While Ice Empress and Snow Empress chatted casually, Ye Feng was using his own blood to accelerate the growth of the Snow Lotus.
Unlike nurturing "A Yin," who was the Blue Silver Emperor with inherent life attributes and already had the foundation of a Soul Beast, making it easy to mature her to over ten thousand years, this Snow Lotus grew naturally slow, requiring time to develop gradually.
Even with Ye Feng's blood acceleration, the effect was only about one-tenth of that on the Blue Silver Emperor.
Fortunately, maturing it by just a thousand years, though challenging, wasn't impossible.
To enhance the nurturing effect, Ye Feng decisively extracted the Essence Blood he had previously condensed within his body and fed it to the Snow Lotus.
"Hum—"
As the Snow Lotus absorbed Ye Feng's Essence Blood, a surge of terrifying life force flooded into it, causing the plant to sway dizzily, its stems and leaves swaying left and right as if drunk.
Its age skyrocketed, increasing by 300 years in mere moments.
"Such a scam, taking three drops of my Essence Blood..."
Ye Feng checked the plant's age and couldn't help but grimace, feeling somewhat speechless.
Thankfully, he had accumulated a fair amount of Essence Blood during this time. Three drops it was, then.
Without hesitation, Ye Feng extracted two more drops of Essence Blood to feed the Snow Lotus.
The Snow Lotus's roots began to grow wildly, even breaking through the ground in their thirst for more blood.
Its age continued to rise rapidly.
Finally, after absorbing three drops of Essence Blood and dozens of drops of ordinary blood, the Snow Lotus reached the 100,000-year threshold!
"One hundred thousand years!!"
"That was incredibly fast!"
Snow Empress and Ice Empress abruptly turned their gazes toward the Snow Lotus, their faces filled with shock!
The moment the Snow Lotus broke through to 100,000 years, the entire flower emitted a soft ice-blue radiance, illuminating the entire Ice Fortress.
Layer upon layer of petals unfolded like crystal folding fans, the twelve outer petals translucent as if carved from millennia-old profound ice, while the nine newly bloomed inner petals shimmered with iridescent hues reminiscent of mother-of-pearl.
The once bowl-sized bud had now blossomed into a jade-like disk, with cold mist rising from its lotus platform and condensing into nine rings of fog in the air.
Though it had only aged by 1,000 years, the entire Snow Lotus had undergone a dramatic transformation, its medicinal efficacy increasing by at least tenfold!
Vaguely, Ye Feng could sense that this Snow Lotus seemed to be developing sentience, evolving toward becoming a Soul Beast.
However, transforming into a Soul Beast wouldn't enhance its medicinal properties—it would merely gain the ability to cultivate autonomously, slightly speeding up its growth rate, which was practically useless.
It still couldn't escape its fate of being consumed.
"Snow Empress, today seems like an auspicious day. Why don't you proceed with your tribulation now? If you succeed, all the better. If not, this Snow Lotus should be enough to allow you to barely achieve Shape-shifting into human form. With both Ice Empress and me here, we can ensure your safety."
Ye Feng looked at Snow Empress and made the suggestion proactively.
"Alright... Thank you."
After a moment of silence, Snow Empress nodded slightly at Ye Feng.
Clearly, Ye Feng's series of actions had thoroughly convinced her.
This Snow Lotus bloomed once every ten thousand years, and having just blossomed, its medicinal potency was at its peak.
The next opportunity would require waiting another ten thousand years. Though its efficacy might be stronger then, no one could predict what changes might occur over such a long span.
Moreover, she was already beginning to believe in Ye Feng's earlier claim of "seeing the future."
After failing her tribulation ten thousand years later, being forced into shape-shifting and then captured—the mere thought of such a scenario made her wish for death. It was absolutely unacceptable to her.
Might as well take the gamble now. Even if she failed, it wouldn't be a big deal. At worst, she'd be forced into shape-shifting and could at least keep Ice Empress company.
Ironically, that outcome was the most acceptable to her at this moment.
But if luck was on her side and she succeeded in overcoming the tribulation, she'd gain an additional hundred thousand years of life, and her combat power might even advance further!
"Then I wish Snow Empress success in overcoming her tribulation~"
Ye Feng smiled faintly, then reached out gently and plucked the snow lotus, offering it to Snow Empress with care.
Normally, such treasures required special jade tools to harvest—like Tang San's Mystic Jade Hand—to avoid contamination.
But Ye Feng possessed the [Child of Nature], and with his own cultivation, he had long achieved the [Immaculate] state, rendering contamination impossible.
Snow Empress gazed at the snow lotus in Ye Feng's hand, her expression complex.
After a moment of silence, she finally extended her slender, jade-like hand and accepted it.
"I need a few days to prepare, to bring my cultivation to its peak. During this time, I entrust Ice Empress to you."
Snow Empress stored the snow lotus, then gently pushed Ice Empress toward Ye Feng, her tone grave—almost as if she were entrusting a child to him.
After all, overcoming a tribulation always carried risks.
Though Ye Feng made it sound simple, she alone understood the dangers involved. A single misstep could mean annihilation, without even the chance for forced shape-shifting.
"Don't worry. I won't let anyone harm Ice Empress."
Ye Feng pulled Ice Empress closer and gently patted her head.
Instinctively, Ice Empress rose slightly on her toes to make his touch more comfortable, while an inexplicable sense of security settled in her heart.
As one of the Land of Extreme North's [Three Heavenly Kings], she had always been the caretaker, never needing care from others.
But ever since her shape-shifting, she found herself inexplicably enjoying the feeling of being cared for and cherished.
After a few more words of caution, Snow Empress turned and entered the Ice Fortress behind her.
"Crack—"
Thick layers of ice instantly spread, sealing the entire fortress shut.
At the same time, an extreme chill radiated outward, sweeping across dozens of miles!
Clearly, Snow Empress was undergoing her final preparations.
After all, she had compressed her cultivation to delay the arrival of her tribulation.
Now that she intended to face it, she naturally released all her suppressed power, pushing herself to her absolute peak!
Only then could she maximize her chances of surviving the Thunder Tribulation.
"Ye Feng… do you think Snow Empress… will succeed?"
Ice Empress gripped Ye Feng's hand tightly. Though it wasn't her tribulation, she was visibly tense, clearly worried for Snow Empress.
"I'm not sure, but shape-shifting is guaranteed."
Ye Feng spoke with certainty.
After mastering the [Eye of Destiny], he could gauge a person's fortune—even their risk of death—by observing the threads of fate around them.
Earlier, he had examined Snow Empress's threads. Though they foretold great peril and bloodshed, there was no sign of mortal danger.
While the accuracy wasn't 100%, it was at least 99.99999%.
"That's good."
Hearing this, the Ice Empress felt inexplicably more at ease.
Whatever Ye Feng said, she would believe.
"Alright, let's find a place to stay and wait for the Ice Empress to undergo her tribulation."
Ye Feng took the Ice Empress's hand and quickly retreated a hundred kilometers away. He casually found a spot, swiftly built a small Ice Fortress, and settled in with her.
Ye Feng couldn't go too far—after all, he still wanted to test the waters of the Snow Empress's Thunder Tribulation and see if he could reap any benefits from it.
(End of Chapter)