By the shore of Sea God Lake.
Jiang Yi stood in the shallows by the lake, the water lapping at his ankles, cold to the bone.
He closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing. With each inhale and exhale, his chest gradually rose and fell in sync with the gentle ripples.
"That's it. Slowly sense everything around you. Forget your eyes and feel with your heart..."
Ice Empress lay across his shoulder, her voice unhurried as it sounded in his mind.
Reign Over the World had no specific moves. It was a way of thinking, a technique for combining Soul Power with spiritual power.
Jiang Yi's spiritual power wasn't low. Though he was still one step away from Formless Substance, he wasn't far off.
It was just that most of this spiritual power came from Tian Meng's gift, and he had never trained it systematically.
So, the first step was to learn how to control his spiritual power.
"Whoosh..."
Jiang Yi's breathing grew slower and deeper.
The breeze over the lake, the surging waves, and the girl hiding in the shadows...
These details, usually overlooked, gradually surfaced in his perception. He began to observe them.
It was a strange and wonderful sensation, somewhat like Tian Meng's Spirit Detection, but nowhere near as all-knowing.
"Not bad."
A flicker of surprise passed through Ice Empress's eyes.
Before spiritual power reached the level of Formless Substance, it was almost impossible to project it beyond the body unless one entered a state of flow.
Only with that absolute control, when heart and intent became one, could spiritual power break through the body's limits and extend into the real world.
Jiang Yi's comprehension was somewhat beyond her expectations.
"Now, try merging your spiritual power into your Soul Power... Treat your Soul Power like an extension of your arm."
Ice Empress's voice sounded again.
"Mm."
Jiang Yi nodded and controlled his spiritual power, gradually turning it inward. One by one, his blood vessels and meridians appeared before him.
Within those crisscrossing meridians, streams of white energy surged without end, like tireless wild horses.
Heart and intent as one, intent and energy as one...
Jiang Yi repeated the essentials of Reign Over the World in his mind, gradually drawing his spiritual power toward those streams of white energy.
The next moment, he opened his eyes.
An invisible aura erupted from within him. His strength hadn't truly increased, but his entire bearing had changed.
Flames seemed to blaze in those dark eyes, gleaming with a world-conquering majesty.
"I did it."
Jiang Yi raised his hand. A stream of icy-blue energy appeared at his fingertips.
After his spiritual power infused it, his Soul Power gained a Mental Attribute, and he could control it as easily as moving his own arm.
"Reign Over the World!"
He gave a low shout. The Soul Power at his fingertips exploded and condensed in his palm into a long ice spear.
His spiritual power and Soul Power surged into it like a tide. The spear quivered, letting out a low hum.
Boom—!!!
Ultimate Ice erupted!
The lake water beneath Jiang Yi froze in an instant. Ice spread in every direction, crackling sharply.
A curved ice bridge rose beneath his feet, slowly lifting him into the air.
Reign Over the World had to be used in conjunction with a physical Soul Skill. For Jiang Yi, Ultimate Ice was naturally the best fit.
"What a wonderful feeling~"
Jiang Yi gripped the ice spear and stood on the bridge, looking down over the frozen lake.
Snow and ice swirled around him, filling him with the illusion that he could do anything—that a single thrust of his spear could pierce heaven and earth.
"Idiot! Throw it away already!"
Ice Empress's voice suddenly exploded in his mind.
Jiang Yi snapped out of it and looked down. The ice spear in his hand was already covered in cracks, the cold energy within on the verge of going out of control.
He'd let his Soul Power fill the spear to the brim without noticing.
Whoosh!!!
Jiang Yi turned toward the shore and hurled the spear in his hand.
The ice spear, compressed to its limits, shot forward with a howl, unleashing a boundless chill. Frost covered everything in its path.
Had she been spotted?
In the bushes, Ling Luochеn's pupils shrank.
"Oh no!"
She stared at the descending ice spear, horror in her eyes. Ice of her own began to form beneath her feet.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black!
Five Soul Rings rose around her.
As she summoned her Martial Soul, a layer of ice crystals covered Ling Luochеn's body, and an icy-blue staff formed in her hand.
"Ice Radiance Ring!"
