Crossing the Ice Sea, Arriving at the Far North!

In other words, there must be an incredibly powerful force standing behind the God Sealing Platform.

Looking across the entire continent, there is almost only one force left, aside from Mingde Hall, capable of producing soul guidance technology and resource reserves of this caliber.

The Holy Spirit Cult.

At the thought of this name, a chill flashed through Xu Tianyao's eyes.

If that Level 9 Soul Engineer was truly a member of the Holy Spirit Cult, then many things would suddenly make sense.

Over the years, the Holy Spirit Cult has been hiding in the shadows of the Sun Moon Empire, expanding frantically.

What they excel at most is precisely the hunting of powerful soul beasts, the research of evil secret arts, and all manner of unspeakable experiments.

Laying out plans in advance for an existence like the Snow Empress fits their style of operation perfectly.

However... if the matter truly involves the Holy Spirit Cult, then one person inevitably cannot be bypassed.

Xu Tianran.

After all, the fact that the Holy Spirit Cult has been able to develop to its current scale within the Sun Moon Empire is inseparable from Xu Tianran's tacit approval and support.

But Xu Tianyao is also well aware that Xu Tianran is by no means a dim-witted ruler who can be easily deceived.

On the contrary, his imperial brother is a master of political maneuvering with terrifyingly deep schemes; he is sharper than anyone.

He has never truly trusted the Holy Spirit Cult; the two sides are merely in a relationship of mutual exploitation, akin to seeking skin from a tiger.

Throughout these years, Xu Tianran has been secretly monitoring every move of the Holy Spirit Cult, especially the high-level powerhouses within it.

As long as they remain within the borders of the Sun Moon Empire, their whereabouts can hardly escape Xu Tianran's eyes.

He has even planted his own people within the Holy Spirit Cult.

It is precisely because of this that Xu Tianyao has been able to grasp so much intelligence.

Not long ago, reliable information arrived that several high-level members of the Holy Spirit Cult seemed to have gone to execute a secret mission, entering and exiting the country within a short period.

Among them, one was indeed a Level 9 Soul Engineer.

However, because Xu Tianyao was at a critical juncture in his breakthrough at the time, he decided to wait until he reached Level 30 before asking his grandfather to accompany him in pursuit.

Now, the time is right.

As for the second plan, that would be the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, but the timing is not yet ripe; it is better to secure the Snow Empress first.

The Far North is located at the northernmost frontier of the Heaven Dou Empire and is also the northernmost point of the continent.

It is covered in ice and snow all year round, never melting for ten thousand years.

The biting cold winds are like sharp blades, and even the most powerful soul masters are unwilling to easily step into that place known as a forbidden zone of life.

At the same time, it is also one of the largest gathering places for soul beasts on the continent.

Countless powerful soul beasts occupy the region, and the legendary Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North are enough to make countless Title Douluo turn pale at the mention of their names.

This time, the destination of Xu Tianyao and Kong Deming is precisely that place.

However, the two did not choose to cross the border of the Heaven Dou Empire to enter the Far North.

After all, the current relationship between the Sun Moon Empire and the three original Douluo nations is delicate; with the identities of Kong Deming and Xu Tianyao, once their whereabouts are exposed, it would easily invite unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, the two chose another route: the Ice Sea shipping lane.

The western side of the Far North borders the Ice Sea.

Although it is equally dangerous there, it lacks the prying eyes of various national forces.

For thousands of years, countless merchant ships have traveled back and forth between the Ice Sea and the northern border of the Sun Moon Empire.

Precious animal hides, ice-attribute ores, and rare soul guidance materials have flowed into the empire continuously through this route.

Because of this, the route has long since been developed to be extremely mature.

Whoosh~

The biting cold wind whistled past.

A massive steel ship slowly broke through the floating ice.

On the deck, Xu Tianyao stood at the bow, quietly gazing at the white world shrouded in a blizzard in the distance.

In both his past and present lives, this was the first time he had truly seen the ocean—and an Ice Sea at that!

This was also his first time leaving the Sun Moon Empire.

The vast, boundless Ice Sea, the churning silver-white waves, and the barrier of wind and snow at the edge of the horizon that seemed to connect heaven and earth.

All of it brought him an unprecedented sense of shock.

Just then, Kong Deming walked over slowly and stood beside Xu Tianyao.

"We are almost there."

The old man squinted, looking into the distance.

"Ahead lies the Far North Western Plateau."

"The altitude there is extremely high, the air is thin, and ice storms erupt frequently."

"Put on this High-Cold Suit before we disembark."

As he spoke, Kong Deming handed over a silver-white soul-tool suit.

It was a Level 7 Soul Tool he had personally developed in his early years, specifically designed to cope with extremely cold environments.

Even an ordinary soul master wearing it could maintain their body temperature in environments hundreds of degrees below zero.

Xu Tianyao took the High-Cold Suit, a smile appearing on his face, though his eyes flickered slightly.

In truth, Kong Deming had never approved of him adding a soul ring to his second martial soul at this time.

In the old man's view.

It would be better to wait until Xu Tianyao broke through to the Title Douluo level, or even stepped into the Super Douluo realm in the future.

Only then should he add a soul ring to that Moon Martial Soul, which possessed the dual attributes of space and ultimate ice.

The starting point could then be a hundred thousand years.

In this way, his strength would see a true leap.

There would even be hope of reaching the Limit Douluo level at the fastest possible speed.

By then, there would be no obstacles to the Sun Moon Empire unifying the continent.

However, this time, Xu Tianyao had been unusually insistent.

Even though Kong Deming had tried to persuade him several times, he could not change his decision.

In the end, the old man chose to compromise.

After all, given Xu Tianyao's current foundation, even if it were only his first soul ring, it would never be lower than ten thousand years, so it wasn't a total loss; if it could teach him a lesson, that would be even better.

"I understand, Grandfather."

Xu Tianyao nodded. Naturally, he couldn't tell Kong Deming that this was for the sake of the Snow Empress, the leader of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North. Even if he said it, Kong Deming wouldn't believe him and would likely think he had gone mad.

Xu Tianyao walked into the cabin and quickly put on the High-Cold Suit.

Although his Moon Martial Soul possessed the ultimate ice attribute.

That was, after all, only the power of his martial soul; when faced with the true might of heaven and earth in the Far North and those biting cold winds.

He was still far from being able to resist them.

And just as the two were about to land in the Far North.

On the other side.

Unknown kilometers away.

Deep within the blizzard, two figures could be vaguely seen treading through the wind and snow, moving forward with great difficulty.

The wind and snow were like a veil, making the visibility in the surroundings less than five meters.

Yet, the two were able to precisely control their direction because they held a strangely shaped Soul Tool in their hands.

It was a silver-black metal disc.

In the center of the disc, two scarlet dots were flickering incessantly.

Suddenly, the middle-aged man wearing brown glasses stopped in his tracks.

A burst of intense ecstasy erupted in his eyes.

"Stop!"

"There's a reaction!"

Hearing this, the other person immediately leaned in, following his gaze.

They saw the red dots on the Soul Tool pulsing at an even faster frequency, and the distance displayed was already extremely close.

"She is still here?"

"That's right!"

The brown-haired man's voice trembled with excitement.

"The life fluctuation is extremely unstable."

"Her Soul Power is continuously decaying."

"It is exactly as the Supreme Cult Leader predicted."

"She has already begun her transformation!"

As these words were spoken, the other evil soul master's breathing instantly became rapid.