The Martial Soul Skeleton, in Douluo Continent's Bone-Changing Susanoo

Chapter 24 The Far North

"Originally, I wanted to use the Ironback Scorpion as my first choice for the third spirit ring. But how easy is it to find another top-tier strength-defense type spirit beast like it? After weighing the options, I can only use it as my second spirit ring."

"I thought the Skeleton Martial Soul would grant me a skill that would allow me to grow a scorpion's tail bone or scorpion's pincers as arm bones. But I never expected it to be a soul skill that strengthens the bones."

"Isn't this great? Although it can't give your Skeleton Martial Soul two arms, one arm combined with superior bone hardness, plus the double boost to strength and defense, is already incredibly powerful. It's thanks to this that you were able to defeat me, a three-ring Soul Master, despite being a level above you."

Liu Shu suddenly clutched her head and screamed, "Aaaaaah! This is so embarrassing! My brother-in-law will laugh at me for the rest of my life!"

What she didn't know was that the main reason Xia Liang was able to defeat her despite being of a higher level was because he didn't understand the full effect of the second soul skill.

Soul skills are a trump card and a means of survival for Soul Masters.

Not revealing complete information about his soul skills to outsiders is a principle that Xia Liang has adhered to since becoming a soul master three years ago.

"Sis, what time is it? It's time to get up! If you don't come for breakfast, I'll eat it all!" Liu Shu shouted into the tent.

A woman with long black hair slowly walked out of the tent. When she saw four breakfasts laid out on the table, a strange look flashed in her eyes.

All four breakfasts were the same: a hamburger and a cup of soy milk.

The way the Blue Star people ate was naturally invented by Xia Liang.

Although he spent the last three years in the mercenary group dealing with soul beasts, his cooking skills improved rather than decreased.

Delicious food is the best way to win people's hearts; who knows, I might even use this cooking skill to live off a woman in the future.

The woman with long black hair was Aunt Liu, Teacher Mo's wife. She loved eating hamburgers and sat down at the table to eat them with elegant manners.

"Hasn't my brother-in-law come back yet?" Liu Shu also sat down to eat breakfast.

Aunt Liu shook her head. "He didn't come back last night. He's probably still in Silves City."

"Is my brother-in-law out in the city spending the night with another woman?" Liu Shu asked, not one to shy away from stirring things up. "Sister, aren't you worried?"

"Sister-in-law, do you really not trust your brother-in-law that much?" A sudden voice rang out.

Xia Liang had just taken a sip of soy milk when he looked toward the voice and found that the speaker was Teacher Mo, who had come to Silves City to accept a mission.

"Brother-in-law, how is it?" Liu Shu stood up excitedly.

"I received a quest to help hunt down a soul beast. However, this quest is a bit troublesome. I'm not sure whether I should accept it or not, so I came back to ask for your opinions first."

Teacher Mo walked to the table, picked up a cup of soy milk, and took a sip.

"What exactly is the mission?" Xia Liang asked.

"The mission originated from a small coastal town called Tianshui City. The people who sent the mission are a Soul Master family from Tianshui City, and a large one at that."

After listening to Teacher Mo's explanation, Xia Liang looked puzzled. "Do large families really need to hire our mercenary group to help hunt soul beasts?"

"Hmm." Teacher Mo sat down and explained while eating breakfast, "That large family mainly cultivates water and ice attributes. They said they want to go to the far north to hunt an ice attribute soul beast called the Ice Scorpion King for their clan members."

"These kinds of soul beasts are extremely rare, and they generally inhabit an ice field on the outskirts of the far north. Because the ice field is located too deep in the region, soul masters dare not venture there, so they have taken a liking to our Speedy Mercenary Group's ability to find soul beasts."

"The far north!" Liu Shu said in fear. "Brother-in-law, this is not a mission we are capable of handling. What are you hesitating for? Refuse it now!"

"I refused from the start," Teacher Mo said with a wry smile. "But the head of that powerful family made it clear that they would guarantee our safety once we entered the far north. We only need to use our ability to find soul beasts; the hunting of soul beasts will be left to them."

"They can certainly guarantee our safety if it's a minor incident," Xia Liang said with some concern. "But if it's a matter of life and death, they will absolutely not care about us. Teacher Mo, going in with them is undoubtedly gambling with our lives. We'd better not take this mission."

