Lin Xiao did not drag his feet at all. After giving instructions for the matters before his departure, he had already arrived at the border between the Sun Moon Empire and the Heavenly Soul Empire by evening.
During this period, Xu Jing was seriously ill, and the Crown Prince Xu Tianran was overseeing state affairs. Relations at the border had become increasingly tense, with the glow of soul guidance devices occasionally flashing near the border area.
However, since no formal war had broken out, the blockade was not overly strict. For soul masters of higher strength, crossing the border was not particularly difficult.
After entering the territory of the Heavenly Soul Empire, there were no illumination soul guidance devices like those in the Sun Moon Empire. Lin Xiao had even less need to be cautious in his actions and traveled north through the night.
Just as dawn was about to break, the surrounding air suddenly became somewhat colder.
"Hoo—"
Lin Xiao exhaled a breath, and the vapor from his mouth quickly condensed into a mist that drifted away with his breathing.
Even as a soul master with soul power protecting his body, Lin Xiao still felt a trace of chill. That was the cold wind coming from the Far North.
Looking around, there were no longer any other plants or undulating terrain. From beneath his feet, stretching northward was a vast expanse of ice plain.
A faint light appeared in the east. The sun had not yet risen, but its rays were already slanting across the distance.
Lin Xiao suddenly put away his flight soul guidance device and landed on the ground.
The temperature in the air was much lower than on the ground, and as one ventured deeper into the Far North, flying in the air was more likely to attract the attention of soul beasts.
Although the current Far North no longer had the Snow Empress or the Ice Empress, there were few soul beasts capable of threatening him. Still, he did not want to waste his soul power on such things.
He raised his hand and brushed over his storage soul guidance device. A lantern appeared in his hand, its white light flickering brightly and dimly inside, as if the Snow Empress was saying something.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Xiao gently extended his mental power and touched the "Soul Ensnaring Lantern."
"Have you not returned in many years?"
The Snow Empress, however, did not respond to Lin Xiao's words. Instead, she countered with an icy tone, "You should not be lacking soul rings now. Why have you come here?"
Even though they were still some distance away, the Snow Empress, who had lived here for seven hundred thousand years, quickly recognized the chill flowing in the air from the Far North.
"Rest assured, I am not here to hunt your people." Lin Xiao replied, then stepped toward the depths of the northern snow plain.
"But I have no intention of hiding it from you. I have come here to search for heavenly treasures that grow in the Far North."
"I imagine that, having lived here so long, you must know the locations of some heavenly treasures."
"I am not very good with words. Compared to those disciples in the sect who make a living by deception, simple killing suits me better. So I will say it directly and hope you will cooperate."
Silence fell within the Soul Ensnaring Lantern. The Snow Empress did not speak for a long time. Only after a while did her emotions seem to calm somewhat. "Hmph, insatiable greed. What if I say no?"
"Then I have no good solution. I couldn't possibly capture a few of your clansmen and kill them one by one in front of you, could I?"
"You dare?" The Snow Empress's voice suddenly rose sharply. "If that were truly the case, even if it costs me this body, I will drag you down with me!"
"I know." Lin Xiao did not take the Snow Empress's threat too seriously. "So you see, although you keep saying that not a single human is good, in truth, you have not encountered truly evil people."
"Sometimes the evil of humans is something that even I, as a fellow human, cannot comprehend, let alone soul beasts like you."
"Hmph." The Snow Empress gave a cold snort, but her tone was considerably better than before. "This empress has lived for seven hundred thousand years. What kind of human have I not seen? Are you going to claim that you are actually a good person?"
"You live deep in the Far North. Even if you have seen humans, how many could you have encountered? I certainly do not count as a good person, but at least I am an honest one." Lin Xiao did not deny it.
"So, as I said earlier, do you know of any heavenly treasures in the Far North, or places beneficial to cultivation?"
"No comment." The Snow Empress left only those four words before falling silent. Even the light emanating from the Soul Ensnaring Lantern in Lin Xiao's hand grew steady, as if she had truly fallen asleep.
Lin Xiao lowered his head slightly to glance at it, let out a soft sigh, and shook his head.
Perhaps, as Electrolux had said, the Snow Empress had lost her body, and her power and mental strength were continuously dissipating. Her will was perhaps no longer as firm as it had been at the beginning.
But under these circumstances, Lin Xiao could only exchange a few simple words with her, not like before, when every opening remark was met with vicious hostility. Still, getting the Snow Empress to point out the locations of heavenly treasures remained highly unlikely.
After another glance at the Soul Ensnaring Lantern, Lin Xiao did not put it away but kept it in his hand.
With a slight shift of his mind, another illusory figure appeared beside him.
"We're back here again."
As soon as Feng Shen spoke, his tone was filled with nostalgia. It was clear he had a deep impression of the Far North.
"That's right. Can you still remember where you sealed the Snow Empress back then?"
Feng Shen shook his head. "The Snow Empress's cultivation was far too powerful. Although I took advantage of her weakness to seal her at the time, I myself suffered severe injuries afterward and lost consciousness."
"The exact location is somewhat hazy to me now, but I know it is still very far from here; it lies within the core region of the Far North."
"Good, then we will continue northward." Lin Xiao nodded, took out a large cloak made from the fur of some unknown animal, draped it over himself, tightened it, and continued walking toward the Far North.
The sun soon rose in the east. The sunlight was not dazzling, but it still slightly dispelled some of the chill when it fell upon him.
The Soul Ensnaring Lantern in Lin Xiao's hand suddenly flickered a few times. Lin Xiao also seemed to sense something and looked up toward the distance.
Behind him, several black shadows were approaching in his direction.
"They are probably soul masters who have come to the Far North in search of soul rings."
Lin Xiao guessed silently.
"Hmph. If I were still here, I would ensure none of them ever left this Far North."
The Snow Empress within the Soul Ensnaring Lantern was no longer silent and spoke in a low, heavy tone.
For a moment, Lin Xiao did not respond. He did not know how to reply to the Snow Empress.
For soul masters to increase their cultivation, they must obtain soul rings. This was an irreconcilable contradiction in this world.
Perhaps the original Electrolux, through a twist of fate, had burned his divine consciousness to create soul spirits, which to some extent alleviated the conflict between humans and soul beasts. But that was merely a superficial solution.
It only reduced the number of soul beasts required by soul masters; it did not completely resolve the contradiction between humans and soul beasts.
While Lin Xiao was lost in thought, his brows furrowed once more.
Looking back, the group that had just appeared had not yet drawn close. In the farther distance behind them, several more auras were rapidly approaching.
Are there really this many people coming to the Far North to hunt for soul rings?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"Don't forget there are 40 early chapters available on Patreon
[email protected]/facficmax10--------(@→a)