"Let's go!"
Su Yu glanced at Snow Empress, then gently took her soft hand and strode forward.
Behind them, Chen Xin and Ma Xiaotao quickly followed.
As soon as they stepped through the portal, Snow Empress felt a strange energy sweep over her entire body.
Then, in the blink of an eye, everything around her changed drastically, accompanied by a sensation of dizziness.
What appeared before her eyes was a magnificent city of ice and snow.
Everywhere she looked, it was a world of frost. Nearly everything was constructed from ice.
From a distance, the entire city sparkled brilliantly, with every building reflecting dazzling rays of light.
Snow Empress was stunned. When had she ever seen such a breathtaking scene?
"This is the Ice and Snow City of my Ice God Palace. All the infrastructure here is sculpted from thousand-year-old ice. Do you like it?"
Su Yu looked at Snow Empress and asked with a smile.
Without hesitation, Snow Empress nodded. A city like this was exactly her favorite.
This place was truly a world of ice.
"As long as you like it. From now on, you're the mistress of this city."
Su Yu chuckled.
"You... What are you saying? I... I haven't agreed to anything yet!"
Snow Empress' face turned bright red.
"It's only a matter of time. You're destined to be my wife, so you might as well start getting used to it now."
Su Yu grinned mischievously and pulled Snow Empress forward.
Inside the Ice God Palace, everything revolved around ice.
Even the floor tiles were neatly arranged blocks of ice.
On both sides of the road, there were various plants and flowers, all of which, unsurprisingly, had ice attributes.
Su Yu held Snow Empress's hand as they walked along, soon arriving at a riverbank.
It was a vast, ice-blue river, with turbulent waters that stood out in this frozen land.
Snow Empress stared at the river in shock and exclaimed, "This is… the Emerald Water?"
"As expected of little Snow, you have sharp eyes."
Su Yu praised her before leading her onto an ice bridge.
The bridge spanned the entire river, stretching several hundred meters in length.
Looking across to the other side, Su Yu said, "Once we cross this bridge, we'll have officially entered the Ice and Snow City."
Hearing this, Snow Empress gazed at the towering buildings beyond, a deep longing rising in her heart.
Su Yu did not disturb her thoughts and simply continued walking forward, still holding her hand.
Snow Empress occasionally glanced at the city ahead and then at the bottomless ice-blue river beneath the bridge, her delicate brows furrowing slightly as if deep in thought.
The several-hundred-meter-long bridge was crossed in just a short moment.
Upon reaching the other side, they were met with a large crowd gathered in a small plaza beneath the bridge.
As soon as they saw Su Yu, they all knelt on one knee in unison, bowing respectfully.
"Greetings, Young Master!"
Su Yu scanned the group—there were about thirty people, all exuding a powerful presence.
Judging by their aura alone, every single one of them had reached the Title Douluo level.
Among them, over ten had already stepped into the Super Douluo realm.
At the forefront stood eight individuals, all dressed in elaborate robes, each with an ice-blue mark on their foreheads.
Without exception, these eight were all Super Douluo, each at least at Rank 96.
Among them were several familiar faces—Lu Yuan, Feng Xue, and Luo Yi, who had once followed Su Yu.
At the center of the eight stood Lu Yuan, clearly holding the highest status among them.
However, Su Yu's gaze lingered for a moment beside Lu Yuan.
It was a graceful figure—a woman with ice-blue hair, stunning features, and an air of classical elegance.
Her pure ice-attribute soul power was on par with Lu Yuan's, having reached Rank 97 Super Douluo.
But Su Yu only paused briefly before shifting his focus elsewhere.
After scanning the crowd, he said indifferently, "Rise."
"Thank you, Young Master!"
The crowd stood up, forming a sea of white.
Due to their martial soul, the people of the Ice God Palace mostly wore white robes.
Even their hair was predominantly white.
What was rare to see in the outside world was commonplace here.
Su Yu counted—there were twelve Super Douluo in total.
Aside from the eight guardians, four others had also reached the Super Douluo level.
However, those four were only at Rank 95, still a step behind the eight guardians.
"So many powerful people?"
Snow Empress's beautiful eyes flickered with astonishment.
Everyone here had reached the Title Douluo level—there were about thirty-five or thirty-six of them.
What shocked her even more was the number of Super Douluo present.
For humans, a Super Douluo was equivalent to a beast world's Fierce Beast.
