Chapter 254: The Choice of the Snow Empress (Part II)

"Mm, I'll listen to you."

Su Yu was taken aback, looking at the familiar expression on Xue Di's face, and then he laughed out loud.

The story was short, spanning only a few short years, but the content of the story was long—so long that Xue Di's life up until now had never been so rich.

At the same time, countless Soul Beasts, carrying a mighty momentum, gathered toward Xue Di's position from all directions.

As a Necromancer, he was extremely sensitive to fluctuations in emotion; the emotions of those Soul Beasts were incredibly agitated—they were welcoming their sovereign, they were on a pilgrimage!

The shock brought about by this scene was in no way inferior to the gathering of Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest; in this desolate and lifeless Extreme North, there still existed such a vast number of living beings.

Feeling that grand scene, Xue Di floated quietly in the air, soothing the emotions of the numerous Soul Beasts.

This was her home turf, for she was the true ruler of the Extreme North, the seven-hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, Xue Di!

Every Soul Beast of the Extreme North prostrated itself on the ground, respectfully welcoming Xue Di's arrival, and as time passed, more and more Soul Beasts gathered toward the place where Xue Di was.

Century Soul Beasts, Millennium Soul Beasts, ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts, and even some hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts were present...

Su Yu sat quietly not far from Xue Di's side, watching Xue Di communicate and speak with those Soul Beasts.

Before long, a group of Extreme North Ice Bears also arrived before Xue Di, bringing a huge white bear with them. The white bear excitedly came before Xue Di, lowered its body, and gently rubbed its furry head against Xue Di's sleeve.

Xue Di gently stroked the white bear's head, saying some words in its ear that Su Yu could not understand; looking at Xue Di's expression, it seemed as if she were comforting it.

"Xiao Bai has grown up again, that's wonderful..." Xue Di looked at Xiao Bai with maternal love, a smile slowly blooming like an Ice Lotus; that peerless face seemed to make the heavens and earth lose their color in the wake of this smile.

"Your son?" Su Yu asked subconsciously, looking at the look of enjoyment on Xiao Bai's face.

"You could say that." Xue Di looked at Xiao Bai and nodded.

Only then did Xiao Bai discover that there was actually a human sitting not far from Xue Di's side.

???

How could a human appear here?

Before Xiao Bai could react, Xue Di soothed it: "Xiao Bai, I'll explain to you later; I have a major matter to announce right now."

"Oh, I understand..." With a suspicious gaze, Xiao Bai respectfully sat on its haunches next to Su Yu, its eyes filled with deep hostility.

Clearly, Su Yu's identity had made Xiao Bai suspicious, for no other reason than that Su Yu was a human!

Not long after, a large number of Soul Beasts gathered in the distance, led by a Titan Snow Demon whose size was on par with Xiao Bai's.

When they arrived before Xue Di, they also knelt respectfully before her. Looking at the Titan Snow Demon King before her, Xue Di raised her hand to signal it to rise: "Atai, long time no see."

"Xue Di, long time no see..." The Titan Snow Demon King was clearly somewhat unnatural, but when it saw Xiao Bai sitting beside Xue Di, the expression on its face changed from awe to envy.

"You come and sit by my side as well."

The Titan Snow Demon King trotted over to Xue Di's side, and the two huge figures squeezed together like colliding icebergs. Under Xue Di's signal, neither of them chose to go to the side where Su Yu was.

"A human? How can there be a human?" The Titan Snow Demon King looked in surprise at Su Yu, who was sitting quietly beside Xue Di, its pair of eyeballs bulging round.

"Shh, no need to be so surprised. If there are any questions, Xue Di will tell you two. I'll state in advance: I was brought here by Xue Di. I have no malice toward you, nor have I hunted any Soul Beasts of the Extreme North. Xue Di can testify to all of this." Su Yu looked at the Titan Snow Demon King, his tone flat, not affected in the slightest by these Beasts.

The types of Soul Beasts in the Extreme North were not many, and their overall strength was not as powerful as that of the Star Dou Great Forest, but it possessed unique advantages of time and geography. Just as the Ice Empress had once said, if it were in the Extreme North, even Mu Lao might not necessarily be her match.

"Atai, Xiao Bai, there are some things I will tell you later, but I need to announce something first, so no matter what, you two must listen to me finish before asking. Do you understand?" Xue Di looked at Xiao Bai and Atai; clearly, she knew what they wanted to do in their hearts.

