The farther north they traveled, the more pronounced the chill in the air became. The scenery on both sides of the official road gradually changed from lush plains into somewhat desolate hills, and the leaves on the trees began to yellow and fall.
A few days later, a vast forest blanketed in pristine snow, stretching beyond the horizon, appeared in the distance. Even from so far away, they could feel the biting cold rushing toward them.
"The Icebound Forest is ahead," Zhang Bufan said to Huo Wu beside him as he looked at the map.
Huo Wu nodded. As a Fire Attribute Soul Master, she felt instinctively uncomfortable in such extreme cold. The closer they got, the more sluggish the circulation of her Soul Power seemed to become, as though an invisible chill were trying to seep into every limb and bone. She unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself, her breath turning into white mist.
Zhang Bufan keenly noticed something was wrong. He stopped Xiangyun and naturally reached out, taking Huo Wu's slightly chilled hand in his.
"You..." Huo Wu froze for a moment and tried to pull away, but Zhang Bufan held her hand firmly.
"Don't move," Zhang Bufan said softly. A gentle, peaceful yet incomparably vast surge of Soul Power flowed like a warm current from their clasped hands and slowly entered Huo Wu's body.
This Soul Power was completely different from the domineering sharpness he usually displayed. It was brimming with life and warmth, like sunlight in winter, instantly driving away every trace of cold that had invaded Huo Wu's body. Her somewhat stagnant Soul Power became lively again under the guidance of that warm current, even gaining a faint hint of purity beyond its usual state.
Even more remarkably, the warm current seemed to form an