"Just as I thought, Ice Empress, you can control this Extreme Ice Avatar too!"
"Not only can I control it."
Ice Empress's voice came from within the Ice Scorpion Avatar.
"Once my spiritual power is infused into it, this avatar's combat strength will change according to the age of my Soul Ring."
"!!!"
Su Hui clenched his fists, excitement surging through him.
That meant the upper limit of his third Soul Skill wasn't a fifty-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion, but the four-hundred-thousand-year-old Ice Empress!
"The higher the Soul Ring's age, the stronger the Extreme Ice Avatar. If Ice Empress's Soul Ring recovers to four hundred thousand years..."
"Gulp!"
An image had already appeared in his mind.
With a casual wave, the Ice Empress at the peak of her four-hundred-thousand-year strength would appear.
Amidst ice and snow, whoever stood in her way would die.
"Don't get ahead of yourself."
Ice Empress's divine sense withdrew into the Sea of Consciousness.
The Ice Scorpion Avatar shrank back to the size of a little scorpion.
"Controlling it this way consumes an enormous amount of your Soul Power."
"When Xiao Bing controls it, it's still manageable. If I do it myself, the Soul Power consumption will multiply several times over."
"Once my Soul Ring reaches a hundred thousand years, the amount of Soul Power it drains from you will be even more absurd."
"With your current reserve of Soul Power at level thirty-six, you can figure out for yourself how long you'll last."
Su Hui rubbed the Ice Jade Scorpion Avatar on his shoulder. "So it consumes a lot. That's not a big problem."
He pulled the Level 4 Milk Bottle from his Storage Soul Tool and weighed it in his hand.
A jade-green light flowed through the bottle, its interior brimming with stored Soul Power.
"The Milk Bottle can replenish my Soul Power in time, and I also have the Silver Dragon Spear to absorb energy from outside and convert it into Soul Power. I have my own ways of staying powered up."
Ice Empress scoffed and flicked her tail barb.
"Suit yourself. Just don't let your Soul Power run dry and get you into trouble."
"Crack, crack, crack!"
The sound of joints twisting exploded from within Su Hui's body.
At his tailbone, jade-green vertebrae suddenly pierced through his clothes, extending one segment at a time.
The bones were crystal clear, with a dark blue icy sheen flowing within. At last, they formed a long, sharp scorpion tail.
A glint at the tip was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice.
This was the gift Xiao Bing had left him—an External Soul Bone, the tail of an Ice Jade Scorpion.
Ice Empress's cool voice rang in his mind, edged with a hint of pride. "This treasure is called the 'Ice Jade Stinger.' It's yours now."
She paused, then began listing the Ice Jade Stinger's formidable qualities.
"Physical enhancement: it directly raises all your attributes by thirty percent."
"Ice element enhancement: when you use Ultimate Ice, its power increases by fifty percent."
"Cold Poison: the Scorpion Tail Needle carries a special kind of 'Cold Poison.'"
At the words "Cold Poison," Su Hui raised an eyebrow, and recollections of what he knew about Ice Jade Scorpions immediately surfaced.
He blurted out, "Didn't the Ice Jade Scorpion Clan abandon their poison abilities completely a long time ago? Where did this poison come from?"
In the Sea of Consciousness, Ice Empress rolled her eyes without the slightest restraint.
"Why are you in such a hurry? Let me finish." Her tone was like that of a teacher scolding a green apprentice.
"This 'Cold Poison' has nothing to do with the low-class toxins you're imagining."
"In essence, it's Ultimate Ice energy compressed to its limit into a 'liquid' state."
"The instant the tail needle pierces its target, this icy energy will explode directly inside their meridians, freezing the paths through which their Soul Power flows before continuing to erode them and break down their structure."
"Even if someone has the means to force this chill out, the meridians it has cracked will be left with permanent damage."
By now, Su Hui's breathing had grown noticeably heavier.
Damaged meridians were practically the same as having one's cultivation frozen in place. This thing was far more sinister than ordinary poison.
Ice Empress was clearly pleased by his reaction, and a hint of pride entered her voice.
"Don't get excited yet. The Ice Jade Stinger's true strength lies in its ability to compress and condense ice elements."
"Through the Scorpion Tail Needle, you can compress Ultimate Ice into pellets or beams and blast your targets from a distance."
"And it has another trait—absolute penetration."
"The Scorpion Tail Needle is sharp enough to pierce most defensive Soul Skills. Ordinary shields are no better than paper."
Su Hui stared at the scorpion tail swaying deftly behind him.
As the jade-green light flowed along the tail needle, it left a trail of ice crystals visible to the naked eye.
His fingertips trembled slightly, and thoughts surged through his chest so hot they nearly burned through his reason.
If this thing could devour enough energy to evolve again, just like Tang San's Eight Spider Lances...
He even began imagining the moment the Ice Jade Stinger evolved to the level of a divine artifact.
The tail needle would freeze the void as it pierced the air, and even gods would have to avoid its edge when it struck.
That anticipation spread through his chest like wildfire.
"That's enough. Stop daydreaming."
Ice Empress's voice yanked him back to reality, suddenly stern.
"Until it's completely fused with you, if you dare show it in public, you'll be hanging a slab of fat around your neck and waiting for someone to chop it off."
Su Hui took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his surging excitement, and replied solemnly, "I understand."
Why did everyone covet External Soul Bones?
That was precisely what made them special.
The initial fusion merely established a connection.
There was still repulsion and a gap between the Soul Bone and its host.
Only after a long period of nurturing and adjustment could the Soul Bone become an inseparable part of its host's body.
Then no one else could take it away.
In the original Douluo Continent story, hadn't Dugu Bo wanted to tear the Eight Spider Lances off Tang San?
Unfortunately, they had already fused with Tang San's flesh and blood, and his Soul Power flowed through them.
Forcing them out would have been useless. That was what allowed Tang San to escape disaster.
Before achieving perfect fusion, Su Hui had no intention of using it unless absolutely necessary.
Unless he was using it to kill someone.
The dead would naturally keep his secret.
He drew in his aura, and the Ice Jade Stinger receded into his body like the tide.
The boost Xiao Bing had given him through the Silver Dragon King Martial Soul had now been fully absorbed.
But this leap in strength had clearly stirred up something else.
Su Hui's consciousness sank into the Sea of Consciousness, where he sensed the dormant Space Anywhere Door.
As expected, the light patterns on the door had grown a little brighter, and its cooldown had shortened again—after using it once, the interval was now two hundred and seventy days.
He smacked his lips. "It's shortened by another thirty days."
His gaze shifted to the Time Anywhere Door beside it, still dark and unfathomable, and he began to calculate.
"The Time Door is still the same as ever."
"Next time I open it, is it really going to cost me a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring?"
A Thousand-Year Soul Ring had been the price last time. He had no idea if he would eventually have to pay with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.
Hunting a ten-thousand-year or even hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast was an entirely different matter from hunting a thousand-year one, both in difficulty and in risk.
Just thinking about what this door might demand of him in the future made his scalp prickle.
The following day.
The sky had only just begun to lighten when Shui Furong gathered everyone.
Shui Furong swept her gaze over the group, then waved decisively. "Let's go. We're returning to Skywater City."
Along the way, Shui Yue'er simply couldn't sit still.
One moment she was pestering Su Hui with questions, the next she was pulling Xue Wu aside to share a Soul Skill combination she had secretly improved.
Her lively, guileless energy was like a piece of popping candy tossed into a team that had been somewhat cool and reserved. Even the taciturn Shui Bing'er would occasionally find the corners of her lips lifting.
Before they knew it, the mood in the group had grown much more relaxed.
Before you continue