Mastering Ice and Fire, Writing in the Diary Again

Watching Cryo and Pyro dance at his fingertips, Gan Lin summoned his Vision Martial Soul.

On closer inspection, there were still only Cryo and Pyro.

It seemed that this ability to control Cryo and Pyro probably did not come from elements awakened in the Vision.

No wonder Gan Lin felt that his control over Cryo and Pyro fell far short of his control over Geo and Anemo. Geo and Anemo were also far stronger than Cryo and Pyro.

An icicle and a flame danced gently at his fingertips. Two currents, one cold and one hot, intertwined between his fingers, yet remained as distinct as the waters of the Jing and Wei rivers. With a thought, Gan Lin summoned his Vision Martial Soul, which emerged through his back. Blue-gold Geo patterns spread across its base, with emerald Anemo patterns winding among them. The colors of ice and fire floated only on the surface of the patterns, like a sheen added afterward, never truly sinking into his Martial Soul Origin.

He focused inward for a moment and confirmed his suspicion.

It seemed that this ability to control ice and fire was not an elemental attribute awakened in his Vision Martial Soul. Most likely, the Immortal Herbs had bestowed it upon the Martial Soul.

No wonder he had always felt that controlling Cryo and Pyro was nowhere near as effortless as commanding Geo and Anemo. Geo was solid and weighty, while Anemo was nimble and free-flowing. Those two powers were like parts of his body, every thread of Soul Power circulating with perfect precision. Cryo and Pyro, however, felt like borrowed powers. Though he could command them, there was always a layer between them, and they were a good deal weaker.

Gan Lin moved his fingertips slightly, then settled his mind and tested the reactions between the elements one by one.

He first summoned Geo, then lit a cluster of crimson flames at the tip of his right finger and gently brought it against the Geo.

"Hum-"

The instant the stone touched the flame, its surface crystallized, taking on a fiery red sheen like glazed glass, with sparks seeping through its patterns.

Geo-Pyro crystallization could generate a shield with stronger defense against Pyro.

He then switched to Cryo and laid it over the Geo.

Geo-Cryo crystallization was similar to Geo-Pyro crystallization, but this time it provided special defense against Cryo.

Next, he tried Anemo and Pyro.

A wisp of emerald wind at his fingertip curled around the flame. The wind fed the fire, and the flame whooshed several feet longer, sweeping out as a fierce tongue of fire. Riding the wind, the flames spread rapidly across the ground into a sea of fire half a zhang wide. Plants were reduced to ash in an instant, and even the ground was scorched black and cracked. Waves of sustained heat washed over his face. The wind sent the fire's range, speed, and duration soaring, making it far more powerful than fire alone.

Anemo-Pyro Swirl, with area damage maxed out.

When Anemo met Cryo, the result was another sight altogether.

The wind swept fine ice chips forward, the particles spinning faster and faster until they became a sky full of fine ice needles, covering an area several zhang across. When the needles struck the plants, a layer of white frost instantly formed, leaving branches and leaves stiff and brittle. The cold wind carried ice shards that could not only slow movement but also infiltrate and erode the meridians through every opening. Soft armor was no defense at all.

Anemo-Cryo Swirl: group slowdown and sustained elemental erosion.

What truly surprised Gan Lin, however, was the reaction when ice and fire met.

An inch-long icicle hovered at the tip of his left finger, while a small flame burned at the tip of his right. He slowly brought the two together.

According to common knowledge on the Douluo Continent, ice and fire were elements that countered each other to the extreme. When they collided, they were bound to clash like a needlepoint against a wheat awn and cancel each other out. There was no other possibility.

But the result took him by surprise.

The instant the icicle and the flame touched, there was no burst, nor did either vanish. The surface of the icicle slowly melted at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into a layer of mist. As soon as the mist spread, the nearby flame heated it into scalding steam.

Cryo-Pyro Melt, dealing greater damage...

This was something no Martial Soul on the Douluo Continent could do.

