Gu Yue Ling's Strange Behavior

According to Titan Snow Demon King, the Ice Rock Monster's habitat is also a snow mountain.

And it's some distance from here.

However, it was already getting dark, so it was clearly not a good time to set off immediately. Traveling in Life Forbidden Zone at night was not a wise thing to do.

Therefore, Tang Hao and the others planned to rest here for the night as previously planned, and then go to the Ice Rock Monster's habitat the next morning.

The Ice Rock Monster is an elemental creature that roughly resembles a human in appearance.

However, when it is dormant, it curls itself up and turns into a block of ice rock.

If it's covered by snowflakes, it becomes indistinguishable from its surroundings, and you can't sense any signs of life; it's just like a real rock.

This is also a major challenge in finding them.

Although everyone thought the Ice Rock Monster's abilities were a good fit for Oscar, they didn't actually target him because the monsters were too difficult to spot.

In the icy environment of the Extreme North, you might walk right over a dormant Ice Rock Monster without even realizing you've stepped on a Soul Beast.

Furthermore, the Ice Rock Monster is a type of Soul Beast that particularly enjoys hibernation, making it extremely difficult to obtain its Soul Ring.

Fortunately, with the guidance of the Titan Snow Demon King, Oscar now has the possibility of obtaining the Ice Rock Monster Soul Ring, which makes him very excited and makes him wonder what kind of food his Fourth Soul Ring will be.

Tang Hao's team stayed behind to rest, while Chen Feng and his apprentice Chen Xin left.

Since they were personally invited by the Titan Snow Demon King Titan Snow Demon King, they didn't need to worry about day or night and went directly to the Core Area with him.

Because the Titan Snow Demon King was so fast, with one step equivalent to dozens of human steps, it simply placed Chen Xin disciples on its palm and carried them to a palace located in the snow-capped mountains.

The palace appears to be sculpted from ice and snow, and is adorned with luminous crystals, giving it a magnificent and beautiful appearance.

When the Titan Snow Demon King arrived before the palace, a Snow Woman floated in. She had the appearance of a human woman, but her body was entirely white and her lower body was slightly ethereal, making her look like a snow fairy.

The Snow Woman bowed to the Titan Snow Demon King and then said:

"Greetings, Snow Demon King. Her Majesty the Snow Empress is awaiting you in the palace."

"Hmm." Titan Snow Demon King nodded to the Snow Woman maiden, then put Chen Xin and Chen Feng down and said to them:

"This is the Snow Empress's palace. I've only brought you this far; what happens after that is up to you."

"Thank you, Lord Snow Demon King," Chen Xin said, Chen Feng also expressed his gratitude to the Titan Snow Demon King.

After the Titan Snow Demon King left, the Snow Woman gestured for him to leave.

Please come in, both of you.

The master and disciple exchanged a glance and followed the Snow Woman into the palace.

Meanwhile, inside the Ice Fang Dragon's lair, Gu Yue Ling sat by the campfire, watching the cave entrance and keeping an eye on the movements outside.

She's on night watch now; it's something she requested.

Similarly, Tang San and Oscar also volunteered to take on the task of keeping watch at night, with the three of them each responsible for three different time slots during the night.

Although Oscar isn't particularly strong in combat, this is the lair of the Ice Fang Dragon, and the others are all nearby. If anything happens, he can just shout loudly; he doesn't need to be a great fighter.

It's the first half of the night, Gu Yue Ling is on night watch. Behind her, the others have already pitched their tents and started to rest.

Further inside, the Ice Fang Dragon lay quietly in its den, its eyes open.

It wasn't that it didn't want to sleep, but rather that it dared not, for the Imperial Auspicious Beast was on night watch, how could it possibly sleep?

In other words, it can't talk, otherwise when everyone mentioned the night watch mission earlier, the Ice Fang Dragon would have patted its chest and said it would take care of tonight's night watch mission.

Unfortunately, it can't speak, so for now it can only lie here with its eyes open.

As night deepened, Gu Yue Ling's night watch was completed, and Tang San emerged from the tent to take over.

"Go and rest."

"Okay." Gu Yue Ling took two steps towards the tent, then turned and walked out. "I have something to do, I'll be back later."

Tang San paused for a moment, then nodded and said:

"Then be careful, the wind and snow outside are very strong."

He assumed Gu Yue Ling needed to use the restroom and didn't think much of it.

