The Extreme North Land.
Nearly two years later, Huo Yuhao once again stepped onto this frozen land. Only this time, Furina was not by his side; he was all alone.
He hadn't come to the Extreme North Land to hunt for spirit rings, but because the Ice Empress wanted to return and see what her homeland looked like now and how her tribe was faring.
After all, her departure from the Extreme North Land to become Huo Yuhao's Second Martial Soul and second Wisdom Spirit Ring had a significant impact on her tribe and an undeniable influence on the entire Extreme North Land.
Within the Sea of Consciousness, the Ice Empress's voice rang out, carrying a rare hint of softness: "Thank you, Yuhao, for being willing to bring me back here."
Huo Yuhao smiled slightly, his tone sincere and warm: "No need for thanks, it's only right. We are friends and partners, after all!"
Today's Huo Yuhao no longer needed to rely on spirit tools to survive in the Extreme North Land as he had before. After obtaining the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion Martial Soul, he possessed an extremely strong natural adaptation to extreme cold. However, he still cautiously used some heat-retaining spirit tools just in case, ensuring he could handle any unexpected situations.
On a mental level, although he was dozens of times stronger than he was two years ago, he was still far behind the mental force Tianmeng Ice Silkworm had accumulated over tens of thousands of years. Therefore, he still needed Tianmeng's mental force as a cover.
After all, the Ice Empress's tribe was in the core region of the Extreme North Land. Even if they couldn't discover Huo Yuhao, the mental force of the other two Dominators of the Extreme North Land—the Snow Empress and the Titan Snow Demon King—far surpassed his own. It would be troublesome if they sensed him.
Not long after stepping onto the Extreme North Land, the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm suddenly let out a soft sound of surprise.
"Oh? There's a human Titled Douluo here." He paused and sensed carefully once more. "There's another aura beside her... somewhat familiar. Hmm, it seems to be that little girl who went berserk last time."
"The little girl who went berserk?" Huo Yuhao was stunned for a moment before it clicked. "Senior Ma Xiaotao? Did the Shrek teachers really listen to Sister Furina and bring her to the Extreme North Land to Cultivate?"
"That's right, it's her," Tianmeng said lazily. "But don't worry, they're only Cultivating in the Outer region right now and haven't entered the Inner circle or the Core area. Clearly, they have some self-awareness; if they dared to step into the Inner circle, they would surely attract the attention of the Snow Empress and the Titan Snow Demon King."
He paused, his tone carrying a sense of matter-of-factness: "After all, as the Heavenly Kings and overlords of the Extreme North Land, how could they tolerate a Titled Douluo bringing a Spirit Master to Cultivate recklessly on their turf?"
The Ice Empress snorted coldly: "Exactly! If I still had my body, I'd want to drive them away right now."
She paused, then reined in her emotions: "Forget it, ignore them. As long as they don't enter the Inner circle or the Core area, let them do whatever they want."
"Let's go, Yuhao, ignore them," the Ice Empress urged. "Don't let them discover us."
Tianmeng patted his chest confidently: "Don't worry, Bingbing! With the protection of my mental force, even a Titled Douluo couldn't possibly detect us—unless the opponent is a Rank 98 Super Douluo who specializes in mental force."
The Ice Empress countered: "Aren't you worried that the opponent might actually be a mental-attribute Super Douluo?"
Tianmeng's voice suddenly faltered: "Uh... probably not? Human mental-type Martial Souls are very rare. Back then, it took me a long time just to find a mental-type Titled Douluo, and in the end, I didn't control it well and ended up blowing them apart..."
The Ice Empress gave him a sharp rap on the head: "Shut up! Do you even know the meaning of 'caution first'?"
"I get it, Bingbing..."
Listening to the two of them bickering, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but smile helplessly and shake his head slightly.
Days like these were actually quite nice.
However, he knew in his heart that a peaceful life was impossible. He had to avenge his mother against that bastard father; just teaching Dai Huabin a lesson wasn't enough. He had also promised Tianmeng and the Ice Empress that he would definitely become a god and lead them in their Ascension to the God Realm to gain eternal life.
Then there was Sister Furina's kindness... whether it was fighting Evil Soul Masters in the future, helping the Axis Cult expand its influence, or even unifying the continent, he needed power.
So no matter how one looked at it, it always came back to the words "becoming stronger."
Perhaps after becoming a god, things would be a bit easier.
He pulled his thoughts together and continued deeper into the Extreme North Land.
Soon, they arrived at the gathering place of the Ice Jade Scorpions.
The Ice Empress had now recovered some of her strength and could, like Tianmeng had before, temporarily break free from the constraints of Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness and spirit rings to personally check on the status of her tribe.
Huo Yuhao found a hidden corner to hide in. If the Ice Jade Scorpions discovered him, it would inevitably lead to a misunderstanding, and he would have to trouble the Ice Empress to step in and resolve it.
"I'll be right back," the Ice Empress said.
Huo Yuhao nodded: "Alright."
A moment later, the Ice Empress returned.
But the expression on her face made Huo Yuhao's heart sink.
It was a look of unprecedented distress and loss.
Huo Yuhao stepped out from his hiding place and asked with concern: "What's wrong, Ice Empress? Why that expression?"
Tianmeng didn't care about bickering with the Ice Empress either and quickly asked: "Yeah, what happened? It couldn't be that something big happened to your tribe, could it?"
The Ice Empress shook her head.
"My tribe is fine, no problems there," she said in a low voice. "I gave some instructions to the strongest ones in the tribe, telling them to watch over the tribe well from now on, as I am going to seek a further path. If there's an opportunity in the future, I will come back to visit them and help out as much as I can."
She paused, a flash of complex emotion in her eyes: "They also readily agreed. But..."
"They told me some bad news." The Ice Empress took a deep breath. "The Snow Empress's aura disappeared not long ago."
"What?!"
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice suddenly rose, filled with disbelief.
"The Snow Empress's aura disappeared? That's the Snow Empress! The head of the Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North, with nearly seven hundred thousand years of cultivation! Although it's actually six hundred and ninety thousand years and she hasn't broken through the Bottleneck yet, her Great Tribulation hasn't arrived yet! How is this possible?"
"Don't ask me, I don't know either," the Ice Empress's voice carried a hint of exhaustion. "I heard the Titan Snow Demon King is also looking for the cause, and my clansmen have also gone out to search for the Snow Empress's traces, but they just can't find her. I heard some human Titled Douluos came by recently... I'm not sure if it has anything to do with this."
She sighed, her eyes full of loss and bewilderment.
"Alas... perhaps this is just fate."
She was silent for a moment, finally shaking her head.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this. Let's just head back quickly."
Huo Yuhao didn't say anything more.
He just nodded silently, turned around, and left this frozen land with the Ice Empress and Tianmeng.
Behind them was endless ice, snow, and silence.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/DaoistRoeoNQ
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"