Half an hour later, at the edge of the Extreme North Core Zone, at the bottom of an abyss shrouded in freezing storms year-round.
"That's the one."
Snow Empress drifted lightly onto the ground and pointed at a strange existence not far ahead.
Xue Bingchen focused his gaze and saw an ice-blue orb floating above the icy rock at the deepest part of the abyss. It was as transparent as crystal and constantly changing shape.
It had no physical body and was formed entirely from the purest extreme-cold ice elements. The air around it was visibly distorted by the chill it emitted.
"This is... a Polar Ice Spirit?!"
Ice Empress sucked in a cold breath and blurted out in shock, "This is a pure ice elemental life-form nurtured by heaven and earth! It really is a perfect fit!"
Snow Empress smiled faintly. "For Chen'er, everything in the Far North can be used."
Then Snow Empress turned to Xue Bingchen, her expression becoming somewhat solemn.
"Chen'er, this Polar Ice Spirit has neither too much nor too little cultivation. It is exactly fourteen hundred years old.
"Its ice element is exceptionally pure, but also exceptionally violent.
"Are you... sure you want to choose it?"
"Fourteen hundred years?!"
The moment Ice Empress heard that age, her previously smug expression changed instantly.
She grabbed Xue Bingchen's arm and anxiously tried to persuade him.
"Little Bingchen, this isn't a joke! Fourteen hundred years is more than three times beyond the limit for an ordinary human's first soul ring! And elemental soul beasts have terrifying spiritual shockwaves! How about... how about we pick another one? We can keep looking. Even one around eight or nine hundred years would work!"
However, Xue Bingchen stared fixedly at the Polar Ice Spirit. His alternating gold and crimson eyes held not the slightest fear; instead, they burned with an incomparably fervent desire.
He could clearly sense the dormant "Body Martial Soul" within him roaring madly, like a burly man who had starved for three days and nights spotting an unparalleled feast, frantically urging him onward.
"No, Auntie Ice Empress. There's no need to change."
Xue Bingchen took a deep breath, his tone resolute.
"This is the one! I can feel it. My body can completely handle it!"
Seeing that Xue Bingchen had made up his mind, Snow Empress said no more.
A sharp, frigid glint flashed through her ice-blue eyes as the terrifying pressure of the Ruler of the Far North descended in an instant.
Snow Empress slowly raised her right hand and pointed a slender index finger toward the trembling Polar Ice Spirit from afar.
"Freeze."
A single cool syllable left her lips.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any dazzling glow from a soul skill.
With only that one finger, the Polar Ice Spirit, with its fourteen hundred years of cultivation and enough power to trouble even an ordinary human Soul Saint, was instantly completely frozen by an irresistible Absolute Zero!
The violent elements within it were suppressed in an instant, and its life force plummeted to the bottom in the blink of an eye, falling into an absolute near-death state.
The strength of a Seven-Hundred-Thousand-Year Fierce Beast was truly terrifying!
"Chen'er, do it." Snow Empress withdrew her finger and spoke calmly.
Xue Bingchen nodded and quickly stepped forward to finish it off.
"Pop—"
With a soft sound, the pure life force of the Polar Ice Spirit completely dissipated.
Immediately afterward, countless ice-blue motes rose from its remains, rapidly gathering and compressing in midair. In the end, they formed a soul ring radiating a deep purple glow!
A Thousand-Year Soul Ring! A purple ring!
Looking at the purple soul ring floating silently in midair, Xue Bingchen suppressed the excitement in his heart and sat cross-legged on the icy rock.
He closed his eyes. With a thought, the aura of the Heavenly Snow Woman martial soul within him burst forth, drawing the purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring in the air down slowly over his body.
Boom—!!!
The instant the soul ring entered his body, an enormous force of incomparably violent, bone-piercing cold exploded within Xue Bingchen like a wild horse breaking free of its reins!
"Mm!"
Xue Bingchen let out a muffled groan. His delicate little face instantly turned deathly pale, and his brows twisted tightly together.
The energy of a fourteen-hundred-year soul ring was simply too immense!
That violent icy power seemed ready to rip apart his meridians in an instant and freeze his internal organs completely!
However, just as that force was about to run rampant, the hidden "Body Martial Soul" within Xue Bingchen stirred.
His powerful physical body, tempered by countless heavenly treasures, finally revealed its terrifying foundation!
A dense radiance of vital energy, interwoven with brilliant gold and dark crimson, suddenly erupted from the surface of his pale skin.
Time passed second by second.
The absorption process was exceptionally difficult.
Gradually, amid the Far North's freezing environment, dozens of degrees below zero, an utterly unbelievable scene appeared.
A layer of fine sweat actually seeped from Xue Bingchen's forehead!
The moment the sweat emerged, it froze into tiny ice crystals in the surrounding extreme cold, clinging to his eyelashes and white hair.
At the sight, the two Ice and Snow Empresses standing guard beside him instantly became anxious to the extreme!
"He's sweating! He's actually sweating in this cursed place! How much internal pressure must he be enduring?!"
Ice Empress was so anxious that she stamped her feet repeatedly, her hands clenched into fists so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh without her noticing.
Snow Empress's face was even darker. Her stunning eyes remained fixed on Xue Bingchen, while her seven-hundred-thousand-year Soul Power stood poised to erupt at any moment.
The moment Xue Bingchen showed even the slightest sign of collapsing beyond endurance, she would immediately act and forcibly shatter that Thousand-Year Soul Ring!
Chen'er, hold on... Snow Empress prayed silently.
A quarter of an hour... half an hour... an hour...
To the two Ice and Snow Empresses, that span of time felt longer than ten thousand years.
Finally, the golden-crimson radiance of vital energy around Xue Bingchen's body gradually receded, and his tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.
"Hah—"
Xue Bingchen suddenly opened his mouth and exhaled a long breath tinged with faint gray impurities.
He slowly opened his eyes. A profoundly deep purple gleam flashed through his formerly clear ice-blue pupils!
He had succeeded!
Buzz—!
The instant he opened his eyes, an exquisitely beautiful figure quietly emerged behind him.
It was the lifelike Heavenly Snow Woman martial soul, as though a deity had descended into the world!
Beneath the illusory feet of the Heavenly Snow Woman, a deep, noble purple soul ring radiating terrifying pressure floated gently up and down!
His first soul ring, a Thousand-Year Soul Ring! A purple ring!
"He succeeded! Hahaha, he really succeeded!" Ice Empress excitedly threw her arms around Snow Empress beside her, jumping up and down.
Snow Empress also let out a long breath of relief. A comforting smile capable of toppling kingdoms bloomed across her previously tense, stunning face.
Xue Bingchen rose from the ground and clenched his fist, sensing the earthshaking changes within his body. His little face was filled with wild joy.
"Not only did I absorb it successfully, but..."
Xue Bingchen closed his eyes and carefully sensed himself. Then he abruptly opened them and cried out in delight, "Mom, Auntie Ice Empress! My Soul Power... my Soul Power has surged to level fifteen!"
Level fifteen!
Because of the accumulated effects of six years of heavenly treasures strengthening his body and other factors combined.
Merely absorbing his first soul ring had directly raised him by five levels!
Hearing that number, the two Ice and Snow Empresses sucked in a cold breath once more.
Before you continue