Su Hui felt the icy power surging through his body.
That extreme cold seemed to merge with his blood, filling every limb and bone with an indescribable sense of exhilaration.
The power of ice had undergone a qualitative change.
The phantom of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion flickered behind him, and the feeling of controlling heaven and earth intoxicated him.
Suddenly, Elder Yi's aged voice boomed in his mind. "Su Hui, don't get carried away. A presence far stronger than the little scorpion is rapidly approaching, and it's moving incredibly fast."
"Hm?"
Su Hui froze.
The next moment, he noticed the temperature around him plummeting.
As a Soul Master with an Ultimate Ice Martial Soul, he should have been immune to the cold.
Yet this chill pierced through his Soul Power defenses and burrowed straight into his bones.
Even inside the ice cave, howling snowstorms had arisen, and snowflakes were beginning to crystallize in the air.
Snow?
A name flashed through his mind—the true ruler of the Far North, the Snow Empress!
"Damn it!"
Su Hui's heart lurched.
The Snow Empress had surely sensed the changes around the Ice Empress.
He had managed to convince the Ice Empress just now thanks to Kotoamatsukami Mouth and a series of fortunate coincidences, but would the Snow Empress give him the same chance?
Though her temperament was as gentle as snow, she was even colder toward her enemies than the Ice Empress.
Worse still, with the Ice Empress asleep, he had no way to explain what had happened.
I need to get out of here!
Su Hui made his decision in an instant.
He bolted.
The Anywhere Door still stood open in place, radiating faint spatial fluctuations.
Su Hui shot forward like lightning and plunged through the doorway.
The instant he passed through, he turned to look back—
The blizzard poured into the cave, and the overwhelming chill turned the entire cavern white.
Amid the swirling snow, a graceful, otherworldly figure appeared and disappeared as she came treading across the snow.
"Icey, where are you?"
Her voice was gentle and lilting, tinged with worry and urgency, yet it made Su Hui's scalp prickle.
The soul power contained in her voice shook his mind with just the slightest ripple.
It really was the Snow Empress!
"Close!"
Su Hui barked, and the Anywhere Door snapped shut.
The spatial rift rapidly sealed, cutting off the voice and the ice cave completely.
The sun blazed overhead across the wilderness.
Su Hui collapsed to the ground and gasped for breath.
His heart pounded wildly, and cold sweat had already soaked his back.
That had been the closest he had ever come to death.
The pressure of being targeted by an unparalleled powerhouse had left him unable even to breathe.
"Snow Empress... A living being of heaven and earth with seven hundred thousand years of cultivation. She really lives up to her reputation. Just a wisp of her presence was enough to leave me unable even to think of resisting."
It took him quite a while to calm down.
Only then did he notice the change in the Anywhere Door.
Its spatial-travel ability had gone into cooldown.
But the countdown displayed wasn't a year. It was three hundred days.
"Shortened by sixty-five days?"
Su Hui furrowed his brow as he pondered.
Could it be that absorbing the Ice Empress's Soul Ring and Soul Bone had greatly increased his strength, shortening the cooldown as well?
That seemed the most reasonable explanation.
If he grew even stronger in the future, perhaps the cooldown would shrink further.
Another question came to mind.
"Elder Yi, how long did it take me to fuse with the Soul Ring and Soul Bone?"
Elder Yi's voice sounded even weaker. "Fifteen days."
"Fifteen days. Counting the time I spent here before that, it's twenty-five days in total."
Su Hui calculated silently.
If thirty days was the forced-return limit, he might have at least five days left.
But just then, Elder Yi spoke again.
"I need to sleep as well. Restraining the little scorpion drained some of my spiritual power. Su Hui, you'll have to manage on your own for now."
"Elder Yi..."
"Don't say more. Be careful on your own from here on."
With that, his mind fell silent.
Su Hui gave a wry smile.
"The Ice Empress is asleep, and Elder Yi is asleep. From here on, I'll have to rely on myself."
