A month after Shui Bing'er's breakthrough.
As they approached the far north, the temperature began to drop.
The plants they encountered along the way were also quite different from those in the central continent, with leaves mostly long, thin needles, exhibiting typical characteristics of the frigid zone.
Here, exhaling into mist and splashing water into ice were commonplace.
If they fought here, the power of a fire-attribute soul master's soul skills would likely be reduced by more than 20%.
Even Shui Yue'er, who possessed the water-attribute Azure Wave Spirit Dragon martial soul, was somewhat affected by the environment.
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Although ice and water share the same origin, there are still some differences between them.
The further north one goes, the thinner the water-attribute soul power in the air becomes, and the more difficult it is to mobilize and convert, far less convenient than ice-attribute.
However, for water-attribute, the weakening is not as drastic as for fire-attribute.
Nevertheless, for Shui Bing'er, whose martial soul is the Ice Phoenix, this is an excellent cultivation environment. In
this excellent natural simulated environment, Shui Bing'er's cultivation speed accelerates rapidly, even catching up with her speed near the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
The bottleneck that would have taken her more than ten days to break through is now within reach.
Mu Ci watched Shui Bing'er, surrounded by ice-blue soul power, concentrating on breaking through the bottleneck inside the carriage, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes.
Among the women beside him, besides Qian Renxue, only Shui Bing'er possessed the best talent.
She was also one of the few who didn't need many pills to compensate for her aptitude; even with just steady cultivation, reaching the peak of Douluo was definitely within reach.
His own pills only helped Shui Bing'er advance further; calling it icing on the cake might be an exaggeration, but it was definitely complementary.
At this moment, Shui Yue'er moved closer with a pitiful look, staring at Mu Ci with her big, light blue eyes.
"Brother-in-law, Yue'er's hands are so cold!"
Mu Ci affectionately pinched Shui Yue'er's delicate, collagen-rich face and said helplessly.
"Can't you learn from Bing'er and focus more on your cultivation? Bing'er has already broken through level 50, and you haven't even broken through level 49 yet."
Although he said this, Mu Ci still reached out and held Shui Yue'er's hand, even though he knew she wasn't really cold.
As the saying goes, a woman who knows how to be charming has the best life, and this was most fitting for Shui Yue'er.
Among the women around Mu Ci, Qian Renxue had her own career, Dugu Yan, Huo Wu, and Shui Bing'er all pursued strength, and Ye Lengleng's personality, shaped by her martial soul, was more inclined to be non-competitive.
Only Shui Yue'er always acted like a girl next door, constantly hovering around Mu Ci, wanting to get closer.
"Almost there, almost there! Yue'er promises her brother-in-law that she'll definitely break through to level 49 before her sister gets her fifth spirit ring,"
Shui Yue'er vowed earnestly to Mu Ci.
Seeing her like this, Mu Ci smiled gently.
After sitting for a moment, Mu Ci stood up.
Seeing the questioning look in Shui Yue'er's eyes, Mu Ci said, "Yue'er, you stay and watch over Bing'er. I'll go outside and take a look."
Shui Yue'er nodded obediently; she always completed tasks assigned by Mu Ci well and wouldn't cause any trouble.
After saying goodbye, Mu Ci pushed open the carriage door and stepped out.
As soon as she stepped out, a biting cold wind rushed towards her.
Mu Ci took a deep breath of the chilling air; the cool air refreshed her.
However, with the physique of a Title Douluo, this level of cold had no effect on Mu Ci.
After standing outside for a moment, Mu Ci walked to the carriage and looked at the coachman, who was wearing a thick cotton coat.
A flash of golden light appeared in his hand, and a stream of purifying light instantly landed on the coachman.
The sudden dissipation of the chill made the coachman react instantly. He hurriedly stood up and bowed to Mu Ci:
"My lord, what are your orders?"
This coachman was a temporary replacement from a merchant guild under the Medicine King Sect when Mu Ci passed through a major city. Mu Ci did not know his true identity, only that he was a high-ranking figure in the Medicine King Sect.
The Heavenly Dou Empire was vast and rich, and it was impossible for a coachman to know the routes of the entire empire. Changing coaches was a common occurrence.
"It's nothing, just a short walk."
Seeing the coachman's respectful expression, Mu Ci smiled and asked, "How far is it to the next city?"
Sensing that this gentleman was kind and approachable, the coachman breathed a sigh of relief and replied with a simple smile,
"Sir, it's about sixty kilometers to Tianhan City. If we travel at full speed on the official road, we'll arrive in less than two hours. I've traveled this road dozens of times; I know it very well."
Then, the coachman reminded him,
"Sir, Tianhan City is already the northernmost city in the empire. Further north lies the Frozen Forest; the carriage can only take you as far as that."
Tianhan City is the northernmost city in the Heaven Dou Empire, with a population of less than 50,000. Most of them make a living by harvesting and selling local specialties from the edge of the Frozen Forest.
The extreme cold of the far north means few people are willing to stay here; anyone with some ability has long since moved to cities further south.
As for Soul Masters, there are even fewer. The entire city has only a handful of noble Soul Masters, plus the deacons stationed at the Spirit Hall, and most of them are either Soul Masters or Great Soul Masters.
Only the city lord and the bishop of the Spirit Hall are Soul Masters at the Soul Venerable level.
However, because it's the city closest to the Frozen Forest, mercenary groups occasionally come by.
Mu Ci listened to the coachman's explanation and nodded, indicating that she understood.
After the coachman finished speaking, a hint of unease appeared on his honest face as if he had remembered something. He lowered his voice and said, "But sir—"
Mu Ci looked at the coachman, who seemed hesitant to speak, with some doubt.
"What is it? Speak freely."
The coachman thought for a moment and organized his thoughts.
"It was a month ago when I last came to Tianhan City to deliver goods, so the information might not be accurate."
"However, when I stopped in the main city, I overheard other coachmen from other merchant guilds talking about the situation here."
"They said that in the past month, several caravans have been attacked in this area."
"Later, passersby only saw the wreckage of carriages scattered everywhere, with no remains of the bodies. They also found tooth marks and claw marks on some of the wooden planks of the carriages."
"Everyone is speculating that there might be a roaming group of soul beasts on this road."
"You'd better be careful about that."
Mu Ci's expression became serious upon hearing the coachman's reminder.
"Thank you for informing me. I will keep that in mind."
As soon as he finished speaking, a strong fluctuation of soul power suddenly emanated from the carriage, causing the carriage to shake violently.
Mu Ci's face lit up with joy. He comforted the frightened coachman and quickly returned to the carriage.
Seeing Shui Bing'er, who had successfully broken through her bottleneck and was radiant, Mu Ci smiled and congratulated her loudly, "Congratulations, Bing'er, on breaking through to Soul King!"
Shui Bing'er, who had been talking to Shui Yue'er, happily rushed into Mu Ci's arms upon seeing his return.
"Bing'er's success today is all thanks to Brother Mu Ci. Without you, there would be no Bing'er today."
The two embraced for a moment, and Mu Ci said to the two women in front of him,
"Next, we will rest briefly in Tianhan City, and then cross the Frozen Forest to go to the far north to hunt for Bing'er's fifth Soul Ring."
After speaking, Mu Ci also had a thought and used his soul power to transmit his instructions to the coachman outside.
The carriage shook slightly and started again, continuing its journey northward.