Ice Empress

Cang Xue led Xue Xiao Ran to a cave. It looked as though it had stood there for many years, and faint sword marks could still be made out at its entrance.

At the sight, Cang Xue wore a nostalgic expression before stepping inside.

The interior was spotless. Even the frigid wind seemed to have been shut out, leaving only crisp air and a faint fragrance.

"Young Master, accept your First Soul Ring here."

Cang Xue turned around and said sternly.

Xue Xiao Ran nodded and sat down cross-legged.

The Ice Jade Scorpion, Ice Empress, took a deep breath. She knew the moment had come.

"Wait." Xue Xiao Ran spoke calmly to the Ice Jade Scorpion.

"I can understand that you are unwilling, Senior. But I am not begging you to become my Soul Ring. No matter what level my Soul Ring is, I will always strive toward my goal."

"Whether I have your help or not makes no difference to me."

As Cang Xue listened to Xue Xiao Ran's words, light flickered in his single eye. The Young Master was truly proud by nature. It seemed he had inherited that from his mother.

He liked that kind of unyielding pride.

There was nothing but calm in Xue Xiao Ran's Jade Eyes.

I will not beg you, nor do I disdain begging anyone. With or without you, the outcome will be the same.

The Ice Jade Scorpion, Ice Empress, froze. She studied Xue Xiao Ran's face anew. It seemed her previous assessment of him had been too low. This youth's temperament far surpassed that of his peers.

As expected of Lord Ice God's son. Ice Empress sighed inwardly, swaying her scorpion tail as she said in an unusually gentle tone, "I have thought it through. Rather than continue cultivating like this, it would be better for us to fulfill each other."

"Let us get along well from now on. What do you think?"

Ice Empress no longer spoke to him as though he were a child. Instead, it was as if she were conversing with an equal.

"As long as it is your choice, that is enough. I do not wish to force you, Senior." Xue Xiao Ran replied calmly.

Ice Empress drew a deep breath. This child's disposition is truly terrifying. I wonder who raised him.

If she knew that he had been raised by both Ice God Xue Lei Han and Sea God Tang San, she would likely have fainted on the spot.

"Begin."

Cang Xue's indifferent voice rang out, and Ice Empress could not help giving him a complicated look.

"It has begun. From now on, please take care of me."

Ice Empress's voice returned to its icy calm, and she closed her eyes.

A burst of chilling cold suddenly erupted throughout the cave without restraint before streaming into Xue Xiao Ran's body like a meteor.

Xue Xiao Ran felt as though his internal organs and blood had all frozen. Even breathing seemed like a luxury. For the first time, he experienced such agony.

Yet under such circumstances, a proud curve appeared at the corner of his lips. He had heard from his uncles that his father had often cut himself with a sword while cultivating in his youth, all to keep himself clear-headed at all times.

This little pain is nothing compared to what Father endured back then!

Xue Xiao Ran was undoubtedly a proud person. His pride had seeped into every part of his life. Every skill and piece of knowledge he learned, he mastered to the very best of his ability.

At that moment, even the bones in his body gradually froze, making Xue Xiao Ran grit his teeth until they creaked.

The cold that seeped into his marrow turned into the purest pain, instantly invading every corner of his body.

Flames burned within those Jade Eyes.

Then Xue Xiao Ran's entire body was frozen in ice.

Seeing that the fusion was nearly complete, Cang Xue gently tapped his forehead with a finger. An exceptionally pure ice-blue gleam appeared at his fingertip before entering the ice and Xue Xiao Ran's body.

It was still too much for him to accept the sacrifice of a three-hundred-and-ninety-thousand-year soul beast with only an ice-element martial soul. At this point, a seal was needed to temporarily suppress Ice Empress's cultivation to a level Xue Xiao Ran could endure—perhaps a hundred-year or thousand-year level.

The Young Master's martial soul had not inherited Lord Ice God's two martial souls, Cang Xue silently mused. When Lord Ice God had accepted the sacrifice of Sister Ice Phoenix, a four-hundred-thousand-year soul beast, he had remained unharmed only because he possessed two ice-attributed martial souls.

However, Xue Xiao Ran's situation was somewhat more unusual.

Cang Xue's face paled slightly. Seeing Xue Xiao Ran's poker face within the ice, he relaxed a little.

All that remained was to wait for the Young Master to grow stronger. The seal would slowly fade away, and the Young Master would eventually command all the power of his First Soul Ring.

Three days later.

The ice finally began to loosen. Cracks spread across it, followed by a series of crackling sounds.

Cang Xue opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on the youth who had been sealed in ice for three days.

Crack.

With a crisp sound, the ice shattered. Xue Xiao Ran was still seated cross-legged on the ground, but now a brilliant Blood-red Soul Ring had appeared behind him.

"Can you hear me?"

"Hey, I said, say something!"

Ice Empress's voice came from within his body—or rather, from his mind. There was a trace of displeasure in her tone; it seemed she had been calling to Xue Xiao Ran for quite some time.

"You are... that Senior?"

Xue Xiao Ran tried many methods before finally turning his thoughts into an inner voice that surfaced in his mind.

"Just call me Ice Empress. Calling me Senior feels strange." Ice Empress said softly.

"I am currently in a place that looks very much like the Extreme North. Do you know what is going on?" There was something unusual in Ice Empress's voice. She had originally believed that she would lose consciousness forever after the sacrifice, but she had not expected to continue existing in such a strange manner.

"A place that looks very much like the Extreme North?" Xue Xiao Ran muttered to himself.

"I seem to exist in a very strange way." Ice Empress's cold voice sounded again. "Can you see me?"

Xue Xiao Ran shook his head and replied calmly, "It seems I cannot see you. I can only speak with you."

"Ice Empress, can you describe where you are in detail?"

"Alright." Ice Empress seemed to move about. After a while, she continued, "There is ice and snow all around, along with a faint mist. There is a sea in the distance, and no matter how hard I look, I cannot see The Other Shore beyond it."

Xue Xiao Ran thought briefly and frowned. He truly could not understand where Ice Empress had gone.

"I will ask Uncle Cang Xue."

"Alright. Do not forget to absorb my Soul Bone first. I will rest for a while. Wait, I have a body!" Ice Empress's voice suddenly rose, as though she were shouting right beside Xue Xiao Ran's ear, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Congratulations." When he did not understand the situation himself, a dry blessing was still better than saying nothing.

"Hehe, hehe." Ice Empress's delighted voice rang out in his mind. Xue Xiao Ran could already picture her examining her body and exclaiming about how beautiful she was.

"Uncle Cang Xue."

Xue Xiao Ran opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a Soul Bone placed before him.

A Torso Spine Bone that gleamed like ice crystals.

Xue Xiao Ran shifted his gaze and looked at the gratified Cang Xue, briefly recounting Ice Empress's situation and his own.

"Ice Empress has entered your Sea of Consciousness."

After hearing the explanation, Cang Xue spoke with a look of understanding.

"Uncle Cang Xue, what is a Sea of Consciousness?" Xue Xiao Ran asked.

"We'll talk about it next chapter."