How to Compensate

The two soul beasts were completely helpless.

Suddenly, a burst of flames ignited upon the frozen body of Huo Yutong, instantly melting the solid ice encasing her.

Huo Yutong felt the warmth and habitually reached out to touch the Lotus Seed near her heart.

The fiery red Lotus Seed bloomed with power of an incredibly high level.

She felt the changes within her body in a daze; that intense pain remained, but now there was a warm presence to accompany it.

That warmth awakened her.

Ice Emperor was overjoyed; with this sudden surge of power, everything could continue.

"Such powerful energy!" Ice Emperor began the fusion process once more. "Yutong, eat that Lotus Seed."

"No, I promised Siyuan that I would definitely bring the Lotus Seed back to him."

Ice Emperor shouted anxiously, "You must eat it! The Lotus Seed outside your body won't have any effect on you. If you drag this out any longer, your internal organs will be frozen solid!"

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm chimed in, "If you die without eating it, you still won't be able to bring it back. Only by consuming it can you return to tell Ji Siyuan you are still alive, and only then will you have a chance to compensate him! Do you really want to watch Ji Siyuan lose a Lotus Seed for nothing?"

Huo Yutong suddenly saw the light and swallowed the Lotus Seed in one gulp.

The power of the flames poured into her body, forging her physique alongside the cold. This strengthened her constitution.

This power pushed the origin of Ice Emperor to the four-hundred-thousand-year level.

Her Martial Souls also began to fuse. This time, the pain was much less, and even without Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, the process was completed quickly.

Her will became firmer, her physique improved, and the entire process went very smoothly.

The absorption of the Soul Ring was also seamless.

A genius with Twin Martial Souls was born.

The first Soul Ring of her first Martial Soul was a million-year ring, and her second Martial Soul was the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, with its first Soul Ring already at four hundred thousand years. She was a genius beyond reproach.

Ice Emperor had originally been exhausted, but that scorching flame dissipated much of her fatigue.

"This Lotus Seed must be a god-level spiritual item. Tian Meng, since you had such a good thing, why didn't you bring it out sooner?" Ice Emperor was somewhat dissatisfied; she had nearly died.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm felt quite innocent. "I truly didn't know this Lotus Seed had such an effect. I always thought it just provided a warm current to keep Yutong from being harmed by the cold of the Extreme North, and perhaps boosted her cultivation speed. How was I to know it had such miraculous properties?"

As it offered its explanation, Huo Yutong heard the concern that weighed on her mind: "If Siyuan is missing a Lotus Seed, will his cultivation be affected? How am I supposed to compensate him?"

"Didn't I tell you before you came? Why not just compensate him with yourself?" Tian Meng replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Huo Yutong blushed deeply. "I couldn't possibly say that to Siyuan."

Ice Emperor listened in confusion. "Why would you need to compensate him? Isn't it yours?"

The situation had been so dire earlier that she hadn't listened closely, assuming the Lotus Seed belonged to Huo Yutong herself.

Huo Yutong explained, "This Lotus Seed belongs to Siyuan; he lent it to me to put my mind at ease."

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm immediately interrupted, "Let me explain."

And so, it introduced Ji Siyuan from beginning to end, sharing everything it knew.

"In other words, this Lotus Seed was given to you by that person so you could surpass him?"

"Yes, Siyuan only has nine of them; they are very precious. I've eaten one now, so he only has eight left."

"There are actually nine of such spiritual items?" Ice Emperor now believed that Ji Siyuan's talent was sufficiently high. Could such things really be innate to a Martial Soul?

She pondered for a moment. "Then, what Tian Meng suggested earlier isn't impossible—in fact, it's highly feasible."

"Eh? Ice Emperor, why are you saying that too?" Huo Yutong hadn't expected Ice Emperor to agree.

Ice Emperor replied, "I just felt that flame; its quality is truly beyond reproach. Even Snow Empress's Ultimate Ice cannot compare to it. As a possessor of an Ultimate Ice Martial Soul, dual cultivation with someone who possesses such an Ultimate Fire Martial Soul would significantly boost your cultivation speed. After all, your aptitude really doesn't sound as good as his."

"Looking solely at the quality of his Martial Soul, I fear that if Snow Empress saw him, she might snatch him away to be her dual cultivation cauldron. She has wanted to rapidly increase her cultivation for a long time."

"No, that's not allowed." Without a second thought, Huo Yutong immediately expressed her opposition.

This left Ice Emperor baffled; it was just a metaphor, wasn't her reaction a bit too intense?

Tian Meng immediately comforted her, "Snow Empress stays in the Extreme North and won't leave, and Ji Siyuan doesn't need ice-attribute Soul Rings, so he won't come here. How could Snow Empress possibly take him away? You only have two things to do now: figure out how to explain this to your boyfriend, and obtain the second Soul Ring for your Spirit Eye."

It was indeed difficult to explain—an Ultimate Ice Martial Soul and a mysteriously consumed Lotus Seed.

"I want to tell Siyuan."

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and Ice Emperor both fell silent, for they didn't know how to argue against that.

She had even eaten the man's god-level Lotus Seed.

Could the things you possess really incite greed in others? Are those few items truly worth more than a Lotus Seed?

"Decide for yourself." Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could only leave the choice to Huo Yutong.

Following that, they set off to obtain her second Soul Ring.

In the Extreme North, what is the easiest spirit beast of the spirit attribute to find? Naturally, it is the Ice Silkworm clan.

With Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, an ancestor-level figure, present, how could the other little ice silkworms possibly hide their presence?

Coupled with the fact that the pitiful ice silkworms had no means of attack, they were easily slaughtered by Huo Yutong.

"A Thousand-Year Soul Ring?"

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm: "In terms of age, it certainly doesn't compare to Ji Siyuan's second soul ring, but 3,000 years is enough to look down upon the masses."

Excluding comparisons to her own two overpowered soul rings, it only lost to Ji Siyuan's in the same slot. This was completely within an acceptable range.

"Ready to head back!"

Inside the academy, Ji Siyuan was still teaching Wang Dong'er the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.

Having promised to teach the Tang Sect's ultimate arts, various reasons had resulted in him not teaching very much.

Wang Dong'er was very dissatisfied with this. Taking advantage of the fact that Huo Yutong was not at the academy, she immediately sought him out, demanding that Ji Siyuan teach her properly.

Having promised someone something, it was only natural to do it well.

Ji Siyuan began to teach carefully, compounded by Tang San constantly urging him on, terrified that Ji Siyuan might not be teaching something well enough.

Aside from teaching Wang Dong'er, he also received a new phase mission.

Reach level 30 before next year's advancement assessment.

The goal was also very clear: to obtain his third soul ring before the Soul Fight Tournament.

This task was not particularly harsh; on the contrary, it was quite easy to achieve.

"This school doesn't trust me enough, asking me to raise six levels in seven months."

During the time Huo Yuhao had been away, he had already reached level 24.

Tang San: "This is just the minimum requirement; do not mistakenly set your goal here."

"Understood." As he spoke, Ji Siyuan suddenly felt his martial soul pulse.

"The Lotus Seed has been eaten."

Tang San frowned: "The one belonging to the Daughter of Destiny? Won't there be any problems?"

"I'm not sure. A 400,000-year Ice Jade Empress Scorpion—I'm not certain if there will be complications. I hope she can make it back in time." He looked toward the north, "Huo Yuhao, you won't have any problems, will you?"