And here in the Ice God Palace, there were more than ten of them!
Among them, four had even reached Rank 97.
A Rank 97 Super Douluo was an extraordinary existence.
In the entire Extreme North, only she and the Ice Empress could match such strength.
With both of them absent, even a single Rank 97 Super Douluo from this palace would be enough to shake the Extreme North.
Even the mighty Titan Snow Demon King might not be able to win in a one-on-one battle.
After all, these experts were all ice-attribute beings, meaning the Extreme North's environmental advantage did not affect them.
Snow Empress was stunned—was the Ice God Palace behind Su Yu really this powerful?
This was leagues beyond Shrek Academy!
Thinking about Shrek Academy's mere handful of elites, they couldn't even compare to the Ice God Palace.
No wonder Su Yu always acted so confident. If she had such a powerful background, she would be just as arrogant.
"The eight guardians will stay. The rest may leave and attend to their duties."
Su Yu's gaze swept across them as he casually gave the order.
"Yes, Young Master!"
At his command, the large crowd swiftly dispersed, leaving the small plaza nearly empty.
Only the eight guardians remained before Su Yu.
"Has Elder Mu Wu returned yet?"
Su Yu looked at them and asked.
Lu Yuan stepped forward, cupped his hands, and replied, "Young Master, Elder Mu has not yet returned."
Su Yu pondered for a moment before saying, "When he does, have him come see me."
"Has the Ice God Palace been peaceful lately? Any incidents?"
Lu Yuan glanced at the elegantly dressed woman behind him, who then stepped forward.
"Young Master, the members of the Body Sect, led by Du Busi, came to cause trouble a few days ago. But we drove them away."
"Oh?"
Su Yu raised an eyebrow. "Du Busi?"
"Was it because of the embryo?"
Su Yu speculated.
"Young Master is indeed wise!"
Lu Yuan cupped his fists in acknowledgment.
"What exactly did you guys do?"
Su Yu looked at Lu Yuan with curiosity.
For Du Busi to personally show up, it was clear that they had truly infuriated him.
"Otherwise, Du Busi wouldn't have had the guts to do it."
Lu Yuan recounted everything in detail.
"Well done!"
Su Yu affirmed.
No wonder Du Busi couldn't take it.
This was no different from marrying a wife—completing all the necessary rituals like betrothal, wedding procession, ceremony, and marriage itself—only for someone else to sleep with the bride on the wedding night.
Who wouldn't be furious?
If he were Du Busi, he would be enraged too.
But on second thought, the idea of backstabbing in this way was originally Su Yu's suggestion.
It was just that he didn't know the exact method Lu Yuan and the others would use.
Still, the plan to trick the Body Sect was ultimately his idea.
Hmm... He wasn't a good person.
Su Yu had some self-awareness about his moral standing.
But he didn't see it as a shameful thing. The Body Sect was just as bad as he was.
To put it bluntly, they were just robbers.
But the Body Sect? They were house-invading looters who also committed murder and arson—outright terrorists.
Robbing the Body Sect was completely justified!
"You did well on this matter. Keep it up in the future."
"If there's a chance to take advantage of the Body Sect, never let it slip by."
Su Yu spoke solemnly.
"Yes, young master, rest assured! Leave it to me!"
Lu Yuan patted his chest, making a "Duang Duang" sound like he was hitting a steel plate.
Nearby, Snow Empress twitched the corner of her mouth and looked at Su Yu with a strange expression.
This scoundrel of a man... He was no good. He could talk about scheming against others so openly and shamelessly.
Su Yu chuckled and changed the subject: "Now that I'm back, I'll be staying in the Ice God Palace for some time. They will as well."
"Pass down the order to arrange accommodations for everyone."
"I'll take care of this."
A middle-aged woman, who appeared to be around fifty, spoke up.
There were faint wrinkles on her face, but her smile was warm and kind.
"Then I'll trouble Senior Xiao with this task."
Su Yu looked at her and said with a light smile.
This woman was Xiao Qiancheng, one of the three guardians of the Ice God Palace. Among the nine guardians, she was the eldest.
"Serving the young master is my duty," Xiao Qiancheng replied.
Hearing this, Su Yu didn't say much. His gaze swept over the eight people present, and he said indifferently, "Alright, stop crowding here. If you have things to do, go handle them. Just leave one person to guide the way."
