After traveling day and night...
The Ice Empress brought him and Yao Lao to a forest with scattered plants growing in it.
The entire forest had no green to set it off—all the plants were ice-white in color, blending completely with the icy environment of the Extreme North.
The area of this forest was also small enough that he could see its end at a glance.
Even so!
Yang Fan still felt tremendous awe when he arrived here.
Eight months since entering the Extreme North, this was the first time Yang Fan had seen plants in the Extreme North.
He could hardly imagine that plants could actually grow in such harsh cold conditions.
"Is this the Bone Spirit Fruit?"
Yang Fan looked at something resembling a pine cone wrapped in ice that the Ice Empress had led him to.
Completely unremarkable!
Even using spiritual power to probe it, he couldn't sense anything special about it.
"Hey—"
"This is something you were looking for yourself, and you don't even know if it is?"
"Do you actually understand anything or not?"
Yang Fan was being disdained!
But the Ice Empress wasn't wrong about this—this was indeed his first time seeing something called a Bone Spirit Fruit.
If it weren't for Yao Lao, he might never have come to this icy environment in his entire life.
"Master... is it?"
Yang Fan looked at Yao Lao, anticipating the moment his mentor would nod.
However...
Yao Lao shook his head, his face showing slight disappointment as he said: "This is indeed the thing."
"Then why do you look so disappointed."
You crazy old man... scared him!
If after eight months in the Extreme North, he discovered they had gone through all this hardship for the wrong thing, the string he had been keeping taut might really snap.
"It is... yet it isn't!"
"This is indeed the Bone Spirit Fruit I told you about, but it hasn't reached the effect we wanted."
The soil of the Douluo Continent wasn't suitable for nurturing precious herbs like the Bone Spirit Fruit, causing it to grow crooked in the Extreme North.
"Is it because the temperature isn't low enough?"
Yang Fan had once heard Yao Lao say: The growth environment for Bone Spirit Fruit was extremely cold forbidden zones for humans.
"Perhaps..."
This question wasn't important to them now.
What was important was that the Bone Spirit Fruit hadn't reached the effect they expected, which meant it couldn't become an important medicinal ingredient for refining the Flesh and Blood Regeneration Pill.
"What?"
"You're saying the Extreme North isn't cold enough?"
"Is there any place colder than the Extreme North on the Douluo Continent?"
The Ice Empress couldn't stand anyone speaking ill of the Extreme North.
"Master."
"Is there still a chance?"
Yang Fan had no mind to deal with the Ice Empress's complaints right now.
What master and disciple faced now was a crucial moment.
If the Bone Spirit Fruit couldn't achieve the alchemy effect they wanted, could Yao Lao still reconstruct his physical body?
"Don't be so pessimistic!"
"Although it hasn't reached the effect we wanted, its essence is still the Bone Spirit Fruit."
"If we can find three or more... perhaps I still have a way."
At this moment!
Yao Lao and Yang Fan simultaneously looked at the Ice Empress beside them.
This heavy responsibility still needed to be placed on this elder sister who was already 300,000 years old.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"I've already led you to the Bone Spirit Fruit."
Yang Fan smiled slightly!
"I asked you to lead us to find Bone Spirit Fruit, but I didn't say to find just one."
"Help us find two more Bone Spirit Fruits and we'll let you go!"
If the Ice Empress could know one, she could certainly find a second, a third...
"Going back on your word!"
"Soul masters really are all scum."
"Kill me then!"
"From now on, I won't help you with anything anymore, and don't think you'll get any more information from me."
Along the way, the Ice Empress had thought Yang Fan was different from other soul masters.
Unexpectedly...
His heart was even more sinister than the soul masters she had seen before!
"If you don't take us to find them, I'll beat you to death."
"Then strip you naked and hang your corpse high in the Extreme North, letting all the soul beasts here know how you died."
"Given the Extreme North's temperature..."
"How long do you think your corpse could hang here if no one collected it?"
The Ice Empress's face already had a faint green glow. After hearing Yang Fan's description and picturing herself naked...
Her face turned even greener!
"Despicable!"
"The Snow Empress will definitely avenge me."
The Ice Empress was still afraid!
Such a way of death would trample her 300,000 years of dignity into the ground and rub it harshly.
"She doesn't need to avenge you at all."
"As long as you take us to find two more Bone Spirit Fruits, we'll naturally let you go."
After some back and forth...
The Ice Empress ultimately bowed her head to reality.
