Qin Yun nodded slightly, not waiting to offer Wang Sheng any more encouragement.
The next second, the familiar system notification rang directly in his mind.
[ Ding! Huo Yuhao has obtained a Soul Ring and broken through a major cultivation level. The exclusive character development mission is complete. Reward: a targeted draw for the corresponding character! ]
[Would you like to draw now?]
Draw? Of course he'd take the reward!
Qin Yun didn't hesitate for a moment. With a thought, he issued the command.
[ Ding! Draw starting... Congratulations, host. You have obtained the exclusive version of the Million-Year Soul Ring of the Soul Beast Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
Because it has a Mental Attribute, it will be directly attached to your eye Martial Soul and will also grant your third Martial Soul Ultimate Ice! ]
???
He wasn't especially surprised that the reward was Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
After all, Huo Gua was Huo Gua. Not a single one of his Soul Rings was weak.
In fact, aside from its superior cultivation, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm wasn't all that impressive in terms of actual combat prowess.
But...
"On top of the Soul Ring and the increase in spiritual power, it actually grants me a third Martial Soul despite the Golden Dragon King Martial Soul already being present?
That useless Tian Meng definitely doesn't have that kind of power. Looks like the system must have stepped in!"
Ultimate Ice might not have been the definitive answer during the Douluo II era, but thanks to Huo Yuhao, its potential was exceptionally clear.
The God Creation plan, the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North...
"With that traitor to the Soul Beasts, Sky Dream, on my side, getting Soul Rings later shouldn't be too much trouble!"
As the system's voice faded, terrifying energy fluctuations suddenly surged around Qin Yun!
At the same time, thousands of miles away, in the Lake of Life at the heart of the Star Dou Forest, the arrival of an unknown energy instantly turned the place upside down.
The forbidden ground known as the Soul Beast sanctuary of the Douluo Continent was in turmoil, its waters boiling and surging.
The azure lake surface shuddered violently as countless pillars of water shot skyward. Layers of ten-thousand-year-old ice beneath the lake cracked apart, while biting cold and savage beastly might intertwined, throwing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into utter chaos.
Giant trees by the shore toppled with a crash, and the ground split into deep, crisscrossing ravines.
Howling winds swept through as dark clouds gathered from nowhere. The entire heart of the forbidden zone trembled, as though the apocalypse had arrived.
Beside the lake, two towering figures were the first to awaken, their faces filled with unease.
One was as massive as a mountain, with bristling fur and enormous, bell-like eyes. The Titan Giant Ape was full of alarm, his deep voice edged with panic.
"Big brother! What's going on?
It's like some supreme being just descended!"
The Sky Azure Bull Python, Da Ming, stretched across the lake, his bull's head and serpent's body covered in glinting blue-gold scales. His huge vertical pupils narrowed, and his voice was grave.
"Something's definitely wrong! It feels like there's something beneath the Lake of Life being pulled by an irresistible force. It can't fight back at all!"
Beneath the lake, Di Tian was coiled on an icy bed, frantically devouring the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's source energy. Now he snapped open his eyes, fury and alarm filling his golden-black beast pupils.
Ultimate darkness and dragon might surrounded him. Bi Ji, King of Ten Thousand Demons, Scarlet King, Xiong Jun, and the other Ferocious Beasts beside him also paled and sprang to their feet.
"Outrageous! Who dares tamper with our food supply?!"
After the Dragon God fell, Beast God Di Tian was second only to Gu Yuena, the Golden Dragon King, and the other Nine Great Dragon Kings.
Born of the Black Dragon clan and possessing the Ultimate Darkness attribute, he had the purest bloodline among the dragons.
This sight might have terrified the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape, but it wasn't enough to frighten Beast God Di Tian.
Faced with what could only be called a robbery, it would have been strange if Di Tian hadn't been enraged!
He let out a low growl, and dragon might swept in every direction. Yet it couldn't stop the rapidly vanishing source energy of the Ice Silkworm.
"The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was sealed here by us. It's always been our cultivation treasure. How could it suddenly break free?"
Xiong Jun knitted his brows, his voice filled with disbelief.
"It didn't break free!
I can sense it. This is an extraordinary power of spatial law!
Could it be a hidden power of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm? Aside from spiritual power, does it also control spatial power?"
King of Ten Thousand Demons' dark green eyes narrowed as he stared fixedly at the icy cavern beneath the lake.
"Impossible! The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm has no combat ability. It couldn't possibly escape on its own!
This power... is too strange. It feels like it doesn't belong to this world!"
Just as the Ferocious Beasts were aghast and their efforts to suppress the force proved useless,
the space directly above the Lake of Life suddenly shattered!
A pitch-black spatial rift gaped open. It gave off no energy fluctuations, yet radiated a terrifying pressure that seemed to devour everything, like an invisible hand reaching straight for the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm beneath the lake.
In the icy cavern, the plump, white Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had spent years half-asleep, serving as a living battery while its energy was continuously drained.
It didn't even get the chance to struggle. It turned into a dazzling, pale blue-white streak of light and was swallowed whole by the rift!
"No—!"
Di Tian's eyes bulged with rage. He clawed wildly at the empty space, but his talons caught only a handful of lingering, icy air.
The Ferocious Beasts froze in place, stunned, staring at the rift as it slowly closed, unable to believe what they were seeing.
The million-year Sky Dream Ice Silkworm they'd treated as a permanent battery, casually siphoning away its source energy, had just... vanished into thin air?!
Not a trace remained.
At that moment, deep in the Soul Hunting Forest,
the streak of icy blue light crossed thousands of miles through the void and landed directly in front of Qin Yun.
There was no resistance, no backlash, not even a ripple of disturbance. It simply merged into his eyes.
Qin Yun's pupils instantly turned a clear, icy blue, as if endless frost and boundless spiritual power swirled within them.
At the same time, a radiant, pure white Soul Ring, glowing with brilliant icy blue light and a hundred times more immense than an ordinary Soul Ring, slowly rose from beneath his feet and settled firmly into the position of his First Soul Ring!
It gave off no earth-shaking pressure, yet the surrounding air froze in an instant. A thin layer of dark ice formed across the ground, and even time seemed to slow under the chill.
In color, it seemed like a white Ten-Year Soul Ring.
But the power it revealed was enough to make anyone tremble with fear!
[ Ding! The million-year Soul Ring of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm has been perfectly bound to the host! ]
[No cultivation backlash, no Soul Ring conflict, no Spirit Interference. First Soul Ring—million-year stabilization complete!]
[Four Soul Skills unlocked (same as Huo Yuhao's)!]
[1. Spirit Detection: A powerful scouting and detection ability. Its range increases with the user's strength. The user can focus on a single point to extend the detection distance, though this increases Soul Power consumption. It has formidable penetrating power and fine analytical ability, making it a divine skill for control- and support-type users.]
[2. Spirit Sharing: Using the user's spiritual power as a link, this establishes a spiritual connection with a designated target. It can share sight, hearing, and spiritual perception, as well as transmit thoughts and provide real-time commands. In large-scale team battles, it serves as an absolute command center. Within the range of the user's spiritual power, there are no blind spots.]
[3. Spirit Interference: Disrupts a target's mind, causing abnormal mental states and throwing off their attacks.
After taking Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, once spiritual power evolves to the Formless, Intangible realm, this will automatically upgrade to the Spirit Interference Domain!]
[4. Soul Shock: Inflicts heavy spiritual damage on an enemy, but rebounds against the user if the target's spiritual power is greater. When combined with the Tang Sect Secret Art Purple Demon Eye, its power can double!]
Before you continue