"Lingguang, you stay behind."
Lu Yuan winked at the palace-dressed beauty beside him with a hint of teasing.
Shui Lingguang's face instantly turned red.
"Lingguang, you stay and guide the young master. We'll be off now."
Xiao Qiancheng patted Shui Lingguang's shoulder with a knowing smile before walking away.
The other guardians exchanged glances and also left with amused smiles.
"Good luck!"
Lu Yuan shot Shui Lingguang an encouraging look before quickly making his escape.
Soon, only Su Yu's group and Shui Lingguang remained.
Snow Empress shot Su Yu a glare as if silently demanding an explanation.
Su Yu spread his hands, looking innocent.
How would he know what was going on? This was his first time in the Ice God Palace.
"Young master, allow me to lead the way."
Shui Lingguang bowed slightly and spoke respectfully.
Her voice was pleasant, cold yet clear, like a flowing icy spring, crisp and melodious.
She was dressed in a white palace gown, with an elegant and graceful figure. Her demeanor was cool and noble, and her appearance was breathtaking.
She was like an ice fairy, pure yet lively.
From her looks and temperament alone, there was absolutely nothing to criticize.
Even with Su Yu's picky standards, he had to admit—she was a stunning beauty, rarely seen in the world.
Clearing his throat, Su Yu said, "Then lead the way."
"As you command, young master."
Shui Lingguang gracefully bowed again before stepping forward, leading the way just half a step ahead of Su Yu.
Su Yu followed behind.
As the group walked through the streets of the Ice Snow City, pedestrians would bow respectfully upon seeing the marks on Su Yu and Shui Lingguang's foreheads.
Ice and Snow City was vast.
In terms of size, it was no smaller than Shrek City.
However, unlike the densely populated Shrek City, Ice and Snow City only had a permanent population of a few tens of thousands.
But these tens of thousands of residents were not ordinary people—every single one of them was a soul master.
After walking for nearly an hour, Su Yu and the others explored quite a bit of the city.
There were many things Su Yu had heard about but had never seen with his own eyes.
Today, he finally got to witness them.
"Lingguang, I previously arranged for a girl named Jiang Nannan to enter the Ice God Palace. Do you know where she lives?"
Su Yu looked at Shui Lingguang and asked.
"Young master, you mean Nannan?"
"She's been cultivating outside the palace where I reside," Shui Lingguang replied.
"Oh?"
Su Yu raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.
"Then let's head to your place and take a look."
Su Yu said.
Shui Lingguang nodded and led the way toward the city center.
After passing through the outer city, they arrived at the heart of the city, where a towering palace complex came into view.
Each palace stood at least a hundred meters tall, positioned in four directions, guarding the central, grandest palace.
Streams of jade-colored water flowed from the east, south, west, and north, converging at the center.
In the middle of these eight palaces lay a lake of icy blue.
At the center of the lake was a small island.
And atop the island stood the tallest palace of all.
A radiant blue light enveloped the entire island, emanating from the peak of the grand palace.
Xuedi fixed her gaze on the nine palaces, particularly the grandest one in the center.
From that icy blue radiance, she could feel an overwhelmingly sacred and powerful ice aura.
That aura seemed to transcend the heavens and earth.
"That… is that where the Ice God is worshipped?"
Snow Empress asked in astonishment.
"That's right. That is the Ice God Main Hall, the most important place within the Ice God Palace."
"Curious?"
"Don't worry, in a few days, I'll take you there for a look."
Su Yu squeezed Snow Empress' hand and said with a teasing smile.
"Is… is that appropriate?"
"I don't think outsiders are allowed in there," Snow Empress said hesitantly.
She wanted to go there and take a look, but she also didn't want to break the rules of the Ice God Palace.
"You are mine, so how can you be considered an outsider?"
Su Yu said with a playful smile.
Snow Empress rolled her eyes at Su Yu, but deep down, she felt pleased.
She gazed blankly at the main hall of the Ice God Palace. The vast aura of ice emanating from it had an immense allure for her.
The group continued forward.
The hall guarded by Shui Lingguang was located at the very center of the westernmost side and was called the Ice Phoenix Hall.
On both sides of the hall, streams of Emerald Water flowed.
The surging Emerald Water exuded a bone-chilling cold, and within the mist rising from it, there was a strong presence of heaven and earth's spiritual energy.