Starting from the young master of Haotian Sect.

Chapter 409 The fallen genius

Let alone Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu, even Tang San was shocked when he heard the middle-aged man's words. Dead?!
With a clatter, the carrot in Xiao Wu's hand fell to the ground. This news undoubtedly shocked everyone present like a bolt from the blue.

Tang San's expression shifted from surprise and doubt to感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of deep emotion).

Xiao Wu's expression turned angry, her eyes narrowed, and she said in a deep voice, "Impossible! How could Oscar be dead? Uncle, who are you? Why are you making up such a lie!"

Ning Rongrong also realized what was happening and asked, "Is Oscar pretending to be dead because he doesn't want to see us? Even if he can't defeat Third Brother, there's no need for him to fake his death."

Seeing Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong's expressions and reactions, the middle-aged man seemed to have expected it. He took out a bundle from his storage soul tool, which contained some of Oscar's belongings.

“I understand how you feel.” The middle-aged man clenched his fists, his face full of resentment and helplessness as he spoke of the matter. After loosening his fists, the middle-aged man said, “I am the leader of the hunting party. Oscar is in our hunting party and he is also my brother. He once saved my life.”

“Oscar often talks about the Shrek Seven Devils to me. You are Ning Rongrong, you should be Xiao Wu, and you... you wouldn't happen to be Tang San, would you?”

Seeing the tone and expression of the hunting party leader, Tang San could tell that he was not lying. Moreover, judging from his injuries, he had indeed gone through a life-or-death battle and barely managed to escape.

The Arctic continent is truly a forbidden zone for humans. Not only is the environment harsh, but the spirit beasts are also exceptionally ferocious. Especially in the icy and snowy land, the strength of spirit masters is limited, while ice spirit beasts are adapted to the icy and snowy land and are even stronger. With one increasing and the other decreasing, the mortality rate of spirit masters is high, so it gradually earned the title of a forbidden zone for humans.

Ning Rongrong took a deep breath and, after calming down, asked, "Commander, can you tell us how Oscar died?"

The leader of the hunting party sat down and sighed, "Oscar is the most talented and courageous food-type Soul Master I have ever seen. Although he has no background, he works really hard. He knows that he is a support-type Soul Master and has no combat power, so he joined my hunting party to assist the Soul Masters in hunting Soul Beasts. The reward he asks for is that when he needs a Soul Ring, the hunting party will help him hunt Soul Beasts to obtain a Soul Ring."

“Oscar really worked hard. In the past two years, he has had some opportunities and his soul power has increased very quickly. Some time ago, Oscar finally reached level 60. So we teamed up to hunt soul beasts. We found a mirror beast that was 20,000 to 30,000 years old in a glacier near the center of the Arctic continent. This mirror beast was very suitable for Oscar, so we went to hunt it.”

"The result." The leader of the hunting party looked somber and his eyes were empty. He then closed his eyes and said, "That mirror beast was far stronger than we imagined. In the end, not only Oscar, but also the other members of the hunting party were surrounded and killed by the soul beasts that had been drawn in by the battle."

"Oscar died tragically under the claws of the Mirror Beast."

Hearing the words of the hunting party leader, Tang San shook his head helplessly. This was a very normal thing. In the world of Douluo Continent, such things were simply too common.

A genius has fallen.

The Continental Elite Soul Master Tournament is held every few years. The top 32 academy team members are all local geniuses. Even the champion team produces seven champion genius soul masters every few years. However, the number of titled Douluo has been very small in the Douluo Continent over the past hundred years.

Even if you are the champion of the All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament, the probability of becoming a Title Douluo is extremely low.

The mortality rate for Soul Masters has always been high. Only geniuses who don't perish can eventually reach the Title Douluo level. Even among the disciples of the Clear Sky Sect, many die at the hands of Soul Beasts every year. Those who can achieve a comeback are extremely rare, especially grassroots geniuses. Once they fail, they die. The apparent success of many is merely a case of survivorship bias, because failed genius Soul Masters cannot speak.

For a moment, Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong fell silent, their eyes dimming. From the moment Oscar said he wanted to leave Shrek Academy to train and cultivate alone, Grandmaster had strongly opposed it, because it was definitely a path full of thorns and extremely dangerous.

And the result indeed proved the old saying: fortune is sought in danger, and it is also lost in danger; when you seek it, you get one in ten, but when you lose it, you get nine in ten.

A spirit ring from a mirror beast that is 20,000 to 30,000 years old is indeed very suitable, and it will definitely give birth to extremely powerful spirit skills. However, mirror beasts themselves are also very strong. They can replicate themselves and directly become mirror clones, making it easier to fight outnumbered opponents.

"Commander, could you take us to the place where Oscar fell?" Ning Rongrong asked.

Upon hearing this, the hunting party leader's face showed some fear; clearly, he didn't want to set foot in that place again. He said, "That place is very close to the central region of the Arctic continent."

At this moment, Tang San spoke up, saying, "I will give you enough reward. All you need to do is lead the way. You don't need to fight any of the spirit beasts you encounter along the way. You just need to point out the place, and I will ensure your safety."

"Well then. Since you are the Shrek members that Oscar mentioned, you must be very strong. Alas, I, as his brother, am not even capable of collecting his body."

The Arctic continent is a vast expanse of ice and snow. Other spirit beast territories may have safe entrances opened up by the Spirit Hall or some powerful spirit masters, but the Arctic continent has no such entrances. In fact, it is very vague to even define where the Arctic continent is.

Looking around, everything was covered in white snow. As far as the eye could see, everything was frozen and buried in snow. The whole world was a world of ice and snow, and it was impossible to distinguish anything. Everything looked the same.

When Tang San looked into the distance, even amidst the icy storm, it seemed as if a divine mountain stood upright in the sky, sealed by profound ice, as if the ice mountain was the abode of the gods of ice and snow.

The Arctic continent is sparsely populated, and the further you go, the colder it gets, and the thicker the ice and snow become. Unlike the Star Dou Great Forest, the soul beasts here are not very dense, and the most terrifying thing is the omnipresent storms.

"Such a powerful ice storm! Without the strength of a Soul King, one cannot even get close to the center." The closer Ning Rongrong got to the center, the colder and sharper the ice and snow became. Even though she was already a Soul Emperor and had undergone Immortal-grade body tempering, she still felt the biting cold wind.

"Captain, you must have lived here for a long time. Are there any powerful soul beast legends on the Arctic Continent? Like the Lord of a Forbidden Zone or something?" Tang San asked.

This light breeze and snow had no effect on Tang San; he was more interested in the rulers of the Arctic continent.

Hearing Tang San ask this, the captain simply assumed that Tang San was curious about the legends of the Arctic Continent and didn't think much of it, saying, "Although I am a Soul Emperor, the Arctic Continent is too dangerous, and I have only heard about many things. Legend has it that on the deepest part of the Arctic Continent, on the ice mountain, there is a legendary ice palace. This ice palace has existed for millions of years, and it is said that a snow fairy lives in it."

"Snow Fairy?"

(End of this chapter)