After meditating for an hour, Murong Ci slowly opened his eyes and secretly studied Huo Wu before him.
[Still sneaking looks? Get a grip. We've got a powerful enemy.] The system spoke, sounding exasperated with him.
Murong Ci shook his head and gathered his thoughts, waiting quietly for Huo Wu to wake up.
Huo Wu opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Murong Ci staring at her with his eyes wide open.
"You... what are you looking at?" Huo Wu turned away in embarrassment and annoyance.
"You're beautiful." Murong Ci tilted his head, his eyes full of adoration.
"Be quiet! Let's go."
Huo Wu stopped paying him any attention and headed toward the Fire Lotus Secret Cave.
Murong Ci trotted after her like a little kid trailing his big sister.
At the end of the path through the magma was a narrow passage. Once they passed through it, the space opened up before them.
The magma there was more than just magma; it also contained liquid Soul Power that had condensed into spiritual fluid.
Within five meters of the lotus's center, there was only spiritual fluid and no magma. But the temperature was already scorching, and the fluid contained Ultimate Fire.
"Seriously, where did you find a place this incredible? The Soul Power has even condensed into liquid."
Murong Ci wiped his sweat. His face had flushed red from the heat.
Huo Wu, on the other hand, was already drenched in sweat.
Murong Ci had released Yongzhen, surrounding himself with ice-attribute Soul Power to form a field of frost.
Seeing this, Huo Wu let out a little squeak and squeezed into it with him.
"Um... well, I'm hot. Let me borrow some of your cool."
Murong Ci didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Just as the two of them were about to pick the Geocentric Fire Lotus...
Boom!
A giant serpent, five meters long and bright red, burst out of the magma.
"That's a Geocentric Fire Python, the most common kind of snake Soul Beast in the fire cave. But why is this one so huge? Ordinary Fire Pythons are only one or two meters long. This one's almost twice that."
[Warning! Geocentric Fire Python, three thousand two hundred years old. It poses a threat to the host as he is now. But it's also a good chance to coordinate with Huo Wu.]
"This is a three-thousand-year-old Soul Beast. Be careful, Sis Huo."
Murong Ci called out to Huo Wu beside him, then attacked.
Yongzhen gathered in his hand and formed a ball of ice, which he hurled at the Fire Python.
Its attribute was countered! And Ultimate Ice against fire doubled the effect!
The Fire Python cried out in pain, then spat a crimson pillar of flame from its mouth. Its quality far surpassed Huo Wu's fireball technique.
Huo Wu wasn't about to be outdone. The moment Murong Ci struck, Fire Shadow had already teleported behind the Fire Python.
Her second Soul Skill, Flame Fireball, activated. Countless high-temperature fireballs rained down on the giant serpent's back.
Enraged, the Fire Python lashed out with its tail and sent Huo Wu flying.
Murong Ci reacted in the nick of time. With a turn of his wrist, he caught Huo Wu in his arms before she could crash into the wall.
"Beast, you're asking for death!"
Murong Ci roared. The purple Soul Ring on his body flashed, and the phantom of an Ice Jade Scorpion appeared behind him, looking down at the Fire Python with scorn.
Then Murong Ci thrust out an Ice Scorpion Pincer, aiming straight for the Fire Python's weak spot beneath its head.
Boom!
An explosion rang out, and the Fire Python's weak spot was severed cleanly, its body cut in two.
"Domain: Ice-Fire Polar Domain!"
In an instant, ice and fire blended and alternated across a ten-meter radius centered on Murong Ci. The sight was terrifying.
The wounded Fire Python howled in fury and shot a pillar of flame from its mouth, hotter than before.
Murong Ci raised his pincer to block. The clash of scorching heat and ice sent steam billowing across the cavern.
"The game's over! Blend—Ice-Fire Tornado!"
As he spoke, red and blue light flared from Yongzhen.
Two enormous tornadoes formed from the red and blue light. One swept up a storm of fiery meteors, while the other whirled with ice crystals. Both the fiery meteors and the ice crystals were razor-sharp as they rushed to slaughter the Fire Python.
"Merge! Tear it apart!"
The two tornadoes fused. Empowered by the ice and snow in the Ice-Fire Polar Domain, they shredded the Fire Python inch by inch.
"It's not over yet. Lotus—explode!"
In an instant, a lotus formed at the center of each tornado, one for each attribute. The blossoms unfolded layer by layer, then their petals burst apart.
The two explosions stacked together, leaving the Fire Python dead without a body left intact.
A crystalline purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring slowly rose into the air.
Only then did Murong Ci realize that Huo Wu was clinging tightly to him in his arms.
When Huo Wu noticed him looking at her, she pouted. "You fought way too fiercely. And why are you holding me?"
"Weren't you the one clinging to me and refusing to let go?"
"I don't care. Put me down."
Murong Ci had no choice but to set her down, then walked toward the Soul Ring.
"You haven't reached level thirty yet, have you? This Soul Ring is no use to either of us."
Huo Wu asked, sounding somewhat reluctant. After all, it was a three-thousand-year-old Soul Beast!
