Lan got dressed and pushed the door open.
He had only just stepped into the great hall when two utterly different yet equally fervent gazes instantly locked onto him.
Ice and Snow Residence, great hall.
Two full days had passed.
"Crunch."
A crisp chewing sound echoed through the great hall.
The Ice Empress, now in the form of a little girl in a jade-green dress, paced back and forth anxiously.
She clutched a handful of golden, crispy roasted Sky Silkworms in her small hands, popping one into her mouth every so often, her cheeks bulging.
"Why hasn't he come out yet..."
"It's been two whole days. He's only absorbing a Soul Ring. How could it take this long?"
Whenever she got anxious, she liked to eat.
It was as if she wanted to turn all her worries into an appetite and swallow them down.
On the throne, the Snow Empress sat quietly in a white robe.
She looked calm as still water.
But the way her left index finger, resting on the armrest of ice, tapped at a faintly restless rhythm betrayed a heart far less composed than she appeared.
When Lan's steady footsteps sounded, the two different noises in the great hall stopped at once.
The Ice Empress abruptly froze, even forgetting to chew the Sky Silkworm in her mouth.
The Snow Empress's finger, which had been lightly tapping the armrest, also came to a stop.
Both of them turned to look at him in unison.
"Xiao Lan!"
The Ice Empress let out a cheer, tossed aside the roasted Sky Silkworm in her hand, and shot over like a green streak.
She circled Lan twice, looking him up and down. Only after confirming he was unharmed and that his aura seemed even more profound than before did she pat her little chest and breathe a sigh of relief.
"You scared me to death. You're finally out."
A trace of lingering worry colored her reproachful tone.
"Quick! Let me see your Martial Soul Avatar! And your new Soul Skill!"
The next moment, her reproach turned into impatience. Her jade-green eyes glittered with curiosity and anticipation brighter than the stars overhead.
Seeing her like that, a helpless smile also surfaced in Lan's otherwise calm eyes.
He nodded to the Snow Empress in greeting.
Then he turned to the impatient-looking Ice Empress.
"Sure."
His voice was not loud, but it rang clearly through the great hall.
"Shadow Abyss Shark True Form."
The instant the words left his mouth—
RUMBLE—!
The entire palace, built from ten-thousand-year-old ice, shook violently!
Behind Lan, space seemed to rip apart under some invisible force.
Endless, deep-blue seawater surged into existence from thin air, transforming into a bottomless oceanic abyss.
The water was black as ink, yet it gave off a heart-chilling ghostly glow, as if it connected to another terrifying world.
A shadow so colossal it defied description slowly rose from the abyss.
It had no physical form, seeming to be made from the purest shadows and water elements.
A pair of blood-red eyes opened in the darkness, like twin blood moons suspended in the deep sea, gazing coldly at the world.
An aura of terror, aloofness, and dominance instantly filled the entire great hall.
It was the phantom of a gigantic Cang Shark. Its mere presence brought a crushing pressure that seemed capable of freezing the soul.
Even in the throne's seat, a trace of barely perceptible surprise flickered through the Snow Empress's cool eyes.
At the same time—
A blinding ring suddenly rose from beneath Lan's feet.
One, two, three, four, five, six.
Purple, purple, black, black, black, black.
Six Soul Rings appeared in succession, slowly circling his body.
Next came the seventh.
Red!
A dazzling scarlet Soul Ring, as brilliant as blood and as searing as magma, rose with overwhelming force!
That red was so pure, so dazzling, it seemed to have been dyed with a god's blood, carrying an inviolable majesty.
The entire great hall was illuminated by its magnificent glow.
"A h-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring?!"
The Ice Empress's voice trembled.
Disbelief was written all over her delicate, pretty little face.
She stared at the glowing red Soul Ring, then looked up at the Shadow Abyss Shark behind Lan, which seemed ready to burst through the palace roof, and swallowed instinctively.
The fragrant taste of roasted Sky Silkworm still lingered in her mouth.
But at that moment, she found it utterly tasteless.
The blinding scarlet Soul Ring floated quietly beneath Lan's feet, its light shifting and flowing, yet it carried an indescribably weighty pressure.
The air in the great hall seemed to solidify beneath that red glow.
The Ice Empress's little mouth hung open, her jade-green eyes round as saucers.
Her mind had gone blank.
The Seventh Soul Ring, the Martial Soul Avatar.
That marked the beginning of a Soul Master's transformation.
For any Soul Master, the Seventh Soul Ring was a watershed, its importance self-evident.
And what did a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring mean?
It was the ultimate dream pursued by every Soul Master, a top-tier opportunity that could only be chanced upon, never sought.
Across the entire Douluo Continent, Titled Douluo with Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings were rarer than phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Every one of them was a peak powerhouse who shook an entire region.
But those people had all waited until reaching Level 90 before daring to hunt a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, steeling themselves for a narrow escape from death.
But Lan?
He was only a Soul Sage!
A Soul Sage who had just reached Level 70, yet his Seventh Soul Ring was already a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!
This was simply...
No, it wasn't just absurd. It overturned the entire Soul Master World's common understanding of cultivation!
"Gulp."
The Ice Empress swallowed.
As a four-hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, she naturally knew how dangerous it was to absorb a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring. Its violent energy was enough to make any ordinary Soul Sage burst apart.
How had Xiao Lan managed it?
While the Ice Empress was still reeling, the Snow Empress on the throne finally reacted.
Her snow-cold eyes gazed quietly at Lan and the scarlet ring beneath his feet, then she slowly nodded.
"Not bad."
"Very good."
Her voice rang clear, like water dripping from an icy spring, and held a note of approval.
Hearing the Snow Empress's praise, the Ice Empress seemed to snap back to her senses. She hopped over to Lan in a few quick steps, face tilted up, her eyes full of little stars.
"Quick, Xiao Lan! What about the two new Soul Skills? What are they called? What do they do?"
Lan withdrew his Shadow Abyss Shark True Form. The terrifying pressure vanished instantly, and the great hall returned to its original vastness and stillness.
Seeing how impatient the Ice Empress was, he calmly raised his hand and aimed at a ten-meter-tall pillar of ice crystal in the distance.
"First Soul Skill: Abyssal Shark Hunt."
As soon as the words fell, a solid-looking, deep-blue shark shadow shot from his arm. Silent and as fast as lightning, it plunged into the pillar of ice made from ten-thousand-year-old ice.
The pillar did not budge.
"Hm?"
The Ice Empress blinked, puzzled.
"Nothing happened? Is it a control skill?"
Lan shook his head.
"Its effect requires a second use to activate."
As he spoke, he raised his hand again.
"Abyssal Shark Hunt."
Another shark shadow followed the same trajectory and plunged into the pillar.
This time—
Crack... crack!
A web of cracks suddenly appeared across the surface of the impossibly hard pillar of ten-thousand-year-old ice, which could withstand a full-force strike from a Titled Douluo!
Then, before the Ice Empress's stunned eyes, the entire pillar exploded from within with a roar, turning into a cloud of fine powder!
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