Time passed day after day. From Ju Zi’s perspective, Huo Yuhao should be making his move soon. At least, he should make some kind of probing attack, and attempt to destroy some of their surveillance soul tools on this side. His concealing abilities could be maximized only when there were fewer surveillance soul tools.
But what caught her a little off-guard was that she was waiting around as five days flashed by. Huo Yuhao didn’t appear in the end, and their plan was successfully carried out. They were starting to extract the metals from the mine.
The roads were too far, and in addition to the terrible conditions in a cold and dreadful place like the Extreme North, transport was very inconvenient. Therefore, Ju Zi had decided before they departed that they would extract, refine and process everything on the spot. They would only transport all the rare metals when refinement was complete.
Xu Tianran was the only person who knew that she was here in person, while all the rare metals that they would extract from this operation would all belong to the empire’s royal family, so that they could strengthen their control over the imperial family. Everything was arranged after she had a discussion with Xu Tianran.
Has he really left? That’s not quite like his personality! He has always been the kind to become braver as pressure piles on, and he will never admit defeat. Even if I am his enemy, there’s no reason for him to leave just like that, since he is so determined to oppose me.
Ju Zi was as dejected as she was suspicious. Truthfully, she would rather clash with Huo Yuhao than receive news once more that she had lost him. In the end, she had absolute authority over the army here, and all she had to do was not hurt him, even if they faced each other on the battlefield. She didn’t feel very comfortable that he would leave just like that. This was how complicated a woman’s emotions were.
Of course, Huo Yuhao wouldn’t give up. After travelling continuously for a long time, and three days after departing the Sun Moon empire’s great army, he was inside the Extreme North’s core region.
Huo Yuhao didn’t run into too much trouble as he flew forward. Typical soul beasts couldn’t threaten him at all with his strength, and even those that were relatively stronger would immediately scamper away when he imitated the Ice Empress’ aura.
The Ice Jade Empress Scorpion was one of the Extreme North’s Three Heavenly Kings. Most high-level soul beasts from the Extreme North were very familiar with the Ice Empress’ aura, and that was the reason why Huo Yuhao’s imitation was almost always successful.
The temperature dropped even more as they entered the Extreme North’s core region. There were hurricanes and biting winds high up in the sky. Huo Yuhao didn’t know how to fly when he was last here, so he didn’t feel how powerful these hurricanes were. This time, he immediately suffered a blow as soon as he flew into the Extreme North’s core region.
A powerful gust of wind swept over, and Huo Yuhao couldn’t resist at all as he was thrown higher into the sky. This terrifying gust was incredible, and contained vigorous explosiveness. If Huo Yuhao’s body hadn’t been sufficiently tough, and if he hadn’t possessed an Ultimate Ice martial soul, he would have been torn to pieces.
Huo Yuhao was barely able to land on the ground. He was overcome with fear – with his knowledge of powerful individuals, that gust of wind was probably equivalent to an eight-ringed Soul Douluo’s attack at full strength. He had just entered the Extreme North’s core region! Wouldn’t it become even more terrifying if he went deeper in? No wonder he almost never saw any soul beasts flying in the sky here. It lived up to its name as a forbidden grounds for humans.
The Extreme North’s core region shared a name with the Great Star Dou Forest’s Slaughtering Grounds. Even the Sun Moon Empire’s Evildemon Forest was far inferior.
In the end, the Evildemon Forest got its reputation because of how powerful the Evileye Tyrant King was. The Great Star Dou Forest’s Slaughtering Grounds contained many savage beasts, and the threat in the Extreme North’s core region wasn’t from its soul beasts – it was from its environment.
In such an environment, even Titled Douluo couldn’t survive for too long. The air was incredibly dry, while the chilly winds cut like blades. Not a single stalk of grass could be seen, and the incredibly low temperatures could continuously burn down a soul master’s soul power. It was almost impossible for them to live here.
Furthermore, ice-type soul masters were a minority anyway. Therefore, very few soul masters came to this place to hunt soul beasts. This was the reason why the overall strength of the Extreme North’s soul beasts had grown to such a formidable level over recent years. If not for the fact that this place wasn’t that suitable for soul beasts to live, it probably wouldn’t take long for the Extreme North’s soul beasts to catch up with the strength of the Great Star Dou Forest’s soul beasts.
Huo Yuhao no longer dared to fly in the sky with the lesson he had learned. He walked on the ground, and even though there were gusts of cold wind that cut through the air on the ground, they were much gentler compared to the winds in the air.
Huo Yuhao had the Skydream Iceworm to protect him the last time he was here, and only then could he resist the severe cold. He was back here many years later now, and he felt a little strange.
Back during the first time he was here, he was as weak as an ant compared to the other beings in the Extreme North. Without the Skydream Iceworm’s help, just the environment here would have killed him countless times over.
