As the Purple Scale Scorpions waited restlessly, the black vortex that had previously vanished with Tang Sui in its sight once again spread across the void. Tribesmen of all sizes were tossed out like beans from a sieve, with the heavily wounded Purple Scale Scorpion Queen being the last to emerge.
The other Purple Scale Scorpions swarmed like worker ants around their queen, their tails hooked together, their limbs pressed close, forming a scorpion wall. They used their bodies as a protective shield to shield the weakened Purple Scale Scorpion Queen in their midst.
Despite their naturally cold and belligerent nature, and their occasional practice of devouring their own kind to grow stronger, the Purple Scale Scorpion Queen still considered the mysterious unity of her race. She laboriously lifted her heavy eyelids, glanced at the unharmed Tang Sui, and weakly let out a sound.
"Roar." Don't forget what you promised me.
Tang Sui looked down at the struggling Purple Scale Scorpion Queen, her eyes showing no ripple of emotion. Under the watchful gazes of the wary Purple Scale Scorpions, the black and red barrier encasing Tang Sui began to drift in another direction.
After a friendly exchange within the domain, the overwhelmed Purple Scale Scorpion Queen finally relented, but on the condition that Tang Sui would let them go after she divulged the information.
Humans who were soul masters valued promises and agreements; it was the same for soul beasts.
After Tang Sui swore an oath in front of the Purple Scale Scorpion Queen and the other Purple Scale Scorpions drawn into the domain, the Queen revealed the intelligence she possessed about the Ice Scale Armored Dragon.
It turned out that originally, the Purple Scale Scorpion clan was not native to the snowy land but had migrated from elsewhere.
The first thing a clan did upon arriving in another soul beast forest was to find territory.
However, since it was already a soul beast forest, most areas were already claimed, leaving only brute force as an option.
The current territory of the Purple Scale Scorpion clan originally belonged to their old neighbor, the Ice Scale Armored Dragon.
They cunningly defeated the Ice Scale Armored Dragon using a swarm tactic combined with poison.
Thus, the Purple Scale Scorpions occupied all of the Ice Scale Armored Dragon's territory.
They settled contentedly in their new territory, digging holes and renovating. After half a year, the Ice Scale Armored Dragon, who had barely escaped with its life after defeat, returned.
It returned with an aggressive demeanor, foolishly challenging the entire Purple Scale Scorpion clan, attempting to reclaim its territory.
Its ability to recover at lightning speed and become as lively as before, despite being on the verge of death just moments ago, allowed it to hold its ground against the entire clan for several days with its excellent defense and damnable recovery rate.
Finally, after consideration, the Purple Scale Scorpion Queen chose to compromise, returning half of the territory originally belonging to the Ice Scale Armored Dragon, and they became neighbors, minding their own business.
Otherwise, they threatened to use poison to achieve a mutual destruction with the Ice Scale Armored Dragon, seeing who would suffer more casualties.
Having lived for over ten thousand years, the Ice Scale Armored Dragon's intelligence, while not as agile or adaptable as humans, possessed the intellect of a child and the instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm. It agreed to the Purple Scale Scorpion Queen's proposal.
However, regarding the Purple Scale Scorpion Queen's occasional probing about the source of its abilities, the Ice Scale Armored Dragon remained tight-lipped, issuing an ice-thorn warning.
Over time, the conflict between the Purple Scale Scorpion Queen and the Ice Scale Armored Dragon deepened.
Similar to the evolution of another scorpion-like soul beast, the Pink Lady, the Purple Scale Scorpion Queen would devour members of its own clan and even weaker soul beasts nearby before evolving.
The Purple Scale Scorpions' devouring was peculiar. They not only gained a portion of the devoured prey's soul power but also inherited their memories.
Thus, although the Ice Scale Armored Dragon said nothing, by dominating and deterring other covetous soul beasts in the vicinity, the Purple Scale Scorpion Queen inadvertently gained a memory while devouring a soul beast.
