The Ice Jade Scorpion Swarm
At dawn, the six people gathered around the campfire, eating roasted meat. The Snow Soul Bear King squatted to the side, slowly savoring the roasted beef leg that Huo Lei had given him.
"Huo Lei, Bing'er has reached Level 70. After breakfast, are you going to help her add her Seventh Soul Ring? How many of you are going? Can you take me with you?" Yunxiang asked curiously, chewing on some roasted meat.
Huo Lei tossed the bone in his hand into the campfire, wiped his mouth, and replied to Yunxiang, "This time, we're going to add Soul Ring to Bing'er. We don't need too many people. Senior An Jun can accompany us. The rest of you can stay in the cave and cultivate!"
"Oh! Okay!" Hearing Huo Lei's reply, Yunxiang felt helpless, took a big bite of the roasted meat in her hand, and chewed.
A short while later, everyone had eaten and drunk their fill.
Huo Lei looked at Shui Bing'er and An Jun and said, "Senior An Jun, Bing'er, let's set off!"
"Hey! Wait a minute! Here, take these." Yunxiang's voice rang out, and she handed three pink Strawberry to the three of them in her right hand.
Huo Lei smiled and said, "We're only hunting Soul Beast with 50,000 to 60,000 years of cultivation. With Senior An Jun here, we don't need to do that!"
"Take it! Better safe than sorry," Jin Shan's voice rang out.
Yunxiang in, "Senior Jin Shan is right, take it!"
"Alright! Thank you." Huo Lei took a Strawberry from Yunxiang's hand and stored it in his Storage Ring.
An Jun and Shui Bing'er smiled and nodded in greeting, each taking one and storing it away.
"Let's go." Huo Lei called out to An Jun and Shui Bing'er, and took the lead in stepping out.
Huo Lei and his two companions walked side by side, treading on the ice and snow, heading southeast.
Huo Lei walked in the middle of the three, asking as he went, "Senior An Jun, how many Ten- Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow have you three consumed in the past half month?"
An Jun stated frankly, "The ice pillars containing the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow varied in size; six have been consumed in total, leaving thirty remaining."
"Oh? There are still so many. It seems we'll have to stay in that cave for a while longer." Huo Lei's tone revealed a hint of surprise.
"Yes!" An Jun smiled and agreed.
Few Soul Beast ventured into the Snow Soul Bear King's territory. Huo Lei and his companions didn't encounter any Soul Beast Soul Beast at first, until two quarters of an hour later when they finally spotted some.
The moment Huo Lei discovered the traces of the Soul Beast, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he immediately released the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, enveloping An Jun, Shui Bing'er, and himself, and entering a state of invisibility.
Traveling swiftly, under the cover of the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, Huo Lei and his group quickly entered the activity area of 60,000-year-old Soul Beast, safely avoiding several Soul Beast with cultivation levels of 70,000 to 80,000 years.
Even after reaching the ideal area, Huo Lei did not retract the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud. Instead, he slowed down his pace and began searching for a suitable Soul Beast for Shui Bing'er.
In fact, any Soul Beast living in the Far North would be suitable for Shui Bing'er, as long as its cultivation level meets the requirements. But with so many Soul Beast, it's natural to choose the best of the best. This is human nature, and it also reflects Huo Lei's love for Shui Bing'er.
"Huo Lei, why aren't you moving forward? This is an area where 60,000-year-old Soul Beast roam. You're not trying to find me a 60,000-year-old Soul Beast, are you? I remember that Soul Master's Seventh Soul Ring can't be higher than 50,000 years." Shui Bing'er looked at Huo Lei beside her with a hint of doubt on her face and asked.
Huo Lei smiled slightly and said, "Bing'er, you're right, but not entirely wrong. There are always exceptions. What you described is the highest standard for ordinary genius Soul Master, but you've already surpassed that. After you consumed the precious herbs, the quality of your Martial Soul was improved, becoming the Ultimate Ice. Ultimate Attribute Martial Soul are extremely rare; their greatest value lies in their ultimate nature. Your Ultimate Ice can exert a significant suppressive effect on ordinary ice attribute Soul Master or Soul Beast."
