First Spirit Ring, External Scorpion Tail Spirit Bone

"Ice God, I have come to negotiate with you."

In the fourth reincarnation, Xue Yuheng stepped into the inner sanctum of the Ice God once more. Rubble littered the floor, and the Ice God sat perched upon a ruined throne, his gaze cold and piercing.

The Ice God sneered, a ring of three-foot ice blades manifesting beside him.

"Human ant, you are nothing but our rations. How dare you attempt to negotiate with me?"

The ice blades tore through the air, piercing Xue Yuheng's heart.

Xue Yuheng did not dodge, his eyes remaining fixed on the Ice God, though the pain in his chest was agonizing.

The moment the searing pain spread, the Power of Creation diminished by another point, and the reincarnation cycle restarted.

For the fifth time, Xue Yuheng stood before Ice Empress. "Ice God, I believe we can have a proper conversation."

The Ice God frowned, his voice filled with disbelief. "That artifact of yours possesses time-based properties? Opportunities for such time reversal are limited, aren't they? I would like to see just how many times you can use it!"

Within this illusion, the Ice God was invincible.

Ice Empress looked at Xue Yuheng, who stood before her, with a complex expression in her eyes.

For her sake... was it worth it?

The Ice God flicked his finger, and Xue Yuheng perished once again.

On the tenth attempt, Xue Yuheng activated the Wordless Heavenly Book. As the pages unfurled, the Power of Creation transformed into a barrier.

"Ice God, I just remembered something. Perhaps in four hundred thousand years, you never actually ascended to a third-tier god. After all, there is no record of it on the continent. Perhaps your true form has already fallen? Who exactly are you serving?"

The Ice God's expression shifted, a faint ripple of unease stirring within him. His divine power surged, shattering the barrier before Xue Yuheng and Ice Empress.

"You wish to sow inner demons within me? How laughable."

By the fiftieth attempt, Xue Yuheng noticed that the Ice God's aura had truly weakened.

Truly, the agony of being killed in an instant had begun to fade.

On the hundredth attempt, the Ice God was struck with horror. A frigid chill swept through the entire inner sanctum, and pillars of ice erupted from the ground, pinning Xue Yuheng firmly in mid-air.

"You ant, how dare you sabotage my million-year grand plan!"

Xue Yuheng's aura remained steady. "Perhaps we really can talk now."

The Ice God would never stoop to negotiating with a soul beast meant for consumption!

By the two-hundredth attempt, the Ice God's attacks had grown increasingly feeble.

Xue Yuheng was tortured to the brink of death by the ice elements, his face devoid of color, his breath turning into white mist with every word, yet he still stood before Ice Empress.

"Ice God, the power of your lingering soul is no longer enough to devour the origin power of Ice Empress."

Over these two hundred cycles, the Ice God had occasionally let slip certain "secrets."

For instance, he had planted these inner demons within the kings of every powerful race in the Far North. Whenever they encountered a life-threatening tribulation they could not overcome, he would devour their origin power and life force to nourish his own true form.

This was his million-year grand plan to attain the status of a third-tier god while remaining in the lower realms.

There was no helping it; the plane level of the Douluo World was simply too low.

As a king of the Ice and Snow Elf race who had self-attained godhood, he was already a peerless monster, yet even so, a third-tier god remained an unreachable goal.

The Ice God's eyes turned sinister as he condensed his divine power into a giant hand and slammed it down.

"And what if I cannot devour her? She must still die."

On the three-hundredth attempt, the Ice God's rage turned into extreme irritation.

He leaned back against his throne, ceasing his attacks—or rather, his spirit was willing, but his strength was failing.

"What exactly do you want?"

Xue Yuheng lifted his gaze with a faint smile, looking at the Ice God with a cold, overbearing tone:

"Ice God, tell me the conditions for letting Bing Wushuang survive."

The Ice God raised an eyebrow, his divine arrogance undiminished. "Bing Wushuang's origin power was damaged in her youth; I sought out a hundred-thousand-year Cold Ice Soul to mend her soul's defects. Yet, this four-hundred-thousand-year heart tribulation is already the limit of what she can endure. Bing Wushuang is destined to die; even the supreme gods of the God Realm could not save her."

The Ice God's words caused the expressions of Xue Yuheng and Ice Empress to darken, but the man on the throne continued.

The Ice Lightning Tribulation that restricted ice-attribute soul beasts, the mass extinction caused by the collapse of Ice God Peak, the annihilation of numerous races in the Far North, the inner demons of the kings, and the emergence of the Ice Sea—all of these were his doing.

As Ice Empress listened, the frigid aura around her surged, and thick ice formed on the ground. After so many cycles of reincarnation, the Ice God's actions had completely shattered the pedestal upon which she had once held him.

"You are not worthy of being the god of my Far North!"

Once these words were spoken, they touched the Ice God's bottom line, and both of them were extinguished by a single flick of his finger.

The four-hundredth time.

The power of the illusion began to wane.

The figure of the Ice God became somewhat translucent.

