Embryo (Part 1)

Two hundred li outside the Far North, in a small town covered in ice and snow, sat the Juzi Barbecue shop.

Inside the bright and clean room, Juzi was sitting in front of the window, her delicate right hand propping up her rounded chin. Her fair, tender little feet swayed back and forth under the chair, and her tranquil eyes wandered aimlessly, following the snowflakes outside.

Snowflakes landed on the window ledge, piling up higher and higher; the ledge, which had only been cleared yesterday, was already covered in a thin layer of white ice.

The shop wouldn't open until evening, still several hours away.

Having just finished her meditation, she was feeling incredibly bored, and her mind suddenly drifted to the fact that she would be leaving for Mingdu in two days.

Her small, slender fingers tapped unconsciously against the tabletop.

She had heard everyone say that Mingdu was the largest city on the continent, exceptionally prosperous, incredibly fun, and filled with countless people.

The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Master Academy she was set to attend was also the top academy in the empire, filled with nobles and children of prestigious families. She wondered if her future classmates would ostracize her for being from the countryside.

That person named Xu Lanqing should also be a noble's child; if only everyone were as easy to talk to as him.

The girl's thoughts were a tangled mess.

Reluctance, confusion, anticipation, curiosity, excitement.

It could be said that she was experiencing a complex mix of emotions.

Just then, suddenly, the distance seemed to brighten.

The light that appeared was extremely intense; even from such a great distance, it immediately captured Juzi's attention.

The sound of her finger tapping slowed, and she cast her gaze toward that direction.

What she saw was a white-hot orb of light shining in the distance. This orb was semi-circular, slowly expanding outward, overshadowing the setting sun.

The intense light was blinding. After one glance, Juzi couldn't help but look away, not daring to stare any longer, and used her soul power to soothe the stinging in her eyes.

What was that?

In the very next instant, the earth trembled slightly, followed by a roar like muffled thunder that rolled toward them, causing the entire town to shake violently.

Juzi felt a wave of dizziness wash over her. Everything in the room began to rattle with a "bang-bang" sound, falling to the floor, while dust and pebbles shook down from the ceiling.

"Clatter~~"

Outside, there was an instant chorus of shattering windows and snow sliding off roofs, mingled with panicked cries and wails.

She had never seen such a scene before. Catching a glimpse of the empty space under the table, she immediately curled into it, pressing against the corner of the wall as if that could provide her with some sense of security.

Had the gods become angry?

Suddenly, she thought of Xu Lanqing again. He had gone to the Far North to obtain a soul ring, and she couldn't help but feel worried. With it being so terrifying outside, he wouldn't have died, would he?

Although they had only met once, he had left a good impression on her. Moreover, she could feel that he didn't look at her like those people who always stared with disgusting gazes; his eyes were clear, he held no malice toward her, and he even seemed somewhat close to her, though she didn't know why.

This went to show how important a first impression was—though, of course, it helped if you were handsome.

In any case, she didn't want him to die.

The aftermath of the explosion slowly dissipated.

The white world of ice and snow had vanished without a trace, leaving behind only scorched black earth, devoid of any life.

The expressions of Jing Hongchen and the others were rather unsightly.

It wasn't because anyone had died, of course. Although they were in a sorry state—disheveled and covered in injuries—none were fatal, and they would recover after some time.

What made their expressions so grim was that they couldn't sense Xu Lanqing's location at all; they could only be certain that he had been teleported away before the explosion.

A teleportation spanning over a thousand li in an instant, and a random one at that—if it were within the empire's borders, it would be fine, but if he were deep in the Far North, wouldn't that just be serving him up as a dessert for the soul beasts?

"We have no choice but to split up. We must find His Highness as soon as possible."

Jing Hongchen distributed three white soul tools, similar to the ones they had before, to the others: "As long as you are within a thousand li, holding this will allow you to sense the other one on His Highness."

Ye Yulin sighed: "That is all we can do. Let us hope His Highness is blessed with good fortune..."

On the other side.

The Titan Snow Ape and the Ice Bear King stopped their pursuit of the evil soul master. The earth-shattering explosion had caused them to instinctively turn and defend, while Nangong Wan and the Youming Douluo had taken the chance to escape at the cost of severe injuries.

Their snow-white fur had turned charred black, and the scent of something roasted seemed to drift through the air.

"Since when did humans create such a powerful weapon?"

The Titan Snow Ape was shocked in his heart. He had to admit that this changed his view of the historically weak humans.

If there were seven or eight such weapons, even he would have no confidence in surviving a direct hit.

He began to worry. Now that humans possessed such weapons, what would become of the Far North in the future...

Deep in the Far North.

A beam of emerald light shot into the sky, and the deep blue heavens were occupied by the vibrant green. Following it came a terrifying and savage majesty, causing all the soul beasts nearby to prostrate themselves.

A puzzled voice murmured within the light beam, cold and bone-chilling.

"The Titan Snow Ape and the Ice Bear King seem to be over there. What exactly happened? How could there be such a massive energy fluctuation?"

So painful.

This was the only sensation Xu Lanqing felt at this moment.

He had plunged into darkness the moment he was teleported, feeling as if his entire body were being torn apart; the pain was so intense he couldn't move, not even enough to take a deep breath.

What kind of piece-of-junk bead was this? Teleporting once nearly killed him with pain; he had to leave a negative review.

After a long while, he finally regained his senses and opened his eyes, only to find that it was still a deep, profound darkness where he could see nothing at all.

This made him a bit panicked; even at night, there should be some light, so what kind of hellish place was this?

"Hoo~"

Xu Lanqing took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He waited a little longer.

After the pain subsided slightly, he felt a chill seep into his body, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.

He barely managed to circulate the meager amount of soul power left in his body and retrieved a few night-luminescent pearls from his storage ring.

The faint glow illuminated his surroundings, and Xu Lanqing discovered he was lying on a sheet of ice. The space around him was narrow, with deep, dark passages ahead and above his head, leading to who knew where.

It looked like a crevice beneath the ice sheet.

But the key point now was that he was actually feeling cold here.

One had to know that he possessed the Ultimate Ice martial soul; ice and snow should only make him feel warm, yet now, it was bone-chillingly cold.

The further one went into the Far North, the lower the temperature dropped; in the very center, even the soul beasts here dared not enter.

He was definitely in an area approaching or already within the core region.

What a streak of bad luck.

So much for only teleporting a few hundred miles; the distance between the outer perimeter and the core region of the Far North had to be at least a thousand miles.