Three days later.
The Extreme North.
"The Extreme North, forbidden zone for humans. Soul beasts frequent the area — Danger! Danger! Danger!"
Staring at the sign, which looked almost identical to those in the Star Dou Forest, Huo Yuhao fell silent.
Roughly eight thousand li (about 4,000 kilometers) away — in the original novel, Huo Yuhao had made the journey on foot at full speed and taken eight days.
But now? It had taken only three days to get from Shrek City to the Extreme North.
What made it possible?
Money.
Beibei had emptied his personal vault and hired two Agility-System Soul Ancestors to carry him and Huo Yuhao straight to the Extreme North.
At this moment, Beibei was settling the final payment with the two Soul Ancestors.
The two Soul Ancestors were brothers.
It was clear that they had mixed feelings about this job.
Agility-Type Soul Ancestors typically delivered high-priority goods or important letters—perishable delicacies, rare fruits, love letters, and the like. The fees weren't exorbitant, but they weren't cheap either.
They were, in essence, noblemen's private couriers.
This was their first time ever being hired to deliver people.
Real Soul Masters don't ride cargo transport routes!
But for the right amount of gold soul coins, the brothers acted professionally, each carrying one passenger and bringing them safely to the destination.
Their pricing? Charged by the jin (half-kilo).
They didn't have a service tier for transporting humans, so they used the perishable goods rate instead.
Remembering how he was made to step on a scale before departure, Huo Yuhao's expression turned gloomy.
Am I a pig to be weighed?!
And the trip wasn't exactly comfortable, either.
To prioritize speed, these couriers didn't stick to paved roads. They cut through the wilderness and forests to shorten the distance.
Yes, they were faster. But not necessarily safer.
Wild forests meant a real chance of encountering soul beasts.
Fortunately, the Soul Ancestor brothers were seasoned professionals. They picked safe routes and managed to avoid serious danger — the journey was thrilling but ultimately safe.
Beibei had chosen such a wild method of travel because he knew Xuan Zi was secretly following them. He wasn't worried. In fact, he was paving the way for a new market.
But while Beibei was comfortable, Huo Yuhao was not.
He hadn't reached Rank 20 in time!
Still, Rank 20 wasn't essential for what was coming.
"Well, it's fine. The Ice Empress is going to sacrifice herself to awaken my second spirit. With the Ice Empress's spirit bone, my spirit power will reach Rank 20 anyway. Let's just focus on the minimum goal for now," Huo Yuhao thought to himself.
In the original novel, Huo Yuhao had come to the Extreme North at Rank 20 to obtain his second spirit ring for the Spiritual Eye martial spirit and to gain the Simulation Skill.
Without that skill, his second martial spirit couldn't be used openly—its spirit ring color would reveal its unnatural origin and expose him to suspicion or attacks.
Back then, he was still enrolled at Shrek Academy and didn't have the freedom to do things his own way.
Now? Things were different.
He could receive the Ice Empress's sacrifice first, power up, then look for the Simulation Skill later.
He didn't have to rush. He just had to find the right opportunity to ditch Beibei.
The only uncertainty was whether the Ice Empress would accept the "negotiation" with him and the Skydream Iceworm as she had in the original timeline. More like a threat than a negotiation, really.
At this moment, the Skydream Iceworm was absolutely ecstatic.
"Brother Hao marches, and the land lies barren behind him! Bingbing, my lovely Bingbing, hehe…"
"Brother Tianmeng, act normal, you're scaring me."
"Scared of what, Brother Hao? I'm not gonna smack you or anything," the Skydream Iceworm replied shamelessly.
Huo Yuhao smiled faintly.
"No, I'm just worried you won't be able to handle the heartbreak."
"Huh?"
"Don't forget, the Ice Empress is in love with the Snow Empress. You read the original, didn't you? Things might not play out the same way this time."
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Fake news!"
The blow was so heavy, the Skydream Iceworm started outright denying reality.
The Skydream Ship has sunk.
Huo Yuhao smirked mischievously.
—
At that moment, Beibei returned after finishing the payment.
"Little Brother Huo, sorry for the wait. Let's head in."
"Alright, Brother Beibei."
At some point, Huo Yuhao's face had regained its innocent, boyish smile.
As they entered the Extreme North, Huo Yuhao glanced behind them.
A violent shadow of the Taotie Divine Ox was glaring at the two Soul Ancestor brothers who had just received their final payment but hadn't yet left.
The voodoo doll spell was taking effect.
While resting on the journey, Huo Yuhao had secretly begun poking a voodoo doll — unable to buy needles, he had used his ice attribute to condense ice needles and stabbed the doll with those.
He'd already finished targeting every acupoint on the doll.
The result wasn't any physical damage to Xuan Zi.
But it did affect his fate.
The Taotie Divine Ox phantom had grown noticeably more violent, as if it were burning with rage and unable to release it — though still under control. This might have been the limit of the voodoo spell's effect on someone like Xuan Zi.
"No idea how long this will last... or if it'll cause other side effects," Huo Yuhao thought as he quietly shifted his body in front of Beibei to protect him.
—
After Huo Yuhao and Beibei entered the Extreme North…
The Soul Ancestor brothers exchanged glances. The younger brother's eyes flashed with a fierce gleam. He raised his hand and drew a line across his throat.
Clearly, they had other plans.
They hadn't left immediately after being paid because they had ill intentions.
Robbing and killing clients wasn't uncommon.
Beibei had deliberately acted indifferent toward them, letting them believe he and Huo Yuhao were just clueless newbies.
And clueless newbies were the easiest targets.
Plus, Beibei had paid them handsomely, leading them to misjudge his wealth.
Over the journey, they'd figured out that Beibei was injured, and Huo Yuhao was just a weak Rank 15 rookie.
There was no way this could backfire.
But the older brother soon shook his head and sighed.
"The older teen is wearing a Shrek Academy uniform. Whether it's the Academy itself or any power behind its students, they're way beyond what we can handle."
"But bro…"
"No buts! We chose this courier business for a proper living. Sure, we skim some tips off the nobles — but if we're gonna rob and kill now, we might as well have become bandits from the start!"
"…Alright."
The younger brother finally gave in, realizing his greed had blinded him.
The elder brother finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But just then — a cold snort exploded in their ears.
Both immediately felt their organs tremble and their minds go blank.
Blood spurted from their mouths.
A frigid voice echoed beside their ears:
"Consider yourselves lucky for not laying a hand on Shrek's people. Now—leave."
The brothers were terrified.
Someone from Shrek had been secretly tailing them?!
And this mysterious powerhouse had seriously injured them with just a voice?
They were completely out of their league.
If you had a powerhouse with you the whole time, why did you even hire us like pack mules?!
The elder brother was the first to recover. He immediately dragged his brother to the ground and kowtowed in the snow.
"Thank you, Senior, for sparing our lives. We, your humble brothers, will remember this mercy forever!"
Then he pulled the still-shocked younger brother and fled in utter panic.
Xuan Zi's figure slowly emerged only after they'd gone.
His face, however, was twisted with barely restrained killing intent.
"Even stray mutts and alley cats dare entertain thoughts about Shrek's people now?"
"Disgusting."
The Taotie Divine Ox's phantom grew even more frenzied.
Like a spark igniting gasoline.
Whimper, whimper, whimper…
(End of Chapter)