Unexpected Gains

After discovering a new way to use the interface, Jiang Che experimented on several more soul beasts.

Strangely, the interface displayed nothing during these attempts, leaving Jiang Che puzzled.

"Strange, why is this broken interface so hit-or-miss?" Jiang Che looked at the ten-thousand-year soul beast in front of him; logically, it was far stronger than the strength displayed on his interface.

Just as Jiang Che was about to suspect that the previous incident was just a "bug" in the interface:

[Danger! A ten-thousand-year Polar Ice Bear seems to have discovered you spying on it. A mere Soul Elder daring to plot against it has enraged it. Your best choice now is to run immediately.]

The interface's prompt made Jiang Che look at the Polar Ice Bear again, and he realized it had indeed spotted him.

"Roar—"

The Polar Ice Bear's deafening roar exploded suddenly, like a thunderclap falling from thin air. It shook the surrounding ice crystals until they rattled down, and even the air began to shimmer with layers of cold mist from the roar.

Its body was towering, standing seven or eight meters tall, covered in a layer of snow-white fur as translucent as glass. The fur stood on end, with fine ice shards frozen to the tips, casting a cold, silvery light in the dim ice cavern.

Its thick limbs were like pillars of carved glacial rock, each claw half a foot long, flashing with a cold light capable of tearing through steel.

Before the roar had even faded, the Polar Ice Bear moved. Its thick hind legs kicked off the ground, causing the heavy ice surface to instantly shatter into spiderweb-like cracks, sending flying ice shards and a biting cold wind rushing toward him.

Its massive body charged at Jiang Che like a cannonball, carrying an overwhelming momentum. Ice prisms and stone pillars along the way were smashed to pieces, the biting cold air wrapped in violent soul power.

Once a soul beast reaches the ten-thousand-year level, it undergoes a qualitative change. This Polar Ice Bear's bloodline was not weak, and with the home-field advantage, its strength was likely approaching that of an ordinary Soul Saint.

Jiang Che dared not be arrogant enough to forgo his martial soul; the moment the Polar Ice Bear launched its attack, he activated Martial Soul Possession.

"Hum!" As Jiang Che activated his martial soul, a massive phantom of the Ice Dragon King appeared behind him, letting out a dragon's roar, and Jiang Che's body underwent large-scale dragonification.

Soul rings rose one by one from beneath Jiang Che's feet. The first was a pale black soul ring (after two soul ring age increases), and the colors grew deeper as they went up, the seventh black soul ring even showing faint traces of dark red at its edges.

When the eighth hundred-thousand-year soul ring appeared, Jiang Che's aura reached its peak. The Polar Ice Bear naturally sensed it, a flash of fear crossing its eyes, but it clearly couldn't turn back, so it unleashed its full power, hoping to secure a sliver of survival.

"Sixth Soul Skill, Winter Guardian!" Jiang Che shouted in a low voice. His soul power erupted, his sixth soul ring flashed, and a hemispherical transparent ice layer instantly condensed around him. The shield's surface was covered in fine ice patterns, with a biting, extreme cold halo circulating through them.

The moment the shield formed, the Polar Ice Bear's giant claws, carrying the force to crush everything, slammed heavily against the Winter Guardian!

"Boom—!"

A deafening collision erupted, ice shards splattered, and a violent shockwave of soul power swept through the entire ice cavern. The surrounding ice walls were instantly covered in cracks, and countless fragments of ice crashed down.

Despite the Polar Ice Bear's massive, powerful strike, the transparent ice layer around Jiang Che didn't show a single ripple. The Polar Ice Bear, failing its first strike, wanted to attack again.

But Jiang Che was no pushover. The third soul ring behind him flashed, "Third Soul Skill! Ice Dragon Claw!"

The pale black soul ring's light surged, the Ice Dragon King phantom's aura grew suddenly intense, and Jiang Che's right arm instantly dragonified, covered in a layer of icy dragon scales. His five fingers elongated by several inches, and ice-prism claws flashing with cold light condensed at his fingertips. The biting cold spread along his arm, making even the air emit the sound of fine ice cracking.