The attributes of a native Martial Soul were rooted in a Soul Master's origin, and opposing attributes naturally rejected each other. Let alone producing a reaction, even controlling two opposing attributes at once was almost impossible.

Yet he had managed it.

Gan Lin watched the vortex of ice and fire in his palm, and an answer gradually took shape in his mind.

This special quality had never come from his Vision Martial Soul, but from himself.

He dismissed his Martial Soul and turned to look in the direction of the depths of the Sunset Forest.

Dugu Bo had taken Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling to hunt for their third Soul Rings. Counting today, it had already been six days.

By rights, with Dugu Bo's strength as a Titled Douluo, choosing suitable Thousand-Year Soul Rings for two level-thirty Soul Masters in the Sunset Forest should have been as easy as reaching out and grabbing them. It should not have taken this long. Still, Gan Lin was not too worried. Dugu Bo's poison ranked among the best on the entire continent, and the Soul Beasts in the Sunset Forest capable of getting the better of him could be counted on one hand. Most likely, he had not encountered Soul Beasts of suitable quality, or he wanted to find the most fitting Soul Skills for the two girls and had taken a few extra days.

But with no sign of their return, Gan Lin found himself with time on his hands.

Gan Lin returned to the stone house sheltered from the wind beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and rummaged through his Storage Soul Tool for his diary.

It was time to continue writing in it.

After all, a considerable part of the reason he was so strong was this diary.

For a Soul Master on the Douluo Continent, being able to obtain items from Teyvat was practically a dimensionality-reduction strike.

[It has been six days since Grandpa took Sister Yanzi, Sister Lingling, and Aunt Ye Soul Hunting. They have yet to return.

Today I tested all the reactions among the four elements in my body and finally learned their wonders.

Geo-Pyro and Geo-Cryo crystallization can be said to make up for my lack of defense; Anemo-Pyro and Cryo-Anemo Swirl have an extremely wide range and count as group attack skills.

And for me, these are much like ordinary attacks. They don't even require any additional Soul Power.

Most amazing of all, even though these elements weren't given to me by the Vision, when ice and fire merge, they neither clash nor cancel each other out. Instead, they can cause greater damage. It's rather like advanced elemental reaction theory.

Come to think of it, that makes sense. Geo and Anemo are native to the Vision, and I can command them as easily as my own limbs, with a deep foundation in their origin. Ice and fire came from Immortal Herbs and the Yin Yang Well. Though somewhat weaker, they benefit from my own special nature, which isn't bound by the rules of Martial Souls.

All told, this time's gains far exceeded my expectations. First came the medicine test. Though I narrowly escaped death, I gained a special ability granting immunity to both ice and fire, and the Vision successfully awakened a second element. Later, I took the Infernal Delicate Apricot and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, reforging my body. Once I add Soul Rings, my Soul Power should approach level thirty. I also drank the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, greatly increasing my spiritual power and multiplying my perception.

Judging by physical strength alone, I'm afraid even Martial Souls known for defense can't compare to me now. My spiritual power has also reached an unbelievable level, and it would be hard to find a match at the same rank. Add the reactions of the four elements, and even if I encountered a level-forty Soul Ancestor now, I might still be able to put up a fight.

I only wonder how the selection of Sister Yanzi's third Soul Ring is going. Her Martial Soul is the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, which leans toward the poison attribute, and there aren't many Thousand-Year Soul Rings that suit it best. I hope Senior Dugu can choose a safe one. Lingling's Nine Heart Begonia has strong support abilities but is weaker at protecting herself. With Senior Dugu there, she should be fine.

Once they return, it'll be time for me to break through the level-twenty and level-thirty bottlenecks. As for the direction of my third Soul Ring... perhaps I don't need to confine myself to a single attribute. With Geo and Anemo as the foundation and Cryo and Pyro in support, a path combining multi-attribute control and explosive power might be better suited to the Vision's potential.

The road ahead is long. I'll take it slowly...]