"Let's go, Aunt Ice Empress. We should head back. I can feel my Soul Power getting hard to suppress again. I need to get back and continue tempering my Physical Body."
Xue Bingchen stretched lazily, his bones cracking loudly all over.
"You little freak, are you going to leave any hope for the other Soul Masters...?"
With Ice Empress's amused scolding, one large and one small figure turned into wind and snow, vanishing from the mountaintop in an instant. Below, the Spirit Hall Soul Masters still struggling bitterly through the blizzard had no idea they had just brushed past death's door.
Time flew by.
The winds and snow of the Far North continued to howl day after day, unchanged for millions of years. Yet to the overlords who lived here, time was no more than the flick of a finger.
In the blink of an eye, nearly six years had passed since the day Xue Bingchen awakened his martial soul.
On this day, at the peak of the towering snow mountain in the Far North's core region, a mountain that seemed capable of piercing the heavens—
Amid the raging snowstorm, a tall, straight figure stood against the wind.
It was an extraordinarily handsome young man.
Though he was only around twelve years old, Soul Masters of Douluo Continent matured early. Coupled with the nourishment of countless heavenly treasures from the Far North, Xue Bingchen had already reached a height of a full one hundred ninety centimeters!
His upper body was bare, revealing defined muscles full of explosive strength without appearing bulky.
His skin bore an almost sickly yet captivating pallor, like the finest mutton-fat jade. With his icy skin and jade-like bones, paired with that peerlessly handsome face that seemed untouched by mortal dust, he looked like an immortal banished from the nine heavens into the mortal world.
"Haa—"
Xue Bingchen exhaled a stream of white frost, and his gaze instantly turned razor-sharp.
He loosely clenched his right hand, and the surrounding wind and snow seemed to receive an absolute summons, surging madly toward his palm.
In the blink of an eye, a crystalline frost spear radiating extreme cold condensed in his hand!
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Xue Bingchen moved.
He wielded the ice spear in his hand and began practicing atop the snowy peak.
Every move he made was broad and forceful, yet carried an indescribable rhythm.
The spear moved like a dragon. With every thrust and every sweep, the endless wind and snow around him resonated fiercely, as if he were the sole king of this frozen world!
"Change!"
Suddenly, Xue Bingchen gave a low shout, and the movements of his hands abruptly changed.
The slender ice spear instantly dispersed into countless icy-blue specks of light.
Immediately afterward, those specks attached themselves to Xue Bingchen's arms at an utterly unbelievable speed!
The next moment, a shocking sight appeared!
Xue Bingchen's originally slender arms transformed amid a piercingly cold radiance into two enormous, savage, terrifying icy-blue scorpion pincers!
At that moment, Xue Bingchen's arms became as hard as Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice, emanating a dreadful pressure capable of freezing the soul!
"Ice Empress Pincer!"
Xue Bingchen threw back his head with a low roar and swung both arms forward. The two enormous icy-blue scorpion pincers crashed down upon the massive snow-covered boulder ahead with overwhelming force!
"Rumble—!!!"
A heaven-shaking boom erupted atop the snowy mountain!
That terrifyingly destructive force shattered the massive boulder, hard as iron, along with the thick snow within dozens of meters around it, into powder that filled the sky the instant they made contact!
Not only that, but the ice crystals clinging to the massive pincers refracted brilliant yet deadly icy-blue halos beneath the sunlight, slicing the surrounding space into fragments!
As one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's greatest weapons, aside from her scorpion tail capable of piercing anything, were these indestructible front scorpion pincers!
And now, this terrifying killing move belonging exclusively to a four-hundred-thousand-year beast had been almost perfectly replicated by a twelve-year-old human boy!
"Clap! Clap! Clap!"
Just then, a burst of crisp applause rang out through the wind and snow.
Amid the ice crystals dancing through the air, a petite and exquisite beauty in a jade-green gown silently appeared behind Xue Bingchen.
She was none other than the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, ranked second among the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North—Ice Empress!
Ice Empress looked at the snow-covered boulder that had been flattened ahead, her jade-green eyes shining with undisguised delight and admiration.
She nodded in satisfaction, a proud curve lifting the corners of her lips.
"Not bad, very good!"
Ice Empress did not hold back her praise as she said in a sweet voice:
"Even though you didn't awaken the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion as your martial soul, Xiaochen, your control over the ice element has reached an utterly inconceivable level!"
"You actually managed to use your understanding of Ultimate Ice to forcibly manifest my strongest weapon from ice itself! With that, along with my personal guidance and sparring day after day over these past years, you've truly mastered one of my two most powerful innate skills—Ice Empress Pincer!"
At this point, Ice Empress tilted her head as though recalling something and asked curiously:
"By the way, Xiaochen, what do you human Soul Masters call a move like this—one you create yourself without relying on a Soul Ring?"
Hearing Ice Empress's question, Xue Bingchen stopped moving.
The enormous scorpion pincers on his arms instantly dissolved into ice and snow, revealing his long, powerful arms once more.
The next moment, Xue Bingchen's figure suddenly blurred where he stood.
"Whoosh!"
Not far in front of Ice Empress, an ordinary snowflake that had been drifting down in the wind suddenly erupted with a brilliant icy-blue glow.
Then, Xue Bingchen's tall, handsome figure stepped directly out of that snowflake, as if he had been hidden within it all along!
Such an unfathomable teleportation technique was impossible to guard against!
Looking at the delicate and lovely Ice Empress before him, Xue Bingchen wore a gentle smile and answered softly:
"Aunt Ice Empress, in the human Soul Master world, skills created entirely through one's own understanding of their martial soul and elements, without relying on the abilities granted by Soul Rings, are collectively called—Self-Created Soul Skills!"
"Self-Created Soul Skills?"
Ice Empress nodded thoughtfully at his words.
"Yes, that's the term! They're called Self-Created Soul Skills! Hmph, as expected of the little monster raised by me, Ice Empress. With talent like yours, there definitely isn't anyone in the human Soul Master world who can compare!"
After praising Xue Bingchen, Ice Empress suddenly changed the subject. Her jade-green eyes fixed intently on Xue Bingchen's chest, and her voice carried obvious dissatisfaction and resentment.
"Xue'er! You've been inside Xiaochen's body for three whole days! Are you still not coming out?!"
Before you continue