38: Chapter 38 Successfully Transcending Tribulation, Protector: Snow Empress!

Merely two attacks from the heavenly lightning caused the Snow Empress to pant slightly; the situation did not look optimistic.

Facing the descent of one tribulation lightning bolt after another, the Snow Empress resisted with difficulty.

But who was she? She was the Ice Sky Snow Maiden, the darling of this Far North!

She let out a shout and immediately hovered in mid-air. Mu Qingci could clearly see waves of energy coming from all directions of the Far North, surging into the Snow Empress's body.

Under the support of this energy, the Snow Empress's state recovered rapidly, only to plummet again due to the consumption by the heavenly lightning, repeating this cycle over and over.

The heavenly tribulation was gradually drawing to a close, and the Snow Empress's body was now covered in wounds.

These last few bolts of heavenly lightning were often the most terrifying; success or failure depended entirely on the Snow Empress herself.

Accompanied by rolling thunder in the sky, another bolt of heavenly lightning was about to fall.

Unlike all the previous heavenly lightning, this bolt transformed into a lightning dragon, crashing down with an aura of destruction.

After enduring so many previous bolts of heavenly lightning, the Snow Empress was already severely injured.

Yet her gaze remained resolute, completely unafraid of the approaching heavenly lightning.

She gathered the last of her Soul Power, frantically circulating her spirit core, and an ice-blue longsword formed above her head, subsequently growing to a massive size.

This was one of the Snow Empress's signature techniques: the Emperor's Sword from the Emperor's Sword, Emperor's Palm, and Emperor's Cold Heaven—Ice Extremity Unrivaled!

The massive ice-blue longsword flew towards the lightning dragon, carrying the Snow Empress's conviction of certain victory.

"Boom!"

Accompanied by a massive explosion, countless snowflakes flew, obscuring the vision of Mu Qingci and the Ice Empress within his spiritual sea.

"Quick, go see how Xue'er is doing!"

Under the Ice Empress's urging, Mu Qingci walked out of the Ice and Snow Palace, heading towards the plains where the Snow Empress underwent the tribulation.

By the time he approached, the snowstorm that had been kicked up had gradually dissipated.

In that vast and boundless ice and snow plain, a beautiful figure stood tall.

Her snow-white long hair fell past her waist, and her stunningly beautiful face bore the joy of surviving a catastrophe.

"Finally, it is a success." Even the Snow Empress, who was as calm as an iceberg, could not help but sigh with joy after surviving this seventh heavenly tribulation.

"Congratulations, Senior Snow Empress!" Mu Qingci stepped forward to congratulate her.

Hearing this, the Snow Empress nodded slightly, and the gaze she directed at Mu Qingci held a little less prejudice against humans.

"Since I have already completed Senior Ice Empress's request, this junior will take his leave."

After saying this, Mu Qingci turned to leave, walking while frantically praying in his heart, praying that she would call out to him.

"Wait a moment."

These three words from the Snow Empress sounded like the music of the heavens to Mu Qingci, because he had already guessed what she was going to say next.

Guessing was one thing, but he still had to put on an act.

Mu Qingci turned around, pretending to be puzzled as he looked at the Snow Empress: "Senior, is there anything else?"

"After much thought, I have decided to leave with you, to fulfill the promise that Bing'er left unfinished and be your guardian."

"That's wonderful!" Mu Qingci was ecstatic inside. An Ice Sky Snow Maiden who had survived the seventh heavenly tribulation was definitely far more powerful than an Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion who had only survived the fourth.

However, he had to play the part fully; the necessary humility and hesitation were indispensable.

"Senior, if you leave with this junior, what will happen to this Far North? Having already lost Senior Ice Empress, those Spirit Beasts cannot afford to lose you as well."

"You can rest assured about that. Aside from me and Bing'er, there are two other Fierce Beasts in my Far North with cultivation exceeding 200,000 years who can manage things in the meantime."

The two Fierce Beasts with cultivation exceeding 200,000 years that she referred to were naturally her godson, Ice Bear King Xiao Bai, and the third of the Three Great Kings of the Far North, Titan Snow Demon King A'Tai.

"Besides," she paused, then continued, "I am willing to be your guardian also for Bing'er's sake; after all, protecting you is also protecting Bing'er."

Since the Snow Empress had said as much, Mu Qingci had no reason to refuse.

He opened the entrance to the Undead Semi-Plane and made a gesture of invitation to the Snow Empress: "This is this junior's exclusive space; Senior Snow Empress, you can just stay here normally."

Mu Qingci deliberately separated the locations of the Snow Empress and Ye Guyi to prevent any unnecessary trouble.

The Snow Empress looked at the entrance of the Undead Semi-Plane with a slight look of surprise for a moment, then nodded and walked in.

Having finally obtained a guardian, and one like the Snow Empress who possessed combat power near that of a Limit Douluo, Mu Qingci now felt completely secure.

"Senior Ice Empress, I have something I would like to ask."

"Just say it, Qingci." Since becoming one with Mu Qingci, the Ice Empress's attitude had improved a lot.

"Do you have any Spirit Beast Spirit Bones or similar items collected in your dwelling?"

Mu Qingci himself didn't really have a need for ice-attribute Spirit Bones, but Meng Hongchen did.

"You brat, you've already set your sights on our Spirit Beast Spirit Bones. I do have some in my collection, considered spoils of war and memorials to my clansmen. You can choose any except for the Ice Jade Scorpion ones, but don't take too many; my clansmen might need them in the future."

The Ice Jade Scorpion species was of extremely high quality, so barring any accidents, it wouldn't be too difficult for them to cultivate to 100,000 years.

And for Spirit Beasts that cultivated to 100,000 years, there were always those who decided to transform into humans; these Spirit Bones were the clan's support for them.

Under the Ice Empress's guidance, Mu Qingci arrived at her former dwelling.

Because she was the Empress of the Ice Jade Scorpion clan, she lived alone and would only summon her clansmen when major events occurred.

Even now, the cave still contained the lingering aura of the Ice Empress, so even if there were malicious Spirit Beasts, they would not dare to come near.

"Walk to the deepest part of the cave, and you will be able to see those Spirit Bones."

Mu Qingci followed the instructions and walked to the deepest part.

Sure enough, at the deepest part of the cave, there was a stone platform on which many Spirit Bones were placed, emitting different kinds of pressure.

With Mu Qingci's current strength, even 100,000-year Spirit Bones could not put pressure on him, so he walked straight up to them.

He took a casual glance; most were 10,000 to 30,000-year Spirit Bones, and their attributes were all uniformly ice-type.

This was not hard to understand; after all, this was the Far North, where Spirit Beasts were basically all ice-attribute, so the Spirit Bones were naturally ice-attribute as well.

Mu Qingci continued searching and finally found a few pieces that caught his eye.

Mu Qingci first picked up a leg bone from the corner.

It was a left leg bone, with extremely high integrity, and at least 50,000 years of age.

"This is an 80,000-year-old Snow Leopard left leg bone, very suitable for increasing escape capabilities."

Hearing the Ice Empress's explanation, Mu Qingci smiled with satisfaction: "I'll take this one."

He put the Spirit Bone into his storage spirit tool and continued selecting.

Subsequently, he discovered a left arm bone of good quality in another corner.

"This is a 70,000-year-old Ice Fox left arm bone, which comes with a certain amount of mental attribute."

"I'll take this one too." He tucked it into his spirit tool as well.