Far North

"Your branch is helping you hunt for a Soul Ring?" Yue Hongchen asked in confusion. "But didn't Sister Jingyi say you'd asked Director Du of the Martial Soul Department to help you hunt for one?"

Caught in his lie, Huo Yuhao was at a loss for a moment.

Seeing him like that, Yue Hongchen smiled. "All right, I won't tease you. Everyone has their secrets, so I won't pry. But are you sure you can manage it as a One-Ring Soul Master?"

The sudden show of concern warmed Huo Yuhao's heart. "I'm sure!"

Looking at the determination in Huo Yuhao's eyes, Yue Hongchen nodded. "Where are you going?"

"The Far North."

"Sure, come with us. At this rate, it'll take you forever to get there on your own. Meng needs to hunt for a Soul Ring, and we're headed to the Far North too."

As he spoke, he hailed a carriage that was on its way to Shrek City to pick up passengers. Shrek was on break, so all the drivers were heading there.

After climbing aboard, Huo Yuhao sat quietly, lost in thought.

Yue Hongchen left him alone and sat opposite him, amusing himself by playing with Meng.

"Where to, passengers?" the coachman asked after the three of them had boarded and he'd turned the carriage around.

"The Far North."

"Coming right up!" Once he had their destination, the coachman drove the carriage toward the northernmost reaches.

Shrek City was eight thousand li from the Far North. Even with a century-old Horse Soul Beast pulling the carriage, the journey would take four or five days.

They had all brought provisions. During the day, they only stopped for half an hour when the horse grew tired. At night, they rested in villages or towns along the way. Knowing Huo Yuhao was short on money, Yue Hongchen didn't make him keep eating the provisions at night. The stuff really didn't taste good, so Yue Hongchen paid for Huo Yuhao's meals and lodging himself.

Huo Yuhao said very little during those days. Unless Yue Hongchen started a conversation, he barely spoke.

They finally reached Far North City in the Heaven Dou Empire. Beyond it lay the Far North. Only after Yue Hongchen had paid the coachman did Huo Yuhao stop him and, hesitating, say, "Brother Yue, if I told you my first Soul Ring isn't actually a Ten-Year Soul Ring, would you believe me?"

All this time, Huo Yuhao had been talking with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm in his Sea of Consciousness. Tian Meng had, unusually, stayed awake, keeping an eye on Yue Hongchen's emotional fluctuations. He'd realized the young man genuinely wished Huo Yuhao well, without a trace of ulterior motive.

Considering that Yue Hongchen would surely see what happened later, since he'd be in the central region of the Far North too, Huo Yuhao figured he might as well tell him in advance.

At Huo Yuhao's words, Yue Hongchen's expression barely changed. He replied matter-of-factly, "I know. The effects of your Soul Ring could be explained as a mutation caused by a spiritual Body Martial Soul absorbing a Wind Baboon's Soul Ring. But a Soul Skill that grows with your cultivation is just too outrageous, especially when it's supposedly from a Ten-Year Soul Ring. Only inexperienced people like Zhou Yi and Fan Yu would believe it. Any Sea God's Pavilion elder you spoke to would notice there was something wrong with your Soul Ring."

Listening to Yue Hongchen's earnest explanation, Huo Yuhao suddenly felt that his disguise had been pretty terrible.

"So, are you telling me this now because you want to explain your special Soul Ring to me?" Yue Hongchen asked.

Huo Yuhao didn't answer right away. This wasn't how Tian Meng had imagined things would go. He needed to ask him again.

"His emotions have changed." As soon as Huo Yuhao entered his Sea of Consciousness, he heard Tian Meng's voice.

At that, Huo Yuhao was stunned. Could Brother Yue really have approached him with ulterior motives?

"There's a hint of curiosity in his emotions now, but that's all."

Huo Yuhao looked at Tian Meng speechlessly. Could he finish what he was saying next time?

"Go ahead and tell him. He's sincere with you; he isn't putting on an act." As a million-year-old spiritual Soul Beast, Tian Meng couldn't be deceived emotionally by a four-ring Soul Ancestor. Besides, Yue Hongchen didn't even know about him—how could he hide what he truly felt?

With Tian Meng's approval, Huo Yuhao explained everything about his Million-Year Soul Ring to Yue Hongchen.

Yue Hongchen instinctively covered Meng Hongchen's mouth as she was about to cry out. Her exclamation was muffled by his hand, and she thumped his chest in annoyance.

Yue Hongchen smiled as he took Meng Hongchen's hand in his and patted her head with the other. At once, Meng settled against him and stopped fussing.

"So your goal this time is to awaken your Second Martial Soul and the Ice Empress, ranked second among the Far North's Three Great Heavenly Kings?" Yue Hongchen asked, pretending to be surprised.

Huo Yuhao nodded.

"I'll ask you again: are you sure you can do it?"

Huo Yuhao regained his earlier confidence. "With Brother Sky Dream here, nothing will go wrong."

Yue Hongchen nodded. "I'll wait here while Meng hunts for her Soul Ring. Finish as quickly as you can. We have less than a month."

"Okay."

After entering the Far North, Yue Hongchen and Huo Yuhao parted ways. For years, Yue had been finding high-quality Whale Rubber for Meng. Even now, Whale Rubber was still treated as an aphrodisiac on the mainland. Few people knew that it could improve a Soul Master's physical constitution.

When Yue first gave Meng Hongchen a piece of thousand-year Whale Rubber, the silly girl had thought he was up to something. Her adorable face had flushed bright red.

Only after Yue Hongchen had explained himself again and again—and she'd tried the Whale Rubber and felt a slight improvement—did she believe him. For now, Yue and Meng didn't plan to tell Jing Hongchen what Whale Rubber could do. There was no way to explain it, and Meng would never ask. She knew her brother would never harm her.

Meng had now consumed three pieces of ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber, and Yue Hongchen planned to have her absorb a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring for her fourth.

That year, he'd read about a Soul Beast in the academy library that possessed two utterly opposing attributes, ice and fire. A faint trace of poison was what kept those energies in balance.

Yue Hongchen naturally wanted Meng to follow the path of ice and poison. But it would be a waste to abandon the fire innate to her Martial Soul, so he planned to fuse fire and poison into fire poison. Compared to ordinary poison, fire poison could spread through a Soul Master's body more quickly.

Of course, finding a Vermilion Clear Ice Toad would be even better. It was a perfect match for Meng's Martial Soul, and, most importantly, once this Soul Beast reached ten thousand years, the ice and poison within its body began to fuse.

Unfortunately, this Soul Beast was extremely rare. Even in the Far North, they might not find one.

Yue took Meng deeper into the Far North. The border and outer regions weren't suitable for hunting ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts; they had to reach the central region.

The farther in they went, the colder it became. Meng was fine, since her Martial Soul had both ice and fire attributes, but Yue wasn't so lucky. Fortunately, Xiao Ka had the power to isolate things, and could keep the bitter cold out. As for why he didn't let Xiao Ka come out, it was freezing outside. Better to let her stay in his Sea of Consciousness, where she could still see everything.

The path to the central region was far from easy, either. The Far North was blanketed in snow all year round, and all around them stretched an endless expanse of white. It was easy to get lost there.

After three days on the road, the two finally made it to the central region.