A body length of 1.5 meters!
Such a physique would seem inconspicuous in any soul beast forest.
But!
This was the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion with 380,000 years of cultivation—an existence that could dominate any soul beast forest it entered.
Some soul beasts are simply like this!
The further they cultivate, the more their bodies become petite yet powerful.
"Hiss—"
The Ice Empress, now in her beast form, let out a series of hisses.
The two rather small pincers on her body suddenly seemed to be inlaid with densely packed diamond particles, while her body surface was covered with a layer of ice crystal defense.
The Ice Empress's other two great skills: Ice Empress's Pincers and Ice Empress's Armor!
It was precisely these two innate defensive skills that allowed her to survive Yang Fan's fierce attack just now.
At this moment...
The Ice Empress once again demonstrated the strength befitting one of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North.
Accompanied by a sharp, piercing cry, the air above the Extreme North was mobilized by her.
Extreme cold seemed about to freeze the entire sky. The temperature that had risen from the fiery Dou Qi began to drop, and the melted snow water rapidly froze.
Howling winds!
"..."
The corner of Yang Fan's mouth slightly rose.
At this moment...
He had already launched his second attack from ten thousand meters in the sky.
The Heavy Xuan Ruler was heavily thrown from his hand. Then, Dou Qi erupted from his fists, and with a fierce flap of his dual wings, he dove down with unstoppable momentum.
He just wanted to ask the Ice Empress!
Had she ever seen this kind of fist technique descending from the heavens?
"Hiss~~~"
The Ice Empress let out another series of urgent hisses.
She had originally believed soul masters to be insignificant and vile creatures, had believed that dealing with soul masters was as easy as killing a squirrel.
But she never expected...
Having survived on the Douluo Continent for 380,000 years, this was the first time she had encountered such a powerful soul master.
At this moment, the Ice Empress chose to activate the last of her four great soul skills, and also the one with the strongest attack power among them.
Ice Empress's Wrath!
In an instant...
Super freezing ability once again covered a range of ten thousand meters in the Extreme North, causing the already frigid atmosphere to plummet cliff-like once more.
At the same time...
Under the coverage of Ice Empress's Wrath, Ultimate Ice had already begun to form in the air.
Under the Ice Empress's control, howling winds drove hard, cold ice blades to meet the diving Yang Fan.
The Heavy Xuan Ruler took the lead!
It shattered one solid piece of ice after another with irresistible force.
But energy is ultimately limited!
The falling Heavy Xuan Ruler was completely frozen when it was still less than three hundred meters from the ground.
Ultimate Ice sealed the Heavy Xuan Ruler, then leaped toward Yang Fan behind it.
Facing the attack of Ultimate Ice, Yang Fan's response was very simple.
If there was anything in this world that was best suited to deal with Ultimate Ice and that he possessed.
Then there was only one thing: Heavenly Flame!
Yang Fan threw a powerful punch. The forceful fist wind shook off the Ultimate Ice rushing toward him, then he summoned both Hellfire and Ice-Fire Dragon Flame.
At a speed invisible to the naked eye, they rapidly fused into a tri-colored lotus.
Heavenly Flames are domineering because they are flames slowly formed over thousands or even tens of thousands of years of accumulation.
Such flames are full of wildness!
And after being devoured, this wildness is gradually assimilated by Dou Qi.
At this time, the power of the Heavenly Flame is actually less domineering than before it was subdued.
But—
Though the Heavenly Flame loses its wildness after being subdued, it gains significant room for growth and malleability.
These two characteristics depend entirely on the cultivator's strength and creativity.
Just like now!
Yang Fan, temporarily possessing Demigod-level strength, once again released the Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus.
Even the Ultimate Ice that dominated the Douluo Continent could not contend with it.
Wherever the Heavenly Flame reached...
The Ultimate Ice that the Ice Empress had worked so hard to create was melting at a visible speed.
A hundred-meter range, not an inch of ice remained!
Yang Fan tread on fire, passing through solid ice to press his fist before the Ice Empress.
However, Yang Fan did not follow through with this punch...
"I'll ask you something!"
"Do you know where in the Extreme North I can find the Bone Spirit Fruit?"
This was the reason Yang Fan didn't follow through with his punch.
The Ice Empress had lived in this soul beast forest for 380,000 years. With her strength, there was likely no place in the entire Extreme North she couldn't go.
In this situation...
If it came to knowledge of the Extreme North, even if he lived several more decades, his understanding probably wouldn't match even a fraction of the Ice Empress's.
