Soul Bone Choice (2)

Ling Han's words were like a heavy hammer striking Xue Qinglan's heart.

She looked at the wisdom, trust, and unquestionable resolve in Ling Han's eyes—far beyond his age—then at the Soul Bone that resonated intensely with her martial soul, as though it had been born to belong to her. She could no longer bring herself to refuse.

An indescribable warmth and a heavy sense of responsibility instantly flooded over her.

"Young Master Ling Han..." Xue Qinglan's voice caught. She knelt on one knee in midair and extended her trembling hands, accepting the ice-blue treasure with utmost solemnity.

"Your subordinate... Xue Qinglan, will never fail the Young Master's trust! As long as this bone remains with me, Qinglan lives! Should Qinglan die, this bone shall accompany the Young Master as well!"

At that moment, Xue Qinglan's form of address for Ling Han quietly changed from "Young Master Ling Han" to the more belonging-filled "Young Master"! This Soul Bone represented not only power, but also the Young Master's unconditional trust and entrustment!

"Good!" Ling Han smiled in satisfaction and helped Xue Qinglan up. "No time to lose. Uncle Long, please stand guard and find a safe place so Sister Xue can fuse with the Soul Bone immediately!"

"Yes, Young Master!" Long Chen answered gravely, a trace of admiration for Ling Han's boldness and decisiveness flashing through his eyes.

His powerful spiritual power spread outward, quickly locking onto a hidden Ice Valley below, surrounded by towering icebergs and easy to defend but difficult to attack. "It's safe over there!"

The three swiftly descended. Long Chen's Blazing Flame Domain contracted, forming a blazing barrier at the entrance to the Ice Valley and sealing off the inside from the outside.

Xue Qinglan sat cross-legged in the center of the Ice Valley, pressing the 100,000-year Ice Phoenix Left Arm Bone against her left arm.

Buzz—!

The instant the Soul Bone made contact, it erupted with an ice-blue radiance a hundred times more intense than when it had been in Ling Han's hand!

A clear, resounding phoenix cry, as though it had traveled through countless ages, echoed throughout the Ice Valley!

The massive phantom of an Ice Phoenix appeared on its own, circling Xue Qinglan and crying out joyfully.

The Soul Bone transformed into an ice-blue streak of light and merged seamlessly into Xue Qinglan's left arm, as naturally as water blending with milk!

There was none of the painful struggle they had expected—only the smoothness and elevation of a process reaching its natural conclusion, of returning to one's origin!

Xue Qinglan's aura began surging at a visible rate! Ice-blue Soul Power flowed and condensed around her body as though tangible, forming a massive Ice Cocoon!

Within the Ice Cocoon, Xue Qinglan's Ice Phoenix martial soul was undergoing an unprecedented transformation!

The phoenix phantom became more solid and noble. The ice crystals upon its wings seemed to contain the universe's utmost cold, while faint golden phoenix origin patterns flickered indistinctly within them!

Driven by the immense and pure origin power of the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, her Soul Power Level broke through the bottleneck of level 96 with unstoppable force, steadily advancing toward level 97!

A profound and mysterious domain aura also brewed around her, several times more powerful than before!

Ling Han and Long Chen stood guard quietly nearby, both able to sense the increasingly terrifying and increasingly pure Extreme North chill emanating from the Ice Cocoon.

"It worked!" Ling Han's eyes were filled with anticipation and excitement. "This investment was worth it! A level 97 Super Douluo with a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone is about to be born! Hahaha, now that's a tough bodyguard!"

He could practically see the peerless splendor that would make the entire Douluo Continent turn their heads when Xue Qinglan emerged from the cocoon!

And he, Ling Han, would be the creator and greatest beneficiary of it all! At this moment, every risk of the journey to the Great North had turned into unimaginably generous returns!

Within the Ice Valley, time itself seemed to have been swallowed by the enormous ice-blue cocoon of light. Ling Han and Long Chen stood quietly on guard, their gazes fixed tightly upon the source of the increasingly terrifying cold.

Ice crystals flowed across the cocoon's surface. At times, it was as solid as ten-thousand-year Mystic Ice, indestructible and eternal; at others, it was as ethereal as polar frost mist, deep and unfathomable.

Faintly, they could see the outline of the peerlessly beautiful figure within, as well as the increasingly clear and solid Ice Phoenix phantom circling her. The phoenix's form was undergoing an astonishing metamorphosis!

Its wings, once composed purely of ice crystals, now revealed ancient and noble pale-golden patterns, like molten gold flowing through and branding the ice marrow, exuding the phoenix origin aura of primordial antiquity.

The phoenix's eyes were no longer cold blue, but had turned into two flickering clusters of Ice Flame containing the meaning of life and death, making its majesty even more imposing!

