The True Purpose of Extreme Ice Differentiation

Inside the tent, the campfire cast a faint, warm glow through the fabric.

Shui Yue'er rolled over, wrapping herself in a fur blanket as she scooted closer to her sister.

"Sister, don't you think it's a coincidence? We ran into Little Boss Su even out here in the snowfields."

Shui Bing'er lay on her side, her silver hair spread across the pillow, her eyes half-closed.

"It is indeed a coincidence."

"And Little Boss Su even joined our academy!"

Shui Yue'er propped her chin up, her two lower legs swinging in the air.

"Just thinking about being able to eat Little Boss Su's barbecue every day makes me happy."

Shui Bing'er did not answer immediately. Outside the tent, the wind howled, causing the canvas to bulge slightly.

"Sister, what do you think Little Boss Su's background really is?"

"...I don't know."

Shui Bing'er pulled her quilt up. "But one thing is certain."

"What is it?"

"If anyone else had told me those stories about his experiences, I would have thought they were made up, but coming from him, it feels different."

Shui Yue'er giggled twice.

"That's because Little Boss Su is strange himself. A Soul Elder who sells barbecue, and the meat he grills is so delicious."

The corners of Shui Bing'er's lips curved imperceptibly.

"Go to sleep, we have to travel tomorrow."

"Oh... Sister, what do you think Little Boss Su is doing right now?"

"Go to sleep."

"Hehe."

The tent fell silent.

Shui Bing'er, however, kept her eyes open, staring at the ceiling of the tent for a long while.

Su Hui... just how many secrets are you hiding?

In another tent.

Su Hui was not resting.

He sat cross-legged on his bedding, eyes closed, breathing in a steady rhythm.

The lingering light of the campfire filtered through the gap in the tent flap, casting a thin line of light across the ground.

He took advantage of the time to sort through today's gains.

After breaking through to Soul Elder, the most intuitive change was the leap in his physical constitution.

The resilience of his muscles, bones, and meridians had improved significantly, and his internal soul power reserves had doubled.

He sank into his Sea of Consciousness.

"Ice Empress, has the age of my second soul ring increased?"

Ice Empress lay on her Ice Throne, her emerald tail hook hanging lazily to the side.

"My origin seal has loosened a bit, so the age of your second soul ring naturally rose along with it. Now, both your second and third soul rings are fifty thousand years old."

Su Hui frowned.

"A fifty-thousand-year second soul ring and a fifty-thousand-year third soul ring... logically, with an upgrade of this magnitude, my soul power should have at least broken through to level forty."

Ice Empress gave a light huff.

"Feel for yourself what level you are at now."

Su Hui performed an internal inspection for a moment, his brows furrowing even tighter.

"Level thirty-six."

"Not satisfied?"

"I just think it's unreasonable."

"What is unreasonable about it?"

Ice Empress sat upright on her throne, her emerald compound eyes reflecting a ghostly light.

"You possess Ultimate Fire and Ultimate Ice. Two ultimate attributes crammed into one body—did you think that was a good thing?"

Su Hui thought about it.

It was a good thing, but it seemed it wasn't entirely a good thing after all.

Although ultimate attributes were powerful, they came with some significant drawbacks for a soul master.

"Ultimate attributes severely slow down a soul master's cultivation speed before level seventy."

"At least you know that."

The Ice Empress flicked her tail hook.

"Ultimate attributes are incomparably powerful, but they are also overbearing."

"For an ordinary soul master, absorbing the essence of heaven and earth is like simply pouring water into a pool, but for you, it's like shoving things between two millstones; the ultimate attribute crushes most of it away before you can even use it."

Thinking about it, that made sense.

Even in the era of the Peerless Tang Sect, cultivating with an ultimate attribute was extremely difficult due to the lack of proper cultivation methods.

Throughout history, countless geniuses had been blocked by this hurdle, and very few had truly been able to cultivate an ultimate attribute to its peak.

Su Hui remained silent for a moment, then spread his palm.

"What did the fifty-thousand-year third soul ring bring?"

A black soul ring flashed and vanished.

Ultimate Ice surged through his meridians, rapidly condensing in his palm into an ice-blue scorpion, with every pattern on its tail hook rendered in exquisite detail.

This was an Ice Jade Scorpion.

This was his third soul skill, Extreme Ice Differentiation.

Extreme Ice Differentiation: Capable of manifesting an Ice Jade Scorpion avatar composed of Ultimate Ice. The ice scorpion avatar possesses physical strength corresponding to the soul ring's cultivation level, can attack autonomously, and can also be controlled by him to lock onto targets.

