At Last, the Far North

Xiao Wu curled up beside Er Ming, glancing from time to time at the Ice Bear King not far away. The young man who had imprisoned them sat upright before the Ice Bear King.

There was no distinction between day and night here. She did not know how long she had been trapped in this place. She only knew that her stomach was so hungry it had gone completely numb, her lips were dry and peeling, and her mind was beginning to grow hazy.

Da Ming and Er Ming were not doing well either. They had been injured by the Ice Bear King before, and now they were merely holding on with the formidable bodies of soul beasts.

Suddenly, an invisible ripple spread out from the Ice Bear King. Xiao Wu looked up and saw light shining from the young man's brow. A faint golden phantom rippled outward from his body like a heartbeat, and the entire world seemed to come alive.

Countless terrifying creatures lowered their heads, showing reverence to their master.

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes, rose to his feet, and stretched his limbs. His divine soul had not fully recovered, but the previous issue of leaking energy and being sensed by powerful beings would no longer occur. With the support of Spirit Life Gold, it was only a matter of time before his divine soul recovered completely.

"Grandpa, you're awake!" Er Bai called out at once.

"Mm. Let's go check on them first." Huo Yuhao nodded.

At his words, Er Bai carried him over to Xiao Wu, Da Ming, and Er Ming. Looking at the miserable state of the three, Huo Yuhao paused for a moment. Obscure incantations flowed from his lips as seven-colored soul rings appeared around him. A complex spell formed from spiritual power emerged in the void, and a stream of pure life force transferred from Huo Yuhao into the three of them.

The golden-green light was like spring rain and spring thunder, nourishing bodies that had long been parched and rekindling their hope of life.

Xiao Wu was astonished to find that she was no longer hungry. She turned to look at Da Ming and Er Ming, only to see that their wounds had stopped bleeding while their limbs remained twisted as before. She immediately looked anxiously toward Huo Yuhao.

Yet Huo Yuhao did not meet Xiao Wu's gaze. He casually tossed out a storage ring. "Food. Ration it."

With that, another Undead Gate opened at his side, and he lifted a foot to leave.

"Wait!" Xiao Wu pushed her teleportation to its limit, yet she still failed to touch even the corner of the young man's clothes. She could only watch helplessly as he vanished through the gate.

The Undead Gate closed. Xiao Wu fell from the air and collapsed onto the ground. Is there really no chance at all? she thought despairingly.

"Why are you making that expression?" Er Bai did not understand.

Wasn't sacrificing herself to Grandpa a good thing? A Tai did not even have such an opportunity. Although life in the God Realm was not very good, she would truly die in the lower realm.

"Do soul beasts deserve to die?! Aren't you a soul beast too? Why are you helping that person deal with us?!" Xiao Wu completely erupted, roaring at Er Bai. Being imprisoned here and able to do nothing but wait for death was unbearable.

"Because they plotted against the auspicious beast. They are sinners of the Star Dou Great Forest!" Er Bai immediately retorted.

If Grandpa had not told him to spare their lives, he would have bitten these two traitors to death long ago.

"Impossible! How could Da Ming and Er Ming possibly harm the auspicious beast?!" Xiao Wu immediately refuted him. Behind her, Da Ming and Er Ming desperately tried to make sounds as well, but their injuries were too severe, and they could only let out muffled whimpers.

"Not now. They will once they sacrifice themselves to Tang San." Er Bai's voice was cold. Grandpa had paid such an enormous price to return to Douluo Continent. How could he let them dismiss it with the excuse that it had not happened yet? Since it was a hidden danger, all threats naturally had to be eliminated before they could occur.

After saying that, Er Bai ignored the three of them and began recovering on his own. He had to return to his peak state as quickly as possible, then help Grandpa beat up the bad guys.

Xiao Wu was too shocked by Er Bai's words to speak. She had considered that if a Titled Douluo found her and she had no choice but to die, she would sacrifice herself to Tang San. But she had never considered that Da Ming and Er Ming would do the same. How could that be possible?

Huo Yuhao left the Undead Demiplane and appeared in the same place as before. After briefly getting his bearings, he took out the Flying Soul Tool he had not used for a long time.

Looking at the somewhat aged Soul Tool in his hand, a series of faces flashed through Huo Yuhao's mind. He shook his head and set those memories aside. His senior brother had given this to him when he first carried out a mission with the inspection group.

He gently removed the added outer casing, exposing the soul guidance core formation within.

His Spirit Eyes opened, and he held the Ghost Sculpture in his palm. His movements were precise, his concentration absolute, and sweat slid down bit by bit. He had no spare soul guidance materials on hand, and this was an artifact from twenty thousand years ago. Even if one day in the God Realm equaled one year in the mortal world, more than sixty years had still passed. Many things had already deteriorated. Those hidden weapons were better than Soul Tools in this regard. Without things like soul guidance core formations and relying solely on mechanical mechanisms, their materials and craftsmanship allowed them to be stored for far longer.

After roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the Flying Soul Tool, which originally required at least two soul rings to be used with difficulty, had been modified so that even someone with one soul ring could use it.

He strapped the Flying Soul Tool to his back. Seven-colored soul rings appeared, and a simple wind-element spell sent him into the sky before he naturally began to fly.

Traveling day and night, Huo Yuhao flew continuously for ten days before finally seeing, in the distance, a world made of ice and snow.

The Far North twenty thousand years ago covered a much larger area than it had ten thousand years later. Its outermost region was a vast ring of coniferous forest stretching nearly beyond sight, called the Icebound Forest. Yet such an enormous forest had already vanished in later generations.

He carefully avoided the notice of every creature until he reached the depths of the Icebound Forest.

Huo Yuhao opened the Undead Gate again and stepped inside. "Er Bai, how are your injuries recovering?" Another ten days had passed. Given Er Bai's recovery ability, he should have recovered quite well.

As usual, Er Bai held Huo Yuhao in his palm and lifted the bear paw that had previously been broken. "The wounds caused by divine power are rather stubborn, but I can already ensure that the corpse poison will not spread."

"Good. Then let's go home." Huo Yuhao nodded.

The moment Er Bai heard the words "go home," his eyes lit up. Two clusters of ghostly blue flame burst into sparks, and he dashed toward the gate with Huo Yuhao.

He completely ignored the shouts of Xiao Wu, Da Ming, and Er Ming behind him. Just as the Undead Gate closed, a storage ring fell from the void and landed in Xiao Wu's palm.

Having emerged from the Undead Demiplane once more, Er Bai was brimming with excitement. Looking at the familiar coniferous forest, his entire bear body shuffled in tiny steps, unable to sit still.

"Let's head inward first. We'll talk once we reach the core region."

Having received the order, Er Bai immediately ran toward the core region. A ferocious beast whose strength had surpassed level 100 could make ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beasts tremble with fear merely by unintentionally releasing his aura.