Far-North Icefield

"Ah?"

Qian Mo responded in surprise. He had not expected this to involve him too, and his hands paused as he was changing clothes.

Ye Lulu stared blankly.

Those abs, those pecs, that shy little expression...

Ye Lulu felt a sudden heat in her nose, as though something were flowing out. Her whole body froze for a moment like a rusted machine.

The other two girls naturally noticed this change as well.

Liu Erlong, still an unmarried maiden—and one who would remain so for the next twenty-odd years—immediately shyly looked away.

Xiao Qi, though still too young to understand such matters, was not stupid. She could tell that this was definitely not a good situation.

She immediately ran over in a huff and blocked Ye Lulu's view like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

"Tch."

Ye Lulu clicked her tongue in annoyance. On the surface, she calmly wiped away the blood flowing from her nose before hurriedly making an excuse.

"Oh, it's all your fault, Qian Mo. I've been feeling overheated lately, and you made so many heat-inducing dishes. Look, you even gave me a nosebleed. Remember to make some cooling dishes tomorrow."

Yet under Qian Mo's strange gaze,

Ye Lulu's voice grew softer and softer. In the end, she simply turned over, too embarrassed to look at Qian Mo.

She looked exactly like an ostrich burying its head in the ground to escape reality.

**"Ahhh! What have I done?! How could I get a nosebleed just from looking at someone's abs?

You're such trash, Ye Lulu!!!"**

Ye Lulu screamed madly inside her heart.

Meanwhile, Qian Mo withdrew his gaze and curled his lips. He then looked at Liu Erlong, though this time his gaze was no longer as casual as before, carrying a hint of scrutiny instead.

After a simple analysis of the pros and cons, Qian Mo decided that Liu Erlong could be brought into the team.

First of all, Qian Mo thought the same way as Ye Lulu: the more strong subordinates he had in the future, the better.

What Qian Mo could not understand, however, was Yu Luomian's bizarre way of thinking.

Even Ye Lulu, an academic slacker, could see Liu Erlong's obvious talent. Could Yu Luomian, one of the vice sect masters of the Upper Three Sects, really have failed to see it?

In the future, Liu Erlong would reach around rank eighty in her forties, and that was while she had given up on herself because of her love-struck brain. She might not have lacked the hope of becoming a Title Douluo.

So even if her Martial Soul was unsuitable, would it have been so difficult to give Liu Erlong's mother a proper status and arrange for Liu Erlong to become an elder of a branch family in the future?

Yet he had let such a promising seedling wander around outside. It was truly baffling.

Moreover, among the many oddballs in the original story, Liu Erlong was also love-struck, but she had not done many things that made people dislike her.

At most, she had mindlessly complained a little when Yu Xiaogang failed to obtain the cultivation method for Twin Martial Souls from Bibi Dong.

Other than that, Liu Erlong kept herself pure, founded an academy for commoner Soul Masters, and was always the first to step forward whenever her students were in danger. Those were all the shining points of her character.

But more than anything, Qian Mo did not want Yu Xiaogang to get another good deal and make such a good girl pay for his cowardice.

It was one thing that he could not directly interfere too aggressively with Bibi Dong in Martial Soul Hall, where experts were everywhere.

But out here in the wilderness, if Liu Erlong had practically delivered herself to his doorstep and he still let her get away, Qian Mo might as well stop trying.

At the same time, Qian Mo was curious whether Yu Xiaogang could still earn himself a nickname after he pried away the Killing Horn of the Golden Iron Triangle.

Thus, the soul-hunting team officially gained one more member.

Having gotten her wish, Liu Erlong immediately beamed.

Though it had only been a spur-of-the-moment decision, Liu Erlong felt that she would not regret joining such a team.

The next day, the four set out.

After another long stretch of travel, the four finally arrived at the edge of the Far-North Icefield on Douluo Continent.

Not long after setting foot on this land, Liu Erlong could not help shrinking her neck as she complained.

"I'd heard long ago that the Far-North Icefield was freezing, but even I, a fire-attribute Soul Master, feel this cold.

This is only the outer region. Isn't this environment a little too extreme?"

"Hehe, if you know it's cold, hurry up and put on more clothes."

Qian Mo chuckled from the side, then took out the cotton coats he had prepared beforehand from his storage soul tool.

For a while, everyone began putting on additional gear.

Xiao Qi alone became as lively as a swallow returning to its nest, hopping around excitedly for quite some time. In the end, Qian Mo forcibly wrapped this ice-attribute Soul Master in a thick layer of gear as well, citing that it was for her own good.

Though she was somewhat dissatisfied, Qian Mo was Xiao Qi's respected teacher. She could only accept it with an awkward expression.

After venturing some distance into the Far-North Icefield,

Xiao Qi finally puffed up her cheeks in dissatisfaction as she looked at the endlessly snow-covered Far-North Icefield before them.

"Teacher, we've already gone dozens of kilometers in. Where exactly is the Ice Silkworm you said you'd find for me?"

Qian Mo chuckled at that.

"Don't rush, Xiao Qi. Didn't I tell you before?

Although the Far-North Icefield, as a soul beast gathering ground, is no smaller than Star Dou Forest, the largest soul beast gathering ground,

because of its own lack of resources, the number of soul beasts here is actually far lower than in Star Dou Forest.

And although the Ice Silkworm I'm hunting for you is at the bottom of the Far-North Icefield's food chain, ordinary hundred-year Ice Silkworms are not worthy of your physical strength. At the very least, your teacher has to find you a three- or four-hundred-year Ice Silkworm."

Comforted and instructed so gently by Qian Mo, Xiao Qi's restless heart, stirred by her impending Soul Ring acquisition, was finally soothed.

While they continued searching for an Ice Silkworm,

Xiao Qi spotted several similar soul beasts and eagerly asked Qian Mo whether they were her target.

Qian Mo smiled and shook his head. However, he did not explain those soul beasts in detail, merely naming them before moving on.

Because Qian Mo knew very well

that as a Soul Master, one normally only needed nine Soul Rings. Even if one broadened the range of soul beasts to choose from, remembering a few dozen species was enough. Even with Twin Martial Souls, at most a hundred species would suffice.

Yu Xiaogang's approach of wanting to cram every single soul beast into Tang San's head was simply insane. Other than wasting Tang San's energy and slowing his cultivation, it offered very little benefit. The drawbacks far outweighed the advantages.

Fortunately, Ice Silkworms were not rare soul beasts. After searching for around a day, the four found a suitable target and had Xiao Qi kill it.

It was only while Xiao Qi was refining her Soul Ring

that Ye Lulu, who had wanted to speak several times along the way but had ultimately been unable to hold it in any longer, asked,

"Qian Mo, Xiao Qi's talent is so good. Is it really okay for you to choose such a weak soul beast for her?"