"Huff... huff..."
Shui Bing'er ran at full speed, her soul power blazing as she bolted through the icy wilderness. Only after nearly half an hour of fleeing did she finally slow down, gasping heavily for breath.
"This should be far enough... I should be safe now."
She muttered to herself, clearly more concerned with her own safety than her teacher Xue Han's. But that wasn't because she was cold-hearted—it was because she trusted Xue Han's strength.
Although Xue Han wasn't among the strongest Soul Saints, she was still more than capable of shaking off a thirty-thousand-year Ice Soul Demon Bear.
However, before Shui Bing'er could relax, a new danger emerged.
From the distant snow mist came the sound of footsteps crunching over frozen ground.
Her eyes narrowed, instantly alert.
Then she saw them—dark figures approaching slowly from both sides, their green eyes glowing eerily through the fog.
Her pupils contracted sharply.
It was the Snowshadow Wolves—those same beasts that had been fleeing the Ice Soul Demon Bear just earlier!
To think they would set their sights on her after escaping that creature...
Surrounded on both flanks by the approaching wolves, Shui Bing'er cautiously kept her distance.
Fighting them was out of the question. Each of these wolves looked to be at least over two thousand years old, with some likely exceeding three or even four thousand.
She might be able to handle two or three on her own, but there were nine of them here.
And the one leading them was easily at the four-thousand-year level.
If they all attacked together, she doubted she could hold on for even a minute before being torn apart.
"Run!"
Without hesitation, Shui Bing'er activated her martial soul and shot forward like an arrow, instantly leaving the wolves behind.
But the nine wolves let out sharp howls and pounced in pursuit, kicking up flurries of snow as they raced after her.
On the frigid plains, the sound of cracking ice and pounding paws echoed nonstop.
Even though Shui Bing'er was giving it her all, she couldn't shake the wolves. In fact, the leader was slowly closing the distance, clearly faster than she was.
"What do I do? Think, Shui Bing'er, think!"
Panicking, she tried to come up with a plan—but in her distraction, she failed to notice a chasm ahead.
"Ah!"
Her foot slipped into empty space, and her body plunged downward into the pitch-black rift.
Luckily, she reacted just in time and managed to grab a rocky outcrop within the crevice.
She swallowed hard as she stared down into the abyss. Falling in meant certain death—there was no surviving that kind of drop.
Gritting her teeth, she summoned her strength and sprang out of the chasm like a swallow in flight, landing back on solid ground.
But the delay had given the wolves enough time to catch up.
"Awoo—!"
With a long howl, the leader of the Snowshadow Wolves leapt across the chasm in a graceful bound and lunged at her.
Shui Bing'er's eyes narrowed sharply.
Three soul rings appeared beneath her—yellow, yellow, and purple—rising and spinning around her feet.
"Resisting Ice Ring!"
She shouted, activating her third soul skill.
A brilliant, icy-blue ring of light burst outward from her body, slamming into the pouncing wolf.
Bang!
The collision sent the massive wolf hurtling backward nearly ten meters, a sheen of frost rapidly spreading across its fur.
But that soul skill was more about control than damage.
Though momentarily frozen, the wolf shook off the ice in just two seconds and resumed the chase.
Fortunately, Shui Bing'er had no intention of fighting. Glancing at the rest of the approaching pack, she turned and ran again with everything she had.
---
Elsewhere on the snowy plains, Qi Lin and Gu Yuena were strolling leisurely, as if they were in a backyard garden rather than the bitter wilderness.
After a while, the weather eased. The snowstorm died down, and visibility improved.
Suddenly, movement caught Qi Lin's eye from the side.
A blue-haired girl in a silver cloak and ice-blue combat gear was fleeing toward them in a panic, her deer-hide boots barely touching the snow. Behind her, a pack of Snowshadow Wolves closed in relentlessly.
The leader was nearly on her, only driven back by the shimmering ring of ice she summoned—clearly a thousand-year soul skill.
Then the girl noticed them.
Two people—one a handsome young man, the other a stunning woman—standing calmly in the heart of the extreme north, a place known as a forbidden zone for humans.
Even ice-type soul masters rarely entered here without considerable strength.
Their unbothered expressions made one thing clear—they weren't ordinary soul masters.
Shui Bing'er's mind raced as she evaluated them.
The boy looked to be about thirteen or fourteen. Even if he was strong, he couldn't be that strong.
But the woman... Though she looked just past twenty, there was something indescribable about her. An air of power she couldn't explain.
Shui Bing'er couldn't gauge her exact level, but she was likely at least a Soul Ancestor—possibly even a Soul King.
A Soul King in her early twenties was rare, but not unheard of.
After all, Shui Bing'er herself was confident she'd become one before turning twenty.
Anything stronger than that... she didn't dare imagine.
Still, if she could just get their help, the wolves wouldn't be a problem.
She called out loudly in their direction.
"Friends! I'm Shui Bing'er from Skywater Academy. I've gotten separated from my teacher and I'm in a bit of trouble. Would you be willing to lend a hand?"
"I promise I'll make it worth your while!"
Shui Bing'er?
The name struck a chord in Qi Lin's mind, and he instinctively turned toward her.