The Ice Empress folded her arms across her chest, making no attempt to hide the fondness and admiration in her eyes.
Walking beside her was the Far North's current ruler, the Snow Empress, whose bearing was noble and elegant.
The Snow Empress wore a pure-white dress with a high slit, its hem swaying gently in the wind.
Her long, straight, flawless legs appeared and disappeared beneath the hem, accentuating her full, shapely figure and making her look all the more alluring.
At that moment, the Snow Empress's gaze was also fixed on Xue Tianyu atop the mountain.
She parted her red lips, her voice as soft as falling snow.
"Yes. In the blink of an eye, six years have passed."
"Today is his sixth birthday, the age when he can awaken his Martial Soul."
Hearing this, anticipation filled the Ice Empress's little face.
"I've been waiting for this day for ages!"
"With his unfathomable foundation, the Martial Soul he awakens this time will definitely turn the entire Far North upside down!"
The Ice Empress excitedly waved a small fist, itching to rush over and see for herself.
The Snow Empress nodded in agreement, hope glimmering in her beautiful eyes.
For the past six years, the two of them had poured their hearts and souls into Xue Tianyu. Now, the time had finally come to see the fruits of their efforts.
Just as the two women were chatting, full of anticipation,
Xue Tianyu, standing atop the ice peak, suddenly changed expression.
He snapped his eyes shut, his swordlike brows drawing tightly together.
Deep within him, a power that had lain dormant for six whole years suddenly erupted without warning.
It was the pure, flawless bloodline of the Ice Phoenix.
Like an ancient beast just roused from slumber, it rampaged through every limb and bone in his body.
Wild, scorching energy and extreme, bone-chilling cold clashed violently within his meridians.
As the bloodline raged, the Soul Power in his dantian surged like a flood bursting through a dam.
Boom!
A suffocatingly powerful aura erupted from Xue Tianyu and swept in every direction.
The Snow Empress and Ice Empress, who had been watching from midair, were caught off guard and forced back dozens of meters by the sheer force of it.
"What's going on?"
The Ice Empress cried out, her emerald eyes wide as saucers.
The two women hurriedly steadied themselves and looked closer.
The air around Xue Tianyu had already begun to distort, and substantial, ice-blue Soul Power surged into a pillar of light that shot straight into the sky.
The blizzards raging across the Far North within a hundred miles came to a complete standstill.
Then the spiritual energy between heaven and earth seemed to answer some irresistible summons, pouring wildly into the pillar of light.
Amid that raging torrent of Soul Power, the Snow Empress and Ice Empress felt a terrifying presence that made their very souls tremble.
It was the absolute suppression of a bloodline at the very top.
No matter how powerful they were, in the face of that presence, their knees weakened with an urge to prostrate themselves in worship.
"What terrifying pressure..."
"Is this the true majesty of the Ice Phoenix bloodline?"
The Snow Empress's breathing grew ragged, her full chest rising and falling sharply.
The Ice Empress bit her red lip, fighting with all her might against the pressure bearing down on her soul. Even her voice trembled.
"He's so strong! His Martial Soul hasn't even fully appeared, and he's already got me struggling to breathe!"
While the two women stood stunned and shaken,
the Ice Phoenix bloodline raging inside Xue Tianyu at the center of the pillar of light finally awakened.
At the same time, a peerless treasure hidden deep within his bloodline awoke as well—the Ice Heaven Snow Lotus.
The two resonated with each other and instantly fused as one.
Scree!
A clear, piercing phoenix cry cut across the skies of the Far North.
Xue Tianyu's eyes flew open, and two beams of substantial blue light shot from them.
Behind him, the phantom of an Ice Phoenix with a wingspan of more than a hundred zhang appeared, its entire body forged from frigid ice crystals.
The Ice Phoenix raised its head proudly, its disdainful air so overwhelming that all things bowed before it.
At Xue Tianyu's feet, a huge, crystal-clear Ice Heaven Snow Lotus slowly bloomed.
One above, one below, shining in perfect harmony.
"Twin Martial Souls!"
"Good heavens, he has Twin Martial Souls—a combination of the Ice Phoenix and the Ice Heaven Snow Lotus!"
At the sight, the Snow Empress grew so excited that a blush spread across her breathtaking face.
The Ice Empress covered her mouth with both hands, staring in disbelief.
Innate Full Soul Power—level ten!
Without a moment of meditation or cultivation, he had reached the limit of level ten the instant he awakened.
But that was far from the end.
Xue Tianyu simply stood there, perfectly still.
He didn't need to hunt down a single Soul Beast in the Far North.
The terrifying foundation within him began to turn on its own, and a pitch-black ring slowly rose from beneath his feet.
His First Soul Ring formed on its own!
The black Soul Ring emanated the intense aura of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, making him seem all the more mysterious and unfathomable.
"A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring?"
"His First Soul Ring is already at the ten-thousand-year level?"
The Snow Empress and Ice Empress exchanged a glance, both seeing immense shock in the other's eyes.
His talent and foundation were simply beyond anything they could comprehend.
Xue Tianyu closed his eyes and carefully felt the gift his Soul Ring had brought him.
His first Soul Skill was Frost Sword Qi!
With a flick of his hand or a point of his finger, he could unleash devastating long-range attacks of icy sword energy.
At the same time, part of the Ice Phoenix's innate power awakened within him.
His first innate ability was Nirvana Ice.
It was a purely defensive ability, refined to the utmost.
As long as he had enough Soul Power, he could condense ice without limit, forming an absolute protective barrier to block any attack from the outside.
The Ice Heaven Snow Lotus, meanwhile, granted him a second innate ability.
Eternal Life!
This ability was like an inexhaustible spring, allowing him to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth at every moment and automatically convert it into pure Soul Power.
As long as he remained within this world, his Soul Power was, in theory, inexhaustible.
Feeling the changes within him, Xue Tianyu was secretly delighted.
An ultimate defense that made him invincible as long as he had Soul Power, plus a super power bank that constantly replenished it.
It was a divine combination that pushed his ability to survive to the limit.
He drew in his released aura, and the Ice Phoenix phantom behind him and the Ice Heaven Snow Lotus beneath him gradually faded back into his body.
Xue Tianyu breathed out a puff of white mist and turned to look at the two women in the distance.
The Ice Empress had long been unable to contain her restless excitement. She flashed forward and landed in front of Xue Tianyu in a flurry.
She circled him twice, her big eyes darting about.
"Kid, this is way too ridiculous."
"Your First Soul Ring is already ten thousand years old. I'm itching for a fight!"
"Come on, let's trade a few moves. I want to see just how strong you are now."
The Ice Empress was an out-and-out battle maniac. Faced with a peerless prodigy like this, she couldn't suppress the urge to spar.
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