"You should take a good look at Xiao Meng, observe her closely, shouldn't you?"
Phew... It looked like Brother Xu hadn't let that woman have her way with him. Otherwise, he wouldn't be looking so flustered.
Meng Hongchen breathed a sigh of relief.
Hehe... She was happy now.
Having read hundreds of romance novels until their pages were worn thin, she naturally had a special advantage when it came to winning Xu Qing over.
Those shy little expressions, those subtle little movements...
They were all within the grasp of Meng Hongchen, the Love Strategist, the God of Dating Sims...
Xu Qing took several deep breaths and began using his Ultimate Ice Soul Power to cool his brain. A few breaths later, he spoke slowly:
"You've broken through level fifty."
Xu Qing furrowed his brows, then relaxed them again.
"Right, with an unlimited supply of Mystic Ice Marrow, and with you working hard at cultivation, Xiao Meng, it's only natural that you'd advance this quickly."
"Mm, I broke through last night. Brother Xu, even though Mystic Ice Marrow greatly boosts ice attributes, it's not exactly... all that well suited to my Vermilion Clear Ice Toad Martial Soul."
Meng Hongchen used Martial Soul Possession. Her fair skin instantly turned crystal clear, like Ice Skin Jade Bone, while her icy blue eyes took on a vivid crimson hue.
A white-haired, red-eyed little girl was here!
She shifted closer and conjured a piece of ice with a faint green tint in her hand, holding it out to Xu Qing.
"You know, Brother Xu, the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad is a poisonous Soul Beast with both ice and fire attributes. Its poison comes from the fire attribute in the toad's scarlet eyes and the ice attribute in its body."
"One is ice, the other fire; one is cold, the other hot. Their alternating effects produce this peculiar poison."
"But after taking your Mystic Ice Marrow, my ice attribute has stayed far ahead, while my fire attribute has been suppressed too much."
"Sure, I can rapidly increase my Soul Power by taking Mystic Ice Marrow, but over time, the poison of my Ice Toad will weaken."
"So, to maintain a balance between my ice and fire attributes and keep my poison from weakening, Grandpa planned for me to get a Soul Beast whose primary attribute is fire and secondary attribute is ice for my fifth Soul Ring. That way, it can balance the two kinds of Soul Power in my body."
There was another option, of course: stop taking Mystic Ice Marrow. But how could Meng Hongchen possibly agree to that?
Mystic Ice Marrow was the best excuse she had to spend time with Xu Qing!
At this, Xu Qing reached out and took the block of ice containing its terrifying poison. A faint shimmer of Ultimate Ice Soul Power appeared, and the green tint vanished at once.
Ultimate Ice could ignore the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad's poison...
He wasn't sure why, but that was simply how it worked.
Xu Qing thought of the old man's medicinal meals... Sigh, they really had been unnecessary.
But it wasn't his fault. The Body Sect's understanding of Ultimate Attributes and Martial Souls that weren't Body Martial Souls wasn't all that thorough.
Xu Qing's memories of these details weren't particularly clear, either. Still, it was fine. At least he knew now.
Watching her poison prove utterly powerless before Xu Qing, Meng Hongchen gave him a pitiful look.
"But the academy's Beast Arena doesn't have any Soul Beasts like that. Grandpa's so busy he can barely keep his feet on the ground, and my brother's too weak. The other uncles and aunties who could help me with Soul Hunting all have things to do, too."
It was all made up.
"I can only ask you, Brother Xu."
"Sure. Let's go now. I'll call my master and have him tear open space to take us there. That'll be much faster."
Before Meng Hongchen could say anything, Xu Qing took out his Soul Tool and called Du Busi.
They had to change locations! Immediately!
Boom—!
It took just two breaths!
"Little girl, you..."
Du Busi's eyes shifted as he looked from one of them to the other...
The old man understood.
Fine!
Du Busi gave Meng Hongchen a smile that could scare a child to tears and said:
"Xu Qing has already told me what kind of Soul Beast you need. Let's take a look around the Far North first. A Vermilion Clear Ice Toad is the best match for your requirements, but we'll need to find one with a stronger fire attribute."
"Don't worry. Leave everything to me!"
The Far North, outer region.
In a crevice between glaciers, a scarlet toad hopped around on a hill, searching for its food for the day.
It was an outcast among its kind, a disgrace to the Vermilion Clear Ice Toad Clan.
No, it didn't even deserve to be called a Vermilion Clear Ice Toad.
It had neither vermilion eyes nor an ice-blue body.
Instead, it had blue eyes and a scarlet body.
Ice Clear Red Toad was a far more fitting name for it.
The poison it carried was completely different from the ice-borne poison of the other beasts in its clan. It spread its poison by breathing fire.
It went without saying: how could a Soul Beast that relied on its fire attribute as its main means of attack survive in the Far North?
And yet, it had survived.
"Croak... What a miserable croak-life."
It could actually speak?!
Was it a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?
No. Its cultivation was only a mere thirteen thousand years, barely past the threshold of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
But the intelligence bestowed upon it by heaven was the foundation that had let it survive to this day in the perilous ice-attribute paradise—the Far North.
"Sisi... Sisi..."
"Croak, found one. A thousand-year Ice Silkworm. Dinner's taken care of."
The Ice Silkworm Clan was the Far North's gutter-dwelling clan, the kind of "loser" Soul Beasts anyone could kick around.
Unlike the Vermilion Clear Ice Toads, who couldn't stay long in the inner or core regions, where ice-attribute energy ran strong, because they possessed a fire attribute, the Ice Silkworms were simply too damn weak.
They were either being hunted or on their way to be hunted.
Of course, it was the same in the outer region, but they had no other choice.
Most of their clan had originally been kept by the Ice Jade Scorpion Clan in the core region. But because of one particular bug that angered the Far North Emperor, they had been banished to this borderland.
"Sisi..."
"Croak—!"
The Ice Clear Red Toad abruptly spat out a fireball the size of a human head. It slammed into the helpless Ice Silkworm, and in an instant, the creature stiffened and lay flat.
A purple Soul Ring appeared.
Below it, the Ice Silkworm's once-pure white body had been roasted golden brown.
One bite—plump! Juicy! Sweet!
"Crunch, crunch... Tasty, croak."
The Ice Clear Red Toad chewed as it hopped away. Unlike the Vermilion Clear Ice Toads, it didn't live beneath the crevices between glaciers. It made its home on the exposed rock walls along their sides.
"Croak, what a lucky day. I only took a couple of steps and dinner was taken care of. I'm really lucky."
"Talk about a lucky day! We've only just entered the Far North, and we've already found a Soul Beast that fits your requirements, Xiao Meng!"
My luck was even better than yours, you unlucky toad!
Xu Qing's voice rang out from behind the Ice Clear Red Toad.
Boom, boom, boom—!!
His immensely powerful level-fifty-five Soul King pressure bore down on it, leaving it unable to move.
"Croaak~~"
Help me, help me!!
Was this it for me? Was I going to die?
How could my croak-life end here?!
Before you continue