Darkening Transformation, the Ice Phoenix's Choice

The atmosphere inside the carriage returning to Nuoding Academy was silent.

Zhu Zhuqing closed her eyes and focused, carefully sensing the power of her newly acquired Third Spirit Ring. A trace of silver-black lightning flickered at her fingertips from time to time, radiating a sinister aura that made hearts tremble. The three-thousand-five-hundred-year Dark Demon Evil Spirit Tiger Spirit Ring had boosted her far beyond expectations. Her Soul Power had stabilized at level thirty-three, while her Netherworld Spirit Cat Martial Soul seemed to have undergone subtle changes, becoming closer to the very essence of darkness. Her speed, strength, and especially the faint soul-corroding property carried within her attacks had caused her combat power to soar. She needed time to fully absorb this power.

Yang Yu leaned against the back of his seat, his fingers unconsciously tapping against his knee as though he were planning something.

When the carriage entered the academy and stopped before the dormitory building that still bore traces of battle, an icy, oppressive aura thick with resentment swept over them like a tangible cold current.

The corridor was terrifyingly quiet.

Even the occasional sounds of students walking about had vanished completely. Only the wind howled through the hall, stirring a little dust from the ground. The air seemed frozen, carrying a suffocating heaviness.

Ning Rongrong's door was tightly shut.

Yet everyone could clearly sense that the cold, venomous aura was seeping out from that room! It was as though a savage beast ready to devour someone lurked inside, utterly unlike the spoiled and willful Little Princess who had once still possessed a hint of liveliness!

Zhu Zhuqing's cold eyes swept over the door without any reaction. She walked straight toward her own room; she needed to consolidate her cultivation.

Yang Yu did not slow his steps, as if the dense resentment were nothing more than a gentle breeze brushing his face. He stopped outside Ning Rongrong's door. Without even knocking, he pushed it open and entered.

The room was dimly lit, its curtains drawn tightly shut. Ning Rongrong sat before the dressing table with her back to the door. She still wore that drab academy uniform, but her once-smooth chestnut hair had become somewhat disheveled. Her back was ramrod straight, and an icy aura that warned strangers to stay away radiated from her body.

The luxurious glazed mirror on the dressing table was coated in a thin layer of dust, reflecting her blurred, twisted profile. She did not turn around or speak. Through the mirror's reflection, she merely stared fixedly at Yang Yu in the doorway with cold, hollow eyes filled with hatred.

That gaze was like an ice spike steeped in poison.

As though he had not noticed her murderous stare, Yang Yu closed the door behind him and walked up behind her. His gaze fell upon the dressing table, where several items had been casually tossed—a fragment of a treasury map covered in messy markings, an inner disciple identity token from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and a Soul Tool pen with its tip snapped off.

"Looks like you haven't been idle," Yang Yu said evenly, giving no hint whether he was praising or mocking her.

Ning Rongrong's shoulders trembled slightly. She squeezed out an icy voice through clenched teeth. "Thanks to you, I've realized a lot."

Her voice was hoarse and sharp, carrying undisguised ridicule and hatred.

Yang Yu did not care. His eyes swept over the map fragment. "Have you figured out how to take back what 'belongs' to you?"

"That is none of your business!" Ning Rongrong abruptly turned around. Her bloodshot sapphire eyes glared at Yang Yu as though she were a young beast driven into a corner, full of aggression. "Stop pretending to care! Didn't you look down on me? Didn't you think I wasn't even as good as that bitch? Once I obtain the Aromatic Silk Beauty, I'll make you regret it!"

She practically shouted the words, her chest heaving violently. Her emotions were in turmoil, yet deep in her eyes lay a twisted expectation of being acknowledged that even she had not noticed.

Yang Yu looked at her fierce yet inwardly weak appearance and suddenly smiled. The smile was faint, but it carried the amusement of one who saw through everything.

He raised a hand—not to strike or scold her, nor to comfort her—but to flick an extremely tiny emerald-green point of light into Ning Rongrong's forehead.

Ning Rongrong's body stiffened. She instinctively wanted to resist, but that familiar, gentle, and pure Power of Creation had already surged into her. It swiftly soothed the Soul Power that had become chaotic again due to her agitation, even refreshing her spiritual power slightly and making her mind clearer and calmer.

She froze. The madness and hatred in her eyes lessened somewhat, replaced by deeper bewilderment and confusion. Again! What exactly was he trying to do?!

"You can hate me. You can want revenge on me too," Yang Yu said as he withdrew his hand, his tone still calm. "But first, you need the strength to do it. Powerless rage is the most laughable thing."

He pointed at her head. "Your Martial Soul is the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, the continent's number one support Martial Soul. But your brain should not be used only to calculate how to act cute and throw tantrums. Strength does not come only from Spirit Rings and Soul Power."

"The treasury map, the guards' weaknesses, breaking Soul Tools, exploiting people's hearts... those are also forms of strength." Yang Yu's gaze seemed able to see through her very heart. "Put the energy you use to hate me toward where it truly belongs. When you think you have enough power to stand before me, then come talk to me about terms."

After saying that, he spoke no further. He turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

Ning Rongrong sat blankly in her chair, feeling the Soul Power within her settle and her thoughts become clearer. As she watched Yang Yu's back disappear through the doorway, both hands clenched the hem of her clothes tightly, her nails digging into her flesh.

Humiliation! Humiliation again!

But what he said... seemed...

An incomparably complex and twisted emotion churned wildly within her. Hatred, resentment, humiliation... yet mixed within them was a cold lucidity awakened by his words and... a morbid excitement she herself refused to acknowledge?

She abruptly turned toward the mirror, looking at her own venomous eyes and twisted expression, then let out a low laugh like the cry of a night owl.