Yang Fan even considered the cultural differences between humans and beasts, and once again took out his soul painting from his storage soul guide device.
At this moment...
The Ice Empress had already transformed from a 1.5-meter scorpion into a young woman wearing a dark green dress.
Up close, Yang Fan could now truly see the Ice Empress's actual appearance.
About 1.65 meters tall, with a captivating yet cold face.
On both sides of her face were four special jade green magical patterns, with the last pattern appearing extremely faint.
Magical patterns on one's face would normally give a savage and fierce impression, but on the Ice Empress's countenance, they created a stunning ice-cold beauty.
"Damned human!"
"You think I'll tell you these things?"
Though the Ice Empress had lost, her tone remained as cold and proud as before.
The arrogance belonging to one of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North was displayed to the fullest at this moment.
Better to die standing than to live kneeling!
She would absolutely never submit to Yang Fan.
"Won't talk?"
"Then I'll pull your teeth out."
Yang Fan had now become the unhurried one instead.
What a joke!
He had been in the Icebound Forest for nearly three months now, and still hadn't found even a trace of the Bone Spirit Fruit.
He also knew...
If he kept searching like this, unless his luck exploded, it would probably remain unknown even after three to five years.
The Ice Empress wouldn't talk... no problem!
With Yao Lao's current strength, controlling a scorpion couldn't be difficult, right?
He could keep her by his side and slowly interrogate her. Was he afraid the Ice Empress wouldn't open her mouth?
"Pull my teeth?"
"That depends on whether you have the ability to do so at this moment."
The Ice Empress, now reduced to a prisoner, had not given up the pride belonging to one of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North because of this.
Even when Yang Fan mentioned pulling her teeth, her face showed obvious scorn.
The next second!
She gave a perfect answer to this confidence.
Ice light flashed!
At the moment Yang Fan's spirit wavered, the Ice Empress's body suddenly disappeared from where she stood.
Only then did he discover that a bottomless hole less than half a meter in diameter had suddenly appeared on the already ruined ice surface.
The Ice Empress had escaped!
As a soul beast that had lived on this land for 380,000 years, the Extreme North was her home.
Unless she suffered fatal injuries, it was absolutely impossible for Yang Fan to keep her here.
"Damn it!"
Yang Fan's scalp went numb.
Chase her...
A hole less than half a meter in diameter made him afraid to go deeper.
Don't chase her...
Just letting his prey slip away like this, Yang Fan felt depressed no matter how he thought about it.
Mainly because he hadn't obtained information about the Bone Spirit Fruit from the Ice Empress's mouth.
"The beauty you caught got away?"
Far from being disappointed, Yao Lao was even somewhat gloating.
His disciple had already done enough for him; he couldn't bring more pressure to Yang Fan at this moment.
Though her escape meant they might have lost an opportunity to learn the whereabouts of the Bone Spirit Fruit.
But for this kid Yang Fan, it really couldn't be considered a bad thing.
This kid's cultivation career had been too smooth!
A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit!
Next time he encountered this situation, he wouldn't be so careless again.
"Don't worry!"
"I'll catch her again."
Where could this woman run to no matter how powerful she was?
Nothing more than the core region of the Extreme North.
As long as the Ice Empress was still alive, he really wasn't worried about not being able to root this woman out.
"Good!"
"That's the spirit!"
"Master will wait for that day."
After the Ice Empress escaped, Yang Fan's mood gradually recovered from annoyance to calmness.
Though the Ice Empress had run away, it wasn't entirely without gain for him.
Because of the battle just now, the originally hard ice surface had cracked open a fissure about ten thousand meters long and five to six meters wide.
The crack was bottomless!
Even with Yang Fan's current soul power, he couldn't fully perceive the situation below.
When he stood before the crack, the cold air rushing toward his face was particularly obvious.
Clearly!
The source of the cold on this snowy mountain had now appeared before his eyes.
"Master."
"What's the situation below?"
After his Demigod-level strength was withdrawn, Yang Fan could only place his hopes on Yao Lao.
"Go down and take a look!"
Though Yao Lao's strength already stood at the peak of the Douluo Continent, he had not yet reached the level of traversing planes.
The mysteries of nature still required them to explore personally!
"Alright!"
This decision didn't cause Yang Fan much hesitation.
Heavenly Flame for illumination, soul power to clear the path!
Yang Fan vibrated his dual wings and continuously explored downward through the created fissure.
