Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends

"We've talked to her. She's willing to live with us."

Hyotei remained silent for a moment.

She opened her mouth and uttered a single word.

"it is good."

The corners of Xue Di's mouth turned up slightly, and a rare gentleness flashed in her icy blue eyes.

"Let's go back first." She turned around and walked towards the direction of the Ice and Snow Palace.

Ice Emperor looked at Snow Emperor's back, then at the Ice Queen following behind Snow Emperor, and stood there in silence for a while.

Then she followed.

Hyotei remained silent throughout the journey.

She walked slightly behind and to the side of the Snow Emperor, her gaze occasionally sweeping over the Ice Queen.

The new soul beast walked quietly, her footsteps light, making almost no sound on the ice. Her head was slightly lowered, her gaze fixed on the Snow Empress's back, as if looking at something very distant.

Hyotei withdrew his gaze and lowered his eyes.

She felt a little uneasy.

Having lived in the far north for so many years and with the Snow Emperor for so many years, she considers herself the person who understands the Snow Emperor best and is also the closest person to her.

But now, a member of our own clan has arrived.

A kin, born of ice and snow, just like the Snow Emperor.

A member of the same clan who could elicit that kind of expression from the Snow Emperor.

Hyotei didn't know how to describe their feelings at that moment.

It wasn't jealousy or dissatisfaction, but rather an indescribable sense of loss, as if something had been taken away in half.

She took a deep breath and suppressed those surging thoughts.

It's fine.

The Snow Empress is still the Snow Empress, and she is still herself.

It's just another member of our race, not another enemy.

In the days that followed, Hyotei visited Yuki-tei much more frequently than before.

Xue Di always welcomed her arrival.

Those icy blue eyes would light up slightly the moment they saw Hyotei, the corners of their mouths would turn up slightly, and their tone would be gentler than usual.

But Hyotei knew that Yuki-tei's attitude towards her was different from her attitude towards the Snow Queen.

For Xue Di, it was closeness, trust, and the tacit understanding built up over many years of working together.

The Snow Queen was cherished and treated with utmost care by the Snow Empress; it was a tenderness she had never seen on the Snow Empress's face before.

Hyotei didn't say anything.

She simply swallowed this disappointment silently.

Her relationship with the Snow Queen is actually quite good.

She liked the Snow Emperor, and therefore, by extension, she also took extra care of the Snow Queen.

Teach her some knowledge about the far north and some unique techniques for using her soul power.

The Snow Queen learned very quickly.

Even as she approached the Ice Emperor's realm, she couldn't help but marvel at how the talent of a soul beast born from ice and snow was truly incomparable to that of someone like her who cultivated it through later means.

But at that time she didn't pay much attention to the Ice Queen's strength.

It's just a 100,000-year-old soul beast.

There are many 100,000-year-old soul beasts in the far north, and the Ice Emperor herself is a being that is close to 400,000 years old.

Although the Snow Queen was exceptionally talented, in her eyes, he was just a junior who still needed time to grow.

She never imagined that one day, the junior she had watched grow up would surpass her.

They never imagined that the Ice Queen would later inherit the power of the Ice God, whose strength far surpassed their own.

Hyotei pulled himself together and suppressed those chaotic thoughts.

She looked at the Ice Queen before her, at the wisp of icy blue light swirling around her fingertips, remained silent for a moment, and then smiled.

The smile was faint, the corners of the mouth only slightly upturned, yet it carried an indescribable sense of relief.

“Alright.” Hyotei said, her voice a little hoarse, “I will be there on the day you become a god.”

The Snow Queen looked at her and nodded.

"I know."

Hyotei said nothing more. She turned around and walked out of the Ice Palace.

Snow Empress glanced at Ice Queen and followed her.

The two walked out of the hall one after the other and stood on the ice cliff.

The aurora borealis in the distance had mostly dissipated, leaving only a last faint purple glow slowly fading on the horizon.

Snow Empress stood beside Ice Empress, her long, silvery-white hair swaying gently in the wind.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

Hyotei shook their head.

"nothing."

Xue Di did not ask any further questions.

She knew what Hyotei was thinking, and she also knew that Hyotei wouldn't say it.

The two soul beasts, who had lived for countless millennia, had long since learned to hide their secrets beneath the ice.

The wind blowing across the ice field carried a biting chill from afar.

Xue Di narrowed her eyes and turned to walk towards the palace.

"Let's go, go back."

Hyotei did not move.

She stood on the ice cliff, gazing at the distant horizon dyed pale purple by the aurora borealis, and remained silent for a long time.

Then, she turned around and walked towards the Ice and Snow Palace.

……

In the far north, on the icy plains, the cold wind howls.

Tiny ice crystals were whipped up by the gale, swirling and dancing in the air, stinging my face.

Xiao Wu stood at the edge of the ice field, her long pink hair billowing behind her, her robes fluttering in the wind.

She tilted her head back, watching the aurora borealis dissipate, her pink eyes reflecting the last glimmer of pale purple light fading away.

The light slowly faded from the horizon, as if gently wiped away by an invisible hand, revealing the gray-white sky below.

Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, landing on her eyelashes, on her shoulders, and on her clenched fists.

"Tianmeng".

Xiao Wu finally spoke, her voice tight, as if there was a wad of cotton stuck in her throat.

"Can we... leave now?"

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, the shadow of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm turned over.

"Go? Don't you want to know if the Snow Queen has become a god?"

Xiao Wu's eyelid twitched.

"Isn't this miracle the work of the Snow Queen?"

Tianmeng Ice Silkworm paused for a moment.

"I did indeed sense the power of the gods, but although this power contained the aura of ice and snow, it was not pure."

Its voice lowered, carrying a rare seriousness.

“That’s not the authority of the Ice God, but a fluctuation of another power, completely different from the aura of the Ice Queen.”

Xiao Wu's brows furrowed tightly.

"you mean"

"This is most likely not the Ice Queen," Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice became even more certain.

"It's another individual. An unknown individual who appeared out of nowhere."

Xiao Wu's pupils contracted slightly.

"Another successor to the Divine Examination?"

"Yes."

Xiao Wu opened her mouth, but for a moment she didn't know what to say.

A successor to a deity is a once-in-a-millennium occurrence.

Now, on this desolate, icy plain, right under her nose, another one has emerged.

Xiao Wu took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions deep inside.

"And what about the Snow Queen?" she asked, her voice regaining its calm. "Did she become a god?"

Tianmeng Ice Silkworm did not answer immediately.

Its spiritual power surged out of the sea of ​​consciousness like a tide, spreading wildly in all directions from Xiao Wu as the center.

After sensing the spiritual power of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, Xiao Wu stood quietly in place, waiting for the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm's reply.

The illusory image of the Ice Crystal Snow Lotus swayed gently in the sea of ​​consciousness, its petals opening and closing slightly, as if waiting for a result.

Time passed by, second by second.