"The precious herbs, the Ultimate Ice, the Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone, and the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow that have modified your body, combined with all of these, make your physical attributes and endurance far superior to those of ordinary genius Soul Master. Therefore, adding a sixty-thousand-year Soul Ring to your Seventh Soul Ring is no problem."
An Jun comforted Shui Bing'er, saying, "Miss Bing'er, don't worry! Huo Lei is very sensible; he certainly wouldn't do something he's not sure of. Besides, he wouldn't let someone he likes risk their life."
Hearing An Jun's last sentence, Shui Bing'er's cheeks flushed slightly, and she whispered, "Then let's listen to Huo Lei!"
Although Shui Bing'er's voice was very soft, Huo Lei still heard it all. Looking at the shy Shui Bing'er, Huo Lei felt a surge of heat in his heart. However, because An Jun was there, Huo Lei had to suppress his impulse.
Just then, An Jun's voice suddenly rang out, "Huo Lei, look quickly! A group of Ice Jade Scorpion have appeared a hundred meters ahead!"
An Jun's words instantly snapped Huo Lei out of his daze. Huo Lei quickly focused his gaze forward and, sure enough, a group of bluish-green scorpions appeared not far in front of them.
Huo Lei exclaimed excitedly, "Let's go take a look!"
Huo Lei controlled the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud to slowly advance forward.
"Senior An Jun, what kind of 'ice scorpion' is this? Could you tell us about it?" Shui Bing'er had returned to normal, the blush on her face had faded, and she looked at An Jun with a pair of inquisitive eyes.
An Jun nodded and said, "Of course. Actually, I don't know much about Soul Beast like the Ice Jade Scorpion. The Ice Jade Scorpion is native to the Far North; they are social Soul Beast. Ice Jade Scorpion have large populations, strong ice attributes, and their stingers contain potent venom. Their characteristics are great strength, strong defense, and difficult-to-cure poison. Moreover, they fight in groups, making them very powerful Soul Beast in the Far North. Not to mention Soul Beast of the same level, even Soul Beast older than them dare not easily provoke them."
"The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, ranked second among the Four Heavenly Kings of the Far North mentioned by the Snow Soul Bear King, is their patriarch, as you all know. Soul Beast capable of cultivating for hundreds of thousands of years—one can only imagine how high their talent is. If one could hunt down an Ice Jade Scorpion and use it as Soul Ring, their strength would definitely increase greatly."
As soon as An Jun finished speaking, Huo Lei stopped controlling the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud. At this moment, they were less than twenty meters away from the Ice Jade Scorpion Swarm.
Observing the Ice Jade Scorpion up close is even more impactful. Huo Lei unconsciously swallowed, because the Ice Jade Scorpion's appearance was simply too imposing.
The Ice Jade Scorpion's body is covered with hexagonal, diamond-shaped protrusions on its carapace. Its forepins are thick and serrated, and its stinger is an arc-shaped ice blade. Both the forepins and stinger are silver-white. Its tail segments are long and slender, and its eight long legs and five-segmented tail are all emerald green. Its eyes are crystal yellow, and its entire body is surrounded by a chilling aura. The tip of its tail gleams coldly as it swings in the air, seemingly ready to attack at any moment, giving people a chilling feeling.
There were nine Ice Jade Scorpion in front of Huo Lei. The smallest one was about 1.5 meters long, with a body color that was mainly white and emerald green; most of the others were between two and four meters long, with most of their bodies being emerald green, and only a few being white; the leader was the largest and most conspicuous, with a body length of six meters and an entire body of emerald green.
"Senior An Jun, do you know how to distinguish the cultivation years of these Ice Jade Scorpion?" Shui Bing'er looked at the swarm of Ice Jade Scorpion outside the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud and asked An Jun curiously.