Millennium Ice Silkworm, Part One (New Author Begging for Votes TvT)

"Boss, I..." Xiao Lie hesitated.

Ye Wen, even more handsome than he had been a year ago, gave him an indifferent glance.

"Drop that attitude. There is no feast in this world that does not end. Everything I can teach you has already been written in that little booklet. As long as you follow it step by step, becoming a Soul Ancestor is within your reach.

"As for your father's first wife, you do not need to worry about her either. Her natal family's noble standing is not even as high as your father's, and she herself is merely a trashy White Ring Soul Master.

"As long as your father is not blind, even if you cannot inherit the title, he will never let that poisonous woman lay a hand on you. In fact, if your brother were unfortunate enough to die on the path of Soul Master cultivation, you would be the one most likely to inherit his title. After all, your talent is even a notch above your father's.

"On this Douluo Continent, Soul Master cultivation is everything."

Tears shimmered in Xiao Lie's eyes. Other than his mother, he had never imagined that Ye Wen would care about him so much, even investigating his enemies so thoroughly.

"Thank you, Boss. I'm leaving, then. But I'll remember for the rest of my life that you are my boss. If you ever run into any trouble, remember to come find me. I will never refuse."

With that, Xiao Lie turned and left.

The Work-Study Students nearby silently watched the scene. After more than half a year of cultivation, they had accepted Xiao Lie as one of them.

"Go do what you need to do. Rather than wasting time here, you might as well cultivate your Soul Power more. Also, you will have to rely on yourselves for a while. I'm going on a long journey soon."

"Understood, Boss!" the Work-Study Students replied respectfully.

Though Ye Wen had not really done anything, the aura of a boss around him had grown increasingly stronger.

At that moment, Ah Yin walked over as well. Though she was only nine years old, she had already grown into a graceful young girl, and the elegance about her was utterly intoxicating.

Leaning close to Ye Wen's ear, she softly asked, "You're finally planning to obtain a Soul Ring, aren't you, Brother? Where are you planning to go, and what kind of Soul Ring do you want to obtain?"

Hearing the little girl's uniquely crisp voice, mixed with that faintly alluring tone, Ye Wen gave a shiver~

Snuggle--

"I may be going on a long journey next. Remember to keep yourself safe. When school is out, help me go back and take care of Grandpa."

"Okay~_~."

With the repeating crossbow backing him up, Ah Yin had great faith in Ye Wen's combat ability.

Ye Wen clearly did not want to tell her what Soul Ring he was going to hunt, perhaps because he was afraid she would worry. Being gentle and considerate, she decided not to press him further.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed--

This time, Ye Wen did not go to the Teaching Director for a Soul Hunting Pass Token. Instead, he headed alone to the northernmost reaches of the Heaven Dou Empire—to the Extreme North Ice Plains, which few Soul Masters had explored at this time.

Even though he was still hundreds of miles away from the Extreme North Ice Plains, the bone-piercing cold wind already made Ye Wen shiver inside the carriage.

The Soul Beast Ye Wen intended to hunt in the Extreme North Ice Plains this time was an Ice Silkworm—the original form of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, the famous million-year Soul Beast from Douluo Continent II. Its combat ability was utterly pathetic.

Just from the fact that it was a silkworm, one could tell that Ice Silkworms possessed almost no close-combat ability. In the original Douluo Continent II, of the four Soul Skills Tian Meng gave Huo Gua, the only offensive Soul Skill was Mental Shock.

Therefore, Ye Wen still did not want an offensive Soul Skill for his Second Soul Skill. With the repeating crossbow, he did not need to consider attack power before reaching five rings.

What Ye Wen wanted was the control ability brought by the Ice Silkworm's Spiritual Power attribute. No matter how much he cultivated Nab Cloth now, his control over it remained limited. He could not make the cloth move as he pleased.

To take another step forward, the boost provided by a Spiritual Power Soul Beast was essential. Yet Spiritual Power Soul Beasts were not only rare; according to the information Ye Wen had found, they only existed in the Great Star Dou Forest.

But who was Ye Wen, and what was his strength?

Going to the Great Star Dou Forest would be like a sheep entering a tiger's den.

So Ye Wen thought of the Ice Silkworms from Douluo Continent II—a type of Soul Beast that, ten thousand years later, possessed only Spiritual Detection and Simulation. They were weak and easy to kill.

Their only drawback was probably their harsh living environment, and Ye Wen had not found any detailed records on Ice Silkworms in the library.

Still, Ye Wen thought that although the Extreme North had not been developed, there were several large cities around it after all. Those cities should have records concerning Ice Silkworms.

Sure enough, Heaven did not disappoint those who tried. Since Ice Silkworms were such easy Soul Beasts to hunt, Ye Wen really did find information about them in a remote city near the Extreme North.

An Ice Silkworm one decimeter long was only a ten-year Soul Beast. At ten times that length—one meter—it was a hundred-year Soul Beast.

Once they reached that length, Ice Silkworms would stop growing. Then, for every additional hundred years of cultivation, another blue-white stripe would appear on their backs. Once an Ice Silkworm broke through the thousand-year mark, its stripes would gradually turn silver-white. As for ten-thousand-year Ice Silkworms, there were no records.

(PS: I specifically checked Douluo Continent II's descriptions of Ice Silkworms. The only thing I found was that Huo Gua hunted a three-thousand-year Ice Silkworm and obtained the skill Simulation. That Ice Silkworm was roughly one meter long. After that, Huo Gua just made up nonsense to conceal his own information. So I made some original additions to the Ice Silkworms.)

After all, Ice Silkworms were at the very bottom of the food chain in the Extreme North. As long as one broke their Simulation skill, dealing with them would be as easy as a honey badger eating spicy strips.

The book also thoughtfully explained how to find Ice Silkworms, saving Ye Wen quite a bit of effort.

Based on the information he had gathered, Ye Wen set himself a rule: he would absolutely not venture more than five kilometers into the Extreme North. He would only roam the outskirts. On one hand, he could not endure the cold deeper inside. On the other, the Extreme North had yet to be developed, and the real information was controlled by a few families. Even though Ye Wen could kill a Soul King with a sneak attack, he did not dare act rashly. He could only search bit by bit with utmost caution.

After storing dry rations and drinking water in his Martial Soul Space so that he would not go hungry inside, Ye Wen finally began hunting for his Second Soul Ring.

But Ye Wen did not notice that atop a distant mountain, an exceptionally beautiful woman with white hair and brows, dressed all in white, was silently watching him.

Meanwhile, Ye Wen gradually ventured deeper into the endless expanse of white.

Ever since he entered the Extreme North, it seemed as though an invisible force had been guiding him onward. Holding a specially made chisel, he poked at the snow-covered ground as he silently advanced. At that moment, Ye Wen was like an ancient ascetic seeking the Way, wordlessly pressing onward.

"Crack--"

"Crack--"

"..."

The process of searching for a suitable Soul Beast was always this dull.

Because of their weakness, Ice Silkworms usually hid in snow caves beneath the ground. Unless their homes ran out of food, they would never venture outside.

Over the past few days, Ye Wen had found several Ice Silkworm nests. However, the oldest Ice Silkworms inside were only around two hundred years old, while the youngest had only just crossed the threshold into Soul Beasts.

Ice Silkworms were basically harmless Soul Beasts. Although Ye Wen did not consider himself a good person, he would not slaughter innocents indiscriminately. After taking a glance, he simply left.