She swung the staff. A dark-blue ring of ice shot from its tip, spinning as it flew to meet the howling spear.
Wherever the ring passed, a layer of white frost coated the bushes. The plants froze, rustling softly.
It was a clash of ice against ice!
But—
Crack, crack, crack!
Before Ice Radiance Ring could even touch the spear, it began to tremble violently, like prey facing its natural enemy.
Cracks spread from the ring's inner edge, covering it in an instant.
Bang—!
The ring shattered, bursting into a shower of ice shards.
The shards didn't disappear. Instead, the ice spear absorbed them, swelling abruptly as its chill surged and its power grew even greater.
"How is that possible?!"
Ling Luochеn's pupils widened. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
That was her fifth Soul Ring, a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill! Even Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix fire was suppressed by it.
How could it be shattered by an ice spear thrown so casually...
The next second, she understood.
The spear grew larger and larger in her eyes. The cold gleam of its tip stung so badly that she could barely keep her eyes open.
She wanted to dodge.
But her body was frozen in place, incapable of the slightest movement.
It wasn't that she didn't want to! She simply couldn't!
An indescribable terror spread from the bottom of her heart through her entire body. It felt as though even her blood had frozen.
It wasn't the fear of death, but instinctive submission—the submission of lower-level ice to the Ice Empress!
So this was Ultimate Ice?
Ling Luochеn stood rooted to the spot, watching the spear descend toward her. Only one thought filled her mind.
Yet just as the tip was about to touch her—
The spear suddenly shifted its angle, grazing her shoulder before plunging into the ground in front of her with a soft thud.
Boom!!!
The spear shattered in an instant. Countless streams of icy-blue energy surged forth, freezing everything around them, including Ling Luochеn.
Crack, crack, crack!
The ice under Ling Luochеn's control turned against her, twisting and warping under the assault of the frigid current.
The ice armor on her body fused with the ice on the ground, locking her in place from the neck down.
"I can't move..."
Ling Luochеn struggled, but the ice attribute of her Martial Soul was utterly suppressed by Ultimate Ice.
"I'm doomed, I'm doomed, I'm doomed—"
She watched Jiang Yi approaching from a distance, embarrassment flashing across her pretty face.
She'd been caught spying on a junior practicing his Soul Skill, and she hadn't even been able to beat him... She was about to die of embarrassment!
He was coming over. What should she do?!
Ling Luochеn's cheeks burned. Beneath her cool exterior, her heart pounded as her thoughts raced.
That's right!
A flash of inspiration struck her. She rolled her eyes back, letting her head loll to one side.
Ah, I've fainted—
(This uses the otaku shut-in social-anxiety characterization of the manga's Ling Luochеn; the novel gives her too little characterization.)
"Senior Sister?"
Jiang Yi walked up and studied the girl frozen solid in front of him.
She had short, ear-length blue hair and a lovely face with delicate features, but she carried a chilly air that kept people at a distance.
She was petite, half a head shorter than him, though she had curves in all the right places—much more than the other little ice loli.
Ling Luochеn?!
Jiang Yi guessed uncertainly.
There weren't many people in Shrek Inner Court, just a few dozen. As far as he knew, Ling Luochеn was the only five-ring ice-attribute Soul Master.
But in his impression, Ling Luochеn was supposed to be an ice-wielding, mature woman. What was this half-grown loli doing here?
"..."
Ling Luochеn didn't answer. She simply kept pretending to be unconscious.
Her head lolled to one side, her eyes shut tight, though her lashes trembled faintly.
Pretending to be unconscious?
Jiang Yi's mouth twitched.
What kind of bizarre senior-sister quirk was this? Shrek Inner Court really was full of unusual people!
"Senior Sister?"
He raised an eyebrow and tried calling to her again, but Ling Luochеn still didn't react. She kept playing dead.
So—
Jiang Yi rubbed his hands together and walked behind Ling Luochеn, who was frozen from the waist down.
"Senior Sister, you can't move... right? I'll help you!"
He slowly reached toward her waist with his fingertips. He knew this scene all too well.
Ling Luochеn finally couldn't keep up the act. She abruptly opened her eyes, her voice tinged with panic.
"Don't—!!!"
Before you continue