"I'll be careful," Gu Yue Ling nodded and said, then walked out of the cave entrance. Soon, her footsteps disappeared into the howling wind and snow.

Tang San thought Gu Yue Ling would return soon, but after a while he still hadn't seen her, he began to feel something was wrong.

Recalling Gu Yue Ling's words as she left, Tang San frowned and muttered:

"Did she run off to the Core Area?"

The problem is, even Titled Douluo wouldn't dare to roam freely in the Extreme North, so how could Gu Yue Ling dare?

Where does her confidence come from?

Or did something actually happen to her? But there wasn't any noise around just now.

Thinking of this, Tang San got up and was about to walk towards the tent, but his steps suddenly stopped.

He suddenly remembered something: after returning from Sunset Forest, Xiao Wu had talked to him about Gu Yue Ling.

What Xiao Wu said at that time was:

"Ling'er's knowledge of Soul Beast is amazing. I didn't even know anything about the Evil Serpent, and I have no idea what her background is."

Tang San didn't take those words to heart when he heard them, because he didn't care much about his companions' backgrounds.

Later, when he was cultivating in the forest, he could sense through the trees that Gu Yue Ling was taking care of the pregnant Ironclad Earth Dragon. The Ironclad Earth Dragon was also very obedient in front of her, and this matter did not make Tang San think much about it.

After all, they rescued the Ironclad Earth Dragon together, so it's understandable that it behaves obediently in front of them. Gu Yue Ling even made the Great Steel Snake submit to them before.

However, considering what is happening now, Tang San can't help but think more deeply about it.

Is it possible that Gu Yue Ling is a being like Xiao Wu?

When this thought came to him, Tang San suddenly felt that everything that had happened before had a reasonable explanation.

If Gu Yue Ling wasn't simply a Dragon Vein Soul Master, but rather a powerful Dragon-type Soul Beast, or even a dragon transformed into a human, then what happened in the past would be perfectly normal.

Thinking about this, Tang San suddenly became unsure whether he should wake everyone else up.

He was extremely worried when Xiao Wu was captured by Er Ming, only to later find out it was a false alarm. If Gu Yue Ling is leaving for important business this time, would sending everyone to search for her inadvertently expose her identity?

Just like what happened to Xiao Wu back then.

There wasn't anyone in the team who couldn't be trusted. Even Dugu Bo, who was relatively distant from Tang San, knew that Tang San's mother was Soul Beast.

However, the existence of Soul Beast Transformation into Human is of great importance and should not be easily revealed. Even when chatting with others who also know the truth, one must be careful with one's words. This is something Tang San learned from Chen Feng.

The key is to be stable and absolutely not to reveal any flaws.

Tang San's parents' experience was a lesson learned in Blood One. If it wasn't a betrayal by someone in the know, then it must have been because his parents weren't paying attention when they spoke, and outsiders overheard them.

Therefore, the existence of Soul Beast Transformation into Human must be kept strictly secret; otherwise, a tragedy could ensue if not handled carefully.

However, Tang San couldn't be completely certain that Gu Yue Ling was Soul Beast Transformation into Human. He feared that something had happened to Gu Yue Ling, and his current silence would delay the rescue.

"Tsk, if only Xiao Feng were here, he might already know something," Tang San thought with a headache.

There is precedent for this. Back then, Chen Feng knew Xiao Wu's identity long ago, but he kept it a secret from Tang San for six whole years, without letting him notice anything amiss.

If Gu Yue Ling is Soul Beast Transformation into Human, Tang San believes that Chen Feng should be able to discover something and then give him a definite answer.

It seems that there are no problems in front of his friend.

Just as Tang San was in a state of great distress, a figure appeared at the cave entrance.

Tang San sensed the movement and turned around to see Gu Yue Ling.

She was brushing the snow off her head and body when Tang San walked over and asked in a low voice:

Why have you been gone for so long?

The timing of Gu Yue Ling's departure is very strange. If she went to the Core Area, then this period of time seems rather short, not even enough for a round trip.

Unless she can fly, and fly very fast.

But if she didn't go to the Core Area, then this period of time seemed rather long. In short, she was stuck in a limbo, making Tang San somewhat unsure of his guess.

"Oh, the snow outside was too heavy, I accidentally got lost, and it took me a while to find my way back," Gu Yue Ling said quietly, her expression calm.

Lost? Tang San was somewhat skeptical, but the timing was definitely wrong, so he could only accept this explanation.

