"Heartless Xiao Tian, you left me in the dark for two whole hours, what on earth were you doing? It's freezing here, surely you weren't doing that?" Skydream Ice Silkworm kept grumbling in Tianlin's soul sea.
He hadn't been so angry even after being sealed by the Dreadclaw Bear for twelve years, but these two hours felt like a century. He was used to freedom, so suddenly being trapped again made him extra irritable.
"Brother Skydream, I really didn't do anything. Like you said, it's freezing here, I have no interest in that area yet. I just... honestly forgot about you," Tianlin said, angering the bug without remorse.
"Unforgivable, you value love over friendship! I have to make you a god as soon as possible, then use your divine power to rebuild my body as a divine beast—only then will I truly be free," Tianmeng grumbled.
As they spoke, the two humans and one bug arrived at a snowy forest—on the Douluo Continent, only second to the Star Dou and Sunset Forests: the Frost Forest.
In the original story, Oscar's sixth soul ring came from hunting a twenty-thousand-year Mirror Image Beast here.
Once through this forest, they would reach the Extreme North proper.
Tianlin still planned to have Oscar come here for his sixth ring, since the Mirror Sausage was so overpowered—if you had enough people's blood, the endless combat methods would give anyone a hard time.
"Brother Skydream, Rongrong has broken into the sixtieth level, and I've reached the eightieth. It's time to hunt for soul rings. Tang Hao is walking, so he should take a few days to get here. Let's use this time to advance. There should be wind-type soul beasts in the Frost Forest, right?" Tianlin asked.
With such biting cold, it made sense that besides water and ice, many wind-type soul beasts would like it here too.
"Of course, but they're not right for you. The oldest here is only about seventy thousand years. Your eighth ring must start at a hundred thousand years, or it'll waste your powerful body," Skydream replied. "I've heard a legend that in the depths of the Extreme North, there's a fiery place called 'Fire Within Ice.' The hottest flame burns within the coldest ice, but no one knows if it's real or where it is."
"But I know the legend is true, because I saw a fire-type soul beast fight Bingbing once. Bingbing won, but it wasn't easy. That fire beast's cultivation was at least close to two hundred thousand years, only temporarily suppressing Bingbing via elemental advantage."
"A fire-type soul beast that fought the Ice Jade Scorpion Empress!" Tianlin was delighted. His weakest element was fire—not in quality, but in quantity. He only had a thousand-year-old Purple Flame Golden-Eyed Beast soul ring for fire, which was far too weak.
His sword's elements were already unbalanced, but it was enough for now. Any missing elements could be added after he became a god.
"So, Brother Skydream, do you know where that fiery place is?"
"Of course not," Skydream answered matter-of-factly. "I'm an ice-type soul beast with no combat power—going there would be suicide. But Bingbing or the Snow Empress definitely know. Find them, and you'll find the place."
Tianlin sighed. "Looks like my advancement to Soul Douluo will be delayed again. Fine, let's help Rongrong become a Soul Emperor first."
"Easy. Rongrong's sixth ring needs a support-type beast, so just find a Silken Dancing Snow. It's a snowflake-type soul beast—remember the little dancer girl from Skywater Academy? That's her martial soul," Tianmeng explained. "Silken Dancing Snow has no combat ability—it's pure support, controlling the weather, like making the rain heavier or snow fall faster."
"The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is highly compatible, so Rongrong should get an attribute boost from this ring."
After listening, Tianlin nodded in agreement and relayed the suggestion to Ning Rongrong.
"Silken Dancing Snow sounds good. My father also said that if I encountered one with the right age in the Frost Forest, I could absorb it immediately," Ning Rongrong agreed. The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had its own cultivation system.
Silken Dancing Snow was one of the top choices for the Pagoda's rings, usually for the third ring. Tianlin didn't know why, as he wasn't knowledgeable about soul beasts, but if both Ning Rongrong and Skydream agreed, it should be fine.
Following Skydream's guidance, Tianlin and Ning Rongrong arrived at an icy lake. Above it, many snowflake-like sprites were dancing.
"So cute!" Ning Rongrong's eyes sparkled with delight.
Girls couldn't resist cute things.
"Don't get too attached to soul beasts, Rongrong. Remember, soon you'll have to hunt one of them," Tianlin reminded.
"Brother Sword, you're clueless about soul beasts. Absorbing the Silken Dancing Snow's ring doesn't require killing. You just absorb its cultivation, and the ring forms," Ning Rongrong smiled, beckoning one over. "Come here, little one!"
A palm-sized Silken Dancing Snow obediently flew into her palm.
"This is too well-behaved—I've never seen a soul beast deliver itself," Tianlin marveled.
Skydream scoffed at Tianlin. "Xiao Tian, with your resources, can't you read a book now and then? Silken Dancing Snow is basically a snowflake that gained a little cultivation from the Extreme North's cold, but they're not intelligent unless they reach a hundred thousand years. They're the slowest-growing soul beasts, and once they reach a thousand years, other soul beasts like to absorb them since they're so docile, so even thousand-year-old ones are rare."
"Luckily, you only need their cultivation, so neither humans nor soul beasts usually kill them—they can regrow. It's a mercy from the gods."
"The one in Rongrong's hand is just over a hundred years old—perfect for her. Use your Illusory Water Thunder to boost it to twenty thousand years, right at the limit!"