Furthermore, once it suffers a fatal blow or is detonated by him, it produces a massive Extreme Ice explosion with tremendous power.

Su Hui moved his mind, injecting soul power into the Ice Jade Scorpion avatar.

The ice scorpion avatar suddenly expanded, stretching from the size of his palm to over a zhang in length.

It had thick scorpion claws, a segmented tail hook, and a body covered in crystal-like armor.

He reached out and tapped the scorpion claw, producing a metallic clanging sound.

"It has the shell, but it can't release soul skills."

Su Hui felt somewhat disappointed with this soul skill.

The greatest strength of an Ice Jade Scorpion was not brute force, but its control over Ultimate Ice.

An Ice Jade Scorpion that could only engage in melee combat was, at best, a meat shield.

"Is it only meant to be used as a suicide bomb?"

For an ordinary soul master, this skill would be god-tier—gaining a fifty-thousand-year soul beast-level thug and mobile bomb.

But Su Hui felt that something was off.

"Hey."

The Ice Empress's voice suddenly cut in.

"Your soul skill isn't just that simple."

Su Hui asked in confusion, "Ice Empress, what did you discover?"

"Don't move, maintain the connection state of Extreme Ice Differentiation."

Su Hui did as instructed, opening the soul power channel between his Sea of Consciousness and the ice scorpion avatar.

A cold mental tentacle probed through the channel.

After a few breaths.

Within the Sea of Consciousness, another consciousness was awakened.

'Xiao Bing', the translucent jade scorpion spirit body resting on the ice block, suddenly raised its tail hook.

The next second.

The hollow compound eyes of the ice scorpion avatar lit up.

They were no longer two lifeless beads of ice.

Golden radiance shone from the depths of the compound eyes.

The scorpion claws opened slightly, the tail hook swayed gently, and the zhang-long ice scorpion avatar turned its body, waving its claws at Su Hui as if it were greeting him.

"Hm?"

Su Hui froze.

The Ice Jade Scorpion avatar moved?

But he hadn't controlled it at all.

"It worked!"

The Ice Empress's tone carried a hint of pride.

"What exactly is going on?"

Staring at the ice scorpion before him, which was moving with uncanny agility, Su Hui was utterly bewildered: "How did it start moving on its own? It's like it's alive."

"It is alive."

The Ice Empress spoke languidly, "Right now, it is Xiao Bing's consciousness and soul controlling that ice puppet."

"Xiao Bing can now use this vessel to wield the true power of the Ice Jade Scorpion clan, including soul skills."

Su Hui's pupils constricted: "Xiao Bing?!"

Xiao Bing—the fifty-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion that had sacrificed itself to him under the Ice Empress's command.

Its spiritual form, much like the Ice Empress, resided within his Sea of Consciousness.

He stood up in excitement, nearly overturning the top of the tent.

"That is to say..."

"That is to say."

The Ice Empress cut him off, "Xiao Bing can enter the ice puppet, making it truly 'alive' and allowing it to unleash the formidable combat power of a fifty-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion."

Su Hui stared at the ice scorpion before him, the excitement in his eyes burning ever brighter.

"Doesn't this mean I effectively have an extra fifty-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion-level fighter? And one that can use the power of Ultimate Ice and unleash soul skills, at that."

"Wait."

He suddenly thought of another possibility.

But before the words could leave his mouth, the Ice Empress intercepted him, "This Seat knows what you wish to ask."

With a flash of emerald light, Xiao Bing's spiritual form was withdrawn.

Immediately following, a more vast and majestic divine sense surged into the Ice Jade Scorpion avatar.

Across the surface of the ten-foot-long ice scorpion's body, the patterns of its ice armor shifted abruptly; deep emerald flowing light patterns emerged upon its originally transparent ice-blue shell.

Its scorpion pincers thickened by a circle, and the barb at the tip of its tail hook gained an extra layer of eerie light.

The entire avatar's size surged once more.

A crushing pressure rushed forward, and the temperature inside the tent plummeted to freezing.

Had the Ice Empress not deliberately controlled it, Shui Furong and the others would have surely discovered the commotion here.

"!!!"

Su Hui steadied his breathing.

His gaze toward the Ice Jade Scorpion avatar became fervent.

Because at this moment, its aura was no longer that of Xiao Bing, but belonged to the Ice Empress herself!