Oscar did not continue to use his Godspeed ability, so it took them a full week to cross the Frozen Forest from the central region. Along the way, they had to stay alert against ambushes from powerful ten-thousand-year soul beasts.
After passing through the Frozen Forest, the group traveled deeper into the Far North for three more days. On the way, they avoided the soul beasts they encountered, as their goal was simply to find traces of either the Ice Jade Scorpion clan or the Titan Snow Demon clan. As long as they located one of the two, their mission would be complete.
Haote naturally put in his full effort to search for any traces of those two soul beast clans.
Meanwhile, Lie Shuo and the others did not reveal any signs of suspicion. To avoid arousing Oscar's or Haote's doubts, they acted just like loyal mercenaries, serving Oscar wholeheartedly.
Three days after entering the Far North, the group set up camp in a valley. Oscar marked several places on the map where there was a high chance of encountering either clan and told everyone to split up to search. Whoever brought back news first would receive an additional fifty thousand gold soul coins.
That reward alone was half of their original pay,enough motivation for everyone to give their best effort.
Haote did not decline the bonus since Oscar insisted, and besides, there was no guarantee he would be the first to find anything.
There was also the chance that none of them would find anything at all and instead die in the snowfields at the hands of other powerful soul beasts.
However, compared to such a generous reward, that was a risk worth taking.
Following Oscar's instructions, Haote and the others quickly divided their tasks and set out separately, agreeing to regroup at the same location in one month, whether they had news or not.
Oscar naturally chose to travel alone.
As for Haote's group of seven, they split into pairs: Haote's teammate Nightshade acted alone, Han Han was paired with the Black Crow Soul King, one agility-type Soul Ancestor with a power-type Soul King, and the other support-type Soul Ancestor was with Lie Shuo.
The five teams scattered toward the five directions Oscar had marked. According to his calculations, as long as everyone stayed cautious, not only would they likely all survive, but they might even find traces of at least one of the two clans.
After confirming their routes, Oscar parted ways with the group. His true purpose was to find the traces of the three Kings of the Far North and discuss with them the art of soul fusion.
Having rarely stepped foot into the Far North, Oscar could not expect to find the three Kings out of thin air. The fastest way was to locate one of the two clans.
The three Kings of the Far North were all true ancient beasts. Ranked first was the Ice Empress, a being born of heaven and earth, whose cultivation at this time had likely exceeded six hundred thousand years.
Ranked second was the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, the mightiest of its kind, with a cultivation nearing four hundred thousand years,an immensely powerful existence.
Ranked third was the Titan Snow Demon King, a superbeing with over two hundred thousand years of cultivation.
These three ruled the Far North completely. In the original story of _Soul Land II_, it was precisely because of them that the Far North was as dangerous as the Star Dou Forest.
In the original tale, both the Ice Empress and the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion shared extraordinary fates with the protagonist and eventually ascended to the God Realm with him.
Oscar's purpose in finding them was to seek cooperation,he wanted to unite with the soul beasts to lay the groundwork for his future plans.
While Oscar genuinely searched for the two clans, Haote also worked diligently with no ulterior motives.
Lie Shuo, Han Han, and the other six, however, were far less honest.
For the first week, they pretended to follow Oscar's directions. Then, the six of them suddenly regrouped in secret.
Han Han and the Black Crow Soul King even began tracking Oscar from a distance, waiting for the right moment to strike.
From the moment Oscar suggested splitting up, Lie Shuo and his men had already made plans,to separate Oscar and Haote, then take them down one by one.
If they managed to kill Oscar, they would seize his soul bones and flee far away, never looking back.
Just when Oscar had finally found a faint clue after a week of searching, he suddenly realized he was being followed.
He hadn't been using his full spiritual detection all the time, as it consumed too much mental energy. Normally, he only maintained awareness of his immediate surroundings.
When he finally extended his spiritual sense, he discovered that, aside from Haote, the other six had quietly regrouped and were trailing him from afar.
Under normal circumstances, a Soul Saint wouldn't have noticed them at that distance. With Han Han's ice attribute concealing their presence, even an ordinary Soul Douluo might not have detected them.
They had been cautious enough,but Oscar was no ordinary Soul Saint. His spiritual power rivaled that of a Titled Douluo.
At that moment, Lie Shuo and the others were still pleased with their "successful" stealth, not realizing that Oscar had deliberately left traces to bait them.
He had intended to "fish for lawbreakers," and now, he had indeed caught some fish.
The only reassuring thing was that Haote's aura wasn't among them,perhaps he really was still searching earnestly.
Glancing at the distant Lie Shuo and his men, Oscar decided to change direction, moving toward where Haote was exploring.
Their routes were roughly within the same sector, so the shift wasn't too large.
When Oscar slightly altered his course, the keen Black Crow Soul King quickly noticed the anomaly.
Although they didn't have a full map, they remembered the general directions they were each assigned.
Oscar's new path clearly leaned toward Haote's zone. The Far North was vast, so meeting by chance was unlikely,but could it really be coincidence?
