Traces of the Life-Saving Hall

The Far North snowfields.

Gales whipped ice shards across the sky, leaving heaven and earth a pallid white.

Carrying the profound ice casket on his back, Lin Yuan trudged south through the snow.

Inside the casket, the Ambrosial Arbor occasionally gave a faint tremor.

With every stirring, the iron arrow embedded in it glimmered blue-green, suppressing the restless roots once more.

The smiling mask circled the ice casket.

"It seems to want out."

Lin Yuan kept walking.

"Let it want."

"Aha could help make an opening for it."

"Touch it, and I'll seal you in there with it."

The mask immediately floated away.

"So fierce."

Just then, Lin Yuan stopped short.

Within the range of his Hunting Sense, two powerful signs of life were approaching rapidly from the south.

One was keen and steady.

The other could not have been more familiar.

Lin Yuan raised his head.

The distant wind and snow suddenly burst apart.

Two figures came striding through the air.

Long blue-green hair, a presence as deep as an abyss.

It was Azure Luan Douluo.

The other man's white hair streamed behind him, a longbow on his back, his speed even greater.

The instant he saw Lin Yuan clearly, all the cold light vanished from Light Feather Douluo's eyes.

"You little brat!"

Boom!

A stomp fractured a broad stretch of ice.

Light Feather Douluo reached Lin Yuan almost instantly and pulled him into his arms.

His grip was so strong that it nearly tore open Lin Yuan's newly healed wounds.

"So you finally remembered to come out!"

"I've been looking for you for three whole days!"

"Your message was only eight characters long, and you didn't even say whether you were dead or alive!"

Lin Yuan could barely breathe in his crushing embrace.

"Teacher."

"Let go first."

"No!"

Light Feather Douluo's voice was fierce, but his arms trembled slightly.

Ever since receiving that warning arrow, he had not stopped.

An iceberg had collapsed deep in the Far North.

Large numbers of Evil Soul Masters had died.

And there was an unfamiliar power that even Soul Beasts feared.

Taken together, every piece of information pointed toward the worst possible outcome.

Only now, with Lin Yuan truly in his arms, could he finally confirm-

The boy was still alive.

After a moment of silence, Lin Yuan raised a hand and patted his back.

"I'm all right."

"I made you worry, Teacher."

Light Feather Douluo snorted coldly before finally letting go.

He looked Lin Yuan up and down.

Tattered robes.

Wounds that had yet to heal.

And the profound ice casket on his back, radiating a bone-piercing chill.

His expression darkened again at once.

"You call this all right?"

"Just wait until we're back in Spirit City. I'll deal with you then."

Azure Luan Douluo landed beside them.

He had not lost his composure like Guang Ling, but the tension on his face over the past several days finally eased.

"As long as you're all right."

"Let's leave the Far North first."

Lin Yuan shook his head.

"There are things I have to tell you now."

Azure Luan's gaze fell on the profound ice casket.

"Does it concern that thing?"

"Yes."

Lin Yuan took the ice casket off his back and set it on the snow.

Blue-green light enveloped the casket.

Through the crystalline ice, a length of pale golden branch was faintly visible inside.

Azure Luan Douluo's gaze sharpened.

The anger on Light Feather Douluo's face vanished as well.

They had both been beneath Spirit City.

Naturally, they recognized what it was.

"The Ambrosial Arbor."

Guang Ling's voice was icy.

"There's a piece in the Far North too?"

"It was controlled by an Evil Soul Master organization called the Medicine King Holy Church."

Lin Yuan briefly recounted what had happened beneath the iceberg in the Far North.

Abducting children with the ice attribute.

Keeping Abominations of Abundance captive.

Using the Ambrosial Arbor to refine pills.

Finally, he looked at the two men.

"They're also using living people to refine medicine."

Wind and snow howled past.

The temperature around them was already extremely low.

But the chill in Light Feather Douluo's eyes pierced deeper than the Far North's wind and snow.

"Refining pills with living people?"

"They put living people's blood essence and vitality into pill furnaces to stabilize the mutations caused by the Ambrosial Arbor."

Lin Yuan said:

"There were nearly a hundred people imprisoned beneath the iceberg."

"And that was only one base."

Azure Luan Douluo's expression grew grave.

"The Medicine King Holy Church..."

"I've never heard that name before."

"They've hidden themselves very well."

Lin Yuan looked toward the profound ice casket.

"Mu Xuansheng called himself the Northern Territory Furnace Overseer."

"If there's a northern territory, there must be other branches."

"He was only an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo."

"There are others above him."

Something suddenly occurred to Light Feather Douluo.

"No wonder."

Lin Yuan looked at him.

"Spirit City recently received reports from several branch halls."

"Over the past six months, people have gone missing in quite a few towns and cities."

Light Feather Douluo's face was grim.

"At first, it was only refugees and beggars."

"Later, even Soul Masters and children began disappearing."

"The local branches investigated several times, but they never found a common lead."

Azure Luan Douluo took over.

"The only anomaly was a newly emerging organization."

"The Life-Saving Hall."

Lin Yuan's gaze shifted slightly.

"What do they do?"

"They help commoners and distribute medicine for free."

"They also sell various healing pills."

Azure Luan's voice was low.

"The medicine is said to be extremely effective, yet its price is far below that of similar remedies."

"In just six months, they've expanded from a few small border cities into both great empires."

Light Feather Douluo gave a cold laugh.

"On the surface, they hang out their medicine gourds to heal the world."

"Behind the scenes, they refine medicine with living people."

