What, the Delivery Has Arrived?

It was no wonder they had failed to find it.

This Shadow Ice Leopard rested during the day and only came out to hunt at night. How could they possibly have found it?

But by sheer coincidence, they had entered the Shadow Ice Leopard's hunting grounds.

The Shadow Ice Leopard sensed the aura of Soul Masters nearby and crept over.

Unexpectedly, it died before accomplishing anything.

Shui Lingyun had blocked its path.

"Hah!~~"

Sensing Shui Lingyun's threat, the Shadow Ice Leopard immediately flattened its ears and kept hissing at her.

Shui Lingyun was instantly amused.

"Perfect timing. This saves me the trouble of looking for you."

Judging by its size, this Shadow Ice Leopard seemed to be only around twenty thousand years old.

Could a dignified seven-ring Soul Saint possibly be frightened by it?

Shui Lingyun lightly stepped forward, and icy mist abruptly gathered around her.

With a wave of her hand, her third purple ring lit up. Countless sharp ice spikes burst from the ground, instantly sealing off every route of escape for the Shadow Ice Leopard.

The moment it sensed danger, the Shadow Ice Leopard shot into motion, turning into a dark-blue blur as it fled. It was so fast that only a fleeting afterimage remained.

"Trying to run!"

Shui Lingyun's fourth purple ring flashed again, and a heavy net of ice instantly formed in midair before dropping over it!

If she let this Shadow Ice Leopard escape so easily, then she might as well kill herself as a seven-ring Soul Saint.

"Hah!~~"

The Shadow Ice Leopard roared in shock and fury. Black light surged around its body as its claws viciously tore at the ice net, yet they left only a few shallow cracks.

The instant it was trapped, Shui Lingyun's fifth black ring lit up explosively.

In an instant, a vast force of ice poured down, ruthlessly pinning the ice leopard against the frozen ground and leaving it unable to move.

"Done."

Shui Lingyun gave a smug snort. After brushing the frost from her hands, she turned toward the tent and called out:

"Xiao Jiang Liang, come out. I caught the Shadow Ice Leopard you wanted."

"What, the delivery has arrived?"

The moment her words fell, a figure shot out of the tent.

It was Jiang Liang.

The instant he heard Shui Lingyun say she had caught the Shadow Ice Leopard, he was overjoyed and rushed out in a single step.

Behind him, the still-shaken pair of sisters cautiously crawled out of the tent.

Only after seeing Shui Lingyun and the Shadow Ice Leopard pinned to the ground did the sisters hurry out.

"Auntie, are you okay?" Shui Bing'er grabbed Shui Lingyun's arm, her little face filled with nervous worry.

Shui Lingyun smiled and rubbed the top of her head. "It was only a twenty-thousand-year Shadow Ice Leopard. How could anything happen to Auntie?"

As she spoke, she turned to Jiang Liang. "Xiao Jiang Liang, this is the Shadow Ice Leopard."

"And it is at least twenty thousand years old. Are you sure you want it?"

"Yes!" Jiang Liang answered without hesitation, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the Shadow Ice Leopard.

Twenty thousand years was just right for his second Soul Ring!

Without any hesitation, he drew his sword.

The sharp blade cut through the wind and snow, carrying a dark-blue chill of extreme cold as it let out a piercing whistle.

The Shadow Ice Leopard struggled even harder, hissing repeatedly as it tried to scare Jiang Liang away.

It had originally thought it had come to eat a delivery.

Who would have thought that it would become the delivery instead?

But all its struggles were futile.

Shui Lingyun continuously released Soul Power from the side, firmly suppressing it against the ground and leaving it unable to move.

"Its weak point is its throat."

Jiang Liang nodded slightly, then thrust out his sword.

With a squelch.

Shui Yue'er was so frightened that she shrank behind Shui Lingyun, trembling from head to toe.

Seeing this, Shui Bing'er quickly pulled her little sister into an embrace and gently patted her back to comfort her.

After struggling twice, the Shadow Ice Leopard's dark-blue eyes filled with resentment and fury before it soon went still.

After it died, a black Soul Ring slowly rose from its body.

Jiang Liang immediately sat cross-legged and activated the Sword Qi in his Qi Sea, drawing the Soul Ring over.