After a brief discussion, they decided to keep following him. Perhaps Oscar had simply discovered something. If he really met Haote, they could just withdraw.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Oscar arrived at a vast, narrow ice valley that seemed to split the land in two.
The valley floor was bottomless. Only soul masters above the seventieth rank could cross it using their soul power to fly.
There, Oscar noticed something unusual: a pack of about seventeen Ice Wolves resting near a crevice in the ice valley. The strongest of them had a cultivation of fifty thousand years, while even the weakest had at least five thousand.
What truly caught Oscar's attention, however, was the Ice Wolf King.
Its fur was pure ice-blue like the others, but its limbs and chest bore snow-white fur,signs, according to ancient texts, that it had once consumed a rare treasure known as Extreme Cold Ice Marrow.
Extreme Cold Ice Marrow was a unique heavenly material, invaluable not only to ice-attributed soul beasts but also to human soul masters.
In the original story, the million-year-old Heavenly Dream Iceworm had reached its level by consuming vast amounts of this substance.
However, the Ice Wolf King's changes suggested it had eaten an impure version, one tainted with minerals. Such a variant was still a powerful tonic but caused side effects that altered the body.
Of course, the records might not be entirely accurate,it was also possible the Ice Wolf King was simply a mutant.
Regardless, any sign of Extreme Cold Ice Marrow was worth investigating.
If it turned out to be true, Oscar would gain greatly.
Moreover, his spiritual power detected that Haote was nearby, across the ice valley,this valley was one of the suspected lairs of the Ice Jade Scorpions.
Thus, attacking the Ice Wolves would serve multiple purposes: he could confirm the existence of the Ice Marrow, pretend to be injured, lure Lie Shuo's group into attacking him, and then test whether Haote truly had no greed toward his soul bone.
Although this approach was manipulative, the mission Oscar planned to entrust to Haote later would involve even greater temptation, so this test was necessary.
Having made up his mind, Oscar approached the Ice Wolves quietly. There were seventeen in total, including four ten-thousand-year beasts led by the Ice Wolf King.
As he got closer, the Ice Wolf King noticed him and rose to its feet, staring coldly at the intruder.
The rest of the wolves stopped their play and turned toward Oscar as well.
Without hesitation, Oscar swallowed a Godspeed Sausage. White wings spread from his back as he shot toward the wolves at high speed.
Seeing this, Han Han and the Black Crow Soul King, who were following from afar, were stunned.
"That's a whole Ice Wolf pack! Is he insane?" the Black Crow Soul King exclaimed.
"Maybe he found some treasure," Han Han replied, eyes gleaming. "Otherwise, why risk his life like this? But this is perfect,once he's wounded, we'll strike and take his soul bone."
The Black Crow Soul King grinned. "Makes sense."
Han Han said, "Keep watching him. I'll go alert the others."
Meanwhile, as Oscar neared the pack, the Ice Wolf King roared thunderously. The other wolves fixed their eyes on him, their auras rising.
When he was within a hundred meters, the Ice Wolf King charged and spat a massive ball of ice toward him.
Oscar, hovering thirty meters above the ground, released his martial soul.
Bone armor spread over his body, and seven soul rings,two yellow, two purple, and three black,rose in rhythm.
Activating his second soul skill, Bone Dragon Armor, his defense grew even stronger, his armor gleaming with a heavy brilliance.
He met the attack head-on, smashing the ice sphere with a single punch. Frost energy scattered, but his armor blocked it completely.
Then, wings beating, he dove straight toward the Ice Wolf King.
His first soul ring lit up.
"First Soul Skill: Bone Dragon Thrust!"
Silver light flashed around his right hand, condensing into a bone spike over a meter long.
With terrifying speed and momentum, Oscar struck downward, aiming at the Ice Wolf King's head.
Sensing Oscar's immense power, the wolf was shocked. How could a Soul Saint have such strength? His aura felt more like that of a high-level Soul Douluo.
Still, this was its territory. Snarling, the Ice Wolf King stamped the ground and unleashed a freezing breath.
The frigid blast almost froze Oscar mid-air,it was the Ice Wolves' innate ability, the Ice Breath, said to be derived from the attack of Frost Dragons.
Even a simplified version of the original dragon ability was devastating.
Realizing the danger, Oscar flipped backward and landed steadily about ten meters away.
His fourth soul ring shone.
Dozens of sharp bone spikes erupted from the ground, racing toward the Ice Wolf King.
"Fourth Soul Skill: Bone Prison!"
The Ice Wolf King sensed the deadly threat and slashed forward with its claw, releasing five icy blades to intercept the bone spikes.
A series of deafening impacts followed.
That was the Ice Wolf King's other innate skill,the Ice Soul Claw.
At the same time, three other ten-thousand-year Ice Wolves joined the fray, surrounding Oscar from all sides.
They intended to tear apart the human who dared invade their territory and strike their king.
If they devoured such a powerful soul master, their strength would surely grow.
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