The Ice Silkworm is as weak as a stray dog by the roadside

The next morning, just as dawn was barely breaking.

Huo Yuhao, sporting a pair of massive panda eyes, paced back and forth in the inn corridor for a long time before finally mustering the courage to knock on Gu Yuejin's door.

Truth be told, he didn't want to disturb anyone's sweet dreams this early, but that giant bug in his head was just too noisy.

"Little Yuhao! Go, go! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"Your master is so strong, taking us to the Extreme North is like a max-level player carrying a noob through a dungeon—we're just freeloading!"

"Don't dawdle, or the chance will slip away!"

After a whole night of "mental bombardment," Huo Yuhao could only steel himself and go.

"Come in."

The door swung open on its own. Gu Yuejin sat cross-legged on the bed, as if he had been waiting for some time.

"Ma... Master."

Huo Yuhao fidgeted, rubbing his hands together nervously, and stammered, "Well... I have a special constitution, and it seems I can awaken a second Martial Soul. I want to try my luck in the Extreme North. What do you think..."

Watching his apprentice's cautious demeanor, Gu Yuejin understood perfectly.

This million-year-old fat silkworm couldn't hold back any longer.

"Want to go to the Extreme North?"

Gu Yuejin's expression was calm, without the surprise or refusal Huo Yuhao had expected, and he didn't even waste a single extra word.

"If you want to go, then let's go."

"Huh? That's it... you agreed?"

Huo Yuhao was stunned, clearly not expecting his usually sharp-tongued and strict master to be so easygoing.

"What else? Think I'm afraid of the cold?"

Gu Yuejin waved a hand casually, scanning the quest progress on his panel.

[Main Quest: Take Huo Yuhao as an apprentice and cultivate a brand-new Huo Yuhao. The greater the contrast in fate and personality from the Original Work, the richer the reward. Current completion: 8.0%.]

Only a 3% increase.

It seemed that simply taking an apprentice and hunting the First Soul Ring only scratched the surface.

To truly claim the full reward, he'd have to fundamentally reshape Huo Yuhao's thinking.

Extreme North, Human Forbidden Zone.

The cold here wasn't just a drop in temperature—it was a killing chill that could freeze the soul itself.

Gale-force winds whipped snowflakes like razor blades, rampaging across heaven and earth, leaving nothing but a dead, white silence in sight.

The moment he stepped into this frozen wasteland, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but shiver.

Even with soul power protecting his body, the bone-piercing cold seeped in everywhere, instantly frosting his eyebrows and turning his lips purple.

"So cold..."

Huo Yuhao hugged his arms, trembling violently.

Inside the Sea of Consciousness, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was in a frantic dilemma.

"Oh no, oh no, I forgot little Yuhao's frail body is way too weak."

"He's about to freeze into an ice pop before we even get in deep."

"Should I take out my shed skin? No, no, that's too flashy—what if this cheap master finds out I'm hiding private savings and skins me alive..."

Just as Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was stuck in a bind, Gu Yuejin made his move.

"Can't take it already?"

Gu Yuejin shot a glance at his shivering apprentice and chuckled lightly, "Look at you, so pathetic."

The moment his words fell, golden light surged in the palm of his right hand.

Hum—

Countless translucent Blue-Gold Vines burst forth from behind him, writhing like agile serpents, weaving and coiling through the air.

In an instant, an impenetrable Blue-Gold Cocoon enveloped the two of them.

Second Martial Soul, Blue Silver Emperor.

This wasn't like Tang Ya's common roadside weeds. As the sovereign of the plant system, regulating temperature and sealing out bitter cold was just basic functionality.

"Is this... Master's second Martial Soul?"

Wrapped in the Blue Silver Emperor, Huo Yuhao felt the biting wind vanish instantly, replaced by a warmth as gentle as spring, with even a faint scent of plant fragrance in the air.

"This move is called 'Mother's Embrace'~"

Gu Yuejin explained with a mischievous grin, "The name's a bit cheesy, but it's way more practical than someone else's Blue Silver Grass that can only tie people up."

