Far North, Searching for a Soul Ring

Jing Chen and Yi Yi arrived on the southeastern side of the Far North. A few thousand meters farther east lay the sea.

The Mutated Water Qilin possessed Ice and Water dual attributes. When obtaining a soul ring, searching for soul beasts where the ice fields met the sea was undoubtedly the best choice.

Naturally, it would be best if he encountered a top-tier soul beast with Ice and Water dual attributes. If not, a top-tier Ice Attribute or Water Attribute soul beast would also do.

For his first soul ring, he hoped to obtain it from a power-attack-type soul beast. He did not have any particular requirements regarding its species.

After all, finding soul beasts depended entirely on luck. It was not as though he could definitely find whatever kind of soul beast he wanted.

He could not spend too much time searching for one specific soul beast. What if he could not find one after ten days or half a month? Was he supposed to keep searching forever?

Jing Chen looked out over the endless white ice fields, took a deep breath, and stepped toward the Far North ice plains, known as a forbidden zone for humans.

After entering the ice fields, Jing Chen felt not coldness, but warmth. The sensation was particularly strange.

It was as if heat rather than freezing air drifted through the air, making his body feel comfortable and causing the Soul Power within him to circulate much faster.

Here, Jing Chen felt like a fish in water. If he released his Martial Soul, his combat strength would be at least fifty percent greater than in a normal environment.

"Yiyi. (A little cold.)" The little tiger Yi Yi felt somewhat uncomfortable. His attributes did not include ice, so he could not resist the cold as Jing Chen could.

He was not shivering from the cold, but the change in temperature still left him somewhat unaccustomed to it.

Jing Chen stopped, lifted Yi Yi off his head, and held him in his arms. He circulated his Soul Power and tried to help Yi Yi absorb the surrounding cold air.

"Yiyi. (Comfortable.)" The cold sensation vanished. Yi Yi narrowed his little eyes contentedly and affectionately rubbed against Jing Chen's chest.

Jing Chen smiled. His Soul Power was indeed useful—it could ease Yi Yi's chill by absorbing the cold air.

He continued forward at an unhurried pace, walking carefully and remaining vigilant at all times.

The Far North was called a forbidden zone for humanity, a name built upon countless lives buried there.

If he let his guard down, he too might die here. For now, the Extreme Ice Martial Soul could only help him withstand the cold; it had not granted him the combat strength to fear no soul beast.

To minimize his presence and avoid drawing attention, he wore entirely white clothing and a white hat.

The color blended with the surroundings and was unlikely to attract notice. If he lay on the snow, it would also be easier to hide himself.

Jing Chen headed northeast, intending to get a little closer to the sea. That would make it easier to encounter a suitable soul beast.

Soul beasts were scarce along the edge of the Far North. After walking nearly a thousand meters, Jing Chen had encountered only three soul beasts, all relatively weak Ten-Year Soul Beasts.

He chose to go around or avoid all of them. There was no need to hunt them.

After walking another thousand meters or so, Jing Chen began encountering more soul beasts, most of them Hundred-Year Soul Beasts.

Whenever he encountered an unsuitable soul beast, Jing Chen avoided it whenever possible. If he truly could not avoid it, he had Yi Yi deal with it.

"Yiyi. (Hundred-Year Soul Beasts are boring.)" After killing an Ice Rock Pig that was more than three hundred years old, Yi Yi returned to Jing Chen's arms and complained.

Yi Yi's cultivation had already reached over two thousand three hundred years. If he devoured Hundred-Year Soul Beasts like this, the energy conversion ratio was so small that it could practically be ignored.

More than three hundred years of cultivation could not even increase his own cultivation by one year. It was no wonder he found it boring.

The strength of Yi Yi, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's devouring ability depended on the strength of what he devoured.

If the target's cultivation was higher than his, devouring it would grant him a greater increase in cultivation. For example, the Azure Nether Turtle he had devoured last time, which was over four thousand years old, had increased his cultivation by nearly a hundred years.

If he devoured a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast now, the increase might reach more than three hundred years. Even more than four hundred years was not impossible.

However, devouring soul beasts weaker than himself resulted in only a small increase. Soul beasts below a thousand years no longer helped Yi Yi improve his strength very much.

"I'll find you some interesting soul beasts later," Jing Chen reassured him. After storing the Ice Rock Pig's corpse, he continued onward.

More than four hours later, Jing Chen had encountered quite a few soul beasts, but not one was suitable for him.

"If only I could develop a soul beast detector. Then I wouldn't have to search aimlessly and rely on luck."

Jing Chen murmured to himself. After returning, he would have to seriously consider whether he could develop such a device.

Searching for soul beasts solely through luck was far too time-consuming and exhausting, and the soul ring he ultimately obtained might not even be the ideal one.

After briefly considering it, he set the idea aside for the moment. In the dangerous Far North, getting distracted was no different from courting death.

"Yiyi. (There's something a little stronger up ahead.)" After they walked a little farther, Yi Yi, who had been lazily lying in Jing Chen's arms, suddenly perked up.

"Hm?" Jing Chen halted and watched the path ahead cautiously. For Yi Yi to say that, this soul beast was probably no ordinary one.

"Can you handle it?" Jing Chen looked down at Yi Yi in his arms. Whether they went to take a look or took a detour depended on whether Yi Yi could deal with it.

"Yiyi. (Of course I can.)" Yi Yi waved his little paw, raised his little head, and indicated that it would not be a problem.

Jing Chen smiled and rubbed Yi Yi's head. "Since it's no problem, let's go take a look."

Hearing Yi Yi say that gave Jing Chen confidence. He continued onward, and after walking six or seven hundred meters, he began to slow down.

More than two hundred meters ahead stood a large creature. It looked humanoid, with two arms and two legs.

If not for its enormous size and the white fur covering its body, Jing Chen would truly have thought it was a human.

The large creature currently had its back to him, holding something in both hands and gnawing on it.

Jing Chen did not even need to see clearly to guess that it was eating soul beast meat, because a purple soul ring floated in front of it.

"Its aura is powerful, but it hasn't reached the energy level of a Thousand-Year Soul Beast. This soul beast has a rather high bloodline level."

Jing Chen murmured. Over the past five years, he had often dealt with soul beasts and had encountered Ten-Year, Hundred-Year, and Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

Having seen so many, he had become familiar with their energy fluctuations and could judge what level a soul beast was based on its energy intensity.

The soul beast ahead had not reached the thousand-year level. It was a Hundred-Year Soul Beast, though its exact age was unknown.

Although it had not reached a thousand years, its energy intensity was not inferior to that of a Thousand-Year Soul Beast at all. It could not be judged by ordinary standards.

As Jing Chen watched the soul beast, an idea arose in his mind. Judging from its appearance, it should be a power-attack-type soul beast, right?

At the same time Jing Chen observed the soul beast, it sensed something and turned to look behind it.

The first chapter for today. The new book is setting sail—please bookmark it and vote with recommendation tickets.