Leaving the Far North

The spine, ribs, and sternum shone with an incomparably brilliant snow-white radiance. The emerald light extending outward from the original coccyx suddenly solidified, shockingly transforming into four uneven, emerald scorpion tails.

Snow-white and emerald, they echoed each other, the dual-colored light converging at the original coccyx.

The shell of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion rapidly melted, surging into the end of the sacrum and infecting the pelvis; Bai Cai trembled violently.

Bai Cai had a long, winding dream; the first half was a beautiful dream, the second half a nightmare.

Cold and majestic ice-blue pupils suddenly shimmered with brilliant colors, reflecting his own form.

In his confusion, a sharp, intense pain suddenly struck, as if his ligaments had been severely torn. In an instant, the world seemed to spin, and he plummeted into boundless darkness.

Opening his eyes, Bai Cai sat up quickly and scanned his surroundings.

A deep blue dome, crystalline pillars, and a beautiful young girl with snow-white hair. Her cold, majestic air was identical to the Snow Empress, her features a perfect match.

If he was alive, the Ice Empress and Snow Empress must have succeeded in their sacrifice... so, who was she?

"Put on your clothes."

The beautiful girl was expressionless, her clear voice like pearls falling onto a jade plate, her words as cold as frost.

The bracelet on his right wrist flashed with light, and beneath the cover of a thick cotton quilt, Bai Cai quickly donned his autumn school uniform.

The beautiful girl remained indifferent. "For your first martial soul's second and third soul rings, what are your targets?"

Already dressed, Bai Cai was at a loss. "Who are you?"

The beautiful girl did not respond; two rings of light suddenly manifested, their rich blood-red hue soul-stirring.

One ring nested in the void, binding her snow-white hair, displaying four noble gold patterns, cold and fierce.

One ring floated in mid-air, rotating in a circle, displaying seven noble gold patterns, cold and majestic.

Trust and intimacy accompanied them, almost unprecedented.

A moment later, it dawned on Bai Cai.

"Unprecedented" was not quite accurate; strictly speaking, it had appeared once before, during the brief moment of his martial soul awakening.

The beautiful girl spoke coldly, "Aside from 'Xue'er,' you may choose a pseudonym for this Empress."

Bai Cai racked his brain.

Ais, Eula, Keqing, Ayaka? The style didn't seem to fit the Snow Empress.

In the extreme north, the North Star is called Ziwei, and Ziwei is the Emperor Star. "Ziwei Qingxue brings grace and light, following the officials in their procession"—it would be better to call her Qingxue.

"Qingxue..."

Addressing her by name directly might be inappropriate, so Bai Cai paused for a moment and whispered tentatively, "Qingxue... sister?"

The Snow Empress was noncommittal. "This Empress grants you a torso soul bone, and the Ice Empress grants you an external soul bone. With this dual amplification, your second soul ring can reach five thousand years, and your third soul ring can reach ten thousand years."

"Xue... Sister Qingxue, the target for my second soul ring is a Mirror Shadow Beast; I have not yet considered the third."

The crystalline pillars shattered in an instant, forming a giant ice hand that gripped Bai Cai neither too tightly nor too loosely, and the Snow Empress smiled faintly.

At the back gate of Shrek Academy.

A private carriage suddenly pulled to a stop; the driver collected five Gold Soul Coins and flicked his whip, driving away.

The eleven or twelve-year-old black-haired boy sighed, while the fourteen or fifteen-year-old snow-haired girl stood gracefully.

The guard stepped forward to inspect them, and the black-haired boy presented a white badge.

The guard examined the badge, noticing the miniature 'Grade 1 Class 1' engraving in the top right corner, and his pupils contracted violently.

Verifying the badge's serial number, the guard returned to the gatehouse, activated a communication Soul Tool, and explained the details.

Before a cup of tea could cool, the former Dean Yan Shaozhe, Director of Teaching Du Weilun, and homeroom teachers Wang Yan and Zhou Yi arrived one after another.

"Student Bai Cai?" Yan Shaozhe could not believe it. "How, how on earth did you survive?"

