At Last, the Far North

Xiao Wu curled up beside Er Ming, occasionally glancing at the Ice Bear King in the distance. The youth who had imprisoned them sat upright before the Ice Bear King.

There was no distinction between day and night here. She had no idea how long she had been trapped in this place. She only knew that her stomach had gone completely numb from hunger, her lips were dry and peeling, and her mind was beginning to grow hazy.

Da Ming and Er Ming were not in good condition either. They had been injured by the Ice Bear King before, and now they were only holding on through the formidable bodies of soul beasts.

Suddenly, an invisible ripple spread from the Ice Bear King. Xiao Wu looked up and saw light shining from the youth's brow. A faint golden phantom pulsed outward from him 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 energy leakage that could be 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 was completely restored.

"Grandfather, you're awake!" Er Bai spoke at once.

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

Er Bai held him in his palms and walked over to Xiao Wu, Da Ming, and Er Ming. Seeing the miserable state of the three, Huo Yuhao paused for a moment. Obscure incantations spilled 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's body into the three of them.

The golden-green radiance was like spring rain and spring thunder, nourishing bodies that had been dry for far too long and rekindling their hope of life.

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

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

As he spoke, another Undead Gate opened beside him, and he lifted a foot to leave.

"Wait!" Xiao Wu teleported at full speed, yet she still could not reach even the hem of the youth'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 not even the slightest chance? Xiao Wu thought despairingly.

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

Wasn't sacrificing themselves to Grandfather a good thing? That fellow A Tai had not even been given the chance. Although life in the God Realm was not good, they 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 finally erupted, roaring at Er Bai. Being trapped here and only able to wait for death was too unbearable.

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

If Grandfather had not told him to spare their lives, he would have bitten those two ungrateful 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 also tried desperately to make sounds, but their injuries were too severe, and they could only let out muffled whimpers.

"Not now. But they will after they sacrifice themselves to Tang San." Er Bai said coldly. Grandfather had paid such an enormous price to return to Douluo Continent. How could it be brushed aside with a single claim that it had not happened yet? Since they were hidden dangers, all threats naturally had to be eliminated before they could occur.

After saying that, Er Bai ignored the three of them and focused on recovering by himself. He had to return to his strongest state as quickly as possible, then help Grandfather beat up the bad guys.

Xiao Wu was so shocked by Er Bai's words that she could not speak. She had considered that, if she were discovered by a Titled Douluo and had no choice but to die, she would sacrifice herself to Tang San. But she had never thought Da Ming and Er Ming would do the same. How could that be possible?

After leaving the Undead Demiplane, Huo Yuhao reappeared in the same place as before. After briefly getting his bearings, he took out the flying soul tool he had not used in a long time.

Looking at the somewhat worn soul tool in his hand, faces flashed through Huo Yuhao's mind. He shook his head and set those memories aside. This had been a gift from his senior brother during his first inspection mission.

He gently removed the added outer casing, revealing the soul tool core formation within.

His Spirit Eyes opened, and he held the Ghost Sculpture in his palm. His movements were precise, his concentration absolute, and beads of sweat slowly slid down. He had no replacement soul tool 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. Hidden weapons were superior to soul tools in this regard. Without things like soul tool core formations, relying entirely on mechanical mechanisms, their materials and craftsmanship allowed them to be stored 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 barely operate, had been modified so that even someone with one soul ring could use it.

He strapped the flying soul tool onto his back. Seven-colored soul rings appeared, and a simple wind-element spell first carried him into the sky. Then, he naturally began to fly.

Traveling day and night, he flew for ten straight days. At last, Huo Yuhao saw a world of ice and snow in the distance.

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

He carefully avoided the notice of all living creatures until he reached the depths of the Icebound Forest.

Huo Yuhao opened the Undead Gate once more and stepped inside. "Er Bai, how is your injury recovering?" Another ten days had passed. With Er Bai's recovery ability, he should have recovered quite well.

As usual, Er Bai held Huo Yuhao in his palm and raised 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 flames burst with sparks, and he darted toward the gate with Huo Yuhao in tow.

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

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

"Let's head farther in first. We'll talk after we enter the core region."

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