The Journey Home

The north wind howled, and heavy snow drifted through the air.

The golden sunlight lacked even a hint of warmth, yet Xu Lanqing felt a sense of heat circulating throughout his entire body.

The feeling of seeing the sun again was truly wonderful.

Although the world was nothing but white, the vast, undulating mountains undoubtedly helped him relax quite a bit.

Xu Lanqing glanced at the white tracking soul tool in his hand; the soul power fluctuations on it were growing stronger, which meant an identical soul tool was drawing closer to him.

He turned his head and said to the Titan Snow Demon King, who was using soul power to shield him during their flight:

"Alright, this is far enough. My people are coming."

The speeding figure came to an abrupt halt in mid-air. The next second, they were standing on the snow, and Xu Lanqing did not feel the slightest bit of discomfort.

This powerful control clearly demonstrated the strength of the Titan Snow Demon King.

The burly Titan Snow Demon King stood on the snow like a monolith, an invisible wave of soul power spreading and rippling out from his body.

Before long, he retracted his soul power and turned his gaze toward Xu Lanqing.

To be honest, his first impression of this human child was actually quite good; he was neither servile nor overbearing, and his words and actions didn't make him seem like a fool.

Cooperating with him seemed like a decent choice.

His voice was as rough as his appearance: "In that case, I shall take my leave. Rest assured, there isn't a single soul beast left in this vicinity; you won't be in any danger."

With that, his figure abruptly vanished.

After all, he had just fought Jing Hongchen and the others—or rather, crushed them—especially Zheng Zhan, who had been beaten quite miserably. It would be rather awkward to meet again, and besides, the relationship between soul beasts and humans had always been poor.

Watching this scene, Xu Lanqing felt a growing sense of envy and longing.

Sigh, when would he ever possess such strength?

To come and go without a trace—how cool would that be?

Half an hour later.

Xu Lanqing finally spotted two black dots appearing in the distance. They weren't flying through the air but were moving slowly across the snow.

They had clearly spotted Xu Lanqing long ago, as their speed increased significantly.

Once they were closer, Xu Lanqing could see that the arrivals were Jing Hongchen and Zheng Zhan, though looking at their cautious demeanor, he couldn't help but twitch his lips.

You are both Title Douluo-level soul masters, is being this careful really necessary?

On second thought, perhaps they had been traumatized by the Titan Snow Demon King and Xiaobai. Since they were still deep in the Far North, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.

"Your Highness, we've finally found you! We've been searching for an entire day. We only just picked up your trail, so we rushed over immediately. It's such a relief to see you're unharmed!"

A smile bloomed on Jing Hongchen's round face as he let out a long sigh of relief. He felt at ease; if he hadn't found him, he wouldn't have known how to report back.

He looked Xu Lanqing up and down, noting his neat attire, and continued:

"However, Your Highness is truly blessed by fortune. To have spent a day deep in the Far North and remain completely unscathed is remarkable."

Xu Lanqing's only injury was a small scratch from the Ice Empress's sword, which had long since healed without even leaving a scar.

He smiled and said nonchalantly:

"My luck has always been good; when have I ever faced a crisis without coming out safe? I've just stayed here since I was teleported, and no soul beasts came to trouble me. Elder Zheng, how are your injuries?"

The latter part of the sentence was directed at Zheng Zhan. He noticed that Zheng Zhan showed no signs of injury from the outside and actually seemed quite cheerful. Had he developed a bond through the beating?

"Hahaha!"

Zheng Zhan laughed excitedly:

"I feel fantastic! Although my body hasn't fully recovered, my soul power actually increased by one rank after that battle. I am now at rank ninety-two! Hahaha!"

Most rank-nine soul masters of the Sun Moon Empire reached their level by relying on medicinal pills. Once they became a Title Douluo, increasing even a single rank was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

Now that he had leveled up by a stroke of luck, how could he not be happy?

"Should we go for another round, then?" Xu Lanqing remarked silently.

The laughter came to an abrupt halt.

"Cough, cough..."

Zheng Zhan choked on his own breath:

"No... no need..."

Are you kidding? Another round?

That would be like carrying a lantern into a latrine—looking for death!

"Hehe, Your Highness, we should probably leave this place. After all, we are deep in the Far North; it's too dangerous."

