Something"s wrong!
Huo Yuhao immediately descended after this simple observation before he flew towards the Heavenly Soul Empire"s rickety structures.
He used Spiritual Detection, and discovered that the Sun Moon Empire"s soldiers had long been standing guard in those old structures. There were many large machines inside those structures, and even though they weren"t as advanced as the machines that the Sun Moon Empire had just constructed, he could tell that they were targeted at the ground.
Resources – yes, resources!
Huo Yuhao didn"t go any closer. He was afraid to startle his enemies, and he was a little afraid of Ju Zi. Her devious trick had bested him once, and he had to be more careful in dealing with her.
If he couldn"t tell what was going on with the Sun Moon Empire, could he not tell from the Dou Ling Empire"s side? Even though they were all bordering the Extreme North, their objectives were likely to be the same. He would naturally discover something if he went to observe the Dou Ling Empire"s barracks.
Huo Yuhao turned around as he contemplated, and covered several dozen kilometers in the blink of an eye.
The Dou Ling Empire was clearly unaware that the Sun Moon Empire"s great army had arrived. In the end, they were separated by national borders even though they were so close to each other. The Dou Ling Empire was still upholding their agreement with the Heavenly Soul Empire, that they wouldn"t send any scouts to conduct reconnaissance within the Heavenly Soul Empire"s territory.
Huo Yuhao was full of admiration for Ju Zi as he confirmed the barracks" positions on this side. If the Sun Moon Empire had come any closer to this side, they would likely have been discovered by the Dou Ling Empire. The Sun Moon Empire"s current position was close to the other side, but they were somewhere where it wasn"t easy to be discovered.
There was no doubt that, with the Sun Moon Empire"s Fire Phoenix Legion, they could destroy the Dou Ling Empire"s army without breaking a sweat. But if they did that, they would undoubtedly alert the Dou Ling Empire. Judging from the current situation, the Sun Moon Empire – rather, Ju Zi – evidently didn"t want to be exposed so quickly.
Too cunning! Even though he didn"t want to admit that that Ju Zi was one of the Sun Moon Empire"s generals, he had to admit that she was very talented in military matters. She was definitely superior to him.
He landed close to the Dou Ling Empire"s barracks, and his Spiritual Detection immediately stretched over the barracks like an enormous web.
He quickly discovered what he needed to know.
The Dou Ling Empire"s barracks had clearly been around for a relatively longer time. There was an army of two thousand standing guard on this side, and there were also many workers hard at work.
The surface of the earth was freezing. However, the temperature beneath the ground was a lot higher. There was no doubt that this was the publicly recognized location to work on, and they were excavating some minerals from beneath the ground.
Rare metals!
Huo Yuhao finally got his answer.
He hadn"t expected that the Sun Moon Empire"s objective was a vein of rare metals that had appeared on the borders of the Extreme North!
The Dou Ling Empire was thirty kilometers from the Sun Moon Empire"s camp, and about fifty kilometers from the Heavenly Soul Empire"s old barracks.
There was no doubt that the Heavenly Soul Empire was originally mining here as well. This meant that the underground mine could possibly stretch out fifty kilometers. How abundant did those rare metals have to be? It was no wonder that the empress, Ju Zi, would venture out in person. The resources here were equally important to the Sun Moon Empire. They were very advanced in soul tools, but crafting soul tools, especially high-level ones, had an equally heavy requirement for materials.
Huo Yuhao"s eyes were opened, and he finally understood the Sun Moon Empire"s objective.
No, I cannot let them succeed, no matter what. If the Sun Moon Empire manages to obtain the incredibly large amounts of rare metals here to support them, who knows how many more soul tools they can craft to use against the Douluo Continent"s three empires? I have to find a way to ruin her plan.
However, Huo Yuhao was no longer so worried when he discovered Ju Zi"s plan. The reason was simple – mining a mineral vein like this required a lot of human and material labor. They couldn"t achieve anything overnight. The Sun Moon Empire had to mine over a long period of time. Ju Zi and the others should first be establishing a base for excavation before they would start as quickly as possible so that they could transport the rare metals back to the Sun Moon Empire.
Since that was the case, he had a chance.
A cold grin appeared on Huo Yuhao"s face. I can"t deal with the Sun Moon Empire"s army by myself, but just as the Snow Empress said, we are in the Extreme North. This was the Snow Empress, the Ice Empress, and the Skydream Iceworm"s old home.
Without discussing the great boost in strength for someone who possessed an Ultimate Ice martial soul, this was the world that the Snow Empress had ruled over a long time ago!
The Snow Empress" status in the Extreme North was like the Beast G.o.d"s status in the Great Star Dou Forest.
“Snow Empress, Ice Empress.” Huo Yuhao channeled his thoughts and summoned the two empresses.