Feeling Xue Di's gaze, Atai and Xiao Bai both obediently lowered their heads, not daring to act presumptuously.

…………

Xue Di, just like in the original story, delivered a speech and finally handed the position of successor to the Titan Snow Demon King.

Watching the Soul Beasts leave, a crystal-clear tear slid down Xue Di's cheek; she understood what it meant to be reluctant to part, and what it meant to be attached to one's homeland...

"Xue Di, are you really leaving?" Large drops of tears slid from the eyes of the Titan Snow Demon King. It wanted to know why—why Xue Di would choose to enter a death-seclusion and hand everything over to it.

"Because the path Xue Di is going to take next is no longer a simple path of a Soul Beast. The Extreme North needs a Soul Beast to inherit it. Xue Di is gone, and the Ice Empress is also gone; only by handing all of this to you can Xue Di be at ease." Su Yu looked at the sorrowful Titan Snow Demon King and spoke.

"What, the Ice Empress is also gone?" The Titan Snow Demon King looked at Su Yu in disbelief; clearly, it did not quite believe Su Yu's words.

"Xue Di, now it is also your successor. Should we tell it everything?" Su Yu looked at Xue Di, seeking her opinion.

Xue Di nodded and slowly spoke: "Tell Atai everything. As the successor of the Extreme North, it has the right to know all of this. However, Atai, you cannot tell other Soul Beasts about these matters."

"Xue Di, I understand. Tell me..." The Titan Snow Demon King looked at Su Yu; it wanted to know what exactly had happened to the Extreme North.

"As everyone knows, the three great kings of the Extreme North are Xue Di, the Ice Empress, and the Titan Snow Demon King. However, seven years ago, the Ice Empress went missing. Do you know where the Ice Empress went?"

"I don't know about that..." The Titan Snow Demon King looked at Su Yu; it did not understand why Su Yu would bring up the Ice Empress, and it had no connection with the Ice Empress anyway.

"Seven years ago, the Ice Empress disappeared in the Extreme North and became a human's Soul Ring. It also transformed into that human's soul bone, bestowing upon him an extremely powerful martial soul, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion. Calculating the time, it was also about six or seven years ago that Xue Di went missing. At a critical juncture of her seclusion, she was trapped by a Title Douluo using a Soul Guidance Device. After changing hands several times, she fell into the hands of the Sun Moon Empire. Because of problems with her origin, she nearly dissipated within the Sun Moon Empire."

"The reason I intend to tell you this is because I have now brought Xue Di back, and you will also succeed Xue Di as the ruler of the Extreme North. The Extreme North needs you to protect it. This is also why Xue Di came back for a trip. The current Xue Di still possesses her former strength, and now Xue Di is walking a different path; if she succeeds, she may reach a brand new height."

"The Extreme North is handed to you; you must protect everything here for Xue Di." Su Yu looked at the Titan Snow Demon King; he didn't know why, but he always felt that he wasn't just telling the other party about past events, but subconsciously adopting the identity of an elder.

"Then how do you know all this, human?" The Titan Snow Demon King continued to press.

"I discovered the existence of the Ice Empress by accident. I don't know the specific details, but Xue Di was rescued by me from the Sun Moon Empire. I have no malice toward you Soul Beasts; if I did, I wouldn't have followed Xue Di to the Extreme North."

Subsequently, the Titan Snow Demon King asked many questions, but most were probing about Xue Di's situation. Xue Di was fine, but everything about the Ice Empress remained unknown to this day.

Actually, it wasn't unknown, but rather that she was bickering with that bug; as for how far that had developed, he didn't know.

However, as far as the current situation was concerned, Tian Meng's God Creation Project was progressing extremely slowly. Among his peers on the Douluo Continent, Huo Yuhao was undoubtedly one of the most dazzling, but he was definitely not the most dazzling one.

"Regardless of whether you will ever return in the future, the Lord of the Ice Plains will always be only you. Atai will stay here forever, waiting for you to return!"

Watching the Titan Snow Demon King leave, Xue Di said to Xiao Bai: "Xiao Bai, from now on, you will come with me."

"Ah, shouldn't I also go back and guard the Extreme North?" Xiao Bai was stunned; clearly, it hadn't expected that after seeing off the Titan Snow Demon King, it would be time to see itself off, but it really hadn't expected such a situation.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Su Yu saw Xue Di looking at him with a certain gaze, and a bad feeling instantly flashed through his heart.