It was the memory of a Polar White Leopard.
It had once lived in a glacial canyon deep within the snowfield. Later, being outmatched by a more powerful soul beast, it was driven away and sought to try its luck in the Purple Scale Scorpions' territory, only to lose its life.
Having obtained the memory of that Polar White Leopard, the Purple Scale Scorpion Queen "saw" the heavily injured Ice Scale Armored Dragon.
A severely wounded ten-thousand-year soul beast!
Sensing an opportunity, the Polar White Leopard immediately intended to scavenge.
However, unfortunately, during the scavenging attempt, the Ice Scale Armored Dragon resisted desperately, the ice beneath its feet shattered, and it plunged into the unfathomably deep ice ocean.
Although the Polar White Leopard could dive and hold its breath, it couldn't do so for too long. Furthermore, it was impossible to lift the Ice Scale Armored Dragon, which was several times its size, out of the ice ocean. Thus, there was no further outcome.
One day, as it was basking and napping on an ice rock as usual, it felt a tremor.
It was the Ice Scale Armored Dragon that had accidentally fallen into the ice ocean earlier due to the cracking ice!
This fellow was not only alive but had returned with an imposing aura!
The Polar White Leopard, which had intended to seize its life when it was at its weakest: "?"
It couldn't comprehend, and it was greatly shocked.
The Polar White Leopard, whose cultivation was already lower than the Ice Scale Armored Dragon's, pondered for a moment, then sheepishly hid, timidly watching the Ice Scale Armored Dragon leave.
The memories ended here, with no further information about the Ice Scale Armored Dragon.
The Purple Scale Scorpion Queen, who had never ventured beyond this soul beast forest into the wider snowfield, did not know precisely where in the snowfield it was. It had to abandon the idea of treasure hunting and obediently stayed in the half of the territory they had seized, having to constantly fend off the original owner of the land, now their neighbor, from causing trouble and reclaiming territory.
Tang Sui was also new to this place, but she possessed a relatively detailed, integrated map and vast spiritual power.
Although there were many glaciers, they were mostly concentrated in one area.
As for which glacial canyon held secrets, her radar-like spiritual power could scan it to determine if there was anything amiss.
Tang Sui, who acted as soon as she had a thought, headed straight for the place marked as a glacier on the map.
"Whoosh—"
Large snowflakes swirled in the air, falling to the ground and adding a layer of white winter attire.
At temperatures tens of degrees below zero, soul masters below level fifty could not endure it. Even powerful soul emperors would feel the biting cold sweeping through them, numbing their limbs.
Apart from soul beasts with thick hides and cold resistance, few humans ventured into the depths of the snowfield.
The barrier that had been protecting Tang Sui became an obstruction to her vision amidst the swirling snow.
After flying in the air for nearly two hours, Tang Sui frowned slightly. With Hei Mian's disapproval, she removed the barrier, but not without forming a thin film of demonic energy to protect herself.
However, this way, her aura could not be perfectly concealed. Powerful soul beasts, already sensitive to auras, could sense her, a moving, potent bomb, from a great distance, making it easy to alert them.
'We've already patrolled this area for the second time. Even if that Purple Scale Scorpion isn't lying, it doesn't remember how long ago that memory occurred; it's been at least a thousand years. Times change, seas become deserts, but mountains don't erode, they move. You should understand this principle.'
Yuan Mian, feeling impatient, said somewhat irritably.
Tang Sui hovered in the air, looking down at the rugged white glaciers below, her brows tightly furrowed.
With her spiritual power network fully deployed, there were no abnormal energy reactions detected down to a depth of at least five hundred meters in the ice ocean, apart from soul beasts that naturally resided in water. Nothing else stirred.
But she had already scanned all the glaciers on the ground without detecting anything. The only remaining option was...
"Go into the water."
Hei Mian voiced her thoughts.
—Author's Notes—
An extra chapter tomorrow, we'll wrap up the Qing Nu's side here and head to Heaven Dou to fight, chirp chirp!