Variant Nile Crocodile

The Soul Beast to be hunted was named the Ice Fire Poison Horn Deer, which lived in the Ice Crystal Forest in the central region. This was a forest formed by trees like crystal.

The most difficult step, reaching the central region, had been completed. Finding the Ice Crystal Forest would be simple. Once the forest was found, locating the Soul Beast would be even easier.

Yue Hongchen looked up. The sky was still exceptionally bright, but it was actually evening. This was the extreme day of the Far North, lasting half a year, followed by an extreme night, also lasting half a year.

Yue Hongchen took out a tent from his storage Soul Guiding Ring. After finding a suitable spot and setting it up, he and Meng retreated inside. At the same time, he used his separated authority to isolate the entire tent, ensuring it wouldn't be detected by any passing Soul Beasts.

After a simple meal of dry rations, the two lay down to rest. Xiao Ka also emerged from the Sea of Consciousness on time, lying to Yue's left, while Meng remained on the right.

Pulling up the covers, they embraced and drifted off to sleep. It began snowing outside again, accompanied by a constant wind, but the three inside the tent were completely unaffected.

The next morning, Xiao Ka returned to the Sea of Consciousness. Yue packed up the tent and began searching for the location of the Ice Crystal Forest.

They were quite lucky. Having arrived in the central region last night, they spotted the forest formed by those crystal trees this morning with little effort.

"Stay behind me. Because of the extreme cold in the Far North, very few human Soul Masters come here to hunt for Soul Rings. The central region now is probably more dangerous than the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest," Yue Hongchen said to Meng Hongchen behind him, while remaining vigilant of their surroundings.

Meng Hongchen let out a soft "Mm," sticking close to Yue Hongchen. She also paid attention to their surroundings, ready to react immediately to any danger so as not to be a burden to Yue Hongchen.

The central region was the habitat of various ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts, but it was mainly inhabited by five species: the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion clan, the Titan Snow Demon King clan, the Ice Plains Bear clan, the Ice Snow Giant Dragon clan, and the Snow Velvet Moth clan. The Ice Crystal Forest was the habitat of the Ice Plains Bear and Snow Velvet Moth clans.

If possible, Yue did not want to encounter these two types of Soul Beasts. If they were far from their habitats, it would be fine. But if they were encountered near their habitats, and if a clan member died, the Soul Beasts from the clan would swarm out, which would be quite troublesome for him.

The two slowly explored the Ice Crystal Forest. They encountered several ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts along the way, but unfortunately, none were the Ice Fire Poison Horn Deer. Yue Hongchen bypassed them. There was no need to kill them all, and moreover, the commotion from a fight might attract stronger and more numerous Soul Beasts.

The two continued deeper into the forest, noticing fewer trees around them and many bite marks on the ice-crystal tree trunks.

"That should be the territory of some ten-thousand-year Soul Beast ahead," Yue said, making a gesture to Meng to hide nearby.

Meng nodded obediently and did not leave the forest with Yue, but hid behind a large tree at the edge of the forest, still able to see what was happening inside.

Yue walked out of the forest and saw a lake. In the center of the lake was a large rock. Several broken ice floes floated on the lake's surface. Other than that, there was nothing. The entire lake was enclosed by the Ice Crystal Forest in a circle.

"There's something wrong."

Yue Hongchen did not lower his guard, subconsciously gripping the Blood Oath Pact.

It was too clean here, especially the constantly moving ice on the lake. Given the temperature here, the lake shouldn't be unfrozen.

He looked up at the rock in the center of the lake. There was no snow on the rock, and its edges were faintly covered with claw marks.

Information about a Soul Beast appeared in his mind: a variant of the Nile Crocodile, which lived in the lakes of the Far North. It had a habit that never changed, no matter how high its realm: ambushing.

Regardless of the realm or age of the target, it would leap out of the lake the moment the target approached, take a bite, and then perform a death roll.

If it could win, it would be a bonus meal; if not, it would use the momentum of the roll to return to the lake. This type of Soul Beast was extremely cunning. The habitat it chose would definitely have hidden currents leading elsewhere. Its speed in the water was exceptionally fast, and generally, no one could catch it in the water.

Yue Hongchen dared not approach the lake. Who knew where this thing was lurking, just waiting for you to get close enough for it to take a bite.

His gaze swept across the lake's surface and he noticed a floating ice floe. Although it appeared to be drifting normally, it was slowly moving towards him. It would be hard to notice without careful observation.

"Found you," Yue Hongchen chuckled lightly.

At the same time, his fourth Soul Ring lit up behind him, and the shadow of a Human Rights Sword was firmly inserted into the ice floe.

Instantly, the ice floe shattered. The effect of the Human Rights Sword struck the Nile Crocodile hiding beneath the ice floe, launching it out of the lake.

Yue Hongchen finally saw its appearance clearly. Its body was the same as an ordinary Nile Crocodile, but its skin was blue, and its body was covered in armor formed from ice crystals. Its blood-red eyes stared at Yue Hongchen in mid-air.

"Quite tough."

The Human Rights Sword only managed to create a crack in its armor. If not for that, it would already be firmly impaled in the lake by the Human Rights Sword.

The Nile Crocodile in the air endured the discomfort in its body, curled up, and landed on the rock in the center of the lake.

Its blood-red eyes stared intently at Yue Hongchen. Ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts already possessed clear self-awareness. Although Yue Hongchen only had four Soul Rings behind him, the power of that single strike was not something a normal four-ring could unleash.

After watching for a few seconds without discovering anything, its racial instinct overcame its caution. No matter what Yue Hongchen was, it would take a bite to test the waters first.

The Nile Crocodile slammed its tail, and its massive body shot towards the shore. It opened its gaping maw, intending to bite.

Yue Hongchen was not foolish enough to stand there and let it bite. He casually threw out a few Level 4 Soul Guiding Bombs and then rapidly retreated.

The Nile Crocodile in the air disdainfully looked at the items Yue Hongchen threw out, swallowing them in one gulp. Its massive body landed where Yue Hongchen had been standing, shaking the snow on the ground into the air again.

After landing, the Nile Crocodile prepared to attack again. Yue Hongchen smiled sinisterly and snapped his left hand. The four Level 4 Soul Guiding Bombs exploded inside its body.

With the external injuries from before and the internal injuries now, it spat out a mouthful of blue blood. The blood landed on the ground with a sizzling sound.

"The power of Level 4 indeed can't cause much damage to a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast?" Seeing no internal organ fragments in the blood, Yue Hongchen shook his head in disappointment.

The Nile Crocodile was completely enraged. Even if the king of heaven descended today, it would take a bite out of Yue Hongchen before considering escaping.

After two exchanges, it knew it would be difficult to keep Yue Hongchen here. But that didn't mean it would flee directly; it was a ten-thousand-year Soul Beast, after all.

The ice crystals on its body emitted a faint blue light. The Nile Crocodile whipped its tail in place, sending countless ice crystals shooting towards Yue Hongchen.

Yue Hongchen swung the sword in his hand, unleashing wave after wave of sword energy, steadily blocking the Nile Crocodile's Soul Skill.

At the same time, he was continuously closing the distance to the Nile Crocodile.

Seeing that Yue Hongchen was not only not creating distance but was actually closing in, the Nile Crocodile thought it had encountered an idiot. Its biting force was something even a fifty-thousand-year Soul Beast could barely withstand.