Still an Illiterate Scorpion?

A strange sensation made her narrow her eyes involuntarily.

She even let out a faint, purring snort.

Her other hand was propping up a thick, brown encyclopedia.

"Sigh... A-Tai's kin were killed after all. This Empress is useless; I couldn't beat them."

Slurp, slurp...

"A soul ring configuration exceeding the age limit... is this guy really just a powerless food-type soul master like he claims?"

"He must be trying to trick me."

Slurp, slurp...

"I will work hard to accumulate strength!"

Slurp, slurp...

"This is actually kind of tasty..."

Ice Empress, that gluttonous scorpion!

She devoured the rest of the Mystic Ice Marrow popsicle in large bites, feeling the soul power surging through the meridians in her body.

There was also that emerald-green soul core, tightly locked by golden threads, unable to move even a fraction.

"Sigh..."

This Empress's heaven-defying cultivation base!!

"Wait..."

"This is actually a good thing..."

This Empress was originally going to be forced to face lightning strikes in a few years. Without Xue'er's help, I hadn't dared to cultivate, and I hadn't even dared to eat.

I was terrified that if that energy were absorbed, my level would break through the four-hundred-thousand-year mark.

Now that this soul core is sealed, my cultivation level is forcibly locked at three hundred ninety-nine thousand eight hundred years.

This Empress has turned a misfortune into a blessing; I no longer have that precarious death warrant known as the Heavenly Tribulation hanging over my head.

"In that case, I just need to accumulate energy. Judging by that human's intentions, he plans to keep me indefinitely. Hmm... until he can withstand this Empress's power..."

"As expected, he's got his eyes on my soul ring!"

"Hmph! This Empress is not someone you can just push around!"

Ice Empress made a bold declaration, deciding to feign giving up the struggle to make the enemy lower his guard, all while slowly accumulating power.

Then, she would strike and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop!!

Perhaps I could just kidnap this human and make him keep producing ice marrow for me. Maybe I could pile up enough through sheer quantity.

Then wouldn't this Empress have enough pure ice-attribute essence to survive the Heavenly Tribulation!!

"Mm-hmm... forget it, thinking so much is useless. Let's read the book first and learn about human society."

"..."

"It seems this Empress is illiterate..."

"That's really quite stupid, don't you think, Elder Yi?"

Xu Qing was currently lying on the bed, with two figures floating in the air.

One was Elder Yi, and the other was his Silver Self.

One was chatting with him, while the other was helping Xu Qing absorb the big bug's life energy.

"Young friend, this is the first time the old man has seen a soul beast from this realm take human form. Hehehe... in my world, there existed magical beasts that could also transform into humans once their strength reached a certain level."

"Which soul beast is a magical beast?"

Elder Yi's expression remained unchanged.

After spending these days together, he had already adapted to Xu Qing's miraculous train of thought.

He had actually adapted!! Is this the power of a god-level remnant soul?

In contrast, Du Busi had been adapting for years and was still a step behind, occasionally having his composure shattered by the thunderous vocabulary popping out of Xu Qing's mouth.

"Let's not talk about that simple-minded scorpion for now. We'll deal with her once she understands the basics."

"Also, Elder Yi, you must have noticed it too, right? There's something wrong with this martial soul of mine."

Xu Qing crossed his legs, pointing his toes at the Silver Self martial soul hovering cross-legged in the air:

"Under his restriction, no matter how much I exceed the age limit when absorbing soul rings, the feedback soul power is completely sucked dry by him."

"Although a portion is used to improve my mental power, what about the rest? Tsk... what a gluttonous martial soul..."

"Don't you agree, Elder Yi?"

Why does it feel like his heart isn't in it...

Elder Yi stroked his beard, his originally dim golden eyes brightening as specks of golden light coalesced into a monocle before his pupils.

What had been absorbed over these past few days was, in reality, pure spiritual energy meant to alleviate the pressure on Xu Qing's spiritual sea.

It was being put to use right now.

It didn't take long, just a few breaths.

"I can't tell, little guy; this Martial Soul of yours is strange, strange, very strange indeed."

Elder Yi looked at the golden ring standing upright behind his head, then used his demigod-level divine sense to examine it closely.

He looked thoughtful.

That gold... is it a reflection?

"It seems to be gestating something... it should be a good thing."

"Isn't that just stating the obvious?"

Xu Qing's thoughts stirred, and his Self Martial Soul returned to the Martial Soul space, preparing to withdraw a wave of soul power in a moment.

"Elder Yi, what about that hypothesis I told you about? Are you confident?"

"It's a bit whimsical."

Elder Yi retorted irritably:

"You're asking this old man, who has only just regained consciousness less than half a month ago, and who knows absolutely nothing about the rules of this world, let alone the cultivation system, to be a mere remnant soul."

"Where am I supposed to conjure up that 'Spirit Soul Method' for you?"

"Aren't you making things difficult for this old man?"

"Sigh... if that's the case..."

Xu Qing seemed somewhat helpless as he slowly closed his eyes.

The next second!

Boom—!

Level forty-one!!

"So what if there is no Spirit Soul Method?"

He snapped his eyes open, revealing pupils that had turned a brilliant gold!

Boom—!

Level forty-two!!

"And so what if there is no soul ring to feed back cultivation!?"

Boom—!

Level forty-three!!

"I can still shoulder the burden of an ultimate Martial Soul and suppress all enemies!!"

Level forty-four!!

Terrifying! Truly terrifying!!

Yet Xu Qing remained indifferent, not feeling that there was anything wrong with this at all.

Soul power—isn't it something you can increase as much as you want?

"Little guy, you..."

Elder Yi wasn't even stroking his beard anymore.

He was muttering to himself.

He couldn't make heads or tails of it, he really couldn't...

How could he jump four levels just by closing and opening his eyes?

Are you playing me?

Who was it that said cultivation was slow and asked me to research secret techniques earlier?

"Elder Yi, why the long face?"

Xu Qing's expression didn't change as he exhaled a puff of scorching white steam, which passed through Elder Yi's body and struck the wooden wall behind him.

Hiss, hiss, hiss...

The temperature was so high that the wood carbonized the moment it made contact!

"It's just a small increase in level. To me, it's as easy as eating or drinking. As long as I want to, I can break through to become a Soul King with a single thought!!"

Phew... The Self is truly amazing; to think it could cultivate so much soul power in the background!!

I really couldn't help myself, had to withdraw it and enjoy the rush.

Heh heh heh, your life energy is truly useful.

Elder Yi was not intimidated as Xu Qing had expected.

Are you kidding me?

As the dignified Necromancer Saint Mage God who had slaughtered nearly a third of the population of the Holy Demon Continent, could he not see through Xu Qing's little attempt to show off?

Knock, knock, knock!

A knocking sound came from the door.

"My precious disciple, Master has something to discuss with you~"

Du Busi's distinct voice drifted into the room, accompanied by a tone he was trying, and failing, to make sound sweet.

Elder Yi was immediately repelled by this heaven-defying, rugged voice.

Xu Qing, however, remained calm and composed, not even bothering to get out of bed.

Little Yi still needs more practice.

Bang!

The door was kicked to pieces by the old man in one strike.

He really treated this place like his own home!

Just as he tried to approach, he was stopped by Xu Qing's outstretched hand.

"Hold on."