisite Continent map from his soul tool. Under the moonlight, he vaguely determined their approximate current location.
Since the fusion of the two Continents, the land area had doubled. The locations of several symbolically significant giant cities on the original Continent had basically remained unchanged, but the strongholds of many Sects and forces had shifted. The most representative of these were the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School.
The location they were currently passing through happened to be not far from the current stronghold of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School. In fact, one could even say they flew right over their heads.
Shu Yan inexplicably had a bad premonition, but then he remembered the strength of the two people beside him. Well, he thought, the ones who should have a bad premonition are those guys from the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School...
An Unlucky Encounter
The night was like water. Below them, at some point, the terrain had turned into a lush forest. The previously endless rice fields had disappeared, and the low roars of various Spirit Beasts were incessant. Where a stream flowed, fireflies flew by in swarms, like sprites in the dark night—cute yet holding a hint of mystery.
The three of them were not flying too high, only moving at high speed about ten meters above the forest canopy. The Snow Empress was slightly behind with Shu Yan, while the Ice Empress flew alone in the front.
As it approached the latter half of the night, all three of them were still awake. After flying over a lake that looked like a mirror under the moonlight, the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress both frowned simultaneously. They looked at each other, and the Snow Empress softly spoke:
"There's the aura of a human Titled Douluo about five kilometers ahead. Besides that, there are two Soul Saints. The other auras are very weak—almost all below the Soul King realm. Should we go around them?"
Before Shu Yan could reply, the Ice Empress snorted softly. "Who cares?" she scoffed. "Judging from the aura, that guy is at most only around level ninety-three. A human Titled Douluo of that level, and a fire attribute one at that! If he dares to disturb my good mood, I can slap him to death."
Shu Yan rubbed his temples, ignoring the Ice Empress. He only spoke softly to the Snow Empress: "Let's try to go around. They haven't offended us, and provoking trouble for no reason isn't a good thing."
The Snow Empress nodded. Immediately, a wave of ice-blue spirit power swept out. The eager Ice Empress, who was rushing ahead, lost control of her body in the next moment and was redirected by the Snow Empress to fly to the side.
The Ice Empress was a bit annoyed but didn't dare to resist the Snow Empress, so she could only sulk by herself.
In the Extreme North Land, there was basically no one else who could compete with her besides the Snow Empress. Her hands had been itching for a long time, but unfortunately, she just couldn't find a suitable punching bag. Now that she had finally found one that delivered itself right to her doorstep, Shu Yan had interrupted her again. The Ice Empress thought resentfully: She must get fierce revenge next time...
As for the Snow Empress? Don't be ridiculous. How could she ever bear to blame the kind, lovely, fairy-like Xue Er? Everything was caused by the hateful Shu Yan!
A Narrow Escape
What the three of them didn't know was that at the moment they chose to go around, a group of people in the forest not far away were staring at the night sky with extreme tension. They only dared to slightly move their stiff bodies after a long time, fearing that they would be decapitated in the next moment.
The leading red-robed Old Man had neat red short hair and an aged face with a hint of majesty. Just by standing there, the fire attribute energy in the surrounding space seemed to become more active. Clearly, he was the fire attribute Titled Douluo mentioned by the Ice Empress, and also the unlucky fellow who had just narrowly escaped death.
At this moment, sensing that the two terrifying auras were gradually moving away, the red-haired Old Man barely managed to swallow a mouthful of saliva. His dry throat slowly moved, and then he let out a heavy sigh of relief.
The solidified aura around him began to slowly dissipate. He then turned his head, forced a slightly stiff smile onto his face, and said, "Miss, it's alright..."
As the Old Man's words fell, the group of young men and women who had been huddled together behind him slowly dispersed. A golden-haired girl with a delicate face and noble temperament walked out, surrounded by the crowd. Beside the golden-haired girl, a spirited girl with red short hair also couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
Ning Tian looked up at the night sky, which was as still as water, and her wildly beating heart finally received some comfort.
The slight hint of fighting intent that the Ice Empress had inadvertently released toward them earlier had almost scared the group out of their wits. The younger children had even collapsed directly onto the ground, with tears streaming out uncontrollably. Even Wu Lao, the Red Dragon Titled Douluo who led this Soul Hunting operation, was almost unable to breathe under that pressure and had even been prepared to fight to the death to cover Ning Tian's retreat.
(Author's Note: I see that many book friends don't like Ning Tian and Wu Feng. However, I don't have time to change this plot because I had already written it in the latter half of last month. Now I have nearly fifty chapters saved up. However, whether she's the female lead or not is easy to say. If everyone doesn't like it, I just won't write her as the female lead. Later on, it might be more about transactional relationships, heading towards conquering the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School. Even if there's a relationship, does the fuzzy ball count (?))