The crisis in the Far North

"Those evil soul masters think that the stronger they become, the better they should be treated, so they gradually stop caring about rules.

"And Shrek's Inspection Corps exists to restrain them and make them follow the rules." After hearing Huo Yun's explanation, Huo Yuhao more or less understood what the so-called Shrek Inspection Corps was.

"Yes. Ten thousand years ago, Spirit Hall actually did this job. With Spirit Hall keeping them down, those evil soul masters never managed to become a real force. The moment they showed signs of it, Spirit Hall would send troops to wipe them out.

"But Shrek Academy doesn't have the same power to keep people in check that Spirit Hall once did. It works well enough on ordinary soul masters, but against evil soul masters-soul masters who cultivate through special methods, most commonly using human lives, blood, and souls-Shrek's inspections don't have much bite.

"Those soul masters have even gradually formed a sect of their own, the Holy Spirit Cult!"

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao guessed the reason. "Because there's no one like Spirit Hall to wipe them out in time."

"Exactly. And the vast majority of them are people whom life forced into a dead end. Shrek City, where you are now, counts as one of the more peaceful and happy cities on the entire Douluo Continent.

"But outside, plenty of places aren't like this. Some are terribly poor. Some people even have to sell themselves to so-called great clans to awaken their martial souls, never mind getting soul rings. Everyone knows now that the limit for a first soul ring is over four hundred years, yet plenty of people still have ten-year first soul rings. That's because they don't have the means to obtain better ones.

"Suffering and tragedy nourish hatred and pain, causing quite a few people's martial souls to mutate and leading them down this path called being an evil soul master.

"Others bring it on themselves. They just want a shortcut to greater strength, something easier, so they hurt people and take this path.

"When they could actually choose to live in the light instead.

"So don't pity them when you encounter them. Whatever reasons led them down this path in the past, once they take it, they hurt people, making more people become evil soul masters like them, or turning them into materials for their cultivation.

"Come to think of it, evil soul masters' abilities are quite similar to your teacher's necromancy. People could easily mistake you for one, too. Once you master it, don't use that power to hurt people. Use it to protect others, and keep it as a trump card.

"If you encounter evil soul masters in the future, kill them if you can, and run if you can't. Don't leave survivors." By the end, Huo Yun's tone had abruptly turned cold.

She had said all this only to tell Huo Yuhao how evil soul masters came into being. Some were as he had described, but others had simply brought it on themselves.

Those who deserved pity also had something hateful about them. There was no need to hold back.

If he could kill them, that meant Huo Yuhao was stronger, so he should simply slaughter them. If he couldn't, they were stronger, so he should run. If he couldn't escape, he should call for help.

Huo Yuhao nodded gently, then thought of something. "Then shouldn't Tang San count as an evil soul master, too?"

"Him? He's the sort who gains power, finds that rules no longer deter him much, and starts breaking them on the sly. He no longer cares about rules. Or rather, he wants to control the rules himself instead of following them. But some of his abilities really are rather similar to those of evil soul masters," Huo Yun said.

Before becoming a god, Tang San could actually have counted as an evil soul master. After all, his Eight Spider Lances could devour life, and he had indeed used them to devour soul beasts' vitality to strengthen himself.

But which soul master didn't use soul beasts to improve themselves? They all cultivated using the soul rings produced by soul beasts.

"Whatever the case, he isn't as glorious as the legends make him out to be." Huo Yuhao didn't actually care whether Tang San was an evil soul master. In his heart, Tang San was already his enemy, the target he would defeat in the future.

"But Mom, going by what you said, is Sister Xiaotao going to investigate some incident involving someone breaking the rules?" Having finished discussing Tang San, Huo Yuhao turned his curiosity back to Ma Xiaotao.

"She's... huh? Something unusual around the Far North? Someone saw large groups of people riding ten-thousand-year sea soul beasts from the coast near the Far North, heading toward it." Hearing his question, Huo Yun checked what Ma Xiaotao was going to investigate. She might have been fine without looking, but once she did, she discovered the problem.

Following the clues, she shifted her gaze directly to the Far North. She might have been fine without looking, but the sight nearly sent her blood pressure soaring.

"Fuck! Tang San, you son of a bitch!"

Huo Yun's furious roar left Huo Yuhao's head ringing. "Mom, what happened?"

