A visitor on a snowy night

A bitter wind swept through the snowy forest.

The cyan-blue light gradually faded, revealing a deep furrow in the once-level snow.

Several Soul Kings had taken Lin Yuan's charged arrow head-on and died on the spot.

The remaining Evil Soul Masters had already perished beneath the Starfall Arrow Rain.

Only the Iron-Faced Soul Saint remained at the center of the ruins.

His Martial Soul Avatar had shattered, and he knelt in the snow, drenched in blood. Blackened wounds covered his chest, his right arm hung limp, and his breathing was barely perceptible.

He had survived only because his cultivation as a Soul Saint had allowed him to cling to one more breath than those Soul Kings.

The Iron-Faced Soul Saint raised his head with difficulty.

As he stared at the youth holding the Imperial Bow before him, nothing remained in his eyes but fear.

"Who exactly are you..."

Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

"Why..."

Whoosh!

Before he could finish, an iron arrow tore through the air toward him.

Squelch!

The arrow pierced between his brows and emerged from the back of his head.

The Iron-Faced Soul Saint stiffened. The light swiftly faded from his eyes, and in the end, he could only close them in bitter reluctance.

His corpse toppled into the snow.

Lin Yuan put away the Imperial Bow and turned toward the others behind him.

"Are you all right?"

The ice-blue barrier had already vanished.

The female Soul Saint leading the group had an injured shoulder and a pale face, but she still forced herself to stand straight.

She stepped forward and bowed solemnly.

"Thank you for saving our lives, young master."

"If you hadn't intervened, I'm afraid we would all have died here today."

"It was no trouble."

Lin Yuan's gaze swept over the wound on her shoulder.

Black wisps clung to her flesh, clearly remnants of an Evil Soul Master's power.

Noticing his gaze, the female Soul Saint volunteered:

"My name is Shui Yunlan, vice dean of Skywater Academy."

She gestured toward the six-ring female Soul Emperor beside her.

"This is Xue Qinglan, a teacher at the academy."

Then she looked toward the four girls sheltered behind them.

The girl with long, ice-blue hair stepped out first.

She was only six or seven years old, and her face was still somewhat pale, yet her expression was remarkably composed.

"My name is Shui Bing'er."

She bowed earnestly to Lin Yuan.

"Thank you for saving us, Young Master Lin, and thank you for saving my aunt."

Shui Yunlan was the younger maternal aunt of both her and Shui Yue'er.

Lin Yuan nodded.

"Lin Yuan."

"Big Brother Lin Yuan!"

Another girl ran out from behind Shui Bing'er.

Her features resembled Shui Bing'er's, but she was even younger. She was her younger sister, Shui Yue'er.

Shui Yue'er looked up at Lin Yuan, her eyes astonishingly bright.

"What was that move you just used called?"

"One arrow turned into so many arrows, and then they all exploded!"

"And that last arrow left that Soul Saint like that in a single shot!"

The more she spoke, the more excited she became.

"Do you really only have four Soul Rings?"

"Yue'er."

Shui Yunlan gently reprimanded her.

Shui Yue'er ducked her head, but still looked at Lin Yuan with admiration written all over her face.

"Starfall Arrow Rain."

Lin Yuan answered.

Shui Yue'er repeated it softly.

"What an impressive name."

Shui Bing'er pulled her sister back to her side.

"Big Brother Lin just finished a battle. Don't keep pestering him."

Then she looked at Lin Yuan again.

"Yue'er is just too excited."

"It's fine."

The other two girls also stepped forward to thank him.

Their names were Xue Wu and Yu Hairou, and they were students at Skywater Academy as well.

Lin Yuan walked over to the Evil Soul Masters' corpses and took several undamaged Soul Tools.

"We can't stay here long."

The earlier commotion had been too great. It could very well attract Soul Beasts, or perhaps the Evil Soul Masters' companions.

Shui Yunlan nodded.

"Let's leave first."

They set off immediately.

But Shui Yunlan's injuries were too severe. Before they had gone far, the black Qi on her shoulder began spreading toward her neck.

Xue Qinglan's expression changed.

"The Evil Soul Power is eroding her meridians."

Lin Yuan looked toward a nearby cliff face.

"There's a cave over there."

They entered the cave.

Lin Yuan used the presence of his Martial Soul to drive out the hundred-year Snow Fox occupying it, while Xue Qinglan sealed most of the entrance and lit a fire.

Shui Yunlan sat leaning against the stone wall.