He stood up and brushed the dust from his clothes.
"Since I still have time, I'll go back to Shrek City first."
Seven days later.
Su Hui stood by the window of his inn room, wearing a puzzled expression.
The thirty-day limit had passed, but the Anywhere Door had not forcibly dragged him back to his original time.
The clock on the door was still counting backward. Clearly, he could stay longer.
"So the duration of each time-travel isn't necessarily fixed. As long as the gauge hasn't reset, the forced return won't be triggered?"
That was an unexpected bonus.
Judging from how far the clock hand had moved over these seven days, he estimated he had another day.
There was still a decent amount of time, so he had more options.
He touched the Storage Soul Tool at his waist, where he had stashed the Gold Soul Coins he had recently earned.
He had recently sold a batch of Level 1 Soul Tools he had made for practice, along with a few Level 2 Soul Tools he had crafted after becoming a Level 2 Soul Engineer.
They were only Level 1 and Level 2 Soul Tools, but the Soul Tool arrays inside them were all inventions from ten thousand years in the future.
The effects of the Level 1 and Level 2 Soul Tools he had made were still novel in this era.
That was especially true in Douluo Continent, where Soul Tool technology had yet to develop.
So he had gotten a good price for them, earning a total of twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins.
With that much money, there was no need to buy grilled food when he returned to Skywater City.
"I'll take a look around the auction house."
Shrek City's auction house held an auction every day.
Su Hui put on a bronze mask, blended into the crowd, and found a seat in a corner of the cheapest section.
The auction was in full swing.
A pill that strengthened the body sold for eight thousand Gold Soul Coins.
A blacksmithing clan's young master bought a palm-sized piece of Cold Iron for twelve thousand.
The items were all decent, but none caught Su Hui's interest.
More precisely, he didn't have enough money.
That changed when a Soul Bone was brought onto the stage.
A crystalline left arm bone lay quietly on a piece of brocade atop the display stand.
It was translucent all over, gleaming with a faint blue light as wisps of cold mist rose from it.
"That's..."
Su Hui's pupils contracted sharply. The Soul Power within him trembled uncontrollably, as if the Soul Bone were calling to him.
"Damn human! How dare you slaughter one of my people!"
The Ice Empress's furious voice suddenly exploded in his mind.
Su Hui jumped. It had caught him completely by surprise.
"Ice Empress, you're awake?"
"Hmph. I woke up when I sensed the presence of one of my people. This Soul Bone... belonged to one of my kin."
The Ice Empress's tone carried both anger and regret.
On the auction stage, the auctioneer was introducing it in vivid detail. "Honored guests, this left arm bone comes from a ten-thousand-year-old Ice Jade Scorpion of the Far North!"
"It's in excellent condition and contains pure ice-attribute power. It's a priceless treasure every ice-type Soul Master dreams of owning. The bidding starts at five thousand Gold Soul Coins!"
Before she had finished speaking, discussions were already rippling through the crowd.
A Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone was an extraordinary prize. Even among the ordinary seats, people were eager to raise their paddles and bid.
Su Hui pressed the Ice Empress in his mind. "Ice Empress, what's special about this Soul Bone?"
The Ice Empress snorted. "It's only ten thousand years old. It's not worthy of you."
"But it came from an elite warrior of the Ice Jade Scorpion Clan. Its bones contain an exceptionally powerful Soul Skill—Iсe Explosion Technique."
"!!!"
Su Hui's heart shuddered.
Ice Explosion Technique—that was one of the divine skills featured in the original story!
Although this Soul Bone was only ten thousand years old, the essence of Ice Explosion Technique remained unchanged.
His gaze burned with excitement.
"You're not thinking of fusing with this Soul Bone, are you?"
Su Hui's eyes immediately lit up. This Soul Bone really did contain Ice Explosion Technique.
He had to admit, he wanted it.
Although a ten-thousand-year-old Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone wasn't worthy of him, and he had no intention of fusing with it, this left arm bone might have an even better use.
Before you continue