[You can absorb it. Each attribute can only occupy one Soul Ring slot, but that doesn't mean you can't absorb it more than once. In other words, you can attach this Soul Ring to your First Soul Ring. Its original four hundred years of cultivation will then increase to three thousand six hundred years.]
"Holy crap, that's insane."
Murong Ci couldn't help swearing, but it was good news. He sat cross-legged and released Yongzhen, while the Thousand-Year Soul Ring flew toward Yongzhen's First Soul Ring. The First Soul Ring slowly pulsed as the two merged...
"Wait, you... what are you, exactly? Soul Ring fusion?!"
Huo Wu stared in shock, her pupils contracting. What she was seeing was beyond anything the Soul Master World could imagine. Two Soul Rings could fuse? If someone hunted Soul Beasts like crazy, could they make their First Soul Ring last a hundred thousand years? It was unthinkable!
Huo Wu figured she wouldn't be able to make sense of it on her own, so she decided to ask Murong Ci once he woke up.
After absorbing it for about an hour, Murong Ci stood up. Two purple Soul Rings pulsed slowly around him.
His Sea of Consciousness now held not only the Ice Jade Scorpion, but also the Fire Python.
But the Fire Python seemed terrified of the Ice Jade Scorpion and had submitted to it...
More importantly, Murong Ci's fire had evolved into Ultimate Fire. He now possessed both ice and fire as innate attributes.
"Murong Ci, what was that Soul Ring fusion? Explain yourself!"
Huo Wu demanded, though her tone lacked any real force.
"It's a special ability of my Martial Soul. My Martial Soul is called Yongzhen. It fuses all things, so naturally it can absorb Soul Rings to increase its level. My First Soul Ring is now three thousand six hundred years old."
"So if you kill more Soul Beasts, could you make it last a hundred thousand years?"
"In theory, yes, but I won't do that."
"Why not? Don't you want to get stronger?"
"Because Soul Beasts are living beings too. When we hunt them, we should also consider how humans and Soul Beasts can coexist."
Murong Ci wasn't wrong. The root of the tragedy in the original Dou Three was the conflict between humans and Soul Beasts.
Huo Wu was taken aback. Humans hunting Soul Beasts was only natural. How could there be any talk of coexistence?
Huo Wu couldn't make sense of it, so she stopped thinking about it. She picked the Geocentric Fire Lotus.
"Sis Huo, this is for you. I don't need it."
Gratitude shone in Huo Wu's eyes. Her pretty face then flushed red, as if she had thought of something.
"What's wrong?"
Huo Wu hesitated for a long time.
"The way you absorb this lotus is very special. The person absorbing it has to hold it against their chest, while another person channels high-quality flames into it. That way, the lotus's power can be used to better effect."
"No wonder it takes two people. So what's the problem?"
"The two of us have to bathe together without our outer clothes on, then resonate and channel Soul Power."
"??? Take off our clothes?!"
"Just the outer clothes, so the Soul Power can enter the body. Of course, we'll keep our underclothes on... What are you thinking!"
"Oh, oh, nothing."
[The system has started a live broadcast of the gossip.]
"Get lost!" Murong Ci cursed at the system in his mind.
"Murong Ci... close your eyes!"
Before Murong Ci could react, he heard the soft rustle of clothes falling.
He turned around sharply, his heart pounding.
[Host's heart rate: 180.]
"Get lost!"
With a splash, Murong Ci heard Huo Wu enter the bath.
"Come down... and keep your eyes closed..."
Murong Ci steeled himself and jumped into the spiritual fluid. Then, underwater, he took off his clothes and tossed them ashore, where they landed in a heap beside Huo Wu's clothes.
Only their heads showed above the spiritual fluid. Under the surface, their palms pressed together as they channeled Soul Power.
Resonance! It was essential for absorbing the lotus. They had to resonate three times in all to fully absorb its medicinal power.
The first two resonances weren't too risky, but the third required far more Soul Power and mental strength.
"Relax. I understand now. As long as we keep holding hands, the resonance won't break." Murong Ci soothed Huo Wu.
But things didn't go as planned. Huo Wu's mental strength and the quality of her flames couldn't withstand the third channeling resonance of Ultimate Fire.
Her flames were faltering. They couldn't bear the strain, and her body began trembling.
Her arms began to move erratically too. "Don't move," Murong Ci warned.
"I can't. It's too hot, and the resonance frequency is too high."
Huo Wu's body had already begun to twist.
The resonance was about to break.
[Embracing can also create resonance. Don't hesitate. I'll help you.]
In an instant, Murong Ci's body grew mature and tall.
[I've drawn out a tiny bit of your potential. This is what you'll look like at eighteen. It doesn't count as me taking over; it's permitted by the system's underlying authority. So, what happens next is up to you.]
Damn it.
Murong Ci steeled himself and pulled Huo Wu close, holding her tightly.
His broad chest held Huo Wu fast, stopping her trembling, and the two continued to resonate.
Huo Wu had no time to think. She knew the most important thing now was to maintain the resonance and absorb the Fire Lotus's medicinal power.
So she held him tightly too.
They clung to each other, their breaths mingling, neither letting go; their Soul Power flowed together as well.
"Thump, thump..."
Their heartbeats echoed without end...