Dying naked in the Extreme North was simply too humiliating for her.
"Continue forward..."
"With good luck, it won't take half a month to find those lousy fruits you want."
The Ice Empress's words were still very trustworthy!
After walking together for eight days, they really did find two more shriveled Bone Spirit Fruits.
This also showed that Bone Spirit Fruit wasn't particularly rare or uncommon—it was just that they hadn't looked in the right places before.
Of course!
Without the Ice Empress leading the way, it really wouldn't have been easy to find such a small forest with plants growing in the vast Extreme North.
Yang Fan looked at the three completely unremarkable Bone Spirit Fruits in his hand, unable to imagine whether they could shine brilliantly in Yao Lao's hands.
"Alright."
"You can go!"
Yang Fan kept his word.
Even if these three Bone Spirit Fruits that hadn't matured in the Extreme North couldn't serve any purpose, the Ice Empress had still fulfilled her promise.
"Really!"
"You're really letting me go?"
The Ice Empress found it somewhat hard to believe.
Ever since Yang Fan went back on his word, she hadn't believed her life could continue.
The reason she chose to compromise was simply to have a dignified way to die.
"What?"
"You've developed feelings for me or something?"
"If you don't want to leave, stay. I happen to be missing a ninth soul ring."
The Ice Empress slowly retreated...
Once she reached a safe distance, she chose to disappear on the spot.
The 300,000-year Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion had completely erased her presence in the Extreme North the moment she vanished.
"So rude!"
She didn't even know to say goodbye.
At the very least, she should have praised him as a noble soul master who didn't waver before the temptation of a 300,000-year soul bone and soul ring.
"Master."
"What do we do now?"
Yao Lao looked at the three shriveled Bone Spirit Fruits in his hand.
After a moment of contemplation...
"Let's go back first!"
"I still need to research how to use these three Bone Spirit Fruits."
Yang Fan had the same intention!
These eight months in the Extreme North had been enough for him.
When cultivating in the Great Star Dou Forest, when thirsty he could drink sweet spring water, when hungry he could use fire to eat a few pieces of fat, delicious beast meat, and when bored he could sit with Yao Lao watching soul beasts mate.
The Extreme North...
Was nothing but ice and snow.
After eight months here, Yang Fan could barely recognize any colors in this world other than white.
Going back was good!
This way he could bring the soul bone he had taken from Tang Hao to his grandfather.
The old man would probably faint from happiness when he saw it.
Thinking of this...
Yang Fan became excited first, and his return journey became even swifter.
...
Tian Dou City.
Nearly a year had brought earth-shaking changes to Tian Dou City.
First was the issue of soul master benefits!
After some lobbying by Ning Fengzhi, the two great empires of Tian Dou and Star Luo finally reached an agreement.
They had the two great empires cut off the benefits distributed to soul masters by the Spirit Hall, and instead had the two great empires distribute them.
The Emperor Xue Ye of Tian Dou Empire naturally chose the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect as his first choice.
But he didn't give the entire cake to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Instead, he divided the large cake into multiple portions.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect took 50%!
The Tian Dou Huo and Feng families each took 10%, and the remaining 30% fell on the Breaking Clan.
That the Breaking Clan could occupy 30% was something many people hadn't expected.
After all, the Tian Dou Huo and Feng families had made huge contributions to the entire empire, cultivating many excellent soul masters for the empire.
As for why the Breaking Clan could occupy 30%, it naturally couldn't be separated from Ning Fengzhi's behind-the-scenes pushing.
Smart people understood why the Tian Dou Empire wanted to cut this cake into multiple portions.
It was simply to avoid seeing another Spirit Hall standing on the Douluo Continent.
The Star Luo Empire was already on the edge of political upheaval due to Dai Weisi's death.
They had no time to attend to the matter of soul master benefits now. Seeing the Tian Dou Empire's method, they directly chose to follow suit.
And on the Star Luo Empire side, the division was more fragmented...
The Star Luo Zhu family, with the largest share, took 20% alone!
Although Dai Mubai and Dai Weisi's deaths had shattered the marriage alliance between the imperial family and the Zhu family, this wasn't enough to make the Star Luo Empire abandon the Zhu family.
On the contrary...
Dai Weisi's death put the Star Luo imperial family on the edge of political upheaval. At this time, the Star Luo Emperor precisely needed the Zhu family the most.
The Spirit Hall didn't sit idle in the face of the two great empires' open conspiracy.