By the six-hundredth time, the Ice God completely set aside his arrogance, his tone helpless.

"I am merely a heart demon left behind by the original body; I know nothing."

"After the original body went into seclusion, I do not even know if he has broken through."

"You have cycled through reincarnation time and again, draining the illusion; I have no strength left."

Xue Yuheng looked at him, "Spare Bing Wushuang, and I will stop the reincarnation."

The Ice God was silent, speaking only after a long while.

"Impossible, the rules of the gods cannot be violated."

By the six-hundred and fiftieth time, cracks in the illusion were multiplying.

The Ice God's attacks became weak and powerless.

"What exactly will it take for you to stop?"

Xue Yuheng stood in front of the Ice Empress, his tone firm, "I only want Bing Wushuang to survive."

The Ice Empress glanced at him without saying a word.

This was a sentence Xue Yuheng had already repeated countless times.

By the seven-hundredth time, the ice walls of the inner hall began to collapse in large sections.

The illusion was on the verge of shattering.

The Ice God's figure was semi-transparent, his aura faint.

"Fine, I concede..."

"But the rules are hard to defy; she still cannot escape death."

By the seven-hundred and twenty-second time, the last shred of the illusion's power was exhausted.

The Ice God's figure turned into ice shards and dissipated into the air.

"Bing Wushuang, take care of yourself..."

As the voice faded, the entire illusion collapsed with a roar.

Amidst the spinning world, Xue Yuheng returned to the Far North Snow Plains.

The cold wind whipped up a blizzard, stinging his cheeks as it blew past.

The Ice Empress stood beside Xue Yuheng, her figure flickering.

The aura of her four-hundred-thousand-year cultivation was constantly dissipating.

Her face was pale, yet she still held her chin high, "You brat... it seems I can only become your soul ring."

Xue Yuheng's Plan B: if she truly could not survive the life-threatening tribulation, he would use the Power of Creation to make the Ice Empress his Wisdom Soul Ring.

The Ice Empress had seen all of Xue Yuheng's efforts; if not for the seven-hundred and twenty-two cycles of reincarnation, she would never have been willing to become a human's soul ring.

She would have preferred to die.

"Remember, it is I who chose you, not you who chose me."

Xue Yuheng felt conflicted; if only the Ice Empress could also become human.

Then, together with Xue Qingwu...

A bone-chilling pain suddenly erupted from Xue Yuheng's tailbone.

The Ice Empress's scorpion tail hook embedded itself deeply into his bones, the pain piercing straight to his marrow.

Xue Yuheng's entire body convulsed violently, his fingertips digging into his palms as ice beads instantly coated his skin.

The Wordless Heavenly Book emerged, and the pale golden Power of Creation wrapped around his internal organs and meridians.

Ice-blue light patterns spread along his spine, with extreme cold and extreme heat alternately gnawing at his bones.

His blood energy surged frantically, nearly bursting his blood vessels, but it was firmly protected by the golden light.

"Endure it; I will first fuse this External Scorpion Tail Spirit Bone into you."

Due to the nature of his Wordless Heavenly Book martial soul, Xue Yuheng could not fuse with standard spirit bones, only external spirit bones; he had specifically mentioned this to the Ice Empress before.

He had a change of heart, thinking that having the Ice Empress become his Wisdom Soul Ring was not bad either; after he became a god, he could just resurrect her.

The Ice Empress's voice echoed in Xue Yuheng's mind, and green light flowed from her tail hook.

Bone patterns gradually covered his entire skeleton, finally settling on Xue Yuheng's right arm to form a jade-green scorpion tail mark.

Xue Yuheng gasped for air, his body trembling slightly as icy power surged into his limbs and bones.

Xue Yuheng did not know what rank the Wordless Heavenly Book martial soul was, but it was at least god-tier, and the boost it provided to his physical constitution was immense.

Therefore, the fusion process was not as troublesome as it had been for Huo Yuhao back then.

The next second, the body of the Ice Empress transformed into green light, surging into the Wordless Heavenly Book martial soul in the palm of Xue Yuheng.

The pages of the book flipped open automatically, golden light and green light intertwining.

A blood-red soul ring slowly condensed.

Four blood-colored patterns were clearly visible on the soul ring, exuding a biting chill.

This was a Wisdom Soul Ring condensed from four hundred thousand years of cultivation.

The moment the soul ring took form, the wind and snow on the snowy plains came to a standstill.

At the same time, a four-segmented, crystalline green scorpion tail extended from Xue Yuheng's right hand.

The bone structure shimmered with a cold light, covered in fine, intricate ice patterns.

It was precisely the Ice Empress's External Soul Bone.

The Scorpion Tail Bone trembled slightly, instantly pressing against his skin and merging into his flesh and blood.

An ice-blue scorpion tail pattern emerged on his forearm.

A surge of icy power poured into his body, blending with his soul power.

Xue Yuheng could clearly perceive the information of the Scorpion Tail Bone; it could transform into any weapon at will.

"You killed Bing'er?"

The Snow Empress had arrived.