Lin Yuan came over to her and pressed his hand near the wound.

A wisp of cyan-blue power of The Hunt entered her body.

The Evil Soul Power clinging to her flesh rapidly dispersed, and the black discoloration around the wound receded with it.

"The residual Soul Power has been cleared away."

Lin Yuan withdrew his hand.

"The remaining injuries just need time to heal."

Shui Bing'er had stayed beside them the entire time.

Seeing her aunt's breathing stabilize, her tense little face finally relaxed.

"Thank you."

"You already thanked me."

"This is different."

Shui Bing'er said earnestly:

"Before, I was thanking you for saving everyone."

"This time, I'm thanking you for saving my aunt."

She looked at Lin Yuan and said, stressing each word:

"I will always remember this kindness."

Lin Yuan paid little heed to a child's promise.

"Take care of her first."

Shui Bing'er nodded firmly.

"Mm."

Shui Yue'er came over as well.

"I'll remember too!"

"When I become strong, I'll help Big Brother Lin Yuan fight bad people."

Lin Yuan glanced at her.

"Work on your Soul Power first."

"I will!"

Shui Yue'er agreed at once, making no attempt to hide the admiration in her eyes.

Toward evening, the wind and snow outside the cave grew stronger.

They sat around the fire and ate a simple meal of dry rations.

Some color had returned to Shui Yunlan's face.

She looked at Lin Yuan, who sat keeping watch at the cave entrance.

"Young Master Lin, did you come to the Far North alone to find a Soul Ring?"

"To temper myself."

Lin Yuan's answer was brief.

Shui Yunlan did not press him, merely saying:

"We didn't come here to hunt Soul Beasts."

"Every year, Skywater Academy brings a group of students who have just awakened their Martial Souls to the outskirts of the Far North, so they can adapt to the icy, snowy environment and gain better control over their Martial Souls."

She glanced at Shui Bing'er and the others.

"Three teams were responsible for the training this time."

"Our route should have been confidential, yet those Evil Soul Masters ambushed us along a path we had to take. Clearly, they already knew our movements."

Xue Qinglan said gravely:

"Someone inside the academy may have leaked the information."

Shui Yunlan did not deny it.

Lin Yuan looked outside the cave.

"What about the other two teams?"

"We don't know."

Shui Yunlan's brows knitted tightly.

"After we were attacked, we lost contact with the others."

Hearing this, worry surfaced in Shui Bing'er's eyes.

Xue Wu and Yu Hairou also fell silent.

The fire crackled.

For a time, no one in the cave spoke.

Night gradually shrouded the snowy forest.

Shui Yunlan needed to recover from her injuries, and the girls were already exhausted. They soon fell asleep leaning against one another.

Lin Yuan sat at the cave entrance, the Imperial Bow resting across his knees.

A white smiling mask floated beside him.

"Someone's outside."

Almost at the same instant it spoke, Lin Yuan opened his eyes.

Uneven footsteps sounded through the wind and snow.

They were faint, but drawing closer to the cave.

Lin Yuan stood and gripped the Imperial Bow.

Shui Yunlan and Xue Qinglan also quickly woke with a start.

"Someone's coming."

Xue Qinglan moved in front of the children.

Shui Yunlan forced herself to her feet, Soul Power gathering in her palm.

The footsteps drew closer and closer.

A moment later, a staggering figure appeared at the cave entrance.

It was a female teacher dressed in Skywater Academy's uniform.

She was covered in blood, with a ghastly wound in the left side of her abdomen and several black palm prints still marking her back.

"Teacher Liu!"

Xue Qinglan recognized her immediately.

At the sight of Shui Yunlan and the others, the teacher's taut nerves finally relaxed, and she nearly collapsed.

Xue Qinglan hurriedly caught her and held her steady.

Shui Yunlan asked:

"Where are the others?"

The female teacher's lips trembled.

"We were attacked too..."

"There was more than one group of Evil Soul Masters."

"They took several children away, all of them with ice-attribute Martial Souls..."

She struggled to clutch Shui Yunlan's arm.

"They headed north."

As her words fell, the female teacher's eyes closed, and she lost consciousness completely.

Xue Qinglan immediately examined her injuries.

Lin Yuan stepped closer, his gaze falling on the black palm print on her back.

A wisp of cold, sinister, bloody aura seeped from the wound.

It was exactly the same as the power within the Iron-Faced Soul Saint.

Those Evil Soul Masters did indeed have accomplices.