The Pinnacle of Ice

"Sister, I don't need that much money."

Li Jiuxuan felt the money pouch bulging and heavy in his hand.

Shui Bing'er watched Xue Wu and the others walk away, then whispered, "Take it. There are only 1,000 Gold Soul Coins inside."

Li Jiuxuan was stunned.

On the Douluo Continent, one Gold Soul Coin was equal to 10 Silver Soul Coins, or 100 Copper Soul Coins.

A single Gold Soul Coin was enough to cover the living expenses of an average family of three for several months.

For a 10th-level Soul Scholar like Li Jiuxuan, 1,000 Gold Soul Coins was undoubtedly an astronomical sum!

Li Jiuxuan quickly whispered to Shui Bing'er, "Sister, this is too much. You should take it back. I only need enough for a full meal every day!"

Shui Bing'er gave him a reproachful glare. "You came to Skywater Academy with me; do you think I'd only let you eat one meal a day? I'm going to raise you to be healthy and plump, so hurry up and put it away! Don't let Yue'er see it!"

Li Jiuxuan was puzzled, blinking as he asked, "Why? Is it because of Sister Yue'er?"

Although Shui Yue'er had not yet reached the rank of Soul Elder and was only a 27th-level Soul Grand Master, she was a core student at Skywater Academy. Logically, she shouldn't be short on money, yet Shui Bing'er was acting so secretive.

"This Small Treasure Pouch is a small-scale storage tool. While it cannot hold living things, it can keep herbs and other perishable resources fresh. Back then, Yue'er pestered me for it, but I couldn't bear to give it to her," Shui Bing'er explained.

"Ah, this..."

Li Jiuxuan blinked blankly, not knowing how to accept such kindness.

Seeing this, Shui Bing'er crouched down and smiled lightly. "It's alright. After all, you are my little brother, the one I saved with my own hands..."

Shui Bing'er had also struggled in the past. Seeing that Li Jiuxuan's experiences were similar to her own, yet he was even more resilient and brave, she couldn't help but feel a deep fondness for the young boy.

"Then, thank you, Sister..."

Li Jiuxuan lowered his head, his face flushing slightly. With Shui Bing'er being this kind, he found it hard to refuse.

"You should get some good rest today. Tomorrow, I will take you to..."

Before she could finish, a light blue figure appeared silently behind them. A voice drifted over, "Ha, Sister, you really break my heart with this."

The remark startled the guilt-ridden Shui Bing'er, who shuddered before turning around abruptly.

She found Shui Yue'er with her hands balled into little fists, her spirited eyes glaring at her in indignation!

"Y, Yue'er, why are you here? Didn't you already leave..." Shui Bing'er stood up, quickly feigning composure with a laugh.

"If I hadn't come back, how would I have known about the good deed you were doing!"

Shui Yue'er wrinkled her nose, clearly dissatisfied with Shui Bing'er. "I begged you for so long and you wouldn't give it to me, but now that little Jiuxuan is here, you're willing to give it to him!"

As she spoke, Shui Yue'er glanced at Li Jiuxuan.

This made Li Jiuxuan feel quite embarrassed, and he quietly shrank behind Shui Bing'er.

Shui Bing'er felt a bit awkward, but she comforted her, "Alright, Yue'er, don't be angry. I'll buy you another one at the auction house later!"

In truth, this type of Small Treasure Pouch that couldn't store living things wasn't a rare treasure; Shui Yue'er only wanted the one in Li Jiuxuan's hand because she thought it looked nice.

However, Shui Bing'er hadn't had any extra storage tools on hand at the time, so she hadn't given one to Shui Yue'er immediately.

"Hmph, you have to bid for the prettiest one for me, otherwise I won't forgive you!" Shui Yue'er put her hands on her hips, reluctantly accepting the deal.

"Yes, the prettiest one!" Shui Bing'er promised.

Shui Yue'er was straightforward; her little temper came and went quickly, and she held no grudges. She walked up to Li Jiuxuan and began playfully rubbing his cheeks again. "Little Jiuxuan, you're already level ten. Tomorrow, Sister will accompany you to hunt a soul beast and help you obtain your first soul ring, okay?"

Li Jiuxuan felt his cheeks burning from her touch. He was a bit dazed, blinking his bright eyes at her.

She wanted to help him get a soul ring?

"Yes, that is what I was about to say. Although you just awakened your martial soul, you have Innate Full Soul Power and can go obtain a soul ring immediately. Tomorrow, Yue'er and I will take you to the Frozen Forest. It is full of ice-attribute soul beasts, which are perfect for your Ice Dragon King martial soul," Shui Bing'er added.

Li Jiuxuan nodded. This was for the best; hunting soul beasts for a ring was difficult to do alone, so having help was ideal.

"I will be ready!"

At night, the stars were sparse and the sky was as dark as ink.

Li Jiuxuan sat quietly on the bank of the Calm Heart Lake, his hands resting steadily on his knees. With his eyes closed, he focused his mind and entered deep meditation.

A wisp of extremely pure ice-attribute soul power slowly rose within him. A bone-chilling cold spread silently outward, and within moments, the calm surface of the lake within a hundred-meter radius froze over at a visible speed. The ice layer thickened continuously, shimmering with a cold, sharp luster.

He hadn't even released his martial soul; this was merely the natural dissipation of his soul power.

"The Ice Dragon King martial soul is the Ultimate Ice attribute, the king of all ice."

Li Jiuxuan whispered to himself. The cold air emitted by ordinary ice-type soul masters rarely exceeded minus one hundred degrees.

But the Ultimate Ice within his body, tempered by his innate constitution, could push the temperature limit to nearly minus two hundred degrees!

Furthermore, he faintly sensed that there was no upper limit to the tempering provided by the Ice Dragon King's ultimate cold.

Once he grew stronger, he would certainly be able to break past minus two hundred degrees!

If he mastered his cultivation, he might even reach absolute zero! That was the ultimate low temperature of -273°C!

Unlike high temperatures, every degree dropped in sub-zero temperatures represented a world-shaking change.

If absolute zero is reached, that is the lower limit of temperature, the most extreme cold domain, where all things will freeze, completely unable to move, objects will have no heat, energy, and matter will enter an extremely strange state!

Everything in the world can be completely frozen!

Soul power surged ceaselessly through his meridians, and a chilling aura overflowed from every pore. With a slight movement of Li Jiuxuan's mind, the cold air around him condensed abruptly, and ice blades, long swords, and cold spears instantly formed in the void, circling him.

Even without relying on any soul skills, he could perform small-scale instant kills or launch large-scale cold current coverage attacks merely by controlling ice to take shape with his will.

Combined with his innate cold air restriction field, Li Jiuxuan's combat power at this moment was no less than that of some first-ring soul masters.

Afterward, Li Jiuxuan slowly stood up and walked to the lake to test his physical strength.

He took a deep breath, and the soul power within his body surged into his right arm, his muscle lines tensing slightly.

The next moment, he grabbed a massive rock weighing at least a thousand pounds on the shore with one hand, and with a slight lift of his wrist, he easily held the boulder above his head as if picking up a blade of grass!

The strength in his arm was as steady as a mountain, and his physique was far more robust than that of soul warriors of the same rank!

A punch delivered with just this physical strength, if it landed solidly, could easily kill soul warriors of his level.

Moreover, judging from the precision and speed with which he manipulated ice just now, his mental power also far surpassed ordinary people, and with a single thought, he could summon large swathes of cold currents, with the reaction time from thought to action being only a matter of milliseconds.

Ordinary mental attacks caused by charm or seduction likely wouldn't even be able to shake his mind.