Ice Snow Temple

The next day, under the guidance of Mu En, You Jie and Zhang Lexuan continued to drive their Duel Runner, officially entering the Far North.

Unlike the low temperatures of the surrounding villages, because the terrain was extremely flat, the first thing to greet them was a gust of biting, gale-force wind.

You Jie did not hesitate and immediately activated the Soul Guiding Shield attached to the Duel Runner. This shield was of the fifth rank, with its soul power supplied by a set of Milk Bottles installed within the vehicle.

Of course, You Jie and Zhang Lexuan could also manually recharge it.

However, even so, You Jie felt a coldness that surpassed even that of the villages.

"As expected of the Far North; even the temperature on the outskirts is this low. However..."

Looking up at Mu En, who was strolling ahead with ease and even deliberately lowering the intensity of his protective soul power to let the biting north wind give him an air of transcendent grace, You Jie once again realized the importance of powerful cultivation.

For a healthy Limit Douluo, this level of temperature was nothing at all.

As they pushed deeper into the Far North, You Jie and Zhang Lexuan soon began to feel a bit bored.

Unlike the Star Dou Great Forest, the Far North had no scenery to help one relax their mind, and there was very little variation in the terrain.

Coupled with the fact that Mu En could control the aura he emitted, the group did not encounter a single soul beast along the way.

"You Jie, what is that?"

Zhang Lexuan suddenly pointed into the distance. You Jie followed the direction of her arm and vaguely saw a black dot, which looked extremely out of place against the pristine white atmosphere of the Far North.

"That is..." You Jie squinted, trying to see the black dot clearly.

However, before he could attempt to activate the Telephoto Core Array inscribed on his helmet—based on the principles of Huo Yuhao's spiritual detection—to get a better look, Mu En's calm voice reached their ears.

"That is someone who entered the Far North before us, but they have already been frozen to death."

Mu En's words sent a chill through both of their hearts.

The terror of the Far North was, for the first time, vividly manifested before them.

Fortunately, the route they had chosen was one rarely traveled; apart from that corpse, they had not seen the presence of any living creatures.

After a while, You Jie looked up at the sky and then took the initiative to stop. After getting off the vehicle with Zhang Lexuan, he immediately stored the Duel Runner back into his storage soul tool.

"You Jie, could it be..."

"Most likely, yes. It should be the cloud layer unique to blizzards, and it's moving fast. Sister Lexuan, we need to hurry!"

You Jie looked into the distance again, activating the telephoto function on his helmet to confirm the shape of the clouds. The two then acted in unison, using the surrounding snow to create Ice Bricks, and subsequently built a small snow house on the ground.

Throughout this entire process, Mu En simply stood to the side without saying a word, though his expression grew increasingly satisfied.

Not long after they had all entered the snow house, a blizzard swept across the snowfield. The biting cold wind, mixed with a large amount of hard snowflakes, made the Far North even more treacherous.

"Mystic Ancestor, about how long have we traveled today? If we don't consider other factors, how many days until we reach our destination?"

You Jie used a Soul Guiding Furnace to heat a pot of porridge and looked up to ask Mu En.

"If we calculate based on the conditions you mentioned, we can reach that legendary treasure land within three days.

"However, You Jie, have you forgotten that the core area of the Far North is the territory of those powerful fierce beasts? Besides the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, there are several other hundred-thousand-year soul beasts.

"If we continue to travel as brazenly as we did today, things will become much more troublesome once we run into them."

Although there was a hint of reproach in Mu En's words, he was also curious about what You Jie was thinking. He seemed very certain that their group would not encounter many hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, let alone the Three Great Heavenly Kings.

Although Mu En had now regained his health, he was not confident in defeating the leader of the Three Great Heavenly Kings in the Far North. As for the Ice Empress and the Titan Snow Demon King, while Mu En was ten percent certain he could lead Zhang Lexuan and You Jie to safety, things would become very troublesome if their tracks were discovered.

"Mystic Ancestor, although our speed is not slow, the places we have passed along the way are areas where few people or soul beasts appear.

"Clearly, the attention of most soul beasts in the Far North must have been drawn away by others who are trying to enter.

"The places where most people enter the Far North are at least five hundred miles away from here. Even if the kings of the Far North are still around, presumably they would be more concerned with the large crowds clashing over there.

"When that time comes, won't our opportunity arrive?

"Besides, logically speaking, the route you chose, Mystic Ancestor, although remote, should not be devoid of signs of life, even considering the pressure you might be exerting along the way."

You Jie explained while serving the cooked porridge to Mu En and Zhang Lexuan, then began heating a pot of stew.

He naturally wouldn't mention that the Snow Empress was already gone, or that the Ice Empress was unlikely to be wandering around—things he only knew because he had read the script—but the situation they encountered today could certainly not be explained by the pressure Mu En brought with him.

Thus, he simply deduced the situation, and Mu En merely nodded without saying much more.

This was just basic reasoning, even containing a certain amount of conjecture, but Mu En was there to provide a margin for error and a safety net for You Jie.

If a young man's courage were excessively small, could he still be called a young man?

As if to verify You Jie's conjecture, the group did not encounter any soul beasts over the next two days, nor did they meet any humans, and thus they brazenly broke into the core area of the Far North.

Then, in the distance, the outline of an artificial structure—something that shouldn't exist in the Far North—was revealed to them.

You Jie accelerated toward the building while activating the telephoto function on his helmet to observe it further.

It was an ice-blue temple, appearing as if it were constructed from the most crystalline ice. The material of the pillars was indistinguishable, but their color was a warm white, much like jade.

This temple looked somewhat similar to the ancient Greek temples in You Jie's memory; it appeared very tall, and beneath it were high stairs. The material of the stairs themselves also resembled crystalline ice, and there were quite a number of them—roughly estimated to be over a hundred.

Moreover, in the vicinity of this temple, You Jie did not see any traces of other people having arrived.