The next day, under Mu En's lead, You Jie and Zhang Lexuan continued driving the D, officially entering the Far North.
Unlike the low temperatures in the surrounding villages, the terrain here was extremely flat, and the first thing to greet them was a bitter, howling gale.
You Jie didn't hesitate. He immediately activated the Soul Guiding Shield installed on the D. It was a Level Five shield, powered by the Milk Bottles fitted inside the D.
Of course, You Jie and Zhang Lexuan could also charge it manually.
Even so, You Jie felt the cold biting deeper than it had in the village.
"As expected of the Far North. Even the temperature on the outskirts is this low, but..."
He looked up at Mu En, who was strolling ahead as though taking a leisurely walk. Mu En had even deliberately lowered the strength of his protective Soul Power, letting the biting northern wind give him an air of immortal grace. You Jie was reminded once again how important powerful cultivation was.
For a healthy Limit Douluo, this temperature was nothing.
As they pressed deeper into the Far North, You Jie and Zhang Lexuan soon began to feel bored.
Unlike the Star Dou Great Forest, the Far North had hardly any scenery to give them a moment's respite. Even the terrain barely rose or fell.
And since Mu En could control the aura he gave off, they didn't encounter a single Soul Beast along the way.
"You Jie, what's that?"
Zhang Lexuan suddenly pointed into the distance. You Jie followed the direction of her arm and made out a faint black speck, starkly at odds with the pristine whiteness of the Far North.
"That's..." You Jie narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the speck.
But before he could try to use the Telephoto Core Array engraved on his helmet—based on the principles of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection—to examine it in detail, Mu En's calm voice reached them.
"Someone who entered the Far North before us. They've already frozen to death."
Mu En's words sent a chill through both of them.
For the first time, the terror of the Far North had been laid out before them so vividly.
Fortunately, they had chosen a route rarely traveled by anyone. Other than that body, they hadn't seen a single living thing.
A while later, You Jie glanced up at the sky and then stopped. After getting out of the D with Zhang Lexuan, he immediately put it away in his Storage Soul Tool.
"You Jie, could it be..."
"Most likely. That should be the cloud layer unique to blizzards, and it's moving fast. Sister Lexuan, we need to hurry!"
You Jie looked toward the distance again and activated the helmet's telescopic function to confirm the shape of the clouds. Then the two of them sprang into action, using the snow around them to make Ice Bricks and build a modest Snow House.
Throughout the whole process, Mu En stood off to one side without a word, though his expression grew increasingly pleased.
Not long after they had all entered the Snow House, a blizzard swept across the snowy plain. The bitter wind carried countless hard snowflakes, making the Far North even more treacherous.
"Mystic Ancestor, about how long did we travel today? If we don't account for other factors, how many more days until we reach our destination?"
You Jie heated a pot of porridge on the Soul Guiding Furnace and looked up at Mu En.
"If we calculate according to the conditions you described, we could reach the rumored treasure land within three days.
"But, You Jie, have you forgotten? The core region of the Far North is the territory of powerful Ferocious Beasts. Besides the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, there are several Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.
"If we keep traveling so openly, things will become much more troublesome if we run into them."
There was a trace of reproach in Mu En's words, but he was also curious about what You Jie had in mind. You Jie seemed certain they wouldn't run into many Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts—or encounter the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North.
Although Mu En had recovered his health, he wasn't confident he could defeat the foremost of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North. As for the Ice Empress and the Titan Snow Demon King, Mu En was absolutely certain he could get Zhang Lexuan and You Jie out safely. But if they were discovered, things would become extremely troublesome.
"Although our pace isn't slow, the places we've passed through have been areas where neither people nor Soul Beasts usually appear.
"Clearly, most of the Soul Beasts in the Far North must have been drawn away by the other people trying to enter.
"Most people enter the Far North at least five hundred li from where we are. Even if the Heavenly Kings of the Far North are still here, they'll surely be more concerned with that area and clash with the large crowds there.
"Wouldn't that give us our chance?
"Besides, logically speaking, this route you chose, Mystic Ancestor, is remote. Even considering the pressure you may have exerted along the way, it's still impossible for there to be so few signs of life."
You Jie explained as he served the cooked porridge to Mu En and Zhang Lexuan, then put another pot of stew on to heat.
He naturally couldn't tell them that the Snow Empress was already gone and the Ice Empress probably wouldn't come out for a stroll anytime soon—things he could only know by having read the script. But the situation they'd encountered that day couldn't be explained by Mu En's aura alone.
So he offered a simple deduction. Mu En only nodded, saying nothing more.
It was basic reasoning, no more than a guess—but Mu En was there to give You Jie room for error and to back him up.
If young people were all so timid, could they even be called young?
As if to prove You Jie's guess, they encountered no Soul Beasts over the next two days, nor did they see any people. Just like that, they strode rather openly into the core region of the Far North.
Then, far in the distance, the outline of an artificial structure appeared—something that seemed impossible to find in the Far North.
You Jie sped toward the building and activated the telescopic function on his helmet to examine it more closely.
It was an ice-blue temple, seemingly made of the clearest, most translucent ice. The pillars' material was hard to make out, but they were a soft, lustrous white, like jade.
The temple resembled the ancient Greek temples in You Jie's memory. It was immense, and a tall flight of stairs led up to it. The stairs themselves seemed to be made of translucent ice, and there were a great many of them—well over a hundred, by a rough estimate.
And around the temple, You Jie saw no signs that anyone else had ever come there.
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