Huo Yuhao was genuinely touched by Beibei's kindness.
Even Xuan Zi, who had been secretly observing from the shadows, nodded in approval, thinking, "What a good kid."
Xuan Zi:"Shrek really needs more selfless talents like him!"
After gaining another wave of goodwill from Beibei, Huo Yuhao continued northward with him.
The journey went smoothly.
They traveled on foot, and by dawn, they had reached the nearest city.
"Little Huo, let's rest here today, stock up on supplies, and then head north as fast as we can," Beibei told Huo Yuhao.
"Sure, I'll follow whatever you say, Brother Beibei," Huo Yuhao replied obediently.
Beibei, naturally, paid for their lodging—at a high-end hotel, no less.
Beibei:"Little Huo has suffered too much. I can't let him continue living so hard."
After half a month, Huo Yuhao finally got to sleep in a real building again, instead of camping outdoors.
Now that Beibei knew Xuan Zi was tailing them, he wasn't in a rush to run anymore. After all, their attempt to ditch school had already been exposed.
But since Xuan Zi hadn't dragged them back, it meant the academy tacitly approved of their departure.
Beibei felt deeply grateful to Mu En. Without Mu En's approval, Xuan Zi wouldn't have come along to protect them.
With Xuan Zi watching over them, Beibei adjusted his plans. He figured they could be more daring and make it to the Extreme North faster, without worrying too much about the dangers along the way.
Beibei:"With Elder Xuan behind us, what's there to be afraid of?!"
Truth be told, Beibei was tempted to just ask Xuan Zi to carry them to the Extreme North, like the Monkey King carrying Tang Sanzang to the Western Paradise.
But in the end, he gave up on that bold idea.
He knew Xuan Zi's personality well.
If Xuan Zi hadn't offered to help on his own, it meant he wouldn't intervene directly—he was just there to keep them safe.
Even if Beibei asked now, Xuan Zi would likely refuse.
In fact, Beibei suspected that the real reason such a powerful protector was sent wasn't for him, but for Huo Yuhao, the yet-to-awaken wielder of the Ultimate Ice martial soul.
"In the end, I'm just benefiting from Little Huo's good fortune," Beibei thought with a self-deprecating smile. But he didn't dwell on it—his focus was now entirely on reaching the Extreme North.
After Huo Yuhao returned to his room to rest, Beibei went out alone into the city to buy supplies.
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao, back in his room, drew the curtains but didn't go straight to sleep.
"Primordial spirit, activate!"
In his spiritual sea, he asked Tianmeng Iceworm, "Brother Tianmeng, is that old geezer spying on me?"
Tianmeng Iceworm quickly scanned the area and understood what Huo Yuhao was worried about. He even extended his spiritual power to sweep across the city before replying, "Don't worry, Bro Hao. Xuan Zi's out in the city... chasing chicks."
"… Are the chicks proper?"
"Whether they're proper or not, they're definitely hot."
"Oh... so it's hot chicks, huh?"
Huo Yuhao nodded in satisfaction.
Tianmeng Iceworm had given Huo Yuhao four soul skills: Spiritual Detection, Spiritual Sharing, Spiritual Interference, and Soul Shock.
Regardless of how good or bad these sounded, they were Tianmeng Iceworm's signature skills.
When used by Tianmeng himself, they were even more effective than when Huo Yuhao activated them through his spirit ring. Not only did they cover more range, but the information gathered was more detailed.
Of course, this was only possible now because Tianmeng had gained some benefits from fate and had also incorporated some primordial spirit techniques from the Universal Salvation Sutra's memories.
In his current state, Tianmeng Iceworm was like a unique kind of primordial spirit.
Huo Yuhao:"You're already a mature spirit ring—time to do it yourself!"
That said, even though Tianmeng had succeeded in some primordial spirit methods, he still hadn't been able to start practicing true demon cultivation techniques.
Among the four soul ring skills, Spiritual Detection was particularly broken (OP), because most people couldn't even detect its presence.
In the original story, only a Level 99 Dragon Emperor Douluo, Long Xiaoyao, had ever sensed the presence of it.
Xuan Zi? Just a mere Level 98 Super Douluo, and with a muddled head no less—if he noticed Tianmeng's probe, that'd be the real miracle.
Once sure no one was spying, Huo Yuhao pulled out... a chicken bone.
That's right, it was a chicken bone Xuan Zi had gnawed on. Not only did it carry his aura, but also his spit.
Disgusted, Huo Yuhao wrapped it in a rag.
He placed the bone on the table and narrowed his eyes.
"Let's begin."
Tianmeng Iceworm hesitated.
"Bro Hao… you're really gonna use an evil cultivator's method to harm someone?"
"Now hold on a second, Brother Tianmeng," Huo Yuhao reprimanded him. "You call this harming someone? I call it self-defense, okay?"
"You saw it yourself—if I don't deal with Xuan Zi, my good bro Beibei's going to suffer, and I might get caught in the crossfire too!"
"How is that okay? It's not!"
Tianmeng was still worried. "I'm just afraid this evil method might backfire on you."
"Come on, you're overthinking it. The kind that backfires is usually a really powerful evil spell. I wish I could even pull that off."
"So, you mean...?"
"Strike first, ask questions later! Before Xuan Zi screws us, I'll screw him over. Sure, I can't finish him off in one go, but a little here, a little there, it adds up."
"How are we doing it?"
"High-level curses? All they need... is the simplest operation."
Huo Yuhao pulled out a needle and began sewing.
Soon, a rough, shabby little doll appeared in his hand. The chicken bone from earlier had been sewn into the doll's body.
Forgive Huo Yuhao's poor craftsmanship—the doll barely resembled a person.
Yes, he was doing voodoo.
But unlike common folk voodoo, Huo Yuhao's technique used auras for linkage, blood as a medium, and a ghost needle to cast a curse—a specialized method.
Put simply: a more advanced voodoo.
It didn't require skill or difficulty, but it was absolutely effective—not just something for superstition.
Rumor had it that palace concubines developed this technique, which later spread among the common people.
The main effect of this high-level voodoo was that once the ghost needle filled the doll's meridian cycle, the target would suffer a streak of terrible luck. Ordinary people might fall seriously ill or even die suddenly.
Against other concubines in the palace, this hit rate was basically 100%.
It barely qualified as an "evil" method.
Its downside was a lack of stealth. While the voodoo was being cast, the target would feel discomfort. If they realized something was wrong and found someone knowledgeable, they could trace it back to the caster.
And once caught? Beating to death was the usual outcome.
"Too bad this is the Douluo Continent, where all curse-related techniques belong to evil soul masters. There's no way a gloriously righteous elder of Shrek would know about this kind of method, kukuku…"
Huo Yuhao bit his finger and wrote "Xuan Zi" on the doll.
Then, he picked up the needle he had used to sew the doll.
"Let's start with a jab."
The voodoo needle, known as a ghost needle, was a specially treated fine needle.
For regular folks, it meant soaking a needle in some filthy place for a while, then cleaning it. Cultivators, however, could just infuse it with their energy to achieve the same effect.
Ghost needles were basically slightly "off" needles—with a twist.
Huo Yuhao infused the needle with his soul power, then jabbed it into the Baihui acupuncture point on the doll's head.
"Let's see how you like this!'"
At that moment, elsewhere in the city…
Elder Xuan, happily munching on a chicken drumstick, suddenly felt a slight itch on his scalp. He scratched it absentmindedly, then continued munching.
As a powerful cultivator, he sensed something in that instant—but didn't care enough to investigate further.
One jab wasn't nearly enough to make a difference.