Fusion

Within the Sea of Consciousness, Ice Empress opened her crystalline yellow eyes and carefully examined her surroundings. After scanning the area, she nodded involuntarily. Wu Xuan's Sea of Consciousness was indeed vast and solid.

Ice Empress lowered her head and looked at her hands again. Clenching her fists brought her an incomparably real sensation.

"Wow—Bingbing, you're still so cute after taking human form~" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said cheerfully as he moved close to Ice Empress.

"You're Tian Meng?" Ice Empress looked at the human before her, who was slightly shorter than herself.

"That's right! Bingbing and I really are kindred spirits. Even after I took human form, you recognized me at first glance." Sky Dream Ice Silkworm giggled.

"Tian Meng! You useless bastard! I've finally caught you, haven't I?! I'll beat you to death!" Ice Empress swung her fists and gave Sky Dream Ice Silkworm a thorough beating.

The two raced all over the Sea of Consciousness, one chasing and the other fleeing.

"Uh..." Wu Xuan watched the scene before him with a speechless expression.

"I say, Ice Empress! Shouldn't we get down to business now?" Wu Xuan hurriedly urged.

"Hah~! That finally felt good!" Ice Empress waved her little fists twice, then rose from the bruised and battered Sky Dream Ice Silkworm with a refreshed expression.

At that moment, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm lay in the Sea of Consciousness, bruised and swollen, looking utterly lifeless.

"Ahem!" Ice Empress cleared her throat twice, then fixed Wu Xuan with her crystalline yellow eyes and said seriously, "You're Wu Xuan, right? Next, I will grant you your second soul ring and provide you with a soul bone."

"I can decide the form of the soul bone. You will probably never encounter another being like me who can provide you with one, so I will give you the most important kind—a torso bone."

"Ice Empress, could you condense it into a limb soul bone instead? I know of several places where dragon bones can be found. Since you've joined our plan, I can't keep it from you." Wu Xuan transmitted his voice to her alone.

"Dragon? What dragon? An ordinary true dragon might not even compare to me!" Ice Empress was somewhat displeased, but she still asked secretly.

"A Dragon King. I can guarantee the information is genuine," Wu Xuan transmitted.

Ice Empress's crystalline yellow eyes abruptly widened, then instantly narrowed. She chuckled and said in admiration, "Haha! Good, good, good! With such an opportunity, becoming a god may truly not be especially difficult for you. Nearly half of my power comes from my twin claws. In that case, it will be a left arm bone."

"That works." Wu Xuan nodded.

"Do you need me to fix the soul skills of the soul bone and soul ring? If they are fixed, the four soul skills I grant you will all be my strongest soul skills. If they are not fixed, the four soul skills I grant you will be randomly generated according to your own abilities. There are too many uncertain factors. Of course, the choice is yours." Ice Empress spoke calmly.

Upon hearing this, Wu Xuan pondered for a long time before finally making up his mind. "I choose not to fix the soul skills. Let them be randomly generated according to my own abilities. That may be more helpful to me."

"Mm, all right! I respect your choice. Although your body is much stronger than that of soul masters at the same level, my soul ring is still too powerful. So, I suggest you use the method of bone first, ring second, in order to maximize the benefits."

"But the process will be extremely painful. You absolutely cannot lose consciousness midway through. Otherwise, you, me, and Tian Meng will all die here!"

Wu Xuan smiled lightly. "Don't worry, Ice Empress. I'm mentally prepared."

Wu Xuan was still confident in his ability to endure pain.

From traveling with his parents in his youth to two and a half years of adventures and training in the Star Dou Great Forest, Wu Xuan believed that neither his temperament nor his endurance was something ordinary people could compare with.

A jade-green radiance surged within Wu Xuan's mind. At that moment, his pitch-black eyes also turned jade-green, while Sky Dream Ice Silkworm stopped his wailing and grew serious.

The fusion began. Two beams of jade light shot from Wu Xuan's eyes and accurately landed upon the true body of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion. Her one-and-a-half-meter-long body immediately began to tremble violently. Her long tail in particular shuddered continuously beneath rippling jade-green halos. Every diamond-like hexagonal protrusion on her body radiated a dazzling brilliance.

Wu Xuan sat cross-legged on the ground and slowly closed his eyes. A jade-green radiance lifted him from the ground, while the true body of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion swiftly moved beneath him.

The intense jade-green light pulsed frantically toward her tail hook. When that jade green turned into a vivid, dripping Dark Green, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's tail hook suddenly lashed upward and viciously stabbed into Wu Xuan's left arm.

"Hngh~!" Wu Xuan let out a muffled groan, but immediately steadied his mind.

"I never expected this human's will to be so strong as well. This is the pain of replacing bones, yet he can actually remain completely composed." Ice Empress was deeply shaken as she looked at Wu Xuan's calm expression.

Second by second, time passed. Wu Xuan's fusion with the soul bone and absorption of the soul ring proceeded extremely smoothly.

Nourished by the abundant energy, Wu Xuan's bones visibly grew somewhat. His shoulders broadened slightly, and he became a little taller. His muscles, tendons, fascia, blood vessels, and internal organs all became countless times tougher than before. His skin even took on a jade-like sheen, still radiating a noble aura amid this world of snow and ice.

His eyes remained open throughout. The jade-green light slowly faded, while his black pupils became even more profound.

The cold wind remained biting. Suddenly, streaks of spear radiance shot into the sky, clearing away the piled snow around him as though it had evaporated and revealing Wu Xuan's naked body.

The lines of his body were flawless—smooth and not overly bulky or unsightly—yet one could sense the explosive strength contained beneath those gentle muscular contours. His jade-white skin radiated a captivating luster against the surrounding white.

Wu Xuan retracted his spear intent and clenched his fists. Then he threw a punch, and the terrifying force caused the air to explode with a sharp bang.

Wu Xuan's body had not undergone any obvious changes. The only difference was a Dark Green Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion tattoo on his left arm, flashing with dazzling brilliance. The tattoo was not large, covering only half of his left arm.

As his Soul Power receded, the Dark Green tattoo vanished as well.

The Soul Breaking Spear flashed into existence. In the next instant, black and red lights intertwined and rose up, appearing exceptionally dazzling upon this snow-covered ice field.

Four noble Gold Pattern markings flickered indistinctly across the blood-red soul ring. As the soul ring lit up, Wu Xuan's aura abruptly changed, and a savage, ancient aura burst forth from his body.

That blood-red soul ring, flashing with four golden patterns, was the second soul ring of his second martial soul, the Soul Breaking Spear. A soul ring that had reached Four Hundred Thousand Year.

Yes, Four Hundred Thousand Year—not Three Hundred Ninety Thousand Year. During the fusion process, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had used his own origin power to assist Ice Empress, helping her break through that bottleneck during the fusion.

The power of this soul ring had also risen from Three Hundred Ninety-Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Year to Four Hundred Thousand Year. Though the difference was only a hundred years, it was a world of difference in quality. It was also the distinction between three golden patterns and four golden patterns upon a blood-red soul ring representing Hundred Thousand Year.