Ice Empress's Shock, A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring?!

Lan put on his clothes and pushed the door open.

He had only just stepped into the great hall when he felt two distinct yet equally scorching gazes lock onto him instantly.

Ice and Snow Residence, great hall.

Two full days had already passed.

"Crunch."

A crisp chewing sound echoed through the hall.

The Ice Empress, now in the form of a young girl in a green dress, was pacing back and forth in agitation.

In her small hand, she clutched a handful of golden, crispy roasted Sky Silkworms, stuffing one into her mouth every now and then, her cheeks bulging.

"Why hasn't he come out yet..."

"It's been two days already. It's just absorbing a spirit ring; how could it take so long?"

Whenever she grew anxious, she liked to eat.

It was as if she were trying to turn all her worries into appetite and swallow them whole.

On the throne, the Snow Empress sat quietly, dressed in white.

She appeared as calm as water.

However, the frequency with which her left index finger tapped against the crystal armrest betrayed that her state of mind was not as steady as her outward appearance suggested.

When the steady sound of Lan's footsteps rang out, both sounds in the hall ceased simultaneously.

The Ice Empress froze, forgetting even to chew the Sky Silkworm in her mouth.

The Snow Empress's finger, which had been tapping the armrest, also came to a halt.

Both pairs of eyes turned to look at him in unison.

"Little Lan!"

With a cheer, the Ice Empress tossed the roasted Sky Silkworm aside and dashed over like a green blur.

She circled Lan twice, looking him up and down to confirm he was unscathed and that his aura was even more profound than before, before patting her small chest and letting out a long sigh of relief.

"You scared me to death; you've finally come out."

Her tone carried a hint of lingering fear mixed with reproach.

"Quick! Let me see your Avatar of the Martial Soul! And your new spirit skill!"

The next second, her reproach turned into urging, her emerald eyes sparkling with curiosity and anticipation brighter than the stars in the sky.

Looking at her like this, a helpless smile flickered in the depths of Lan's calm eyes.

He nodded at the Snow Empress as a greeting.

Then, he looked at the eager Ice Empress.

"Alright."

He replied, his voice not loud, yet it clearly resonated throughout the hall.

"Avatar of the Shadow Abyss Shark."

The moment his words fell.

BOOM—!

The entire palace, forged from ten-thousand-year ice, shook violently!

Behind Lan, the space seemed to be torn apart by an invisible force.

Endless deep blue seawater surged out of thin air, forming a bottomless abyssal ocean.

The water was as black as ink, yet it emitted a heart-stopping, eerie light, as if it were connected to another terrifying world.

A shadow, vast beyond description, slowly rose from the abyss.

It had no physical form, appearing to be condensed from the purest shadows and water elements.

A pair of blood-red eyes opened in the darkness, like two blood moons hanging in the deep sea, gazing coldly at the world.

A terrifying, aloof, and domineering aura instantly filled the entire hall.

It was the phantom of a giant Shadow Abyss Shark; its mere existence brought a sense of oppression that seemed capable of freezing the soul.

Even the Snow Empress on the throne felt a flicker of imperceptible surprise in her cold, clear eyes.

At the same time.

A blinding ring of light suddenly rose from beneath Lan's feet.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

Purple, purple, black, black, black, black.

Six spirit rings appeared in sequence, slowly rotating around his body.

Immediately following them, came the seventh.

Red!

A ring of crimson, as brilliant as blood and as scorching as magma, rose defiantly!

That shade of red was so pure, so dazzling, as if it had been dyed in the blood of gods, carrying a majesty that brooked no profanity.

The entire great hall was illuminated by this crimson glow, casting a magnificent radiance over everything.

"Ten... ten thousand years?!"

Ice Empress's voice trembled.

Her exquisite, pretty loli face was filled with utter disbelief.

She stared at that glowing red soul ring, then looked up at the Shadow Abyss Shark behind Lan that seemed ready to burst through the palace, and subconsciously swallowed hard.

The aroma of the roasted Sky Silkworm still seemed to linger in her mouth.

But at this moment, she found it utterly tasteless.

That piercing crimson soul ring hovered silently beneath Lan's feet, its light flowing with an indescribable weight and pressure.

The air in the great hall seemed to have frozen under this shade of red.

Ice Empress's small mouth hung slightly open, her emerald eyes wide and round.

Her brain had crashed.

The seventh soul ring, the Avatar of the Martial Soul.

This was the beginning of a qualitative change for a soul master.

For any soul master, the seventh soul ring was a watershed; its importance went without saying.

And what kind of concept was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast soul ring?

It was the ultimate dream that soul masters pursued their entire lives, a top-tier opportunity that could be sought but never found.

Across the entire Douluo Continent, Title Douluos who possessed a hundred-thousand-year soul ring were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns; which one of them wasn't a peak powerhouse who shook their respective regions?

Yet those people, without exception, only dared to hunt a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast after reaching level ninety, armed with the resolve of someone facing certain death.

But what about Lan?

He was only a Soul Saint!

A Soul Saint who had just stepped into level seventy, and his seventh soul ring was already starting at a hundred thousand years!

This was simply...

No, this wasn't just outrageous; this was subverting the entire common sense of cultivation in the soul master world!

"Gulp."

Ice Empress swallowed again.

As a four-hundred-thousand-year soul beast, she naturally understood the dangers of absorbing a hundred-thousand-year soul ring. That violent energy was enough to cause any ordinary Soul Saint to explode and die.

How did little Lan manage it?

Just as Ice Empress was still reeling in the wind, Snow Empress, sitting upon the imperial throne, finally reacted.

Her eyes, cold as snow, gazed quietly at Lan and the crimson ring beneath his feet, and she nodded slowly.

"Not bad."

"Very good."

Her voice was clear and crisp, like dripping ice springs, carrying a tone of approval.

Hearing Snow Empress's affirmation, Ice Empress seemed to snap back to reality. She hopped over to Lan in a few strides, looking up with her small face, her eyes filled with stars.

"Quick! Little Lan! What about the two new soul skills? What are they called? What do they do?"

Lan retracted the Shadow Abyss Shark avatar behind him, and the terrifying pressure dissipated instantly, returning the great hall to its original emptiness and silence.

Watching Ice Empress's impatient demeanor, he calmly raised his hand, aiming at a ten-meter-tall giant ice crystal pillar not far away.

"The first soul skill, Abyssal Shark Hunt."

As soon as the words fell, a solid, deep-blue shark shadow lunged from his arm, silent and swift as lightning, instantly vanishing into the pillar cast from ten-thousand-year cold ice.

The ice pillar remained motionless.

"Hmm?"

Ice Empress blinked, looking puzzled.

"Nothing happened? Is it a control skill?"

Lan shook his head.

"Its effect requires a second activation to trigger."

As he spoke, he raised his hand again.

"Abyssal Shark Hunt."

Another shark shadow followed the same trajectory and merged into the ice pillar once more.

This time.

Crack... crack!

The surface of that incredibly hard ten-thousand-year cold ice pillar, which could withstand the full-force strike of a Title Douluo, suddenly erupted with spiderweb-like cracks!

Immediately after, under Ice Empress's shocked gaze, the entire ice pillar shattered from within, turning into a sky full of powder!