After brushing the snow off herself, Gu Yue Ling warmed herself by the campfire for a while before going to sleep.

Tang San continued his night watch.

A kilometer away, a towering figure, hundreds of meters tall, was disappearing into the distance.

After arriving at the Ice and Snow Palace, the Snow Woman who had led the way left.

Chen Feng surveyed the layout of the main hall and found that it looked like some kind of ancient site, giving people a sense of antiquity and solemnity.

This is not entirely incomprehensible. It is said that the Snow Empress lived for hundreds of thousands of years, so it is normal for her palace to give people this feeling.

However, Chen Feng was somewhat surprised that the Snow Empress would build him a palace. Among a group of Soul Beast who mostly used caves as their nests, this palace was still too conspicuous.

After surveying the layout of the main hall, Chen Feng turned his gaze to the Throne directly in front of him, where a woman was sitting.

She had long, pure white hair that flowed past her shoulders to her feet, and her eyes were sky blue, giving her an ethereal and clear look, as if she could see through everything in the world.

In appearance, she is almost identical to a human woman, except that her looks and temperament are rare in the world.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Snow Empress." Chen Xin clasped his hands in greeting, and Chen Feng did the same.

One should treat a powerful being like the Snow Empress with courtesy, even if she is Soul Beast.

"No need for formalities." The Snow Empress's clear, cold voice rang out in the hall. Her gaze first fell on Chen Xin, "You are a swordsman?"

"Yes," Chen Xin replied.

"Your Sword Intent is not bad," Snow Empress commented casually, then looked at Chen Feng and said:

"I'd like to learn more about that so-called Ring Expansion Method."

Chen Feng raised an eyebrow slightly. "How do you know about the Ring Expansion Method?"

His mind raced, and he tentatively asked:

"Could it be that you've been watching us the whole time?"

"That's true." Snow Empress readily admitted.

Chen Feng then understood that the reason why the Titan Snow Demon King had come earlier, and why it had suddenly changed its words at that time, was because the Snow Empress had become interested in their group.

Whether this interest stems from the Ring Expansion Method or from the existence of the Imperial Auspicious Beast Gu Yue Ling remains unknown.

Chen Feng believes that there are probably two reasons.

Perhaps it was Gu Yue Ling initially attracted Snow Empress's attention, making her start to pay attention to their group.

Then, with the Ice Fang Dragon, Chen Feng and his group demonstrated the Ring Expansion Method, a revolutionary method that allowed Soul Master to obtain Soul Ring without harming the Soul Beast. This finally piqued Snow Empress's interest.

Or perhaps Snow Empress actually wanted to invite Gu Yue Ling over, but didn't have a good excuse, so she brought herself over first to satisfy her curiosity.

She might take other actions later to try and make contact with Gu Yue Ling.

After all, the existence of the Imperial Auspicious Beast is something that no Soul Beast can ignore.

Compared to him, Chen Feng felt he was probably just an extra.

But he didn't care about that. Being able to come into contact with the Snow Empress was already an unexpected surprise, which made it possible for him to obtain the Snow Woman's Soul Ring.

In order to persuade the Snow Empress to agree to let him obtain the Snow Woman's Soul Ring, Chen Feng explained in detail his research on the Ring Expansion Method, including some problems encountered during the research process and some gains he made as a result.

As he explained, Snow Empress's expression gradually became serious. After Chen Feng finished speaking, she asked:

"You said you're unsure whether the Soul Beast lost or gained anything during the use of the Ring Expansion Method?"

"That's right, that's one of the issues I need to figure out next," Chen Feng nodded and said.

"Oh? How do you plan to figure this out?" Snow Empress asked, somewhat curiously.

"Naturally, we should seek out friendly Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Such beings have sufficiently keen senses and can communicate verbally," Chen Feng said.

Snow Empress nodded noncommittally, then asked:

"You just said that the Ring Expansion Ritual is somewhat like a very simplified version of Sacrifice. How did you come to know about Sacrifice?"

"This..." Chen Feng glanced at his master subconsciously.

"I'll go outside and take a look," Chen Xin said knowingly.

He understood that the topic at hand might involve some sensitive matters that were not suitable for too many people to know, not even his master.

Chen Xin had no complaints about this. Sometimes Ning Fengzhi would keep things from her, which was a common practice among decision-makers.

Chen Xin is not responsible for making decisions, so he neither wants nor needs to know too much.