"Fairy Sister, I'll leave the Sea of Consciousness to you."

"Alright. Your sister will keep watch for you."

Sword Mother let out a soft laugh. Then, looking at the remnant soul of the Shadow Ice Leopard that had barged into her territory, she casually pointed two fingers and erased it.

At the same time, Jiang Liang was enduring the pain of the Soul Power's impact.

However, with the experience from his first time, he quickly activated the Sword Qi within his body and began suppressing the energy of the Shadow Ice Leopard's Soul Ring.

Gradually, his clothes were completely soaked with sweat, and even thin streaks of blood seeped from the corners of his mouth.

"Big brother..." Shui Yue'er's eyes were full of anxiety as she tried to rush over and hug Jiang Liang.

But before she could reach him, her sister caught her.

"Yue'er, don't go over and disturb big brother."

Though Shui Bing'er comforted her little sister aloud, her palm had already clenched so tightly that it turned pale. Her gaze remained fixed on Jiang Liang, her eyes full of unconcealed worry.

Shui Lingyun tightly clenched her fists as well, her knuckles faintly whitening while she stared intently at Jiang Liang's current state.

She feared that in the blink of an eye, this child would be injured by the Soul Power impact of the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and the impact of its remnant soul.

But as time passed, she began to discover in astonishment that the energy fluctuations of the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring were growing weaker and weaker.

This child had actually endured the Soul Power impact of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring with his physical body!

Shui Lingyun's pupils trembled as disbelief filled her face.

She had known before that Jiang Liang's first Soul Ring was ten thousand years old.

But seeing him absorb a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring with her own eyes still shook her deeply.

How strong did his body have to be to withstand the Soul Power impact of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring?

The stronger Jiang Liang appeared, the more regretful Shui Lingyun felt.

Why couldn't Skywater Academy admit male students?

If she could bring Jiang Liang into Skywater Academy and have him team up with Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er for the Spirit Master Tournament, she could hardly imagine who would be able to stop them.

At that point, wouldn't the overall championship of the Spirit Master Tournament be theirs for the taking?

The more she thought about it, the more troubled Shui Lingyun became.

What if she tried to push for it?

When they returned, should she mention it to her mother?

The current Dean of Skywater Academy was her mother.

If she told her mother about Jiang Liang's situation, surely her mother would break this precedent and allow Jiang Liang to enter Skywater Academy, right?

But how could Jiang Liang know what Shui Lingyun was thinking?

Right now, he was fully focused on suppressing the Shadow Ice Leopard Soul Ring energy rampaging through his body.

This time, it did not take as long as when he had absorbed his first Soul Ring.

In just one day, he suppressed the Soul Ring's energy and began converting it into Sword Qi, storing it within his Qi Sea.

Time flew by, and another two days passed in the blink of an eye.

Finally, on the evening two days later, all the Soul Ring's energy had been absorbed and converted into Sword Qi.

At that moment, he felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment. The Sword Qi in his Qi Sea was abundant beyond measure.

And as he completely absorbed the Soul Ring's energy, the shackles within his body broke once more.

Starting from level twenty, he broke through all the way to level twenty-five!

In the end, he stopped at level twenty-five and a half, only half a step away from level twenty-six.

Jiang Liang was overjoyed and eagerly shared the news with Sword Mother.

"Fairy Sister, I successfully broke through to level twenty-five!"

Sword Mother smiled softly. "I saw it. My Xiao Liang truly never disappoints anyone. This journey has been a complete success as well."

"Yes, it was a complete success!" Jiang Liang said happily.

After coming to the Extreme North, he had risen from a level-ten Soul Scholar to a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster in one go.

Not only that, he had gained two Soul Skills that suited him very well.

How could that not count as a complete success?

Then he slowly opened his eyes and met the concerned gazes of Shui Lingyun, Shui Bing'er, and Shui Yue'er.

The moment Shui Yue'er saw him open his eyes, she cried out excitedly.

"Big sister, look!"

"Big brother woke up!"

The anxiety that Shui Bing'er had held onto for so long finally vanished completely, and her eyes were filled with joy as she looked at Jiang Liang.