After watching Huo Wu's carriage disappear into the distance, Mu Ci returned to his residence.
In the living room, Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er were sitting on the sofa waiting for him.
Mu Ci smiled and walked over, sitting down next to Shui Bing'er.
Seeing him seated, Shui Bing'er smiled and poured him a cup of tea, asking softly, "Sister Huo Wu is gone?"
Mu Ci took the teacup, took a sip, and answered affirmatively, "Yes, she's said goodbye. Now we need to prepare to depart."
Mu Ci paused, put down the teacup, and looked at the two sisters with a hint of reminder.
"This journey is quite long, you need to be mentally prepared, a long journey is not easy."
Their destination was the far north—the North Pole of Douluo Star.
The Douluo Continent is vast, with a large part located in high-latitude regions, forming a vast polar region.
Near the outer edge are the frozen forests composed of cold-region plants, their scale enormous, in no way inferior to the Star Dou Great Forest in the center of the Douluo Continent.
However, due to the extreme environment and the relatively singular type of ice-attribute soul beasts, not many soul masters are attracted to it.
These are mainly ice-type soul masters or soul-hunting mercenary groups that need specific soul beasts.
Like the Mirror Beasts Oscar will need in the future.
Passing through the Frozen Forest, one reaches the desolate and frigid core region of the far north, perpetually covered in ice and snow, ruled by the Far North Emperor, the Ice and Snow Empress.
At this time, the far north is even more primitive than it will be ten thousand years later, and the number of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts is far greater.
The Ice and Snow Empresses, two of the Three Kings of the Far North, are still at their peak of lifespan, far from the wretched state they will be in ten thousand years later.
At this moment, under Shui Bing'er's teasing gaze, Shui Yue'er slowly moved closer to Mu Ci. "Don't worry, brother-in-law, my sister and I are all ready. With you here, it'll be like a picnic."
Shui Yue'er said, gently resting her head on Mu Ci's shoulder.
Mu Ci was both amused and exasperated, and playfully tapped Shui Yue'er's smooth forehead.
"You! We're going to hunt for spirit rings, not to go sightseeing with you. Bing'er needs to break through to level 50 on the way, so you need to cultivate properly too, no slacking off, understand?"
Shui Yue'er nodded obediently, snuggling against him happily, clearly not taking Mu Ci's lecture to heart.
Mu Ci and Shui Bing'er exchanged a glance and smiled helplessly.
However, Mu Ci wasn't too worried, since Shui Bing'er was right there to supervise, and it wouldn't be so easy for Shui Yue'er to slack off.
Mu Ci would feel sorry for Shui Yue'er and would soften his heart, but Shui Bing'er wouldn't.
At this moment, Shui Bing'er's gentle gaze turned back to Mu Ci.
"Brother Mu Ci, the journey to the far north will take a long time. Have you told Grandpa Dugu and Grandpa Ye? After all, you are the sect leader, and it might not be good for you to be away from the sect for a month or two."
"Bing'er, you're right, I should go and tell them."
Mu Ci thought for a moment and agreed.
Although he was the sect leader, he didn't actually have much to do. Dugu Bo and Ye Renxin were both sect elders and his seniors; they could make decisions on many things themselves, so there was no need to pass them on to him.
He only had to intervene occasionally when a family needed to refine pills for martial soul evolution.
However, this trip would take a long time, so it was better to inform them.
Realizing he had to go, Mu Ci stood up, hugged the two women goodbye, and left his residence.
Mu Ci walked along the path within the sect, following the disciples' directions, and arrived at a garden.
Upon entering, he saw two elders playing chess at a stone table not far away.
He walked slowly to the side and called out with a smile,
"Grandpa Dugu, Grandpa Ye!"
Dugu Bo pointed to a stone bench beside him, gesturing for him to sit down.
"Why aren't you with the girls? What brings you to these two old men?"
Ye Renxin also smiled at the sect leader and his grandson-in-law. Mu Ci felt a little awkward, since Dugu Yan and Ye Lengleng weren't there; he was with Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er.
"Grandpas, Bing'er is about to break through to level 50. I'm going to take Bing'er and Yue'er to the far north for a soul hunt."
"From now on, the affairs of the sect will be handed over to you two grandpas."
Ye Renxin looked at Mu Ci with a look of interest and a hint of teasing.
This gaze made Mu Ci a little uncomfortable. He looked down at himself and asked, "Grandpa Ye, is there a problem?"
Ye Renxin teased, "No, I just want to see how you can say such a thing. When have the daily affairs of the sect ever really been in your hands?"
Hearing this, Mu Ci's eyes darted to the side, unsure how to answer.
Delegating tasks is what a qualified leader should do, and Mu Ci is particularly good at this, having delegated more than 90% of the work to others.
Moreover, Mu Ci could almost completely trust that these two old men wouldn't have any ill intentions towards the Medicine King Sect.
Putting aside his relationship with Dugu Yan and Ye Lengleng, just considering the Ye family and the Dugu family, these two families had no reason to enrich themselves.
Despite their prestigious reputations in the Soul Master world, both families are actually down to just two members each.
If Mu Ci hadn't resolved the issue of their Martial Souls, they probably wouldn't have survived for more than a few generations.
Since that's already been mentioned, Mu Ci won't elaborate further.
After helping Shui Bing'er acquire her Soul Rings and sending the two girls back to Tianshui Academy, it would be a good time to visit Dugu Yan and Ye Lengleng, whom Mu Ci hadn't seen in a long time; he missed them both.
Thinking of this, Mu Ci changed the subject and asked the two,
"Grandpas, are Yan Yan and Leng Leng still training at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy these days?"
Dugu Bo stroked his chin and pondered, "I don't know much about that, but I guess so?"
"Indeed, I hadn't even noticed until you mentioned it. Those two girls haven't been back for a few days."
Ye Renxin couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this.
"You old man, you've solved your own martial soul problem, and now you don't even care about your granddaughters."
Dugu Bo retorted, "Who said I don't care? Who would dare to easily provoke Yan Yan and Leng Leng now? I don't need to worry about them at all."
Seeing the two old men glaring at each other, Mu Ci quickly interrupted.
Ye Renxin continued, "It seems that under the guidance of that instructor named Qin Ming, they've started practical martial soul training at the Heaven Dou City Grand Arena."
"They also said they'd start taking turns challenging other major cities."
Qin Ming? Grand Arena?
These two keywords immediately reminded Mu Ci of the important plot that took place at the Soto City Grand Arena in the original work.
Mu Ci quickly calculated the time in his mind.
If nothing unexpected happened during this Soul Hunt, he could arrive in Soto City ahead of time to wait for the Heaven Dou Team.
This way, he could not only see Dugu Yan and Ye Lengleng, but also take the opportunity to observe the situation of the main characters.
He had been in Douluo Continent for so many years, and the storm caused by the little butterfly had already swept across the continent. Who knew what changes might have occurred to the main characters?
However, Tang San would probably still go to Shrek Academy, and that shouldn't change. Although Mu Ci was wary of the possible intervention of the God of Asura, just taking a look shouldn't be a problem, and he wouldn't have any adverse reactions.
If possible, he might even try to create a little "crisis."
He would see if the God of Asura would intervene to protect Tang San in a life-or-death situation.
This would also confirm his suspicions.
Having made up his mind, Mu Ci stood up and said, "In that case, I won't disturb you two playing chess any longer."
Dugu Bo and Ye Ren waved their hands indifferently, their minds already completely back on the chessboard.