He had gone missing in the outer reaches of the Extreme North without a second soul ring, struggled to survive for nearly five months, and returned to the academy unscathed.

Aside from being slightly pale, he had no external injuries or frostbite—it was a miracle!

Du Weilun was lost in thought, Wang Yan was overjoyed, and Zhou Yi frowned deeply.

Bai Cai looked at Yan Shaozhe and recounted honestly: "After landing on the Ice Plain, I was very afraid. To avoid being hunted, I headed deep into the Ice Plain and unfortunately lost my way."

"Perhaps due to fear, I awakened my second martial soul, Sister Qingxue. Sister Qingxue is a Heavenly Snow Woman, an external martial soul, and her intelligence is no less than a human's."

"Sister Qingxue added two soul rings for me, which is why I was able to escape the Extreme North and return to the academy."

Reflecting on his trip to the Extreme North, Bai Cai summarized briefly: "In short, Sister Qingxue saved me."

The snow-haired girl remained silent as two rings of light suddenly manifested, both appearing in a pure purple hue.

One ring nested in the void, binding her snow-white hair, while the other floated behind her, rotating in a circle.

The cold was bone-chilling, the temperature plummeted, and layers of frost formed inside the gatehouse.

Wang Yan was both surprised and delighted. "Snow-white hair, ice-blue pupils, Ultimate Ice—it perfectly matches the descriptions in the ancient texts."

Yan Shaozhe closed his eyes to sense the situation, nodding in assurance, "The main body has not undergone any changes, and no Tool Martial Soul has been detected. We can rule out the possibility of a Spirit Master disguising themselves."

Displaying spirit rings requires summoning one's Martial Soul; this is common knowledge among Spirit Masters.

Furthermore, student Bai Cai's first Martial Soul, Ralts, has already been proven to be an external Martial Soul possessing high intelligence.

That his second Martial Soul is also an external one with human-level intelligence is well within expectations. Twin Martial Souls are generally similar; they are either both Beast Martial Souls or both Tool Martial Souls.

Ralts, once fully awakened, is a Super Martial Soul, and the Heavenly Snow Woman is also a Super Martial Soul. Their actual quality is comparable, so everything is perfectly reasonable.

Zhou Yi asked, "Can she speak?"

A Heavenly Snow Woman, an external Martial Soul with intelligence not inferior to a human's—it couldn't help but set one's imagination running wild.

"Big Sister Qingxue..."

The snow-haired girl was as cold as frost, and Bai Cai wore a troubled expression. Without a voice, without a heart, and without expression, unless under special circumstances, the Snow Empress was no different from a simulated ice sculpture.

"Little White!"

Wang Dong, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, pushed open the wooden door and wiped away tears, instantly throwing himself at Bai Cai, "I went to beg Big Uncle and Second Uncle, but they said they couldn't leave the sect... I was scared, I was so scared."

Yan Shaozhe smiled slightly and waved his hand, signaling Du Weilun and the others to leave with him.

Since student Bai Cai had returned to the academy safe and sound, and had even awakened a second Martial Soul, why should the academy insist on getting to the bottom of things?

Everyone has their own secrets. For instance, student Huo Yuhao's first spirit ring, student Bei Bei's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, student Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire Phoenix, student Xu Sanshi's Mystic Turtle Shield, student Wang Dong's Goddess of Light Butterfly, and his own Radiant Phoenix.

Yan Shaozhe and the three others left the gatehouse one after another, just as a delicate young girl hurried over.

The area where Xiao Xiao was located was quite far from the gatehouse, and since the Goddess of Light Butterfly is a Beast Martial Soul with innate flight capabilities, due to various factors, the delicate girl had fallen quite far behind.

"Captain!"

Pushing open the door in high spirits, Xiao Xiao gradually froze.

Wang Dong was pressing down on Bai Cai, their temples rubbing against each other. The beautiful girl with snow-white hair remained expressionless, two purple spirit rings poised for action, and frost was layering over the interior of the gatehouse.

A Shura field? Time to slip away.

"Sorry, excuse me!"

Xiao Xiao quickly closed the door and pressed her ear against it to eavesdrop.