"This Life-Saving Hall is probably the skin the Medicine King Holy Church wears in public."

Amid the wind and snow, the profound ice casket suddenly trembled softly.

Pale golden light flashed through the ice, then vanished.

Lin Yuan looked south.

An organization capable of expanding into both great empires within six months could not possibly have only a single Soul Douluo behind it.

Nor could the horrors beneath the Far North's iceberg possibly be the only instance.

"Teacher."

"Let's return to Spirit Hall."

Lin Yuan shouldered the profound ice casket again.

"It's time to investigate this Life-Saving Hall."

The three hurried back to the Far North Spirit Hall Branch as fast as they could.

The moment the Worshipper's token appeared, the entire branch hall was immediately locked down.

Azure Luan Douluo ordered Spirit Hall's intelligence network mobilized to thoroughly investigate the disappearances, the unusual pills, and the Life-Saving Hall.

In less than four hours, the first batch of intelligence covered the desk.

The Life-Saving Hall had suddenly risen to prominence six months earlier.

It distributed free medicine, aided the poor, and sold inexpensive healing pills whose effects far surpassed ordinary remedies.

With these pills, it rapidly expanded its influence into both great empires.

The Life-Saving Hall enjoyed particularly high prestige among the nobility.

Many elderly nobles and gravely injured Soul Masters had been taking its pills for extended periods.

Some city lords had even offered it land and guards of their own accord.

Guang Ling leafed through the list, his eyes icy.

"No wonder so many places reported missing people."

"These people save lives on the surface, but behind the scenes, they refine medicine with living people."

Lin Yuan studied the files.

At first, the missing had only been refugees and beggars.

Later, Soul Masters and children had gradually begun appearing among them.

And almost all these places had a Life-Saving Hall branch nearby.

"They didn't suddenly appear."

Lin Yuan said:

"They were just hidden deeper before."

An attendant strode in and spread out a map.

"Lord Enshrined, we've located the earliest batch of branch halls."

Several markers landed on the southwestern part of the Heaven Dou Empire.

"They're all in Fasinuo Province."

"The earliest one established is in Nuoding City."

Lin Yuan's gaze sharpened.

Nuoding City.

Not far from Holy Soul Village.

Tang San should have already completed his Martial Soul Awakening by now.

Just then, red and white light emerged behind him.

The smiling mask appeared before everyone of its own accord.

"Nuoding City."

"Refining living people into medicine."

"And an interesting little fellow."

"Aha can already smell the fun."

Boom!

Guang Ling instantly stepped in front of Lin Yuan, his ice bow aimed straight at the mask.

"What is that thing?"

Lin Yuan pushed the mask aside.

"Teacher, don't be nervous."

"This is a blessing from a fun-seeker."

The mask abruptly turned toward him.

"What do you mean, fun-seeker?"

"It's the great Elation-"

"Shut up."

Lin Yuan slapped it aside.

"It means no harm. It just likes seeking fun, and stirring up trouble."

Guang Ling did not lower his bow.

"Has it been following you all this time?"

"It only appeared recently."

The mask hid behind Lin Yuan, revealing only half its smiling face.

"Your teacher is so fierce."

Lin Yuan remained expressionless.

"You deserved it."

Azure Luan looked at the map.

"With the Far North stronghold destroyed, the other side will receive word soon."

"If we delay any longer, the leads in Fasinuo Province will be wiped clean."

Lin Yuan spoke directly:

"I'm going to Nuoding City now."

Guang Ling frowned.

"Your injuries haven't healed yet."

"They no longer affect my ability to fight."

Lin Yuan looked at the list of missing people on the table.

"If we're a step too late, a few more people might be sent into the pill furnace."

Azure Luan Douluo looked at the profound ice case on Lin Yuan's back.

"What will you do with the Ambrosial Arbor?"

"I'll take it with me."

Lin Yuan raised a hand and pressed it against the ice case. A wisp of the Power of The Hunt seeped inside.

The restless pale golden roots within quickly fell still.

The seal Snow Empress had left would eventually be eroded by the Ambrosial Arbor. Only by staying beside Lin Yuan could it be suppressed with fresh infusions of the Power of The Hunt at any time.

"This thing can't be away from me for too long."

Azure Luan Douluo nodded.

"Then I'll return to Spirit City and report the information on the Far North and the Life-Saving Hall to the Great Enshrined."

"I'll leave Fasinuo Province to you two."

Guang Ling walked over to Lin Yuan.

"I'll go with you."

"This time, brat, don't even think about running wild on your own again."

Lin Yuan secured the profound ice case again and did not refuse.

A short while later, the three left the Spirit Hall Branch.

Azure Luan returned to Spirit City.

With the Ambrosial Arbor on his back, Lin Yuan headed straight for Fasinuo Province alongside Light Feather Douluo.

Azure Luan nodded.

"Rest assured."

A short while later, two figures left the Far North Spirit Hall Branch and headed straight for Fasinuo Province.

Amid the wind and snow, the smiling mask flew a circle around Lin Yuan.

"A fifteen-year-old of The Hunt."

"A level ninety-six archer."

"Off to catch a pack of rats hiding in medicine halls."

"Does this count as bullying?"

Guang Ling gave it a cold glance.

"I can shoot you first."

The mask instantly ducked behind Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan did not stop walking.

"Teacher, don't waste your Soul Power."

"It isn't worth it."

"Heartless!"

Laughter echoed through the wind and snow.

And their journey had only one destination.

Nuoding City.