Ten years later today, he had the ability to face this environment’s dreadful conditions by himself. Furthermore, two of the Extreme North’s Three Heavenly Kings were accompanying him.
Ten years ago, him doing this was something that he didn’t even dare to think about!
Huo Yuhao didn’t ask the Ice Empress or the Snow Empress anything else as they continued forward. The Ice and the Snow Empress would tell him when they arrived.
He moved forward very naturally as his eyes moved a little as he glanced towards his left. There was life rippling from that place, and those undulations were very intense.
What’s that?
Huo Yuhao immediately used Spiritual Detection and projected it into the distance. He quickly saw several soul beasts.
There were several Extreme Northern Bears that were incredibly muscular. These bears were very large, at least seven to eight meters tall when they stood up, while their bodies were extremely thick and tough. These soul beasts had thick fur, and their strength was terrifying. Furthermore, their explosiveness was so vigorous that they could spring over short distances as quickly as agility-type soul beasts. They were high up in the food chain within the Extreme North’s icy plains.
There were four bears here, and three of them were grown, while there was only one that was relatively smaller, only three meters tall. It looked like a baby bear.
Full-grown Extreme Northern Bears had to have at least a thousand years of cultivation, but one couldn’t underestimate their threat just because they were only thousand year soul beasts. The Extreme Northern Bears in this place were like the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears in the Great Star Dou Forest. Thousand year Extreme Northern Bears could rival normal ten thousand year soul beasts, and even though their fighting strength still couldn’t match up to that of the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bears, very few soul beasts dared to provoke them.
At this moment, these four Extreme Northern Bears were charging at Huo Yuhao at breakneck speed.
Huo Yuhao instantly felt a little exasperated, because he remembered the Extreme Northern Bears’ characteristics. Powerful soul beasts like that in the Extreme North had very sensitive senses of smell, because the Extreme North always had a scarcity of food. Therefore, their sense of smell became very strong through their consistent evolution. They could smell other living beings from kilometers away, and it was clear that they had discovered him, and were treating him like prey.
Huo Yuhao didn’t run, because he remembered something else when he recalled some information about the Extreme Northern Bears. When he was undergoing training in the Ultimate Soldier Plan, his teacher that was teaching him about food told him that the Extreme Northern Bears’ paws were the most delicious amongst the other bears. That was because they were living in the Extreme North, and under continuous refining from the severe cold, their paws were especially fat and juicy. They could be cooked with certain special methods, and they would taste extremely delicious, while being extremely nutritious for humans. They were very beneficial to soul masters.
However, nobody really dared to try to kill them, because they were naturally very ferocious and powerful. They lived in the Extreme North’s core region, and soul masters’ appetites were not enough for them to give their lives in this place. Therefore, the Extreme Northern Bears’ paws were sold at extremely high prices in every empire on the continent.
There are four Extreme Northern Bears! Since you’re treating me like food, heh, then I will not give you a chance. Let’s see who gets to eat who in the end.
“You can’t hurt them!” The Ice Empress and Snow Empress’ voices rang out in Huo Yuhao’s spiritual sea at the same time.
Huo Yuhao’s mouth twitched as he attempted to resist them. “Why? Only they can treat me like food, but I’m not allowed to eat them? What kind for reasoning is that?”
The Ice Empress grunted coldly and said, “If I say no, that means no. There aren’t many soul beasts in the Extreme North in the first place, and these bears are considered one of the rarer species. If these bears can grow until they reach ten thousand years of cultivation, they will become the main fighting force of the Extreme North’s soul beasts.”
“Are you saying that you want to launch a beast wave? Who are you going to target?” Huo Yuhao said exasperatedly.
The Ice Empress snapped, “What do you think? Don’t you want to deal with the Sun Moon Empire’s army? You think you can do that by yourself.”
“What? You can command those ice bears?” Huo Yuhao answered in shock.
The Ice Empress laughed coldly. She said nothing, but the arrogance in her eyes was very evident.
The four bears were charging very swiftly, and it didn’t take long before they appeared in Huo Yuhao’s vision.
The Extreme Northern Bears were very muscular, while their limbs were very well-developed, but their brains weren’t that simple. The three grown bears swiftly dispersed, and the burliest one was in the middle as it dashed toward Huo Yuhao. The other two wrapped around towards the flanks, while the smallest one followed behind. They were surrounding him.
Huo Yuhao wasn’t worried at all. The only thing he was thinking about was the bears’ paws – what a pity that they were so delicious!
The largest bear charged first. When it saw Huo Yuhao, who was standing there calmly, and the Ice and Snow Empress behind him, it was also momentarily stunned. It was the first time that it had come across humans that were so calm.
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