"Power... true power..."

She picked up the broken Soul Tool pen, her fingers tightening until she nearly crushed its shaft.

"Fine... Yang Yu... just wait... I'll make you see it... see my true 'power'!"

Her gaze settled completely. The madness no longer floated on the surface; it became a bottomless, icy darkness. Her darkening had entered a deeper stage.

Elsewhere.

Inside Zhu Zhuqing's room.

She was familiarizing herself with her new soul skill, Netherworld Soul Devouring Slash. Silver-black lightning pulsed from her fingertips, leaving faint corrosive traces in the air. A powerful sense of strength filled her entire body, yet she remained calm, continuously fine-tuning her Soul Power output in pursuit of absolute control.

A knock sounded at the door.

Zhu Zhuqing withdrew her Soul Power and opened it. Shui Bing'er stood outside.

After several days and nights of exhausting herself to guide and suppress the energy, Shui Bing'er's face was somewhat weary, but her eyes were exceptionally bright. As she looked at Zhu Zhuqing, especially after sensing the other's clearly strengthened Soul Power fluctuations carrying a trace of sinister energy, a flicker of complexity and wariness passed through her eyes.

"How is she?" Zhu Zhuqing asked coldly, referring to Xiao Wu.

"She has been stabilized for now." Shui Bing'er's voice carried a barely noticeable rasp. "The Immortal Herb's energy is too overwhelming. My ice-attributed Soul Power can only barely neutralize and guide it, slowing the absorption to prevent her from exploding immediately. But this process will last at least another half month, and..." She paused and lowered her voice. "Her Spirit Beast origin has stirred several more times. Although it was suppressed in time, it is... too dangerous."

Zhu Zhuqing fell silent for a moment. She understood what Shui Bing'er meant. The secret of a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beast Transformation was like a bomb that could explode at any moment.

"What does His Highness the Holy Son intend?" Shui Bing'er asked tentatively. She now fully understood that the truly decisive figure here was that unfathomable young man.

Zhu Zhuqing glanced at her. "Keep the secret and do your job. His Highness has his own arrangements."

Shui Bing'er's heart tightened, and she nodded. After hesitating for a moment, she added, "Her Martial Soul... seems to be a Soft Bone Rabbit? By all rights, such a Martial Soul should not be able to endure the tyrannical medicinal power of the Aromatic Silk Beauty. She should have long since... unless..." She did not finish, but her meaning was clear.

Zhu Zhuqing's eyes turned cold. "Don't ask what you shouldn't."

Shui Bing'er immediately fell silent, a layer of cold sweat breaking out across her back. She knew too many things she should not know. She was now firmly tied to this ship and could only follow it down a dark path.

"Anything else?" Zhu Zhuqing made it clear she was dismissing her.

Shui Bing'er took a deep breath, as though making some kind of decision. She looked up at Zhu Zhuqing, her eyes turning serious. "Zhu Zhuqing, I know there were some misunderstandings between us before. But now... it seems we are in the same situation."

She pointed toward Xiao Wu's room, then subtly toward Ning Rongrong's room. "The secret of the Immortal Herb, the secret of the Spirit Beast, and His Highness the Holy Son... I think perhaps we could... cooperate."

She needed an ally. Facing so many secrets and such pressure alone made her feel suffocated. Zhu Zhuqing was powerful and calm by nature, seemingly the only person she could possibly work with at present.

Zhu Zhuqing's cold gaze examined Shui Bing'er, but she did not answer immediately. Of course she understood Shui Bing'er's intentions. Cooperation? Before absolute strength and control, such cooperation was fragile beyond measure.

But she thought of Yang Yu's words—strength came from many sources.

An ally from Skywater Academy, a Soul Emperor who possessed an ultimate ice Martial Soul... perhaps she could indeed be of some use at certain times.

"Fine," Zhu Zhuqing finally said indifferently. "But remember, everything follows His Highness's will. If there is any unusual movement..." A trace of silver-black lightning silently flashed at her fingertips.

Shui Bing'er's heart turned cold, and she nodded at once. "I understand!"

A temporary alliance had been tentatively formed under the pressure of immense interests and danger. But how long it could last, no one knew.

Night fell once more.

Yang Yu stood alone by the window, gazing at the scattered lights of Nuoding City in the distance.

Yue Guan's figure condensed behind him like Gui Mei.

"Your Highness, over at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi seems to have noticed something. He has tripled the guards around the treasury, especially the Ghost Soul Crystal area. Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo are taking turns standing guard, with no sign of leaving for now."

"The Star Luo Imperial Family has been very quiet. After Dai Weisi was crippled, internal struggles for power broke out, leaving them with no time to spare. The impact of Dai Mubai's crippling has been forcibly suppressed."

"Tang San is still imprisoned in the dungeon. His condition is... very strange. His aura is growing colder by the day, but his Soul Power seems to be slowly recovering through a... very sinister method."

"Yu Xiaogang... has vanished as if from the face of the earth. There is no trace of him."

Yang Yu listened quietly, his face expressionless.

"I understand." He replied faintly. "Keep watching them. Especially the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. There will soon be movement on Ning Rongrong's side..."

His gaze seemed to pierce through the layers of night, seeing the resentment-filled girl transforming in the darkness.

The chess pieces were all moving according to his expectations.

The only variable...

He glanced toward Xiao Wu's room.

And that missing... theory master.

Still, it did not matter.

Everything remained under control.

All he needed was a little time for these chess pieces to ferment into their greatest value.

Nuoding City, this small border city, was becoming the true center of the storm. And the Eye of the Storm was this seemingly tranquil academy dormitory building.