"That bastard Tang San sent his followers to slaughter the soul beasts of the Far North, especially those with powerful ice attributes, or even ultimate ice attributes," Huo Yun said.

"What? Slaughter soul beasts with ultimate ice? What's he trying to do?" It wasn't Huo Yuhao who asked, but the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

The Far North was his homeland. He had originally been an ice silkworm, the most ordinary kind of soul beast there, and had only cultivated to his current level through a series of fortunate chances.

Besides, he had someone he loved. In the Far North, his beloved belonged to precisely the kind of soul beast Huo Yun had described, one possessing an ultimate ice attribute. She was also the second martial soul he had originally intended to find for Huo Yuhao.

But Huo Yun had something better available, so he could only give up and see whether there might be another chance to bring her into their ranks later.

Huo Yun shook her head. She was still investigating. "I'm not sure. I don't know what Tang San is thinking. I learned his objective by listening to his followers chatting.

"Apparently, Tang San said that the Ice God's divine seat has appeared, but some soul beast with an ultimate ice attribute took it. It doesn't know how to use it, and the divine seat is merely hidden inside its body. He used that as a pretext to make his followers act."

"That bastard! If anything happens to Bingbing, I'll fight him to the death." The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was truly frantic now. Although he didn't know Tang San's objective, Tang San clearly wanted to kill every soul beast with an ultimate ice attribute.

"Wait. Do you think he might be trying to hamper Yuhao's growth?" Electrolux suddenly said, apparently struck by a thought.

"Huh?" Huo Yuhao, Huo Yun, and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm all froze.

"Don't forget, the second martial soul we originally arranged for Yuhao had an ice attribute. Cultivation in this world requires soul rings from soul beasts of the same attribute to increase one's level. The higher the quality of the soul ring, the stronger one becomes.

"He's probably trying to make it so that Yuhao won't be able to choose those ice-type soul beasts with extremely powerful attributes when the time comes. He'll have to settle for second best and choose inferior soul beasts instead. That would also indirectly weaken Yuhao," Electrolux explained his view.

"He'd go that far? Just to stop me from getting stronger, he wants to wipe out every powerful ice-attribute soul beast in the Far North?" Huo Yuhao was dumbfounded. If that really was the reasoning, Tang San was far too ruthless, even beyond his imagination.

Simply to stop him from growing stronger, the man would deal such a murderous blow without caring what consequences it might cause.

"Otherwise, would he have attacked me? If he had even a shred of conscience, having ascended from this world, he would at least treat it with respect, even if he didn't give anything back, whatever anyone else might do. But him? He turned around and set his sights on the very world that nurtured him and enabled him to become a god.

"Anyway, whatever his goal is, we have to stop him. I'll find Di Tian and have him warn the soul beasts of the Far North, and help them if necessary."

After mocking Tang San, Huo Yun immediately went to find Di Tian.

As the world consciousness, her will could even be said to extend to any place in the world within the reach of his authority.

Going from Huo Yuhao's location to the Star Dou Great Forest took no more than a thought.

"Di Tian, go to the Far North and deliver a message to the Snow Empress for me. Tell them to be careful. Someone is planning a massacre in the Far North." Upon finding Di Tian, Huo Yun stated her purpose directly.

Of course, Huo Yun could deliver the message herself rather than rely on Di Tian. The reason was that she still wanted to maintain her air of grandeur. She was the world will, after all. How could just anyone be allowed to communicate with her casually?

"A massacre? In the Far North? Aren't they underestimating the Snow Empress a little too much?" Hearing this, Di Tian had only one thought: those people must have lost their minds.

If Di Tian was this world's undisputed strongest being below the divine level, then under certain circumstances, especially in the Far North, the Snow Empress was absolutely no weaker than him. Divine officers like the Sky Azure Bull Python, Da Ming, and the Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming, could forget about defeating her in the Far North even if they used divine power.

She ranked third among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, with cultivation reaching six hundred and ninety thousand years. With her own attribute in the Far North, who would dare go there to court death?

"Those people are Tang San's followers. Although I don't know what arrangements he's made for them, I can sense at least eighteen titled douluo among their forces. One is a level ninety-nine limit douluo, one is level ninety-eight, two are level ninety-seven, and as many as five are above level ninety-five. The remaining ten are below level ninety-five.