Huo Yuhao nodded, half-understanding. He had no idea who this "someone" his master mentioned was, but this move was truly impressive—basically a mobile air-conditioned room!

Under the protection of the Blue Silver Emperor, the two advanced into the depths of the Extreme North as if walking on flat ground.

Along the way, bored with nothing to do, Gu Yuejin began to educate his apprentice on the knowledge of the Extreme North.

"Little Yuhao, the Extreme North has three Heavenly Kings. Did you know that?"

Huo Yuhao shook his head blankly.

"Ranked third is the Titan Snow Demon King. Big in size, not too bright in the head. They say he's a descendant of the ancient Titan Giants. That kind of hulking brute is only good as a meat shield."

"Ranked second is the Ice Jade Scorpion, also known as Ice Empress. Short-tempered, a total looks-obsessed snob who likes things that are pretty. If you run into her, just show your face—you might just save your life."

"As for the number one, Snow Empress..."

Gu Yuejin paused, his tone turning playful. "She is the incarnation of the Extreme North itself, the spirit of heaven and earth, the strongest being in all the Extreme North."

Listening to Gu Yuejin rattle off the secrets of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North like he was reciting his own family tree, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm in the Sea of Consciousness was dumbfounded.

Its mouth hung wide open, its two antennae frozen mid-air.

"Holy crap! Just who the hell is this guy?!"

"Forget the Titan Snow Demon King—how does he even know Ice Empress is a looks-obsessed snob? Big Bro never told him that!"

"And that thing about Snow Empress... that's the core secret of the Extreme North! How does he know it like the back of his hand, as if he's walking into his own home?"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm rolled around frantically in the Sea of Consciousness, feeling its intelligence utterly crushed. "Could he be some old monster who's lived for hundreds of thousands of years, reincarnated?"

Huo Yuhao was also stunned, his admiration for his master surging like a mighty river, endless and unbroken.

"Master, you really know so much!"

"Just common sense."

Gu Yuejin stopped in his tracks, his gaze piercing through the wind and snow, as if already locked onto a distant green figure somewhere far away.

He looked down at Huo Yuhao, whose face was full of thirst for knowledge, and then "casually" sensed a certain bug in the Sea of Consciousness. The corner of his mouth curled into a malicious arc.

"Little Yuhao, remember this."

"When choosing a martial soul, better to have none than a poor one."

"Take the Ice Jade Scorpion, for example—a tyrant of Extreme Ice, strong in attack, good-looking. She barely passes muster, worthy of being your second martial soul."

Having said that, Gu Yuejin's tone shifted sharply, dripping with disdain:

"But never choose those trash soul beasts that live at the bottom, like some ice silkworm or something."

Huo Yuhao was taken aback. "Huh? Ice silkworm?"

"That's right. The kind that looks like a big fat grub, does nothing but sleep and run away, a complete waste with zero combat power."

Gu Yuejin mercilessly unleashed his venomous tongue:

"That kind of soul beast is only fit to be food for other soul beasts. Choosing something like that as a martial soul is useless except for living a few extra years—a pure dead weight."

"Even a dog wouldn't pick that kind of trash soul beast."

The moment those words left his mouth, the air seemed to freeze.

Huo Yuhao subconsciously touched his brow, feeling as if something had exploded in his Sea of Consciousness.

Sure enough.

The next second, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's hysterical roar detonated in Huo Yuhao's mind.

"Bullshit! Nonsense!"

"Who's trash?! Who's trash?!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was so furious its fat body quivered, all ten golden rings trembling, tears nearly flying out.

"Big Bro is a million-year soul beast! Unprecedented in history—a million years!"

"This is a personal attack! This is blatant racial discrimination!"

"Yuhao! Let me out right now!"

"I'm going to duel this guy! I'll make him know that the ice silkworm race has dignity too! I'll use Mental Shock to ram him into the ground!"