Since the two great empires wouldn't allocate funds to them, they would distribute benefits to soul masters themselves.
The matter of soul master benefits seemed small, but it had suddenly made the situation on the entire Douluo Continent tense.
Anyone with normal intelligence could see that Spirit Hall was already at loggerheads with the two great empires.
At this time, whoever went to which side to collect soul master benefits meant taking sides.
Some chose Spirit Hall, some chose Tian Dou Empire, and some chose Star Luo Empire.
Of course!
More soul masters chose to wait and see. After all, when the situation was unclear, no one wanted to become cannon fodder in war.
The most outrageous were those shameless rascals who had the gall to collect benefits from all three sides.
Completely shameless!
...
Yang Fan stood at the gates of Tian Dou City, taking a deep breath of the air of the human world.
Eight months of freezing harsh life made him appreciate the human world even more.
Along the way, he had already gained a general understanding of recent events on the Douluo Continent.
That Spirit Hall continued to distribute benefits to soul masters was within his expectations.
If he were Bibi Dong, he absolutely wouldn't miss this opportunity to win people's hearts.
Even so...
It had also greatly weakened Spirit Hall's cohesion among soul masters on the Douluo Continent.
More importantly, it would make Spirit Hall take out a large sum of money every year to invest in soul master benefits.
This would inevitably slow Spirit Hall's progress in establishing the Spirit Empire, and slow Spirit Hall's footsteps in flattening the Douluo Continent.
It was also because of this matter that the Breaking Clan's status on the Douluo Continent had risen.
Many people said the Breaking Clan's current strength already qualified it to enter the Seven Great Sects.
Some even said it could already step on the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family's head.
This saying wasn't baseless!
Dugu Bo used to be secretive, but now everyone knew this terrifying Poison Douluo was an elder of the Breaking Clan.
Plus the mysterious Yao Lao...
Their soul master experts were already not inferior to any sect. What they lacked was merely overall soul master strength and sect financial resources.
"Let's go!"
Yang Fan's current mood could be summed up as refreshed and energized.
When he left Tian Dou City, he was still a Quasi-Soul Douluo without an eighth soul ring. Eight months later, he had become a Quasi-Titled Douluo.
Not only that...
He had also obtained his third Heavenly Flame.
When he went back and told them, it would definitely scare the old man into jumping three feet high.
"Master."
"Do you feel like Tian Dou City has changed?"
Yao Lao laughed!
"You're testing me now, you brat?"
"No. I just want to confirm whether my judgment is correct."
Tian Dou City had indeed changed!
This change wasn't a visible urban transformation, but a deeper atmospheric change.
He didn't even need to deliberately mobilize his soul power to discover multiple soul masters hidden in the shadows.
These people watched Tian Dou City from various angles.
It was impossible to tell which faction they belonged to!
And within Tian Dou City, the originally magnificent and solemn Spirit Hall Sanctuary now had few people walking out of it.
It emanated a coldness from inside out!
The current situation in Tian Dou City was a microcosm of the entire Douluo Continent.
This was more tense than Yang Fan had imagined!
It also showed that war between Spirit Hall and the two great empires would break out one day.
And the deeper the accumulation now, the more severe the conflict would inevitably be when the time came.
...
Breaking Clan.
Nearly a year had passed, and the entire clan was now completely established in Tian Dou City.
"Second Elder!"
"How is our current batch of Blood Coagulation Powder?"
"It was all shipped out yesterday. Now the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has started taking charge of sales."
"Excellent!"
"..."
Yang Wudi's face was now completely relaxed.
The clan had now completely entered the right track. As clan leader, he no longer needed to personally attend to everything.
Especially in the matter of refining Blood Coagulation Powder, the entire clan had received the true transmission.
"Alright!"
"You all keep watch here. I'll go back and rest."
Saying rest...
In reality, it was going back to his room to secretly grind!
What Yang Wudi desired most now was to become a Titled Douluo as soon as possible.
The outside world now said the Breaking Clan already possessed the power to enter the Upper Three Sects.
But...
The more this was said, the more ashamed he, as clan leader, felt.
Looking at the Upper Three Sects of the Seven Great Sects, except for Ning Fengzhi, all the sect masters were Titled Douluos.
But he couldn't compare himself to Ning Fengzhi!
Ning Fengzhi was a support soul master, while he was a combat soul master.
Furthermore...
He simply didn't have Ning Fengzhi's vast overall perspective.
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