Chapter 233: Heartbeat

Aodu was not letting his guard down against Ning Feiliu; he was even starting to get serious.

Yet, Ning Feiliu sent him flying with a single kick.

This was enough to prove... the kid before him was no simple matter.

At the very least, he hadn't been able to withstand the power behind Ning Feiliu's kick just now, nor had he reacted in time to dodge it.

So, this kid's strength and speed were terrifying...

Intuition told Aodu that Ning Feiliu was not someone to be trifled with.

But...

Ning Feiliu was only one person, and so young; how formidable could he really be, no matter how troublesome he was?

Could it be that this kid was a Soul Saint? If he were only a Soul Emperor, how could they—three Soul Emperors and two Soul Kings—not be his match? And how could he possibly be a Soul Emperor? A kid this young, at most, would have the cultivation of a Soul King; he probably just looked young because he took good care of himself, with his delicate, tender skin.

As for that strength and speed, perhaps he was a Spirit Master from a great family...

However, Aodu sobered up slightly. Although he looked down on Ning Feiliu, he still whispered to Huang Laosan and the others, "The target is thorny; stay calm!"

He still held quite a bit of prestige; as soon as he said this, Huang Laosan and the others stopped.

But Huang Laosan still had his lower head controlling his upper head, and he said, "Boss, are we just going to leave these chicks alone?"

He had fled all the way from the Hagendasi Wangguo to Extreme North City, and along the way, he had only visited brothels twice and caught a village girl to vent his fire.

But how could those women compare to these young and beautiful chicks before them?

Plus, because those dogs from the Spirit Hall Enforcement Team had been pursuing them closely for the past two months, he hadn't touched a woman in two months.

Naturally, Huang Laosan couldn't hold back.

He was originally wanted by the Spirit Hall precisely because his lower head couldn't control his upper head, leading him to rape the daughter of a great noble in the kingdom.

It would be a wonder if you could make him control himself now.

In fact, this group of people wasn't originally a team; they just shared the same foul tastes while on the run, and thought that there was strength in numbers, which would make it easier to resist the Spirit Hall's Enforcement Team later.

That was why they were traveling together.

Although everyone acted like brothers on the surface, and Aodu had some prestige, it was impossible for everyone to truly listen to Aodu completely.

Aodu gave a ferocious grin and said, "Don't be impatient. We'll make our move in a moment. This pretty boy wants to play the protector, but it won't be that easy."

Then, after waiting for a while, they saw that at the gate of Extreme North City, the other Spirit Masters who had been looking at Shui Bing'er and the others with evil eyes outside had also passed through the checkpoint one by one.

At this moment, they all fixed their gazes on Shui Bing'er and the others.

Clearly... just like Aodu, Huang Laosan, and the others, they were all fugitive criminals and Fallen Ones.

Ning Feiliu, however, had a calm expression as he turned back and said to Shui Bing'er and the others, "Let's go."

Shui Bing'er and the other girls nodded as well; likewise, they did not panic.

Because...

In the year they had spent traveling with Ning Feiliu, Ning Feiliu had made his move many times.

They had absolute trust in Ning Feiliu! After Ning Feiliu and the girls walked directly into Extreme North City, those who had just entered followed them impatiently.

Aodu, Huang Laosan, and the others, who had slightly realized that Ning Feiliu was not simple, followed behind the crowd.

Just as they thought Ning Feiliu and the girls were going to a crowded place in Extreme North City to seek shelter.

As they followed Ning Feiliu and the girls, they found that the further they walked...

The more remote the place they arrived at became.

Extreme North City was originally a remote, cold border town; apart from exiled criminals, imperial officials, and soldiers, there were only about a few thousand people living there.

With few people and a frigid climate.

Many places were very remote.

Ning Feiliu and Shui Bing'er and the others kept walking, and walking, until they finally stopped as if they had found their destination.

"Kid, it seems you're quite sensible after all." A man following behind them gave a flippant, ferocious grin and said, "Come on, beauties, big brother will play with you properly... play for the whole night!"

Yet Ning Feiliu ignored him, merely looking around, and said, "Is everyone here?"

"What do you mean 'everyone here'?" Another man said with a lewd, evil laugh, "Brothers, seven chicks aren't enough to go around. How about we rent a hotel and we all... play together, how about that?"

