Far North! Traces of the Titan Snow Demon!

The next day, dawn had barely broken.

Lu Xiao rose early. After a night of rest, he was already back at his peak.

When he stepped out of his room, Du Busi was already waiting in the main hall, dressed in close-fitting black robes, with every trace of his cultivation aura completely concealed.

Xiao Wu had long since packed everything for Lu Xiao. The moment she saw him emerge, she hurried over and repeatedly reminded him, "Lu Xiao, you must come back safely. I'll be waiting for you here."

"Mm."

Lu Xiao answered gently and raised a hand to lightly ruffle her soft hair. "Don't worry."

After bidding Xiao Wu farewell, the two turned and stepped out of the Ice and Snow Hotel.

Quite a few Soul Masters on the streets were fully armed, clad in heavy Ice Velvet Battle Armor as they hurried along. No one was willing to remain outdoors for long, which showed just how terrifying the Far North was.

Du Busi walked ahead, with Lu Xiao close behind. Soul Power quietly circulated through him, steadily warding off the invasion of extreme cold.

They passed through Extreme Ice City's main avenue and arrived at the northern city gate.

Security here was even tighter than at the southern gate. The guards were all ice-attribute Soul Masters, their auras icy and their gazes sharp as they fixed their eyes on the endless white ice plains beyond the city.

Lu Xiao stepped forward, holding the Saintess Token.

The captain of the guards hurried over and bowed respectfully. He did not dare obstruct them in the slightest and proactively raised his hand to let them pass. "Honored guests, take care on the road ahead. The blizzards in the Far North Wasteland have intensified recently, and Soul Beast activity has become frequent. You must be careful."

"Thank you for the warning." Lu Xiao nodded in thanks.

The heavy northern gate slowly opened. An extreme cold storm far more violent and pure than anything within the city swept toward them, while snow filled the sky and lashed against their faces, instantly swallowing their vision in boundless white.

Before them lay the true forbidden zone of life—the Far North!

Du Busi led Lu Xiao in a leap onto the snowfields.

Looking around, heaven and earth were nothing but pure white. There were no plants, no living creatures, no roads—only endless snowfields and ice mist hanging in the air.

The freezing wind howled without end, shrieking as it swept across the ice like ghosts weeping and wolves howling, enough to make one's heart tremble.

After an unknown amount of time, Du Busi led Lu Xiao to a cave.

The terrain here was excellent, blocking all the wind and snow outside the cave.

Du Busi took out the firewood he had prepared beforehand, lit it, and tossed in a large chunk of grease from some unknown Soul Beast.

The bonfire flared up, and warmth dispersed the chill inside the cave.

Du Busi studied the map in his hand and said in a low voice, "Another thousand li ahead lies the Eternal Frozen Plains. The Titan Snow Demon lives in that region."

Lu Xiao sat cross-legged beside the fire. While circulating his Soul Power to regulate his breathing, he instinctively swept his gaze around the surroundings.

After the two rested briefly, a jumble of deliberately softened footsteps suddenly sounded outside the cave, accompanied by several hurried voices.

"Boss! That beast didn't flee back to the Eternal Frozen Plains, did it?"

"It's been poisoned. It can't have run that far!"

"The blizzard is too heavy. Let's take shelter in this cave first, then continue the chase after we recover."

"Perfect. We can restore our Soul Power while we rest and properly plan what comes next."

A moment later, seven figures in black robes lifted the curtain of ice at the cave entrance and entered one after another.

When they entered, surprise flashed through their eyes, and they exchanged looks in secret.

The leader took a step forward, courteous and mild in manner. "The two of you, we are merely passing through. The blizzard is too fierce for us to continue, so we wish to borrow this cave for a short rest. Would that be convenient?"

Lu Xiao raised his eyes and calmly swept his gaze over them. His expression did not change, but alarm bells instantly rang in his heart.

This man appeared amiable, but his eyes concealed a hard-to-detect gloominess and brutality.

The six behind him had cold, bloodthirsty gazes, and the strong scent of blood clung to their bodies. They clearly were no good either!

Du Busi continued looking down at the map and casually uttered two words. "Suit yourselves."

"Thank you, Senior."

The leader promptly replied. The group retreated to a corner of the cave, each pretending to meditate and recover. Seven pairs of eyes silently met as they secretly observed Lu Xiao and Du Busi.

The next day, the wind and snow at the cave entrance gradually weakened.

The seven Soul Masters rose first, pretending to prepare to continue their journey. One by one, they left the cave and headed toward the Eternal Frozen Plains.

Only after their figures had completely vanished into the vast snowy mist did Du Busi slowly raise his eyes, his gaze filled with cold severity. "Who would've thought? There are actually Evil Soul Masters who have grown powerful enough to hide in the Far North!"

"The leader is an Soul Douluo, and the other six are all Soul Sages!"

Du Busi spoke gravely. "The direction they are traveling is precisely where the Titan Snow Demon resides."

Lu Xiao knew that the Evil Soul Masters Du Busi spoke of were fallen Soul Masters. Frowning, he asked, "Could their target also be the Titan Snow Demon?"

"Follow them."

Du Busi concealed every trace of his aura. "Tail them quietly and see what they actually intend to do."

Once they were far from the cave, the seven Evil Soul Masters shed their disguises. Dark Soul Power surged around them in waves, and their faces twisted with ferocity.

"Boss, why didn't we kill those two bastards?"

The frailest man among the seven had bloodlust filling his eyes.

"Xie Qi! Those two aren't simple!"

As their leader, Xie Yi's eyes were full of wariness. "The instant I saw that green-haired old man, I felt a sense of danger!"

As soon as Xie Yi said this, the other six Evil Soul Masters stiffened, their eyes instantly filled with caution and fear.

They had followed Xie Yi for many years and understood their boss's abilities better than anyone.

Xie Yi's martial soul was an ancient evil beast martial soul—the Blood-Eyed Life-Devouring Lion—which possessed an exceptionally strange ability to foresee danger.

It was precisely because of Xie Yi's foresight that they had repeatedly escaped death during Spirit Hall's encirclements and extermination campaigns. After fleeing and hiding from place to place, they had ultimately slipped into the desolate, dangerous Far North to establish themselves and lie low.

However, this martial soul had enormous drawbacks, and its backlash was severe. From the moment his martial soul awakened, Xie Yi had needed to devour the blood essence of ten living creatures every day.

That was also why Xie Yi had already reached the Soul Douluo realm while they were still Soul Sages!

Because Xie Yi ate the most!

"Once we refine that Titan Snow Demon into a blood corpse and have it launch a beast tide against Extreme Ice City, we can sacrifice every living being in the city and help me break through to become a Title Douluo!"

As Xie Yi spoke, even his breathing became hurried. "When that time comes, the seven of us will never need to hide like this again!"

As his words fell, feverish, greedy light ignited in everyone's eyes.

They seemed to have already seen the day when the seven of them would divide up the Northern Frontier, refine all living things, and achieve the rank of Title Douluo!

The seven quickened their pace, following the bloodstains left in the snow at high speed.

The deeper they went, the thicker the ice beneath their feet became, the more piercing the cold between heaven and earth grew, and the denser the ice mist floating in the air became, obscuring their vision.

Along the ice layer, enormous beast claw prints could be seen everywhere, varying in depth and marked with mottled black traces of poison. They were the tracks left behind by the fleeing Titan Snow Demon.

They had no idea that high above them, Lu Xiao and Du Busi were watching coldly, as though looking at a group of dead men!