Huo Yuhao didn't keep them guessing and directly said,
"My ancestor who successfully awakened a martial soul once ventured deep into the Extreme North and recorded some information about the Ultimate Ice."
"The Extreme North has clues about the Ultimate Ice?!" Beibei asked urgently.
Even Xuanzi pricked up his ears.
"That's right, there are soul beasts in the Extreme North with the Ultimate Ice attribute," Huo Yuhao confirmed.
"What kind of soul beasts?" Beibei asked quickly.
"The Three Great Kings of the Extreme North: Snow Empress, Ice Empress, and the Titan Snow Demon King. All of them possess the Ultimate Ice attribute."
As Huo Yuhao spoke, he couldn't help but complain inwardly,
"The Titan Snow Demon King really broke the pattern—why didn't it give itself an 'Empress'-style title?"
"The Titan Snow Demon King only barely broke through to 200,000 years. How can it compare to Snow Empress or Ice Empress? Empress? It's not worthy!" the Skydream Iceworm couldn't help but interject.
Beibei and Xuanzi were both speechless.
These three—were they even people they could mess with?
They didn't even dare to imagine it!
"Brother Huo, I think we should keep our feet on the ground and look for herbs first," Beibei said, placing a hand on Huo Yuhao's shoulder, afraid he'd suggest going after those three kings.
Beibei had heard of the Three Kings of the Extreme North, and even knew that two of them were listed among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts of the Douluo Continent.
But Huo Yuhao shook his head.
"Brother Beibei, you misunderstood me. Our target isn't the Three Great Kings themselves, but the areas where their clans reside."
"Clan residences? What do you mean?" Beibei was confused.
"My ancestor recorded that among the Three Kings, the Ice Empress and the Titan Snow Demon King have clans. Due to the influence of these clans, the areas they inhabit are more likely to produce high-quality ice-attributed treasures."
As he spoke, a longing appeared on Huo Yuhao's face.
"My ancestor once found a powerful ice-attribute treasure near the Ice Empress's clan grounds, and that helped his martial soul evolve into something far stronger."
But his expression soon turned downcast.
"However, after that, he married and had children, only to find that his descendants couldn't fully awaken the inherited martial soul. They could only access partial aspects of it."
"Why did that happen? Was the treasure flawed?" Beibei asked, puzzled.
"My ancestor speculated it was because his martial soul had become too powerful. The bodies of his descendants couldn't withstand it, unless they reached the Soul Sage level and activated their Martial Soul True Body. Only then could the martial soul fully awaken."
"But if the martial soul can't fully awaken, how can they even reach Rank 70?"
Beibei paused, suddenly struck by a realization.
Wait a second—wasn't this the story of their ancestor Yu Xiaogang?
Yu Xiaogang's martial soul mutated and became powerful, but he couldn't fully awaken it, so the world saw him as a waste. Yet through "relentless effort," "grueling struggle," and "indomitable willpower", he eventually became the Grandmaster. With a little help from his disciple, the Sea God Tang San, he broke through his limits, fully evolved his martial soul, and became a Title Douluo.
Well… that's how the story was told to Beibei when he was a kid, anyway.
But Beibei quickly noticed something off.
"Wait, Brother Huo—if the descendant can't handle the strong martial soul, shouldn't the martial soul just degrade automatically?" he asked.
Because that's how it worked in their family. The Holy Light Dragon martial soul couldn't be directly awakened—it would only fully awaken at Rank 70. Descendants started out with the inferior Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul.
Xu Sanshi was that type of soul master too.
Even Xuanzi had a similar case—his Gluttonous Divine Ox could evolve into a Glutton Beast.
But Huo Yuhao pouted,
"Well, my family's martial soul is the Ultimate type. And not just any Ultimate—"
Beibei: "…"
There was really no good comeback to that.
Even the Holy Light Dragon wasn't an Ultimate martial soul—just close to Ultimate Light.
In the shadows, Xuanzi's eyes lit up as if he'd just figured something out. He muttered to himself,
"I knew something felt off… So that's why."
Shrek Academy had trained Ultimate martial soul soul masters before, but there had never been a case where the martial soul was so strong that it couldn't awaken fully in the next generation.
In fact, the descendants of those Ultimate martial soul soul masters always saw their martial souls degrade. No one had ever passed it down in full.
So technically, what was happening with Huo Yuhao shouldn't be possible.
Now Xuanzi understood—the ancestor's Ultimate martial soul had evolved to an even stronger form, making it impossible for the next generation to awaken it naturally.
"If what little Huo says is true, then their family's martial soul isn't just any Ultimate—it's inheritable."
That made it special.
Shrek Academy had long desired an Ultimate martial soul that could be passed down.
Realizing this, a fire lit in Xuanzi's heart.
He decided—even if Huo Yuhao couldn't fully awaken his martial soul now, he would still bring him back to the Academy, arrange ten or so wives for him, and ensure that the Ultimate Ice martial soul would stay in Shrek.
Even if it didn't awaken now, there was always the future!
One day, Shrek Academy would have its own legacy Ultimate martial soul.
Seeing the shocked look on Beibei's face, Huo Yuhao nodded inwardly.
Identity backstory—successfully patched.
"Brother Huo, what's your plan?" Beibei asked.
After all, this trip wasn't just about finding herbs for Tang Ya—it was also about helping Huo Yuhao awaken his martial soul. Beibei figured Huo Yuhao already had a plan.
"Of course, I'm going to find the Ice Empress's clan and search nearby for treasures that can help awaken my martial soul!" Huo Yuhao said resolutely.
"Brother Huo, that's way too dangerous!" Beibei quickly replied.
Even with Xuanzi's protection, Beibei didn't feel it was safe.
"If I don't succeed, then I'll die trying!" Huo Yuhao said with a carefree smile. "Don't worry, Brother Beibei. I'll help you find the herb to treat Sister Xiao Ya first and tell you how to use it. After that, I can continue on my own."
He looked into the depths of the Extreme North.
"After all, my ancestors have already walked this path. I'm just following in their footsteps."
Beibei's lips trembled. "Brother Huo…"
To head to the Ice Empress's clan—it was a path that all but guaranteed death.
Either the Ice Empress's clan would discover him and kill him on the spot, or the harsh environment of the Extreme North would bury him beneath the snow and wind.
"So Brother Huo had already prepared himself for death? If I had known that was his true goal, I never should've brought him here. I should've kept him at Shrek Academy, even if by force."
Beibei's heart ached, but he still wanted to dissuade Huo Yuhao.
"Brother Huo, are you sure your martial soul will fully awaken? You're still young—you probably don't have children yet. If something happens to you, your family's legacy will be lost."
Huo Yuhao looked back at Beibei, a calm smile on his face.
"I'm pretty sure. The highest levels reached by my ancestors have been declining over time. They guessed it's because our martial soul has been degrading. Maybe in my generation, it'll fully awaken at Rank 20, with a little help."
"As for the family legacy… maybe it's better for it to end with me."
"It's okay, Brother Beibei. We'll meet again, if fate allows."
Beibei fell silent.
Huo Yuhao's calmness left a lump in his throat.
'I've only temporarily lost Xiao Ya… but Brother Huo's family has suffered for who knows how many years. After all he's done to help me… how can I sit by and watch him walk into danger? Why am I hesitating? Beibei, when did you become such a hypocrite?'
'You really are a piece of work! Pah!'
Guilt—just plain, inexplicable guilt.
Beibei suddenly slapped himself across the face.
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao, watching Beibei's fate energy stir, nodded in satisfaction—and casually "plucked" some.
"No wonder you're Sheep #1. That wool really grows fast."