Night.
The group found a cave to settle in, about ten kilometers away from the canyon where they had battled the Titan Snow Demon earlier that day.
The crackling sounds came from the bonfire, its bright flames illuminating everyone's faces and bringing warmth and hope amid the cold.
Shen Hanyu left a soul power warning perimeter on the outside, then set up his own tent at the outermost position, intending to let the four others rest well.
Shui Ningbing and Shen Liuyu had already gone early to absorb their soul bones, especially Shui Ningbing. Even though her body was utterly exhausted, nothing could dampen her enthusiasm for this soul bone.
A ninety-thousand-year torso soul bone, and one from a soul beast of such high quality, at any time in the past, she would have been willing to give everything for it.
Shen Liuyu was relatively calm, but still very happy. She casually ate a few bites of dinner before going to absorb the palm bone.
The palm bone from the Titan Snow Demon was undoubtedly extremely suitable for a battle soul master like her, whose martial soul also excelled in strength. Shen Hanyu estimated that the soul skill this palm bone provided would likely be an amplification-type or strong attack-type skill; either one would perfectly match Shen Liuyu.
Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er, the sisters, leaned together chatting with Tian Meng. Tian Meng's talkative nature burst forth, and with his profound knowledge and experience far surpassing that of the Shui sisters, the content he spoke about was very captivating to them, even if it contained quite a bit of bragging.
For a moment, the scene was inexplicably warm and cozy.
"Shen Hanyu, aren't you happy?"
A voice carrying a teasing tone rang out in Shen Hanyu's mental sea.
Shen Hanyu closed his eyes, instantly arriving in his mental sea.
It had been a while since he last came here, and the mental sea was constantly evolving and transforming.
If he had to describe it, this place now basically possessed the necessary conditions for life to emerge, completely different from the previously barren and empty mental sea.
A giant snake over thirty meters long slowly swam over, then transformed into human form.
"How does it feel here? Is there anything you're not used to?"
Shen Hanyu asked with a smile.
The Ice Frost Snake Demon shook her head. Her tall figure slowly drew close to Shen Hanyu, then pointed at the blue bead floating in the air and softly said:
"That thing is very strange. It seems to have its own consciousness, rather than being something pre-programmed. Do you understand what I mean?"
Shen Hanyu slightly raised his head, looked at the blue bead in the sky, smiled faintly, and said:
"The Ice God has always been free and unrestrained, known as the freest deity in the God Realm. It's normal for her inheritance to be a bit strange, at least it's on our side."
The Ice Frost Snake Demon nodded, then suddenly said:
"In the future, you can call me Shuang Ying. This is the name I chose for myself."
Shen Hanyu raised an eyebrow slightly and said:
"Shuang Ying, a good name. Does it have any special meaning?"
Shuang Ying smiled and shook her head, saying:
"In the territory of us Ice Frost Snakes, there is only one kind of soul beast that can coexist with us: the Fluorescent Ice Butterfly. This soul beast lacks advanced intelligence; it's considered a relatively primitive creature. Their only wisdom is probably applied to choosing a host."
"Once they choose a host, they will feed back part of the cultivation they have achieved to the host, so they are harmless. When I broke through to one hundred thousand years, I completed symbiosis with a Fluorescent Ice Butterfly. Later, when my cultivation reached one hundred and thirty thousand years, that Fluorescent Ice Butterfly had completely perished."
Shen Hanyu nodded and said:
"The meaning of life takes many forms, at least in our world; that's how it is. No one has the right to judge the meaning of another's life, and the same goes for the Fluorescent Ice Butterfly."
"I have encountered many difficult problems in the past, such as who exactly defines the concepts of justice and evil, and how they are defined. Everyone has their own specific concept in their heart. If no one dominates this concept, then everyone is correct, humans and soul beasts alike..."
Shuang Ying stepped forward, gently took Shen Hanyu's hand, smiled, and said:
"Anyway, it has nothing to do with us, right?"
...
Noon.
With a fluctuation of soul power, Shui Ningbing finally woke up. Her soul power had also reached level eighty-nine, just one step away from Titled Douluo.
The fluctuation from the breakthrough was minimized by Shui Ningbing. They were already deep in the Far North, and too much commotion would attract powerful soul beasts.
Shen Liuyu had woken up early that morning. This palm bone had allowed her to barely increase her soul power by two levels, at least saving her half a year of cultivation time.
After the group discussed briefly, they continued along the canyon, advancing deeper.
Walking through these canyons, everyone couldn't help feeling a sense of oppression.
The biting cold wind howled, making it difficult for everyone to even move forward.
Above them, dozens of meters high were sheer cliffs, and the path on both sides was less than three meters wide. If they encountered an attack here, the situation would be dire.
After finally exiting the canyon area, what lay ahead was yet another vast, boundless snowfield, and they could even faintly hear the roars of soul beasts.
Tian Meng lay on Shen Hanyu's shoulder, his tone somewhat grave as he said:
"Hanyu, if memory serves right, after walking a bit further ahead, we'll enter the territory of the Ice Jade Scorpions. The soul beasts we encounter then won't be as casual as before; we need to be extra careful."
The four women behind them also grew somewhat tense. Tian Meng's talkative nature had already explained the basic information about the Ice Jade Scorpion clan to them.
Though the four women had only heard about it, they understood the terror of soul beasts like the Ice Jade Scorpions.
"Ahem, let's add one more thing: the Ice Jade Scorpions are very unfriendly toward humans; one could even say they kill every human they see. Though that might be a bit exaggerated, you can weigh the pros and cons yourselves..."
Tian Meng turned back and warned them once more.
Shen Hanyu lowered his head in thought for a moment, then said:
"If the two of us go all out, how long do you think you could hold back the Ice Emperor?"
Tian Meng was stunned, then firmly said:
"If the two of us go all out, brother is at least confident in holding Ice Ice back for five minutes, and there's nearly a hundred percent chance of convincing Ice Ice to cooperate with us. Bro can guarantee that with his beast life..."
Shen Hanyu nodded, then asked:
"And if it's the Snow Empress? What are the odds?"
The smile that was about to appear on Tian Meng's face suddenly froze. He fell silent for a long while before softly saying:
"Hanyu, you don't understand what the Snow Empress means in the Far North. Let me put it this way: as long as it's within the Far North, the Snow Empress is virtually invincible. She is the publicly recognized ruler of the Far North, as well as the purest ice and snow spirit, favored and acknowledged by the heavens and earth of the Far North. She can even mobilize the power of heaven and earth to bless herself."
"Even if Di Tian came to the Far North, he wouldn't dare casually fight the Snow Empress, because he wouldn't dare gamble on where her limits truly lie. To put it this way, killing the Snow Empress in the Far North would even invoke heavenly tribulation..."
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