"Yuhao, are you feeling all right?"
"I've never felt this clear-headed and refreshed!"
In a quiet, deep cave, a blue-haired youth wearing nothing but a belt around his waist slowly rose to his feet.
A faint ice-blue glow emanated from his torso, while his right hand radiated a jade-green light. The sight was truly extraordinary.
The youth wasn't especially tall, but his muscles were naturally well-proportioned, their lines smooth and elegant.
His flawless, jade-like skin gleamed in the dim light. From a distance, he looked like a pristine piece of white jade.
Golden light shone in Huo Yuhao's eyes. When it faded, his eyes returned to their original color.
Behind him, jade-green and ice-blue light enveloped the cracks in the great white cocoon. A smooth, delicate hand reached out through one of them.
Fine snowflakes began drifting through the cave.
A layer of frost spread outward from beneath Huo Yuhao's feet.
The figure inside the great white cocoon finally revealed herself.
What kind of woman was she? Her features were like a blooming white lotus, cool and proud.
Her long, snow-white hair fell all the way to her ankles.
In the dim light, her eyes gleamed like two flawless, pale-yellow gems.
She wore a pure-white palace-style qipao, embroidered with clusters of ice-blue plum blossoms on the right shoulder.
Behind the qipao, her snowy hair danced in the breeze, revealing faint patterns of dark-green jade scorpions.
Her feet were unadorned: a pair of small, delicate, snow-white feet, tender as lotus shoots, rested boldly on the air.
A small, exquisite, diamond-shaped ice crown adorned her head.
The jewel at its center faded from jade green at the top to ice blue at the bottom.
Her expression was cold and stern. With her snowy hair and gown fluttering in the wind, she resembled an ice fairy from a dream.
"Congratulations on succeeding, Yuhao!"
"At the very last moment, we all thought you were going to pass out. Your willpower is astounding!"
"We've finally come through all that hardship, Yuhao."
Three balls of light flew out of Huo Yuhao's body: Snow Empress, Ice Empress, and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
The three of them watched as the light surrounding Huo Yuhao gradually faded, and the figure behind him hovered in midair.
"It looks like your body has completely adapted to my and Bing'er's Soul Bones."
"Is that the Martial Soul created from Snow Empress's and my power? She looks so much like you, Xue'er!"
"She looks like you, too, Bingbing—the eyes, the eyebrows, the whole bearing." The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was practically drooling.
Ice Empress bristled at once. Tian Meng's gaze deeply displeased her. This Martial Soul was a masterpiece she and Snow Empress had created together.
"Don't stare at her with that disgusting look."
In her spirit form, Ice Empress's signature jade-green scorpion tail appeared behind her.
Dark-green light blazed along its length, and a frigid Ice Storm sent the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm flying.
Snow Empress ignored the pair of troublemakers. "She was formed from all the bloodlines and power Bing'er and I possessed."
"Yuhao, what do you think? Does this Martial Soul meet your expectations?"
Huo Yuhao smiled faintly. "It's not just met them. It's exceeded them!"
With a thought, three dazzling Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet, each one breathtaking to behold.
The first Soul Ring shone a brilliant orange-gold.
Its radiance exuded boundless majesty, nobility, and coldness.
Four dazzling golden patterns glimmered across the orange-gold ring.
The second Soul Ring was orange-gold as well. Its aura was graceful and dignified, admirable but not to be trifled with.
Seven golden patterns shimmered across it, each one vivid and lifelike.
The third Soul Ring was blue-green-gold throughout. Its radiance combined all the finest qualities of the first two rings.
Ten golden patterns adorned its beautiful blue-green-gold halo.
The Ice Empress and Snow Empress studied the three Soul Rings that had appeared around Huo Yuhao.
"The first Soul Ring holds my power!" Ice Empress said.
"The second holds my power," Snow Empress said. "As for the third Soul Ring..."
"It holds both our powers!" The two Empresses' eyes lit up at the same time.
Huo Yuhao nodded. "That's right. The first holds your power, Ice Empress, and is four hundred thousand years old."
"The second inherits Snow Empress's power. It's a six-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring."
"The third holds both your powers. It's a Million-Year Soul Ring!"
"Two Million-Year Soul Rings? Good heavens, Yuhao! Your Soul Ring Configuration must be unprecedented!"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, who Ice Empress had sent flying, came scampering back.
As soon as she returned, she saw the Soul Ring Configuration of Huo Yuhao's Second Martial Soul.
The third, blue-green-gold Soul Ring especially impressed her. Its energy felt no weaker than the Soul Ring she had bestowed on Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes as his First Soul Ring.
Snow Empress gazed at the blue-green-gold Soul Ring and sighed.
"Risk and opportunity always go hand in hand. As we merged amid that excruciating pain, Bing'er and I crossed our Heavenly Tribulations without even realizing it."
"Congratulations, Yuhao. It seems there's a very good chance you'll fulfill the promise you made me one day!"
Ice Empress, meanwhile, had turned her attention elsewhere. She circled the fully formed Second Martial Soul.
This Martial Soul really did look like her and Xue'er!
Ice Empress asked, "Yuhao, your Soul Rings have brought you a huge surprise. What opportunity has this Martial Soul brought you?"
"Well, she's brought me a huge surprise. I think it'll take a while to explain."
"First, you can all see the difference, right? Her form is very different from my First Martial Soul, Spirit Eyes."
"This Martial Soul has a physical body! She can even leave my body and move around outside it!"
"A physical body?" Ice Empress extended a slender, delicate finger and gently poked the Martial Soul. "She's soft! She really is!"
"Yeah! I think she took this form because, in the final moments of the fusion, she devoured the remnants you two had left behind," Huo Yuhao said.
Snow Empress also stepped up to the Martial Soul and reached out with her slender, snow-white finger.
Ice-blue light appeared at the tip of Snow Empress's finger. She touched the Martial Soul's skin.
"I can sense my aura here. Bing'er, come and feel it for yourself."
"Really?" Ice Empress extended her scorpion tail and gently pressed its tip against the Martial Soul.
"That's my aura. So our contribution was what allowed Yuhao's Second Martial Soul to take physical form!"
Snow Empress chuckled softly. "Yuhao, if you hadn't behaved the way you did earlier..."
"I really would be wondering whether you already knew this was going to happen."
"You've stripped us of everything—from our Soul Bones to our Soul Rings. You didn't even spare our leftover bodies; you fused them into your Martial Soul."
Huo Yuhao gave an awkward laugh. "I didn't expect this either!"
"By the way, we keep calling her a Martial Soul, but I haven't given my Second Martial Soul a name yet. Do you have any suggestions?"
Before you continue