Jing Hongchen spoke up from the side, his eyes scanning the surroundings with a hint of suspicion:

"Besides, Your Highness, you said no soul beasts bothered you, but I used my soul tool to scan the area, and there isn't a single soul beast here. It's a bit eerie."

Ever since he encountered the Titan, he had become extremely cautious, constantly using soul tools to scan the environment, regardless of whether it might alert other soul beasts.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhan immediately tensed up as if facing a formidable enemy, his mental energy spreading out to survey the surroundings.

Xu Lanqing said indifferently:

"After all, this is the Far North, so it's normal for there to be fewer Soul Beasts. However, Hall Master Jing is right; it would be best to leave quickly."

"Yes, let's go quickly," Zheng Zhan nodded hurriedly.

On the way back, Jing Hongchen continued to carry Xu Lanqing.

"Your Highness, you haven't obtained a Soul Ring yet, right? Shall we go take a look around the outer perimeter later?" Jing Hongchen asked.

Xu Lanqing's eyes flickered, then his brows furrowed, his eyes turned slightly red, and a sorrowful expression appeared on his face as his voice grew slightly hoarse:

"Hall Master Jing, actually, I fell into a deep sleep after the teleportation and only woke up a short while ago. When I woke up, I discovered that my Martial Soul had changed into a Snow Maiden. Although it is still Ultimate Ice, I can no longer attach Soul Rings to it. I don't know what happened. Hall Master Jing, does this mean I can no longer be a Soul Master in the future?"

After speaking, his shoulders trembled slightly, presenting a pitiful and bewildered appearance.

I silently gave myself a thumbs-up in my heart; my acting is truly excellent.

This was, of course, a fabrication he had come up with as a countermeasure.

Jing Hongchen and Zheng Zhan looked at Xu Lanqing in astonishment. What on earth was this? In all his years of living, he had never seen anything so outrageous. It lacked any logic whatsoever; was this even reasonable?

He didn't know what to say, so he could only observe the situation first:

"Your Highness, would you allow me to probe you with my soul power?"

"Mm." Xu Lanqing nodded.

Jing Hongchen placed his fingers on Xu Lanqing's wrist, circulating his soul power to feel carefully.

A moment later, his eyes flickered. After thinking for a while, his thick black brows furrowed tightly. He withdrew his soul power and said to Xu Lanqing:

"Your Highness's body is very healthy, your soul power is abundant, and your vitality is vigorous, almost catching up to an ordinary adult. I truly cannot see any problems. Could you release your Martial Soul for me to see?"

"Mm." Xu Lanqing nodded again.

As he activated his Martial Soul, his hair quickly turned snow-white, his skin became translucent white, and his eyes turned sky-blue.

His Martial Soul had indeed changed. Everyone knew his previous Martial Soul was the Ice Phoenix, but the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul manifestation definitely did not look like this.

Jing Hongchen investigated carefully once more, but he shook his head, still finding no issues.

"How about you try with a Soul Beast, Your Highness? If that doesn't work, try a few more. Perhaps you might suddenly succeed in absorbing one?" Jing Hongchen suggested.

Xu Lanqing lowered his head and refused, his mood dejected:

"There's no need. I happened to encounter a few Soul Beasts suitable for me earlier. Although I don't know why they were all heavily injured, I already tried with them, and it was useless."

Happened to? All heavily injured?

Jing Hongchen's eyes shifted, wondering what he was thinking.

"Since that is the case, let us head straight back. Elder Kong is knowledgeable and experienced; perhaps he will have a way," he comforted.

"Mm." Xu Lanqing nodded for the third time.

Jing Hongchen and Zheng Zhan quickened their pace, and the journey continued in silence.

From the outside, Jing Hongchen looked calm, yet his heart was churning with massive waves.

Everyone knew Xu Lanqing possessed an Ultimate Ice Martial Soul and was exceptionally gifted. However, when he probed him just now, he discovered that Xu Lanqing was actually a twin-Martial Soul user, which did not match the information on record.

He must have known that a twin-Martial Soul could not be hidden if soul power entered his body to probe, yet he still agreed to his suggestion.

Was it intentional?

What was the point of doing this?

Jing Hongchen shook his head; he couldn't even figure out a six-year-old child now.

Suddenly, a streak of black flashed across the corner of his eye.

He looked up.

He saw that at the edge of his vision:

White snow drifted down, and thick black smoke billowed upward.