"That level ninety-nine limit douluo probably has a divine artifact given to him by Tang San. Using it, he can draw on the ocean's power to briefly contend with a god. We also can't rule out Tang San having given them some means of countering the Snow Empress.

"In short, they wouldn't fight an unprepared battle. Go warn them, and have the Far North make preparations early. If necessary, the Star Dou Great Forest must be ready to help at any time." Huo Yun naturally knew how strong the Snow Empress was, but the problem was that their opponent was stronger. Mere little schemes carried out behind the scenes were enough to leave them scorched and scrambling.

And this was with their opponent held back by the rules, without using his full strength.

"Understood." Di Tian nodded firmly. He saw nothing wrong with the Star Dou Great Forest supporting the Far North. They were all soul beasts, members of the Soul Beast Clan, and Di Tian had a divine title, respectfully bestowed by everyone: Beast God, signifying the god who led the entire Soul Beast Clan.

Although the current sovereign of the soul beasts was the Silver Dragon King, the problem was that she had never appeared since the incident all those years ago. Even the soul beasts outside the Star Dou Great Forest's core region didn't know she was still hidden here.

In their hearts, Di Tian was the sovereign of the soul beasts. Apart from a handful of exceptions, practically all soul beasts acknowledged him as their leader. Even the Snow Empress showed Di Tian respect, though the Far North wasn't under the Star Dou Great Forest's jurisdiction.

In their soul beast realm, showing him that respect made her count as Di Tian's subordinate. If a crisis of life and death truly came, Di Tian would have to act.

Di Tian went to inform the others, then set off for the Far North, while Huo Yun watched the enormous black dragon soar into the sky.

Huo Yun was just about to return when something suddenly struck her. "Hey, wait. That's not right. If Tang San wants to weaken Yuhao, slaughtering ice-attribute soul beasts wouldn't be as effective as targeting the Ice Dragon King. No, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."

But she quickly realized that if Tang San was attacking the ice-attribute soul beasts of the Far North to weaken Huo Yuhao, he should strike at something more fundamental: the third martial soul Huo Yuhao was about to obtain.

Because from the beginning, she had never intended to have Huo Yuhao obtain a martial soul in the Far North. Compared with the stronger Ice Dragon King already available to them, the martial souls of the Far North fell short by far more than a little.

But the problem was that Tang San also knew the Ice Dragon King's exact location. Even if he couldn't learn Yuhao's precise whereabouts, sealing that place off and preventing them from reaching it would still be a problem.

Thinking of this, Huo Yun immediately headed to the Ice Dragon King's location, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

The Sunset Forest, where the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was hidden!

Huo Yun didn't venture deep inside. Considering that Tang San might have left some contingency there, she only observed from a distance.

The Sunset Forest looked peaceful, but a faint layer of mist seemed to drift among the trees. Swooping down from high above, she could see that the deeper into the forest it went, the thicker the mist became. In the distance, it even looked as though a cloud had fallen among the trees, obscuring even the vegetation.

And this cloud wasn't merely white. Farther away, several other colors appeared.

That was miasma, a poisonous gas generally formed gradually when the rotting remains of plants and animals were left unattended, without wind or rain to disperse them.

This miasma had formed after the deaths of the soul beasts originally living in the Sunset Forest.

As for why they had died, it was because Tang San had planted a ring of jade-scale seven-extinction flowers around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Jade-scale seven-extinction flowers were plant-type soul beasts that lived in colonies and reproduced extremely poorly. They gathered together, and every one that could become a soul beast was at least a ten-thousand-year soul beast. Around the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, there were even thousands upon thousands of them.

The jade-scale poison cloud they released when gathered together could kill even a titled douluo who was poisoned by it.

Their presence was precisely why the Sunset Forest had now become a lifeless land of death.

All of it was simply because Tang San wanted to keep the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well firmly in his own hands.

But those poisonous clouds had no effect on Huo Yun at all. Her existence was anchored in the entire world, and besides, she had come only in the form of her will. Never mind that she was immune to all poisons-even if she had a physical body, what damn use would these poisons have against her?

As her gaze moved farther forward and her consciousness ventured deeper, Huo Yun could see a layer of blue-gold light within the multicolored poisonous clouds, blocking her view.

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