Chapter 84: The Eight-Headed Seismograph

"Yes!"

After the messenger soul beast departed, Xue Ling took a step forward, and the surroundings shifted as if the entire world had changed.

In just a few dozen breaths, she arrived at Bing Ji's side.

"Sister Bing Ji, were there any soul beast casualties?"

"None," Bing Ji shook her delicate head.

"A single mecha squad protecting a few ordinary humans? I could take them all out with one move."

"With our advantage fighting in the Extreme North, they had no chance to deploy advanced, special-kill soul weapons against me."

As Xue Ling listened, she picked up some of the soul devices scattered on the ground.

"Half of them are cutting-edge offensive soul tools, and the other half are geological exploration research instruments."

"Sigh~"

"Looks like the Ghost Emperor wasn't lying."

"What did he say?" Bing Ji asked curiously.

"A legendary Rank 10 soul tool—the Eight-Headed Seismograph—was recently moved to the Northern Army Corps' core area. It's likely detecting our actions of altering the ley lines."

"The best course of action is for me to infiltrate the Northern Army Corps and destroy the Eight-Headed Seismograph."

In the next instant, Xue Ling swiftly extended a hand and covered Bing Ji's red lips, blocking the two words she was about to utter—"No way."

"I know, I know."

"Infiltrating the Northern Army Corps is extremely dangerous. Their Soul Engineer Regiments can use linked soul tools to trap top-tier powerhouses, and their advanced single-target soul weapons can pierce even the strongest metals."

"But the Eight-Headed Seismograph is one of a kind. Its blueprint was lost to history, and even the most skilled soul engineers would need a long time to recreate it."

"That window of time is exactly what we need. This is an opportunity with immense benefits."

"Besides, I am far more suited for this than you, Sister Bing Ji. My battle armor's domain can conceal my presence, making me harder to detect."

Feeling Bing Ji's lips purse slightly beneath her fingers, Xue Ling knew she had won.

Soft persuasion was done—now it was time for firm authority.

With a stern expression, Xue Ling declared, "As the ruler of the Extreme North, I order you, Bing Ji, the current matriarch of the Ice Jade Scorpion Clan, to continue with the ley line modifications."

Before Bing Ji could respond, Xue Ling vanished in a flash.

Light as falling snow, her tracks disappeared into the vast, snowy plains.

On her way to the outskirts of the Extreme North, the patrolling soul beasts continued sending reports of additional research teams.

Eventually, she located the largest group—fully equipped with the most advanced gear and tasked with the most critical mission.

The vast snowfields provided perfect cover, allowing Xue Ling to blend in like a chameleon.

Thus, she overheard their entire conversation.

"General Guo Zhenfeng is overthinking things. He kept warning us that the Extreme North is full of unknown dangers and that we should reconsider proceeding."

"He even said that if we encountered danger, the mecha squad assigned to escort us would prioritize our safety and extract us immediately."

"We've been traveling for so long, and we haven't seen anything. Danger, my ass!"

"Haha!"

"Hey, don't make fun of him. Maybe in his eyes, we're the ones being reckless."

"Actually, when you think about it, he might not be wrong. The Eight-Headed Seismograph predicted that this geological disaster in the Extreme North would be far greater than any previous ones."

"But in the end, it's just happening in a barren, frozen wasteland. Forget the Extreme North itself—there aren't even human settlements in the northern border region outside of it."

"The only humans stationed here are the 100,000 soldiers of the Northern Army Corps, and they're well outside the Extreme North. Even if the disaster affects the border, it won't breach the army's defenses."

"If it weren't for our professor's insistence, the council would have probably dismissed this whole situation with a simple 'natural disaster preparedness' military order."

At this moment, a gray-haired yet energetic old scholar suddenly smacked the two younger researchers on the head.

"Science demands rigor!"

"Each step we take might be small, but for humanity, it's a giant leap in overcoming nature!"

"..."

His lecture continued endlessly, but none of them noticed the figure that had already slipped into their ranks.

They also failed to sense the arrival of two enormous creatures.

After all, they were ordinary humans, not soul masters.

It wasn't until the black-ranked mecha pilot leading the security detail sensed danger and shouted, "Defensive formation!"

His warning came quickly—but not quickly enough.

From the flanks, two fierce soul beasts suddenly appeared, kicking up a blizzard of snow.

"ROAR—!"

Their deafening roars revealed massive fangs and bloodthirsty eyes, faces twisted in a horrifyingly predatory grin.

A ten-thousand-year soul beast launched a sudden assault, instantly tearing through the formation and destroying a purple-ranked mecha in a flash.

Its razor-sharp claws were just inches away from the researchers being protected at the center of the squad.

At that critical moment, another black-ranked mecha suddenly emerged from within the research team itself, intercepting the soul beast in a fierce clash—saving the researcher whose life had been hanging by a thread.

This particular scientist also held a position as a parliamentary representative. Had anything happened to him, General Guo Zhenfeng's military career would have been over.

Thus, there was an additional black-ranked mecha in the escort squad that had not been in the original roster.

Another two black-ranked mechas soon revealed themselves. Following their pre-arranged military orders, they swiftly extracted the researchers.

Only once the research team had retreated a safe distance did the remaining two black-ranked mechas disengage from the soul beasts and follow suit.

Once the last of them had disappeared from sight, the two ferocious soul beasts that had seemed so aggressive moments ago suddenly sat down placidly.

The larger of the two began to blur and shrink, eventually transforming into a chubby, thousand-year-old Ice Silkworm.

Its shape-shifting ability, Mimicry, was a natural talent of the Ice Silkworm clan.

Despite its low cultivation level, the Ice Silkworm was adept at using mental transmission.

"Lord Snow Empress… do you think she'll succeed?"

"Hm?!"

"You should reconsider how you phrase that. Lady Xue Ling can sense everything in the Extreme North."

At these words, the Ice Silkworm's plump body trembled violently, and it immediately scurried behind the other soul beast.

With utmost sincerity, it mentally recited its apologies: "Slip of the tongue! Slip of the tongue! Lady Xue Ling, my loyalty to you is as evident as the sun and moon, as firm as the heavens and earth..."

Yet, none of this reached Xue Ling's ears.

At that moment, she was using her battle armor's concealment domain to successfully bypass the Northern Army Corps' high-tech soul tool detection systems.

And then, the voice of a shocked and furious man rang out:

"What?!

"Halt all geological exploration in the Extreme North immediately!"

"Why?!"

(End of Chapter)