After Dugu Bo left, life in the small courtyard returned to its original rhythm.
Shui Ningbing still discovered the abnormality in Shui Bing'er's martial soul. The reason was that during a practical combat class, when Shui Bing'er activated her martial soul, Shui Ningbing, who currently possessed soul power at level 86, unexpectedly felt considerable martial soul suppression. Later, she slowly learned the full story from Shui Bing'er and Shen Hanyu, and for the first time came into contact with the precise concept of "ultimate ice."
Shui Ningbing's martial soul was the Condensing Water Flying Luan, considered a lower-tier version of the Ice Phoenix martial soul. It contained phoenix bloodline and barely qualified as a top-tier beast martial soul, placing it just below the absolute pinnacle on the current continent.
One point that must be mentioned is the cultivation speed of Shui Bing'er and Shen Liuyu.
For soul masters with ultimate attributes, cultivation speed is especially slow between levels 30 and 70. This is one of the few drawbacks of ultimate martial souls. The compensation for this slow cultivation is that the combat strength of ultimate soul masters is generally far superior to that of ordinary attribute soul masters at the same level.
For example, based on Shui Bing'er's original talent, at the Soul Elder rank, she could have broken through three to four levels in a year at the very least. But at the current rate, without any external factors, three levels per year would already be the absolute maximum.
The higher a soul master's cultivation goes, the more difficult it becomes. If this speed continued, Shen Hanyu might even feel that Shui Bing'er would be better off without this so-called ultimate ice.
Shen Liuyu was much better off. Her martial soul was a top-tier beast martial soul with dual water and earth attributes, outstanding in both potential and strength. Moreover, she was not burdened by an ultimate attribute, and with the reinforcement and transformation from two top-tier immortal herbs, her cultivation progressed smoothly, with almost no barriers.
Shen Hanyu himself did not feel that the ultimate attribute had slowed his progress much. He had encountered too many opportunities along the way, so many that his cultivation would surge upward even without much deliberate effort on his part. Not to mention, he was still a cultivation maniac himself.
Up to now, Shui Bing'er had not developed any negative mindset and was not troubled by the steadily decreasing cultivation speed. She continued to study and cultivate diligently every day, very much like the exemplary "neighbor's child" that adults from his previous life often spoke of.
Shen Liuyu remained her usual willful self. She felt no urgency about cultivation because Shen Hanyu worried enough for her, and whatever good things Shen Hanyu obtained, he always remembered to share with her. Her subconscious thought was simply to stick close to her stinky, arrogant older brother. She had a feeling that by doing so, even her baseline cultivation would never fall too far behind.
This could be considered a unique form of lying flat.
Shui Yue'er was also very serious about cultivation. She belonged to the type who played hard when it was time to play and absolutely did not slack off when it was time to cultivate.
…
Shen Hanyu stayed quietly in Element City for about half a month.
During that time, he met Xu Yan and the other three women twice more. Qin Ya did not come along but sent a valuable gift through them. Shen Hanyu did not stand on ceremony and accepted it directly.
On a clear, sunny morning, Shen Hanyu left a letter and decisively spread his dragon wings, soaring into the high sky and flying toward the distance.
He intended to retrieve the Blue Silver Empress's right leg bone that he had long coveted. After all, without that soul bone, "changing equipment" would be quite troublesome in the future.
Following the directions on the map, Shen Hanyu took roughly one day to enter the territory of Fasnuo Province.
The climate here was much warmer than in Element City, with almost no harsh weather. Below him stretched vast forests and broad, neatly arranged farmlands. The surrounding paths were crisscrossed with streams, flowers and grass flourished along the roadsides, many waterwheels were in operation, and ordinary people were working in the fields.
If he had to describe it, Shen Hanyu would call this place a peach blossom paradise living amidst the mortal world.
Along the way, Shen Hanyu inquired about the location of Notting City and then continued nonstop toward it.
Although Notting City was not considered a major city in Fasnuo Province, it was very close to the border with the Star Luo Empire and naturally served as one of the starting points for trade between merchants of the two empires. As a result, Notting City was extremely prosperous.
As for Holy Soul Village, it was even easier to find. After arriving in Notting City, Shen Hanyu casually asked around and learned about Emperor Soul Village, King Soul Village, and even a village directly called Soul Hall Sub…
As for that name, how to evaluate it? It was a good name, alright; one just wondered how many elders and protectors resided there…
…
This was a village of moderate size.
Viewed from high in the sky, the village's scale was about average. In front lay vast farmlands, while behind it were some low hills covered in lush, thriving forest.
Shen Hanyu had no interest in wandering around such a small village. Although according to the timeline, Tang Hao should have long since left Holy Soul Village by now, who could say for sure? What if Tang Hao suddenly returned for a short stay out of boredom? Though Tang Hao had many physical ailments, one could not deny that he was quite imposing when swinging his hammer. After all, he was a level 95 Super Douluo with a top-tier tool martial soul; a full-power Haotian Hammer could even threaten Super Douluo at level 97 or 98…
Shen Hanyu had no desire to take a hammer blow right now, so it was best not to disturb Tang Hao on this trip.
In simple terms: sneak in, and don't fire any shots!
Based on the memories in his mind, Shen Hanyu only recalled that the 100,000-year Blue Silver Empress Ah Yin and that soul bone were buried in a cave behind a waterfall. With a large feature like a waterfall, it was actually not hard to find, after all, the forest behind the village was only so big. Following the river made it easy to locate.
Shen Hanyu gradually lowered his altitude, flying slowly at low height. Though the trees in the forest were dense, they did not hinder flight. Before long, he found a gently flowing stream.
The faint sound of flowing water came from ahead. Shen Hanyu's eyes lit up; he flapped his wings once and quickly arrived in front of a modest-sized waterfall.
Passing through the cascading water, a deep cave appeared behind it. At the entrance was a faintly visible soul power restriction.
He reached out and touched the seemingly fragile restriction. Like an electric shock, Shen Hanyu was violently flung back two steps.
Shen Hanyu narrowed his eyes slightly. His third soul ring lit up, and the Cold Heaven Spear, carrying the terror of ultimate ice, struck the restriction. The restriction did not hold for long before shattering completely. At the same moment, a trace of shock flashed in the eyes of Tang Hao, who was drinking in a certain small tavern somewhere, before he swiftly vanished from the spot.
Shen Hanyu withdrew the Cold Heaven Spear and strode boldly inside.
"Heh, Tang Hao really has no class, burying his deceased wife in a dump like this."
With a lift of his foot, Shen Hanyu brought up clumps of sticky mud from the ground. The black, filthy soil, combined with the dim environment, made the air not unpleasant but carrying a damp smell, nothing pleasant.
This was understandable. The cave was hidden behind a waterfall; even with Tang Hao's restriction protecting it, moisture still seeped in, making the environment extremely humid. The temperature here was not too low, so over time, decay forming was not surprising.
Looking at the Blue Silver Empress in the depths of the cave emitting a faint glow, Shen Hanyu curved his lips into a smile.
"Found you, Blue Silver Empress…"
The Blue Silver Empress seemed to sense something and involuntarily trembled…
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