Journey to the Far North

"Twenty days should be enough, right? Shrek Academy wasn't far from the Star Dou Great Forest to begin with," Mu Jin discussed with Huo Yuhao.

After thinking it over, Huo Yuhao nodded. Normally, heading to the Far North within that time would have been rather tight, but it was different with the motorcycle made through Flesh Alchemy.

"Then I'll leave tomorrow." Huo Yuhao nodded at Mu Jin. She fell silent for a moment, as though she had suddenly remembered something.

"Do you need me to arrange for a teacher to take you hunting? That way, you can be certain of obtaining the soul ring best suited to you."

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said to Mu Jin, "No need, Teacher Mu Jin. I have confidence in my own strength. Besides, when it comes to spiritual-attribute soul rings, it isn't about raw strength. It depends on whether fate lets you encounter one."

Mu Jin sighed, nodded, and waved Huo Yuhao away. After leaving the room, Huo Yuhao returned to the dormitory.

He briefly told Wang Dong about going soul hunting, and she was immediately stunned. "You're going soul hunting already? In such a hurry?"

Huo Yuhao nodded. After some thought, he reminded Wang Dong, "I heard that the freshmen assessment involves actual sparring between new students. A few people seem to be close to becoming Soul Elders already. If you don't want to lose too badly, you'd better work harder too."

Wang Dong shrugged, entirely unconcerned. "This young master has a thousand-year second ring. Even if they become Soul Elders and gain thousand-year soul rings, it'll still be thousand-year soul skills against thousand-year soul skills. This young master won't be at a disadvantage."

"As long as you're happy." Huo Yuhao did not keep pressing her. He merely nodded calmly at Wang Dong before packing his bag for the Far North.

Wang Dong continued her Sleep God Inheritance. Soft little snores soon reached Huo Yuhao's ears.

Huo Yuhao stood with his hands on his hips in helplessness, looking at the deeply sleeping Wang Dong. He casually pulled the blanket over her.

"If she's doing this, it'll make things easier for me." After packing his bag for the Far North, Huo Yuhao left Shrek Academy.

He had effectively gotten half a day's head start on Mu Jin. Leaving half a day early would not draw anyone's attention. Huo Yuhao found another inn on the outskirts of Shrek City, bought a hundred jin of fresh meat from several markets, and placed it inside a formation. As a huge portion of his spiritual power vanished in an instant, a motorcycle entirely crimson red, like living flesh, appeared within the formation.

Huo Yuhao could not help frowning. If he rode that thing out looking like this, he would probably be treated as an Evil Soul Master.

Without delay, Huo Yuhao added some blood to the formation and altered the motorcycle's appearance into something more like ordinary metal.

After finishing everything, Huo Yuhao lay on the bed and closed his eyes to rest.

Only then did Sky Dream Ice Silkworm finally notice the abnormality in the Sea of Consciousness and begin wildly protesting within Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness.

"Yuhao! What did you do? Why has the energy in the Sea of Consciousness suddenly dropped so much?!" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's voice made Huo Yuhao frown slightly.

"What are you shouting for? You know part of my spiritual power was drained, yet you still won't shut up and let me rest? Do you want my soul to suffer damage too before you behave?" Huo Yuhao said impatiently in the Sea of Consciousness.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm ultimately chose silence, though it said with some displeasure, "Be more careful next time. If I weren't here protecting your soul, losing that much spiritual power in an instant could really have injured it!"

Huo Yuhao curled his lip and did not answer Sky Dream Ice Silkworm further. Instead, he blocked out its voice and went to sleep.

That night, Huo Yuhao opened his eyes, ate something simple to fill his ravenous stomach, then put away the Flesh Motorcycle and checked out under the innkeeper's astonished gaze.

After leaving Shrek City and traveling some distance, Huo Yuhao arrived at a stretch of wilderness between two cities.

The Eye of Flesh Alchemy opened, and the Flesh Motorcycle flew out from it and landed on the ground. Huo Yuhao swung himself onto it, twisted the handle, and shot northward.

Sensing that Huo Yuhao was heading for the Far North, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm excitedly asked, "Are we going to the Far North? Around when will we get there?"

Huo Yuhao replied irritably, "Have you even considered how far this place is from the Far North? It'll take at least ten days."

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm let out a miserable cry before launching into a stream of complaints about how slow and unreliable human soul masters were at traveling.

Huo Yuhao treated it as bird chirping, silently blocked Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's voice, and continued driving forward.

About four days later, Huo Yuhao reached the edge of the Far North. The only thing that had delayed him along the way was crossing through a country. Entry and exit procedures were somewhat troublesome, but under a monetary offensive, they had not cost him much time.

The moment he arrived at the Far North, biting cold surged through the gaps in Huo Yuhao's clothes and into his body.

Huo Yuhao staggered slightly, doing his best to suppress the abnormal feedback within his Sea of Consciousness.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was still sleeping soundly in Huo Yuhao's mind. Ever since hearing that it would take around ten days to reach the Far North, he had returned to his long-sleeping state.

In a town at the edge of the Far North, Huo Yuhao purchased a set of cold-weather clothing suitable for the region at a high price before entering the Far North.

Although the Far North did not have soul beasts gathered as densely as the Star Dou Great Forest, it was still a major soul beast habitat. Huo Yuhao did not dare recklessly tear through it on his motorcycle.

After thinking for a moment, Huo Yuhao woke Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. Still groggy, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm instantly snapped awake when a trace of cold entered the Sea of Consciousness.

"We're here already?" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm stared at Huo Yuhao in astonishment. Huo Yuhao merely shrugged and replied in the Sea of Consciousness with an innocent expression.

"I misjudged the distance. But I woke you up to discuss something else."

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm perked up and nodded at Huo Yuhao. "What is it? Go ahead."

Huo Yuhao said to Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, "I don't intend to make Ice Empress my second martial soul."

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was instantly shocked. His emotions flared as he shrieked at Huo Yuhao, "What did you say? Why?!"

Huo Yuhao had long expected Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's reaction. He immediately forced him to calm down within the Sea of Consciousness, then said, "Which soul beast I absorb as my second martial soul should have been my decision in the first place. Secondly, after choosing Ice Empress in my previous life, the negative consequences far outweighed the benefits. So I've decided to take another path that suits me better..."