"Because after I leave, there will be no more Soul Beasts in the Extreme North that can suppress you. If you and Atai come into conflict, then your race and Atai's race will both suffer irreparable damage. I cannot guarantee the future. Since I have let Atai serve as the Lord of the Ice Plains, you can only leave the Extreme North with me."

Of two evils, choose the lesser; this was Xue Di's plan.

"I will listen to you; wherever you tell me to go, I will go."

Under Xiao Bai's puzzled gaze, Xue Di beckoned to Su Yu and said: "Su Yu, come here."

"No, I refuse!" Looking at that classic scene of acknowledging relatives from the original work, Su Yu expressed his refusal to take on such a grandson who could eat and sleep so well.

Xue Di smiled slightly and continued to ask, "Really?"

"Really, I refuse, thank..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Su Yu had already been flown over, and in a rather uncomfortable posture, he was forcibly pressed by Xue Di to the side of Xiao Bai.

"Let me introduce you, this is Su Yu, he is my..."

Thinking of this, Xue Di fell silent for a moment; in the end, she still could not say those two words in front of Xiao Bai.

Watching Xue Di's hesitant expression, Su Yu spoke slowly, "What you call me isn't important, we can talk about future matters later."

Xue Di was too shy to speak; she truly lacked the courage to acknowledge a mother in front of Xiao Bai, so she finally remained silent for a moment before saying, "This is my older brother..."

"Ah..." Xiao Bai was stunned, its large mouth hanging open in surprise for a long time.

Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief; finally, those shocking words had not been spoken.

"What's wrong, did you tie me up just to lower my seniority?" Su Yu asked in the Spirit Sea.

"Don't say any more!" Xue Di's voice clearly carried a hint of shame and anger.

"Alright, alright, I won't say it, I won't say it. But how are we going to keep Xiao Bai with us? With its 200,000 years of cultivation, I can't guarantee it will survive well. If it can listen to me, I think I still have a way to keep it with us temporarily," Su Yu communicated with Xue Di in the Spirit Sea.

Xue Di's voice still carried a hint of unnaturalness, "If you have a way, that would be best. If it really doesn't work, then just leave Xiao Bai at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well; the ice spring there is just right for its cultivation."

"That works too..."

His communication with Xue Di was extremely brief. Su Yu reached out and patted the dazed Xiao Bai, saying, "Xiao Bai, you can call me Uncle."

"Xiao Bai, what are you still waiting for? Hurry and call her Grandmother. Haven't you always wanted me to be your mother? If you acknowledge her as your grandmother now, I will acknowledge you as my son."

"Wait, shouldn't you be calling me Uncle? How did it turn into Grandmother? Sigh..."

The plot is wrong, why did it suddenly change...

"Uh... Grandmother." Xiao Bai was quite straightforward; under Xue Di's loving gaze, it obediently acknowledged Su Yu as its grandmother. "Um, Mother, shouldn't I be calling him Uncle?"

"I said it wrong before; he is Mother's mother, so you should call him Grandmother." A trace of an unnatural blush still remained on Xue Di's face.

Xiao Bai was even more confused and continued to ask, "Mother, but Grandmother is a male grandmother."

"A male grandmother can also be a grandmother; he is Mother's mother. Xiao Bai, are you still going to listen to Mother?" A hint of redness could already be seen on Xue Di's ears.

…………

On this ice field in the Extreme North, Su Yu sat on Xiao Bai's back and asked in the Spirit Sea, "What do you plan to do about Xiao Bai's future? It is about to begin its third great tribulation. If it only relies on the ice spring, I estimate the probability of success won't be very high."

"This is my plan, and it is also my choice. Xiao Bai is your grandson; I hope you can treat Xiao Bai well." Xue Di did not answer Su Yu's question.

Su Yu looked at Xue Di and smiled calmly, "I understand."

On the journey, Su Yu had a dream.

In the dream, he saw the young Xue Di, and he saw the life of Xue Di.

"I know you have many questions in your heart; I will tell you in the future. From the moment I was reborn, I had already accepted your existence. To stabilize my origin, I did not hesitate to go to the Star Dou Great Forest and choose to trade with Di Tian. Mother is Mother; from the day I broke out of my shell, I have never denied it in my heart."

"The matters of the Extreme North have been resolved, and the responsibilities I bore have been set down. Now, I still hope to remain by your side. Xiao Bai is family, and so are you."

The dream ended. Xue Di, who had transformed into Xiaoxuenv, lay quietly in Su Yu's arms and drifted sweetly into dreamland...

This is my choice...