Five days later.
Rumble!
Much like the Star Dou Great Forest, the Far North was divided into several regions.
Even though they had already traveled four hundred kilometers inward, according to Tian Meng, they still had not reached the Core Area.
To save time, Lin Qian had specially bought a Snowmobile. Its tractor-like racket did indeed attract plenty of ice-type Soul Beasts, but none were what they were looking for.
Whenever that happened, Lin Qian would throw the vehicle into a drift, leave them with a mouthful of exhaust, and make his getaway.
Another two days passed.
The snow on the ground now rose above his knees. Although he was not as bedraggled as Huo Yuhao, Lin Qian still had to make some effort to put on the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's shed skin.
Naturally, this drew another round of complaints from Tian Meng-the muttering-under-his-breath kind.
"Left!"
"Right!"
"Back!"
Tian Meng kept giving directions, changing them more and more frequently.
"Quick, stop! Stay just like that. Don't move. Bury yourself in the snow, and even if something crawls onto you, don't move!"
They were wandering aimlessly again that day when Tian Meng suddenly gave an urgent warning.
Hum!
Lin Qian released Soul Power and spiritual power in succession to cover himself, holding his breath while he was at it.
Ten seconds after he finished, an incomparably terrifying aura swept across the snowfield, sending tremors everywhere it passed.
Even with his five senses sealed, Spiritual Detection was still operating. Yet the instant it touched that force, his spiritual power was shredded. Had he not withdrawn it in time, he would likely have suffered a backlash.
By rights, his spiritual power combined with the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's could be called unrivaled beneath the deities, yet this "person" he had encountered now was beyond his grasp.
It had been a long time since he had met a decent opponent.
A few more seconds passed, and that terrifying aura began to sweep over them. It felt as though he had sunk into a mire, his entire body pressed down by gravity until he could barely breathe.
Fortunately, they had prepared in advance. Neither he nor Tian Meng even dared communicate mentally, quietly waiting for the danger to pass.
But just when the two thought they were safe, a voice rang out, sending their hearts leaping into their throats again.
"Where did he go? He was clearly heading this way!"
The female voice was clear and crisp, but the two buried in the snow did not dare let their guard down in the slightest.
"A Snow Spirit, the Snow Empress's attendant... Why would she come here?"
Tian Meng's frightened voice rang out in the Sea of Consciousness. He could not make sense of it no matter how he thought about it.
"Why else? Obviously, we've been discovered!"
Glancing at the Snowmobile beneath him, Lin Qian pursed his lips.
He had intended to attract the Snow Empress's attention. In the end, he had only achieved half his goal and encountered a Snow Spirit instead.
He did not stubbornly charge out to talk, because there was another "person" beside the Snow Spirit.
Quietly poking a hole, he peered outside.
Over a hundred meters long, the enormous body blotted out the sky and sun. Covered in white snow, it stretched beyond what he could see at a glance.
If he remembered correctly, this Soul Beast was the youngest of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, the Titan Snow Demon King with two hundred thousand years of cultivation-A-Tai!
After the Snow Spirit finished speaking, A-Tai waited a while before saying, "He's riding a Snowmobile, so he probably won't stay in one place. Once we hear the noise, we can just head over."
The Snow Spirit, however, was very anxious. "But Lady Snow Empress has ordered us to drive them out as soon as possible!"
"Don't worry. With me here, they won't get away..."
The snow grew heavier, and the sounds of their conversation were gradually buried by the wind and snow.
Only after they had gone far away did Lin Qian dare emerge from the snow.
"Phew, that was close! We were almost discovered just now!"
Tian Meng stood on his shoulder, gazing in the direction the Titan Snow Demon King and his companion had left.
Lin Qian looked to either side, then said in a low voice, "I remember this Titan Snow Demon King had a secret crush on the Snow Empress. He once confessed to her face, only to get beaten so badly that it took nearly a thousand years of recuperation to recover.
"Tell me, is your Far North cursed or something? Why does it keep churning out bootlickers?"
Not expecting to get roasted even here, Tian Meng refused to back down. "You have the nerve to criticize me? Who ignored my warnings and rode a motorcycle through the snow every day until he attracted one of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North?"
Whoosh!
The eight-meter-long blade appeared once more. Lin Qian rested it on his shoulder. "Say that again. I didn't hear you clearly."
"Master is mighty! Long live Master!"
"..."
Regardless, he could not ride the Snowmobile for now. Running into the Titan Snow Demon King before even meeting the Snow Empress would not be good.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said, "Just like in the Star Dou Great Forest, the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North rule this land. Add in the cold here, and whether Soul Masters or Soul Beasts, anyone who comes here will find their Soul Power greatly reduced.
"It's no exaggeration to say that even if that bunch from the Star Dou Great Forest joined forces, they might not be a match for them. The only fortunate thing is that the Far North's wilderness is so vast that every creature capable of running has long since fled, making it hard for Soul Beasts to gather."
At this point, Tian Meng's eyes shifted again. "Seeing how familiar you are with all this, even knowing that A-Tai is a bootlicker, you must also know that all Three Great Heavenly Kings are Soul Beasts hundreds of thousands of years old. I don't need to say much more about safety, do I?"
Lin Qian had indeed heard something about this.
The bloodline of the Ice God flowed through all Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North. Combined with the natural treasures of the snowfield itself, this meant all three Soul Beasts had very high cultivation ages.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was proof enough. This big worm spent all day eating and sleeping, yet simply eating ten-thousand-year cold marrow had allowed him to advance into a million-year Soul Beast.
Unfortunately, Lin Qian had not transmigrated here. Otherwise, with all the natural treasures underground alone, wouldn't he have become a god long ago?
"But... Soul Beasts have one enormous flaw."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm continued.
"Every hundred thousand years, we undergo a heavenly tribulation. Survive it, and our cultivation advances greatly. Fail, and we die, our cultivation extinguished. That A-Tai who just passed by has barely reached two hundred thousand years of cultivation. Apparently, he was nearly struck dead by his heavenly tribulation!"
Lin Qian picked up the thread. "So barring any surprises, he won't make it past the three-hundred-thousand-year hurdle?"
Tian Meng nodded. "Exactly. That's why, as you just saw, he has so much free time and insists on helping the Snow Empress find us instead of cultivating properly."
Lin Qian looked out across the boundless icefield. "I've put the Snowmobile away for now. We'll walk from here!"
Tian Meng, however, was in no hurry to leave. Instead, he stood on Lin Qian's shoulder and looked around. "A-Tai's tribe only has a few hundred members. Once we get past him, there won't be any Soul Beasts nearby. But the next two Heavenly Kings, while smaller than him, are absolutely formidable.
"One has already passed the three-hundred-thousand-year mark. You're most familiar with her... She's my dear Little Bingbing, an Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion.
"The other Soul Beast is that Snow Spirit's boss-the Heavenly Snow Woman. You need to pay particular attention to her. Even I don't know much about her situation. I only know that she passed the five-hundred-thousand-year mark long ago and is the longest-lived Soul Beast on the continent apart from me.
"Because of my species' limitations, I've never been able to raise my combat strength, but she's the opposite. If there were a ranking of the strongest Soul Beasts, then the leader of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North would absolutely be one of the strongest contenders..."