First Soul Skill: Icefire Roar Bullet

"Dad, I can still hold on!"

Xia Yang said with a steady aura.

Thus, Xia Shi forcefully suppressed the anxiety in his heart and decided to observe for a moment longer.

At this moment, Xia Yang was engaged in a silent tug-of-war with the raging energy inside his body.

He had to tame this violent force and transform it for his own use.

Fortunately, although this energy was strong, it was ultimately rootless water and a baseless tree.

After three consecutive hours of intense confrontation, Xia Yang gradually gained the upper hand.

That originally rampaging energy began to be tamed little by little by him, blending mutually with his own soul power.

11th-rank soul power.

12th-rank soul power.

13th-rank soul power.

In the end, Xia Yang's soul power reached the fifteenth rank.

At this time, a full four hours had already passed since Xia Yang began absorbing the spirit ring.

The dark yellow spirit ring in front of him also became increasingly transparent, almost dissipating.

Finally, the last trace of spirit ring energy merged into Xia Yang's body, and the dark yellow spirit ring likewise vanished immediately.

Xia Yang successfully absorbed the first soul ring, and his soul power also stabilized at the fifteenth rank.

He abruptly opened his eyes, bright light flickering within them.

Xia Yang excitedly stood up, his voice filled with suppressed joy: "Dad, I succeeded."

"Good! You really are a fine boy."

Xia Shi heavily patted his son's shoulder, a look of pride flickering in his eyes.

"A seven-hundred-year first soul ring, fifteenth-rank soul power; you truly live up to being the son of my North Mystic Black Tortoise."

"Dad, thank you for always supporting me back then when my marriage engagement was annulled."

Xia Yang recalled past events, a deep sense of gratitude carrying in his tone.

"Silly boy, you are my son, how could I watch you be looked down upon by others?"

Xia Shi laughed heartily, saying: "The men of our Xia Family can lose, but we cannot admit defeat."

"I still remember the words you said back then to this day."

Xia Yang couldn't help laughing, saying: "Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, don't bully the young and poor..."

"Haha, I really didn't expect you to still have such a passionate side."

"Oh you brat, now you even dare to make fun of your dad?"

Xia Shi feigned anger, yet his eyes were filled with smiles.

"Hahaha—"

The father and son looked at each other, letting out a loud laugh in unison as their hearty laughter echoed inside the ice barrier.

As the laughter gradually subsided, Xia Shi only then carefully sized up his son.

After absorbing the first soul ring, Xia Yang's figure was clearly much taller and sturdier, now only half a head shorter than him.

"Yang'er, your body has grown a lot taller and sturdier."

"Of course it has."

Xia Yang straightened his back, saying: "This is a seven-hundred-year spirit ring after all, almost equivalent to the second spirit ring of other soul masters."

"Having absorbed so much energy, body growth is a matter of course."

After speaking, Xia Yang lowered his head and looked himself over.

Presently, his height was already approaching one meter eight, his muscle lines were more distinct, and even his skin tone was a bit fairer, the whole person radiating vigorous vitality.

"Right."

Xia Yang suddenly remembered something, saying: "I haven't checked if I have a spirit bone yet."

He picked up the longsword on the ground and began to carefully dissect the corpse of that Ice Flame Crystal Shell.

Before long, the three-meter-diameter spirit beast was disassembled into two huge shells, a pile of minced meat, and a pool of purple blood.

"Pity, no spirit bone."

Xia Yang shook his head with some disappointment.

"A hundred-year spirit beast was inherently not very likely to produce a spirit bone."

Xia Shi comforted: "However, since we're already here, process the other one as well; there might just be a surprise."

As he spoke, he untied another ice ball nearby.

With a bang, that five-hundred-year Ice Flame Crystal Shell heavily landed on the ground.

Xia Yang raised his hand and dropped his sword, skillfully completing the kill and disassembly.

Yet this time, there was still no trace of a spirit bone.

"Forget it, if there isn't one, then there isn't."

Xia Yang wiped the longsword clean, withdrew it into his storage soul tool, and looked at the two spirit beast carcasses under his feet with a trace of regret in his tone.

Xia Shi shifted the topic and said: "Yang'er, after absorbing the first soul ring, what changes does your martial soul have?"

"What is your first soul skill?"

"Martial Soul: Skeleton, release."

Hearing his father's inquiry, Xia Yang immediately circulated his soul power, releasing his martial soul.

In an instant, his entire body rippled with purple light, this light outlining a clear skeleton image on the surface of his body.

The martial soul—originally red on the left and blue on the right, with a purple spine—had at this moment completely transformed into a uniform purple.

"It seems that the mutually conflicting ice and fire attribute energies in your martial soul should have already been successfully fused?"

Xia Shi analyzed after careful observation.

"It should be like this."

Xia Yang felt the changes inside his body, saying: "I feel my body has become much lighter, and even the speed of releasing my martial soul is a lot faster than before."

"That's great! Choosing a spirit beast like the Ice Flame Crystal Shell to fuse the conflicting attribute forces in your martial soul—this idea of yours was indeed correct."

Xia Shi couldn't help praising.

"Dad, you praise me like this and I'm getting embarrassed."

Xia Yang scratched his head, saying: "Aren't you going to look at my first soul skill? I'll demonstrate it for you right now."

Saying this, Xia Yang concentrated his mind and spirit, secretly circulating his soul power.

A dark yellow spirit ring slowly rose from beneath his feet, emitting powerful energy fluctuations.

"First Soul Skill: Icefire Roar Bullet!"

The skeleton all over Xia Yang's body abruptly rippled with purple light.

That light seemed to have life, beginning to roam along his skeleton martial soul.

From bottom to top, from inside to outside, it finally converged entirely at his throat like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

"Ha!"

Accompanied by an angry shout, a fist-sized purple light orb shot out from Xia Yang's mouth, precisely hitting the surrounding ice barrier.

Kacha—

The moment the light orb collided with the ice barrier, several cracks surfaced in response.

"Not bad, truly not bad."

Approval flashed in Xia Shi's eyes as he said: "To be able to shake the ice barrier condensed by my fifth soul skill with a single strike, the might of this soul skill of yours is quite considerable."

Xia Yang didn't stop, once again urging his soul power.

This time, he didn't fire it from his mouth, instead pressing his right palm directly against the surface of the ice barrier.

Amidst surging soul power, a head-sized purple light orb rapidly condensed in the palm of Xia Yang's hand.

"Hah!"

Xia Yang exerted force abruptly, fiercely pressing the light orb toward the cracks on the ice barrier.

Kacha! Kacha—Kacha!

The cracks rapidly spread like a spiderweb.

Finally, accompanied by teeth-aching shattering sounds, the entire ice barrier completely disintegrated amidst a roar, ice crystals splashing in all directions.

"Good!" Xia Shi couldn't help clapping in acclaim.

"Captain?"

"Boss, you okay?"

The commotion of the shattered ice barrier alarmed three crew members guarding nearby, and they hurried over.

Zhang Feng stepped forward quickly, his tone concerned.

Xia Shi laughed loudly, saying: "What could be wrong? Everything went smoothly, a complete success!"

Sun Chuanjun timely inquired: "Captain, then shall we return to voyage now?"

"That's right, prepare to set sail for the return."

The group immediately set off, leaving the lake and walking toward the Mystic Tortoise moored at the shore of Beike Island.

As night fell low, everyone successfully boarded the ship.

After resting and regrouping well on the ship for the night, early the next morning, the sailing boat hoisted its sails, broke through the morning mist, and steadily sailed away toward the direction of Xiling Harbor.