He kicked off the ground, his figure darting out like a bolt of ice-blue lightning. The Winter Guardian shield dissipated on cue, and the Ice Dragon Claw, accompanied by a sharp sound of tearing air, slashed straight at the Polar Ice Bear's chest.

The Polar Ice Bear's pupils shrank. In its haste, it raised its arms to block. The moment its thick ice-crystal armor collided with the Ice Dragon Claw, a screeching sound of metal friction exploded.

The ice-prism claws easily tore through the surface ice crystals, and the dragon scales collided with the cold light on the bear's claws, sending a large spray of ice shards flying.

Jiang Che's dragon claw didn't stop for a second, tearing straight through the Polar Ice Bear's entire chest.

The bone-chilling cold soul power surged in through the claw tips, instantly shredding the flesh and organs within the Polar Ice Bear's chest cavity, even piercing and freezing its beating heart completely.

The Polar Ice Bear's massive body suddenly froze in place. Those beastly eyes, filled with rage and ferocity, widened, the light within them fading at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving only endless silence.

A low, broken whimper escaped its throat; it could no longer let out the roar that had previously shaken the ice cavern. Its thick limbs trembled uncontrollably, unable to support its mountain-like body any longer.

The next second, this ten-thousand-year Polar Ice Bear, with strength approaching that of a Soul Saint, lost all vitality and collapsed heavily toward the ground like a crumbling mountain of glacial rock.

"Boom!!"

A thunderous thud echoed, causing the entire ice cavern to shake violently. Large sections of the already cracked ice walls collapsed, and ice shards and crystals rained down, kicking up a sky full of cold mist.

The Polar Ice Bear lay on the cold ground, its chest wound—a shocking claw mark—continuously leaking frozen blood. Its snow-white fur lost all its luster, and its once-sharp claws hung limply, devoid of any of the prestige of a ten-thousand-year soul beast.

Jiang Che slowly retracted his right arm, the ice crystals and blood on the Ice Dragon Claw dissipating instantly, and his arm slowly returned to its original state.

He looked at the dead Polar Ice Bear at his feet, his soul rings pulsing slightly, his breath steady; he had clearly won this battle with ease.

The next second, a soul ring began to condense above the Polar Ice Bear, but unfortunately, Jiang Che didn't think much of it.

[Host encountered an attack from a ten-thousand-year Polar Ice Bear. It was a narrow escape, but relying on your own wisdom and the will to fight to the death, you ultimately achieved victory due to the Polar Ice Bear's carelessness.]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining a 5,000-year soul ring age reward.]

After receiving the age reward, Jiang Che did not hesitate to add it to his seventh soul ring. His seventh soul ring had originally been obtained from an 86,000-year soul beast, and with this 5,000-year increase, the dark red around the original soul ring gradually expanded.

Based on the interface warning him of danger again, Jiang Che could confirm that this was not a "bug," though he still did not understand the underlying pattern.

Just as Jiang Che was preparing to leave and find a few more soul beasts to experiment on, his sharp eyes suddenly noticed something off about the Polar Ice Bear's left hand.

After some confirmation, he realized it really was a soul bone. Although the probability of a ten-thousand-year soul beast dropping a soul bone is relatively higher, that is only in comparison to hundred-year or thousand-year soul beasts.

"I didn't expect an unexpected harvest from coming here this time," Jiang Che sighed.

ps: Regarding the setting of the martial soul, I looked up some information and it seems there are no pure elemental martial souls in the Douluo setting, so I changed it to the Ice Dragon King martial soul. This martial soul also contains the Ultimate Ice attribute. I have already changed the martial soul in the opening; if there are any parts I haven't changed, I hope everyone can point them out in the comments section. I will go back and change them once I see them. Thank you all for your support!