As he went deeper, the temperature below also continuously dropped.
Not only that!
This bone-piercing cold attacked his skin like sharp blades.
Shui Yue'er had been so right!
The Extreme North really wasn't a place for humans.
If it were an ordinary soul master, they would have already died from the Extreme North's cold by now.
"Master."
"Do you think there might be soul beasts or something down there?"
At this moment...
Yang Fan thought of the situation beneath the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well, and also of the scene when searching for Hellfire beneath the Hell Road.
Every time there were corresponding soul beasts guarding!
"Probably not!"
"This fissure wasn't naturally formed. Soul beasts and similar creatures couldn't possibly have living space below."
Just as Yao Lao finished this statement, he immediately raised his voice to warn Yang Fan.
"Brat!"
"Don't let your guard down just because there might not be soul beasts here."
"The Extreme North is full of dangers everywhere!"
"There might be unexpected dangers for us master and disciple within the snowy mountain."
Yao Lao wasn't trying to scare Yang Fan.
Things born from nature, after reaching a certain age, strength, or opportunity, would develop spiritual intelligence.
And those things that developed spiritual intelligence were often more terrifying than any living creature.
Take the Bone Spirit Cold Flame he possessed, for example—it became difficult to subdue precisely because it developed spiritual intelligence.
Of course!
Once it developed spiritual intelligence, it also meant this thing's quality had completely transformed.
But for cultivators, it was similarly a great opportunity!
...
After more than ten minutes of careful exploration...
Yang Fan reached the bottom!
He didn't know how many thousands of meters he had descended from the ice surface at the snowy mountain's peak.
It was cold here!
Cold to the point where Yang Fan couldn't even describe it.
If he compared the weather outside the Extreme North to a scorching summer day, then where he was now was an ice cave.
Standing below, Yang Fan even had to use Dou Qi to dissolve the cold of the hard ice beneath his feet with every step forward, otherwise this ice cave might permanently keep his shoes here.
"Master."
"This..."
"This... what is this thing?"
The interior of the snowy mountain wasn't as dim as Yang Fan had imagined.
On the contrary!
Because of the frozen thousands of miles, the snowy mountain's interior actually contained a self-illuminating ice crystal-like object.
What Yang Fan was asking Yao Lao about was this thing...
"Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence!"
Even someone as knowledgeable as Yao Lao had a slight tremor in his voice at this moment.
He had once been fortunate enough to obtain a piece when helping someone refine ice-attribute pills.
But the piece he had obtained before was pitifully small—only about the size of a fist, barely enough to refine one Tier-5 pill.
Yet now...
They were actually surrounded by Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence!
As far as the eye could see... it was everywhere!
"Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence?"
"Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence?"
Seeing Yao Lao slightly nod, Yang Fan's thoughts began to turn again.
Mentioning Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence, he thought of a soul beast close to a million years.
Skydream Iceworm!
That fellow had secretly developed to near-million-year level by constantly consuming Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence.
The consumer is ultimately consumed!
That fellow also became too full from eating, leading to being used as a charging treasure by other ferocious beasts in the Great Star Dou Forest's soul beast forest after arriving there.
He had previously considered capturing this super spiritual-type soul beast, Skydream Iceworm, to supplement Yao Lao.
But...
His strength wasn't enough!
If nothing unexpected happened, the current Skydream Iceworm should still be in the core region of the Great Star Dou Forest, being consumed as a charging treasure.
Forget his previous strength—even now, bringing Yao Lao at Demigod level to poke this hornet's nest required careful consideration.
Competing for Skydream Iceworm was a small matter; if it provoked the collective anger of the ferocious beasts and caused a beast tide, that would be no fun.
"Eh... that's not right!"
"Could it be that the great opportunity below isn't a Heavenly Flame, but Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence?"
Truthfully speaking, Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence was also a great opportunity.
After all, even a soft creature like Skydream Iceworm could become a near-million-year soul beast by consuming Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence.
But...
The target of Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence's effects was ice-attribute soul masters, which ran counter to his fire-attribute nature.
"Unlikely!"
"Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence may just be a surface manifestation. There should be a treasure here hundreds or thousands of times more precious than Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence."
Yao Lao quickly made his judgment!
If it relied solely on Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence, it was unlikely to change the overall temperature of an entire snowy mountain.
Yao Lao was now very certain.
Somewhere within this snowy mountain, there must be a Heavenly Flame, and they were already not far from it.
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