Su Hui had completely lost all sense of time.
Only pain remained in his consciousness.
Endless, unrelenting pain.
The energy from the Ice Empress's sacrifice was like a heavenly river bursting through its banks.
Even though he had sealed away most of her origin power, the remnants still threatened to burst his blood vessels at every moment.
Blood had barely begun to flow before the extreme cold froze it, layer upon layer, forming a thick crust of frozen blood over his body.
Even more terrifying was the fusion of the torso bone.
He could feel his ribs being smashed to pieces one by one, his spine being crushed inch by inch, and his tailbone being ripped out by force.
Then, an icy-cold power surged into the gaps between the shattered bones, reshaping them and taking their place.
It wasn't healing. It was replacement.
The Ice Empress's torso bone was completely rebuilding his skeleton from within.
In this abyss of excruciating pain, Su Hui had no idea how long he held on.
His consciousness teetered on the brink of collapse several times, only to gather itself again at the last moment as he gritted his teeth.
He couldn't die!
If he died, everything would be over!
The God-Making Project, ascending to godhood, eternal life—all his grand ambitions could only be realized if he stayed alive.
He didn't know how much longer passed.
From within the frozen blood crust, a pair of eyes suddenly opened.
"Crack!"
Chunks of frozen blood crust fell from Su Hui's body in a rustling shower, hitting the stone floor of the cave with crisp clacks.
Barefoot, he stood on the rubble and looked down at his palms.
He spread his fingers. Pale green veins showed clearly beneath his skin, and below them lay the outlines of gleaming white bones.
They no longer had the texture human bones should have—too dense, too translucent, like jade nurtured in some land of eternal frost.
A chill ran across his back.
An emerald scorpion mark emerged from the center of his spine and extended to the ends of his ribs. Its pincers spread out to either side, gripping his entire rib cage.
The pattern shimmered with a frost-mist chill, brightening and dimming with each breath.
Su Hui clenched his fist.
Soul Power surged through his meridians, and the feeling of fullness made his scalp tingle.
Level thirty!
Two Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet.
One purple, one black.
Su Hui stared at the four golden scorpion marks along the edge of the black Soul Ring, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"Fifteen thousand years."
His voice was terribly hoarse, like two sheets of sandpaper rubbing against each other.
"A Soul Ring with a fifteen-thousand-year limit, just like that, hanging off me."
A soft snort sounded in his mind.
"Look at you, getting excited over something so small."
The Ice Empress still spoke in her usual lofty manner.
But there was less of her usual iciness in the tail end of her voice, and a hint of weariness that was hard to detect.
"Just fifteen thousand years, and you're already dumbstruck?"
"Tsk."
The Ice Empress's voice sounded in his mind, less cold than before, with a touch more feeling.
"I can't believe you managed to endure that kind of bone-deep agony."
"At least now, it seems I chose the right person."
"Uh."
Su Hui tugged at the corners of his mouth, baring his teeth as he tried to smile.
His facial muscles still seemed to remember his bones being crushed inch by inch, leaving his smile stiff.
"Now listen carefully."
The Ice Empress's tone turned serious.
"Your Second Soul Ring currently has a limit of fifteen thousand years."
"As your level rises, the origin power I sealed away will gradually be released."
"Once the seal is completely undone, this Soul Ring will reveal its true power as a four-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring."
A four-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring.
Su Hui's breath hitched.
Soul Masters with ten-thousand-year Soul Rings were already exceedingly rare on the continent, while Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings were the stuff of legends.
And four hundred thousand years—that was a figure that could drive the entire Soul Master World mad.
"There's one more thing."
A note of puzzlement crept into the Ice Empress's voice.
"Your Martial Soul is far more powerful than it should be."
Su Hui raised an eyebrow.
"The Soul Skill my Soul Ring should currently grant you is called 'Ice Empress Pincer.' It's an offensive Soul Skill."
"When you use it, both your hands and forearms are covered in diamond-crystal-like ice armor. It's both hard and sharp, and can even form something like wings to help you fight."
The Ice Empress paused, sounding increasingly confused.
"But try sensing it yourself. You've mastered more than one Soul Skill."
Su Hui froze, then closed his eyes and focused on his senses.
"Ice Empress Pincer."
He murmured the Soul Skill's name.
Diamond-crystal-like ice armor instantly formed over his hands, stretching from his fingertips to his forearms.
Thin as cicada wings, ice blades extended from the sides of the armor, like a pair of translucent wings.
Su Hui flexed his fingers. The ice armor crackled softly, its joints repeatedly shattering and freezing over again.
A moment later, he opened his eyes once more, astonishment filling them.
The Soul Skill "Ice Element Manipulation" from his Second Soul Ring hadn't vanished as he'd expected.
Not only that, its effects were even stronger than before.
His affinity for ice elements and his control over them had both leaped to a whole new level.
The moisture in the air, the dampness seeping from the depths of the cave, even the breath he exhaled—all of it became ice elements he could control.
He no longer had to guide them deliberately. Controlling them came as naturally as breathing.
"Ice Element Manipulation..."
Su Hui murmured, "That was the Soul Skill from my previous Second Soul Ring. How could I still have it?"
"That's exactly why I said your Martial Soul is unusual."
The Ice Empress snorted. "Forget it. Figure it out yourself."
"Once the Soul Ring reaches one hundred thousand years, my Soul Ring will grant you a second Soul Skill as well, called 'Ice Emperor Possession.' It's primarily defensive."
She stopped dwelling on that question and moved on to another important matter.
"My four-hundred-thousand-year torso bone is different from ordinary Soul Bones. It has the properties of both a torso bone and an External Soul Bone."
"It replaced more than just your spine. It also replaced all your ribs and your sternum, enhancing your physique in every way."
Su Hui instinctively touched his chest.
Beneath his skin, the Ice Empress's bones lay dormant, ready at any moment to unleash terrifying power.
"This torso bone grants you two Soul Bone Skills."
"The first is 'Eternal Frozen Domain,' a domain-type skill. It releases an extreme-cold domain to freeze enemies and suppress their movements."
"The second is 'Ice Emperor's Wrath.' It's my strongest attack skill, and can be unleashed through my scorpion pincers, your chest, or the Scorpion Tail. The version released through your chest is the most powerful. Remember that."
The Ice Empress's voice suddenly grew quieter, clear weariness seeping through her proud tone.
"That's everything you need to know. I have to stabilize my spiritual body, so I'll be asleep for a while. Until I wake up..."
She fell silent for two seconds.
"Kid, don't you dare die out there."
"..."
Su Hui stood in the dim cave, his bare feet on the cold rock, while fragments of shattered frozen blood crust still drifted through the air around him.
He stared at the dark red chunks of ice by his feet for a long time.
"Don't worry."
He spoke.
"I'm going to stay alive until you can't stand the sight of me."
"..."
There was no reply from the Sea of Consciousness.
The Ice Empress's consciousness had fallen completely silent, leaving only a faint, icy aura to prove she was still there.
Su Hui drew a deep breath.
He clenched his fist and relaxed it, repeating the motion several times.
Level thirty Soul Power, a Second Soul Ring with a fifteen-thousand-year limit, and a four-hundred-thousand-year torso bone.
That was the capital he'd bought with his life.
"Right now, I want to live better than anyone else."
Before you continue