"Good idea! We're all the same; we're all here to play with women, no need to hurt our harmony over a few women." Another man said, "Then we'll take these chicks to a hotel and all together—"

However, before he could finish, he suddenly clutched his neck, which had been slashed open at some point and was spurting blood, and collapsed.

"It's truly disgusting." Ning Feiliu, who already had two unique martial souls in his hands—a blood-red short sickle blade and a jade-green long spear—said coldly.

Beneath his feet, five seemingly ordinary soul rings—two yellow, two purple, and one black—emerged.

It was he who had struck at some unknown moment, using the attack of Soul Breaker to slit that man's throat.

For a guy with a mouth full of filth, what more was there to say?

Ning Feiliu chose to end his life directly.

"Kid! You killed my brother! I'll fight you to the death!" Immediately, another man came out in a rage.

However, just as everyone thought Ning Feiliu was about to continue his attack, and even Shui Bing'er thought a great battle was about to erupt and prepared to help Ning Feiliu fight...

They saw that among the soul rings circling beneath Ning Feiliu's feet this time, the first soul ring slowly rose.

It first tore away its bright yellow disguise, transforming into a pitch-black soul ring.

A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring?! But before the crowd could finish being shocked, Ning Feiliu's Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, which had torn away its disguise, shattered directly! A terrifying power that seemed capable of freezing time and space erupted, accompanied by Ning Feiliu's voice, which was cold to the extreme—

"Summoning of the Ice and Snow God!"

The next moment...

A crisp bird cry seemed to tear through space, resounding throughout the entire... Extreme North City!

It was as if that clear, loud bird cry could even be heard across the vast ice plains outside Extreme North City.

At the same time, accompanied by extreme low temperatures, it spread out from the sky! Everyone seemed to see a giant divine bird in the sky, its entire body frozen by ice and snow, flapping its wings to scatter ice, snow, and storms upon the world! "Sla—!"

A violent blizzard instantly engulfed the twenty-plus Spirit Masters with evil intentions before Ning Feiliu!

At this moment, there was no need for him to hold back; simply exploding his rings to kill these fellows was the simplest and most effective way!

……

Extreme North, core region.

In this place, desolate to the extreme, a pale woman who seemed to have been formed by this icy world, looking like a deity, suddenly looked toward a certain direction.

Because……

"This aura, so familiar..." Xue Di felt this power that made her tremble, submit, and feel a sense of familiarity, all at once!

And also…… "Screech——!!!"

That bird cry, which resounded through the sky, was filled with the divinity and dominance of one who reigns over all living things.

Not only Xue Di, but all the Soul Beasts in the Extreme North, upon hearing it, also prostrated themselves at this moment, lowering their proud heads!

……

A mountain region covered in ice and snow.

Here, hundreds of powerful Ice Jade Scorpions were present, originally either sharing food, breathing in and out the free-roaming ice-attribute soul power to improve their cultivation, or... completing the important task of propagating their species.

But at this moment, they all stopped what they were doing and lay directly on the ground as if in pilgrimage or submission.

Among them, on the mountain terrain, there was an even larger, stunningly beautiful scorpion.

One could see its two front pincers were each a meter long, and they were covered in those strange, diamond-like hexagonal protrusions, while only the tips of the claws and the mouthparts were a mirror-like, lustrous silver-white.

What caught everyone's attention most was its pair of eyes.

Its eyes were yellow, as if two yellow diamonds were embedded there, and they were also hexagonal.

The crystal-yellow light flickered, giving off a feeling of shimmering, precious brilliance.

If its upper body was already dazzling enough, then the long, upturned tail at the rear of its body was the core of all that splendor.

Unlike the multi-segmented long tails of ordinary scorpions, this long tail of Bing Di had only five segments in total, each one a seductive emerald green; that emerald green shimmered with a luster full of life, the five segments were identical in color, with the segment closest to the upper body being the widest, narrowing as it went toward the back.

At the position of the final segment, there was a tail hook with diamond-like particles held high, and the very tip was also a hook tip shimmering with a mirror-like silver-white luster.

How could such a Soul Beast, completely as dazzling as a gemstone, not be worthy of the words "extremely beautiful"?

And if one were to use only "extremely beautiful" to describe it, it would truly be a bit pale and weak.

It was naturally... one of the rulers of the Extreme North—the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, nicknamed Bing Di! Only, at this moment, she too was staring fixedly in one direction……

"That aura, is it a deity? The God of Ice and Snow? A God of Ice and Snow belonging to us Soul Beasts?" Bing Di said with some excitement.

