The wonderful sensation made her eyes narrow.
She even let out a very soft, rumbling purr.
Her other hand was holding up a thick, brown encyclopedia.
"Ugh... A-Tai's kin were still killed. This emperor is useless. I couldn't beat them."
Slurp, slurp...
"An over-the-limit Soul Ring Configuration... Is this guy really the food-type Soul Master he claims to be, someone who can't even truss a chicken?"
"Was he fooling me?"
Slurp, slurp...
"I'll work hard to build up my strength!"
Slurp, slurp...
"Getting pretty tasty..."
Ice Empress, you greedy scorpion!
She wolfed down the rest of the Mystic Ice Marrow Popsicle, feeling the Soul Power welling up in the meridians inside her body.
And there was that emerald-colored Soul Core, tightly bound by golden threads, unable to move a hair.
"Ugh..."
This emperor's cultivation had reached the heavens and penetrated the earth!!
"Wait..."
"This is a good thing..."
This emperor only had a few years left before she would be forced to face a Heavenly Tribulation. Without Xue'er's help, she had always been afraid to cultivate, and had even been afraid to eat.
She feared that if she absorbed that energy, her level would break through the four-hundred-thousand-year mark.
Now that the Soul Core was sealed, her cultivation level had been forcibly locked at three hundred and ninety-nine thousand eight hundred years.
This emperor had turned disaster into fortune. The perilous death warrant known as the Heavenly Tribulation was gone.
"Then all I need to do now is build up energy. From the looks of it, that human plans to keep raising me. Hmm... Once he can bear this emperor's power..."
"Just as I thought, he's got his eye on my Soul Ring!"
"Hmph! This emperor isn't someone you can push around!"
Ice Empress made a bold vow, deciding to pretend to give up struggling for now, so her enemy would let down his guard while she slowly built up her strength.
Then she would strike and defeat him in one fell swoop!!
Maybe she could kidnap this human and make him keep making ice marrow for her. Perhaps she could overcome the tribulation by piling up enough of it.
Wouldn't that give this emperor plenty of pure, ice-attribute primordial energy to survive the Heavenly Tribulation?!
"Mm-hmm... Never mind. There's no point thinking so far ahead. I'll read a book first and learn a bit about human society."
"..."
"This emperor seems to be illiterate..."
"That's really stupid, isn't it? What do you think, Elder Yi?"
Xu Qing was lying on the bed. Two figures floated in the air.
One was Elder Yi, while the other was his Self Martial Soul.
One was chatting with him, while the other was helping Xu Qing absorb the Big Bug's life energy.
"Little friend, this is the first time I've seen a Soul Beast from this world transform into human form. Heh heh... In my world, there were demonic beasts. Once they reached a certain level of strength, they could also take human form."
"What Soul Beast is a demonic beast?"
Elder Yi kept a straight face.
After spending these past few days together, he had grown accustomed to Xu Qing's peculiar way of thinking.
He'd actually gotten used to it!! Was this the strength of a divine-level remnant soul?
By contrast, Du Busi had been getting used to it for years, yet still lost by half a move, sometimes getting knocked off balance by the explosive words that sprang from Xu Qing's mouth.
"Let's not talk about that simple-minded scorpion. We'll deal with her after she learns some common sense."
"Also, Elder Yi, you've noticed something off about my Martial Soul too, right?"
Xu Qing crossed one leg over the other and pointed his toes at the Self Martial Soul sitting cross-legged in midair.
"With its restrictions in place, no matter how far beyond the limit the Soul Ring I absorb is, all the Soul Power it gives back gets swallowed up by it."
"Some of it goes toward improving my mental strength, but what about the rest? Tsk... What a greedy Martial Soul..."
"Wouldn't you say so, Elder Yi?"
Why did it feel like he wasn't really asking about that...
Elder Yi stroked his beard. His originally dim golden eyes brightened, and specks of gold gathered in front of his pupils, forming a tiny monocle.
The energy it had absorbed these past few days was actually pure spiritual power, easing the strain on Xu Qing's spiritual sea.
Now it was being put to use here.
It didn't take long, just a few breaths.
"I wouldn't have guessed it, little fellow. Your Martial Soul really is strange, strange, very strange."
Elder Yi looked at the golden ring standing upright behind its head, then examined it closely with his demigod-level spiritual sense.
He fell into thought.
That golden color... Was it reflecting light...?
"It seems to be nurturing something... It should be a good thing."
"Isn't that obvious?"
With a thought, Xu Qing sent his Self Martial Soul back into his Martial Soul Space, ready to cash in a round of Soul Power in a moment.
"Elder Yi, what do you think of that idea I told you about? Are you confident you can do it?"
"It's a bit too fanciful."
Elder Yi grumbled:
"You're asking an old man who only regained consciousness less than half a month ago, and who doesn't understand this world's rules at all, let alone its cultivation system..."
"How am I supposed to come up with that so-called 'Spirit Soul Method' for you?"
"You're making things difficult for me!"
"Ugh... If that's the case..."
Xu Qing seemed a little helpless. He slowly closed his eyes.
The next second!
Whoosh—!
Level forty-one!!
"So what if there's no Spirit Soul Method?"
He abruptly opened his eyes, revealing pupils that had turned brilliant gold!
Whoosh—!
Level forty-two!!
"So what if I can't get cultivation back from my Soul Rings?!"
Whoosh—!
Level forty-three!!
"I can still shoulder the burden of an Ultimate Martial Soul and suppress every enemy!!"
Level forty-four!!
How terrifying! How terrifying!!
Xu Qing, however, looked completely calm, as though there were nothing strange about it.
Wasn't Soul Power something you could raise as much as you wanted, whenever you wanted?
"Little fellow, you..."
Elder Yi had stopped stroking his beard entirely.
A question surfaced in his mind.
He couldn't make heads or tails of it, couldn't make heads or tails of it at all...
How had Xu Qing jumped four levels just by closing and opening his eyes?
Was he messing with him?
Who was it that had said cultivating was slow and asked him to research a secret method?
"Elder Yi, why are you making that face?"
Xu Qing remained expressionless as he exhaled a mouthful of scorching white breath. It passed through Elder Yi's body and struck the wooden wall behind him.
Hiss, hiss, hiss...
The heat was so intense that the wall carbonized the moment it was touched!
"It's only a few levels. For me, it's as easy as eating or drinking. If I want to, I can break through to Soul King with a single thought!!"
Phew... The Self Martial Soul was really doing its job. It had managed to cultivate this much Soul Power in the background!!
He really couldn't resist. He'd cash it in and enjoy himself first.
Heh heh heh, your life energy really is useful.
Elder Yi wasn't fooled the way Xu Qing had expected.
As if!
Could the Holy Necromancer, who had slaughtered nearly a third of the Holy Demon Continent's population, fail to see that Xu Qing was just showing off?
Knock, knock, knock!!
A knock came from the door.
"Big-treasure disciple, your master has a little something he wants to discuss with you~"
Du Busi's distinctive voice, from a throat that tried to sound sweet but couldn't quite manage it, rang into the room.
Elder Yi was driven back by that shockingly gruff voice.
Xu Qing, meanwhile, remained calm and didn't even get out of bed.
Little Yi still had a lot to learn.
Bang!
The old fellow kicked the door to pieces.
He really was treating this place like his own home!!
Just as he was about to approach, Xu Qing stopped him with an outstretched hand.
"Hold on."
Before you continue