"Alright, Ah Liang. Your will-o'-the-wisp is the key to finding the soul beast. Since you've already refused, we have no reason to hesitate." Teacher Mo smiled at Xia Liang. "I'll go give them an answer later."

"Wait a minute," Xia Liang suddenly changed his mind, "Teacher Mo, why don't we just agree to their offer?"

"Ah Liang, are you crazy?" Liu Shu yelled. "This is no joke. If it were the Frozen Forest, it would be fine. But this is the far north! Even if the mercenary group has a Soul Douluo leading the team, no one would be foolish enough to go in and risk it. Besides, going in with an unfamiliar powerful family is absolutely suicide!"

"I know." Xia Liang's expression was exceptionally serious. "So, the only one who accepted this mission is me. Teacher Mo, Sister Shu, and Aunt Liu, listen to me. For the past three years, we've been adventuring in the habitats of soul beasts. Having experienced so much, I have a good sense of how dangerous a place is. I'm terrified of dying. When I heard about the Far North, I immediately refused. Since I agreed, it means I'm confident I won't die. I do know a little about the Far North."

A few minutes later.

After hearing Xia Liang's explanation, Teacher Mo and the others were still unwilling to let him take the risk.

Although the extreme cold in the outer regions of the far north can be mitigated by the soul skills of the soul masters from that powerful family, and with that family protecting them along the way, there's not much to worry about regarding unforeseen events.

However, if any changes occur, as an outsider, one will definitely be abandoned by the extended family.

Would you risk your life to protect the reputation of a stranger's family?

This is absolutely foolish!

Despite some attempts to dissuade him, Xia Liang's determination to take on the mission remained unchanged. Helpless, Teacher Mo and the others had no choice but to compromise and let him go alone with the large family into the far north to search for soul beasts.

Xia Liang was also afraid of death; he knew that such a decision could very well lead him to utter ruin.

But danger is often accompanied by opportunity.

It is said that due to the extreme cold and treacherous terrain of the far north, no Soul Master would be willing to venture there to explore, so many resources remain undiscovered.

With the protection of a powerful family and knowledge of the distribution of soul beasts in the far north from the original work, this is a perfect opportunity to go in, search for soul beasts, and perhaps look for some unexpected opportunities.

The ultimate goal of this trip is only the outer area of ​​the far north, while the black and purple ghost fire is the one that goes deep into the ice field to find soul beasts. The probability of something going wrong is actually very small.

Unless the situation in the original story where Xiao Wu attracts the 100,000-year-old soul beast Titan Giant Ape to the outer area occurs, why would a 100,000-year-old soul beast, who is perfectly fine in the core area, come to the outer area to camp and expose its existence just because a few humans are entering?

If there are no threats from 100,000-year-old soul beasts in the outer area, with the protection of a large family, they will definitely be able to retreat safely from the far north.

Xia Liang's only worry was how to hide the covetousness of powerful families if he really found some opportunity.

If handled improperly, it could indeed lead to death.

After deciding to take on the mission, Teacher Mo, Aunt Liu, and Liu Shu brought Xia Liang to Tianshui City, which is located along the coast of Silves City.

Upon arriving at their destination, Xia Liangcai discovered that the large family that was heading into the far north to search for soul beasts was the Shui family, a family that followed an extreme school of thought.

The Tianshui Academy mentioned in the original work was jointly founded by the Shui family and other water-attribute soul master families.

To Xia Liang's surprise, the Shui family not only sent three Soul Saints to this trip to the far north, but also the Shui family patriarch, whose soul power was as high as level 83.

Among the three Soul Saints, there was one support-type Soul Saint and two defense-type Soul Saints.

Judging from the lineup, they probably anticipated the dangers of the far north and didn't intend to fight head-on, which is why they sent two defensive Soul Saints. If they encounter danger, they can defend while retreating.

Besides the three Soul Saints and the Soul Douluo, the head of the Shui family, there are five Soul Emperors, including a very rare food-type Soul Emperor on the continent.

The fact that such a massive family force was mobilized just to hunt down an Ice Scorpion King with a thousand-year cultivation as the third soul ring shows just how important the person who needs the soul ring is within the family.

After signing the agreement, Xia Liang said goodbye to Teacher Mo and the others, and headed to the far north with the Shui family's Soul Hunting Team.

(End of this chapter)