……

On the other side.

On the vast ice and snow plains.

Countless snow-white giants also prostrated themselves at this time, kneeling on the ground as if on a pilgrimage.

Among them, a huge white giant whose entire body seemed covered in ice and snow stood over ten meters tall, its giant ape-like figure looking as imposing as a small mountain.

It was just that its body hair was all snow-white, and with the snowflakes and ice crystals condensed upon it, it really looked like a snowman.

Titan Snow Demon King, nicknamed A Tai; his strength during the Peerless Tang Sect era, while not comparable to the Ten Great Fierce Beasts, was still that of a super Soul Beast of over two hundred thousand years.

At this moment, he also looked in the direction Xue Di and Bing Di were looking, and said in a buzzing voice, "Such a powerful aura... but why... is it also a bit weak? It feels very much like us Soul Beasts, and also very much like Xue Di's scent, but why is there also some other scent?"

His already not-so-bright brain was even more of a mess at this time, but……

"I wonder how Xue Di is doing now..." A Tai said again, fantasizing in the manner of a sycophant.

It can only be said that, as expected of the Douluo Continent, humans and Soul Beasts alike, no matter the species, as long as they have a bit of a brain, they are all love-struck.

Even though they were Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beasts and super Soul Beasts, Bing Di and A Tai were still obsessed with Xue Di; this obsession was not about wanting to devour her to become stronger or anything.

It was purely being love-struck, which is just ridiculous.

……

And there was another unknown corner.

Deep underground, a huge, white, chubby ice silkworm woke up slightly, feeling a bit dazed.

This time, it did not fall straight back to sleep, but instead became spirited immediately after being awakened by that bird cry.

"Is this... the power of a god? Is there really a god?" Tianmeng Iceworm was a bit excited, but it fantasized as it said, "Maybe in a while... I can also reach the realm of a god; my cultivation is improving very quickly now!"

After all, it had an inexhaustible supply of Ten Thousand Year Cold Marrow beside it; in these ten thousand years, just by eating and sleeping like this, it had already broken through to the cultivation of a five-hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.

So……

If it kept eating, it would definitely be able to become a god too.

But soon, it took a bite of the massive Ten Thousand Year Cold Marrow beside it and fell into a deep sleep once again.

……

Extreme North, core region.

Xue Di was dazed at this moment; she now felt that familiar aura was not far away.

This was different from before; previously, it was far away in another location.

That was in the area ruled by humans.

But now, this aura was in the Extreme North……

It was right on the edge, not far from her! How could this not make her excited; she was truly feeling a bit eager to try now.

Especially... that aura really gave her a feeling of great closeness and longing.

Not only did that aura possess a power as strong as a deity, like the God of Ice and Snow.

It was also because……

Xue Di felt that the aura was like her, not an ordinary living being, but a... living being condensed from nature! After all, although she was a Soul Beast, she was not born from the mating and delivery of living beings.

Rather, she was the living being, Ice Heaven Snow Girl, condensed from the ice and snow power of the core region of the Extreme North; it could be said that the Extreme North was her parent.

But the Extreme North cannot speak, nor is it a living being, nor did it give birth to consciousness.

Therefore, it could not give Xue Di any "warmth" she desired, only the Infinity Edge of bitter cold.

But precisely because Xue Di, this Ice Heaven Snow Maiden, had never enjoyed the warmth brought by parents and was all alone when she came into this world, it was this very loneliness that made Xue Di cold in temperament while also causing her to yearn for an existence like her own.

Now she could truly feel that the other party's aura... was just like her own.

If they were living beings birthed by nature, then they were brothers and sisters, they were kin! Therefore, Xue Di really wanted to go and see the other party!

It was not only to ask how to become a god, but also to see this kin who might be just like her!

"It is not far away... it is right not far away..." Xue Di was quite conflicted and excited in her heart, but she suddenly made up her mind.

She immediately used Teleportation to travel several miles and said, "I want to... go see my brother or sister, my kin!"

Xue Di headed straight toward the direction of Extreme North City on the southern edge of the Extreme North!

It was something like an insurance policy; the outline was designed this way from the beginning to give the protagonist a bodyguard for going to Slaughter City so they could escape smoothly.

After all, if the protagonist truly had no background, going to Slaughter City would only result in being killed by Tang Chen, so after thinking about it, I designed the plot of Xue Di becoming a Soul Spirit to act as a bodyguard.

(End of this chapter)