Each flicker of the Ice Flame caused the surrounding space to tremble slightly. The cold was no longer merely freezing—it now carried a vast will capable of purifying all things and freezing time and space!

Long Chen's Blazing Flame Domain was now like a candle flame in the wind, compressed into a tiny area at the entrance of the Ice Valley. Crimson-gold flames burned stubbornly, resisting the all-pervasive absolute cold that seemed capable of freezing one's soul.

Even this level 97 Blazing Sacred Dragon Douluo had a grave and astonished look in his eyes. "What pure ice origin! This Soul Bone and her martial soul are practically beings born from the same source! After the fusion, her 'ice' will no longer be an ordinary ultimate attribute."

Ling Han held his breath, his heart filled with anticipation. He could clearly sense that Xue Qinglan's aura within the cocoon was like a volcano dormant for tens of thousands of years, gathering world-destroying power as it prepared for its most complete eruption!

Finally—

Crack!

A faint yet incomparably distinct cracking sound rang out, as though it had shattered an eternal silence.

Immediately afterward, countless cracks spread across the entire ice-blue cocoon like a spiderweb!

Boom!!!

An indescribable ice storm erupted without warning!

The instant the cocoon exploded, an ice-blue pillar of light that reached from earth to sky shot upward, piercing through the clouds!

The sky across the entire Great North seemed to be illuminated by that pillar. The dim heavens were dyed a magnificent ice-blue!

Countless fine ice crystals, glimmering with pale-golden starlight, fell from the sky like a rain of divine tears, blanketing the vast frozen plains as far as the eye could see!

Within the pillar of light, a figure slowly emerged.

Xue Qinglan!

She was still dressed in the same simple, elegant gown, yet her bearing had undergone an earth-shaking transformation!

Her skin was crystalline and translucent, as though sculpted from the purest ice marrow, untouched by dust.

Her long ice-blue hair drifted without wind, pale golden radiance flowing at its tips.

Most chilling of all were her eyes—two deep, swirling ice-blue vortices. At the centers of those vortices flickered two pale-golden flames of ice, containing endless authority and wisdom!

Her left arm was covered in an armor piece as thin as cicada wings, flowing with rippling ice-blue light. Lifelike phoenix feather patterns were engraved upon it, while several elegant yet sharp ice-crystal blades extended from its end.

Soul Power fluctuations several times stronger than before, vast as an abyssal sea, poured from her without reservation!

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red! Nine Soul Rings rose one after another beneath her feet, blazing brilliantly!

The blood-red ring representing the 100,000-year Soul Ring was now an even deeper crimson, like congealed God Blood. The ferocious might it emitted made heaven and earth pale!

Even more shocking was the domain aura spreading from around her—it was no longer merely a prototype, but the fully formed, more concentrated, more terrifying Eternal Frost Domain!

Within its range, even space seemed frozen into fragile glass, and the flow of time became thick and sluggish!

Level 97! At the peak of Super Douluo!

Perfect fusion with the 100,000-year Ice Phoenix Left Arm Bone!

The domain had completely taken shape!

Xue Qinglan slowly opened her eyes, and those icy flames swept over Ling Han and Long Chen.

Wherever her gaze fell, even Long Chen felt a piercing chill crawl across his skin.

She withdrew her released aura, and the terrifying pressure receded like the tide. Yet the elevation and power originating from the level of her very life had already been deeply imprinted.

With a light step, she instantly appeared before Ling Han and knelt on one knee. Her voice remained cool and clear, but now carried an indescribable weight and nobility, like a divine decree from an ice-sealed throne:

"Xue Qinglan thanks the Young Master for the grace of granting me new life! This body and this power shall forever be the sword in the Young Master's hand, freezing all obstacles!"

"Sister Xue, please rise quickly!" Ling Han said, his heart surging as he hurriedly helped her up.

Feeling Xue Qinglan's vast, star-sea-like power up close, as well as the origin aura that had nearly fused her into one with the Ice Phoenix after perfectly merging with the Soul Bone, Ling Han had only one thought: this Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone had been more than worth it!

The current Xue Qinglan absolutely possessed the strength to challenge, or even suppress, an ordinary level 98 Super Douluo! On the Douluo Continent, she had already entered the ranks of the absolute strongest!

"Congratulations, Elder Xue, on your great advancement in cultivation! With such icy might, Long is truly impressed!" Long Chen praised sincerely.

He could sense that, under circumstances of attribute suppression, he might now only be able to barely maintain an undefeated position against Xue Qinglan.

"Brother Long flatters me." Xue Qinglan gave a slight nod, then turned her icy flames toward Ling Han. "Young Master, your subordinate has stabilized her realm.

Where should we go next?" Her words carried absolute obedience. The power she had gained had not made her arrogant, but had instead deepened her faith in Ling Han.