Two lights flickered as the Ice Empress and the Snow empress emerged from his body at the same time.
Ever since they came across the Manifold Mysterious Ice Essence, the two empresses had been integrating with the ice essence, and their origin powers were now a lot stronger than before. Even though they were still energy bodies, their forms were no different from material forms when they emerged from Huo Yuhao this time.
The Ice Empress blushed faintly as she saw Huo Yuhao. This was the first time that she was facing him after she had revealed her true emotions when the Snow Empress provoked her.
Huo Yuhao naturally wouldn"t tease her at a time like this. He lowered his voice and said, “Ice Empress, Snow Empress – I have figured out the Sun Moon Empire"s objective. They"re trying to extract the rare metals here. How do we destroy their operation so that they can"t take these resources away?”
The Ice Empress resolved her embarra.s.sment as she rushed to speak. “Isn"t that simple? We"ll chase them all away, and then we"ll extract it for ourselves.”
Huo Yuhao"s facial muscles spasmed as he watched her speak so casually. He thought to himself, everyone who is in love seems to be blinded – whether they are soul beasts or humans.
“What about you, Snow?” The Snow Empress" thoughts should be more normal.
The Snow Empress said plainly, “Ice is right! We"ll chase them away, and this place will belong to us. This is our territory anyway, and anybody who wants to come into our place to pillage is asking to die.”
“Ahem!” Huo Yuhao almost choked on his own saliva as he forced a laugh and said, “The two of you think too highly of me. I am very ashamed! I don"t have the strength to help you guys chase them away.”
The Snow Empress" answer was plain. “Have you forgotten that I said this is our territory? We are the true dictators of this place. Even though we have become your Spirits, and we no longer possess the strength we did back then, it doesn"t change the facts.”
A thought occurred to Huo Yuhao. “Are you saying that we should draw on…”
The Snow Empress tilted her head slightly as she pointed with her right hand toward the ground. The snow and ice around them instantly transformed into cyclones as snowflakes danced through the air. The surrounding temperature immediately plummeted as her eyes became a little listless. “It feels so good to be back! This is our home.”
The Ice Empress nodded and chimed in. “Yes! This is the first time that we"ve been back ever since we left with Huo Yuhao. Let"s go, Yuhao. We"ll let them hustle. You"ll follow us into the Extreme North, and we"ll go into the core circle.”
“Alright.” The two queens had spoken their piece. There was no other reason for him to hesitate. Yes! The Ice Empress and the Snow Empress had ruled over the ice-type and snow-type soul beasts in the Extreme North"s icy plains for several hundred thousand years, and their authority in this place ran deep. Even though they had become Spirits, they were still dictators in this place.
Huo Yuhao soared into the sky as he flew towards the Extreme North"s core circle.
Inside the Fire Phoenix Legion"s commander"s tent.
Ju Zi calmly gave order after order. These orders included several important traps – she understood Huo Yuhao too well, and from her perspective, he was extremely intelligent, even though he sometimes did things based on his emotions. Ju Zi knew that capturing him again after failing to do so the last time around would be even more difficult.
She didn"t want to be enemies with Huo Yuhao, but she was very clear that he would not give up on messing with her army when she didn"t kill him. Furthermore, with his intelligence and abilities, it wouldn"t take long for him to figure out what she was doing with such a large army. In the end, something like this was very hard to hide.
Ju Zi didn"t intend to conceal her intentions any longer. She became a little excited and enthusiastic when she found out that Huo Yuhao was her opponent. Perhaps this was the best opportunity for them to clash.
Such a long time had pa.s.sed, and Huo Yuhao"s strength had actually grown to such a level. She could feel that he was at least a Soul Sage, and he also had twin martial souls. His spiritual-type martial soul should have given him the soul skill that allowed him to conceal himself, and his ice-type soul skills naturally came from his Ultimate Ice marital soul. It was no wonder that his abilities were so powerful. The Extreme North could be said to be his turf.
But, so what? I will never lose.
Ju Zi"s subordinates had all left, and she stood up by herself as a faint smile appeared on her face.
Will you still come, Yuhao? I am eagerly waiting for that to happen. To be honest. I am not willing to become your opponent, but this is truly very interesting. We can have a great battle here in the Extreme North, and we shall see who will overpower who. I will not give you a chance to give me any more trouble if you end up in my hands. At least, I will only let you go after I complete my objective here. Do you know, I am regretting not bringing you back last night a little – but there are some things that you don"t know about.
Ju Zi smiled mysteriously as her thoughts stopped there.
There was a secret deep in her heart that only she knew. Yes, she was the only one who knew, and she would protect this secret forever.
“Yuhao, do you know that the happiness that you have given me will remain by my side?”