Above All Else-Ultimate Violence

"Blah, blah, blah... I can't understand a word you're saying."

Xu Qing pursed his lips, laced his hands behind his head, and looked up at the gray-white sky over the Far North.

"How about giving me some of the control? She has no strength right now. If you unseal some of her cultivation, it'll make things more convenient for me."

"Her strength is enough to rival a Level 98 Titled Douluo. After you give me the secret technique, I'll have a sparring partner whose strength I can adjust whenever I want."

"If we run into danger and I don't have time to call you, she can step in and hold them off, too."

One in front and one behind, they trudged through knee-deep snow toward the Titan Snow Demon's lair.

The Blizzard automatically parted three feet from them, not a single snowflake touching either of them.

Soon, they reached their destination: the Titan Snow Demon's cave entrance.

Xu Qing began using Ring Fusion to create Mystic Ice Marrow, hoping to lure the greedy Titan Snow Demon into reincarnating and cultivating anew.

Du Busi broke the tranquil silence.

"Disciple... you'd better only be planning to have her spar with you."

Du Busi raised his right hand. Dark green Soul Power gathered in his palm as his spiritual power traced intricate patterns through the air.

In just a few breaths, a small seal took shape, hovering at his fingertips.

"I'm giving you thirty percent control over that scorpion I sealed. Don't complain about your master in your heart."

Whoosh—!

Du Busi flicked a finger. The seal sank into Xu Qing's brow, passed through his Sea of Consciousness, and came to a steady halt in front of Elder Yi.

This novel little thing stirred a hint of curiosity in Elder Yi.

After spending two months immersed in the sea of tedious Soul Tool knowledge, the old man decided it was time for a change of pace.

"Hee-hee, how could I ever blame you, Master?!"

Xu Qing changed his tune faster than a page could turn. After forming a head-sized piece of Mystic Ice Marrow, he tossed it to the ground.

Then he swiftly moved behind Du Busi and eagerly began pounding his shoulders and back.

His force was enough to crush a hydraulic press with one hand.

"Mm..."

Du Busi wore a look of utter enjoyment. Though Xu Qing's massage wasn't all that strong, the thoughtfulness warmed his heart.

"Not bad! You've got a good heart, kid!"

"Roar—!!"

A low growl filled with delight came from deep inside the cave.

The ground began to tremble faintly.

A massive Titan Snow Demon poked its head out of the darkness. It was over ten meters long, with snow-white, needle-like fur.

Its exposed blue-gray skin was covered in thick plates of ice, and two curved tusks jutted from either side of its mouth like a pair of scimitars.

Its murky blue eyes were fixed on the Mystic Ice Marrow on the ground, greedy blue light reflected in its pupils.

Judging by the aura it gave off, this was a terrifying beast with eighty thousand years of cultivation!

That was the age ordinary Soul Masters would choose for their eighth or ninth Soul Ring!

Though Du Busi knew Xu Qing's physical constitution was beyond reason, jumping from a thirty-four-thousand-eight-hundred-year fourth Soul Ring straight to eighty thousand years...

"Relax. I'm not planning to absorb an eighty-thousand-year Titan Snow Demon. I'm not stupid."

Xu Qing saw Du Busi's worry and spoke up to set his mind at ease.

Hearing that, Du Busi relaxed.

"That'd be a waste of a Soul Ring slot. After all the preparations I've made these past two months, I can't just absorb an eighty-thousand-year Soul Beast. Heh heh heh..."

Xu Qing stared fervently at the Titan Snow Demon as it devoured the Mystic Ice Marrow.

"I'm going to use the properties of your Mystic Ice Marrow Martial Soul to help you break through to a hundred thousand years, then have the old man help you withstand the Heaven's Tribulation! After that, you'll sacrifice yourself to me as a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast!!"

"What did you say?!"

Du Busi was furious!

The two had been speaking inside a Soul Power barrier created by Du Busi,

so they hadn't attracted any attention from outside. The Titan Snow Demon, whose intelligence was no less than a human's, had its mind completely consumed by this astonishing delicacy!

That was why it couldn't even think about what was happening or where this peerless delicacy had come from!

Had a pie fallen from the sky?!

It licked and licked, but soon realized that wasn't enough. So it simply opened its gaping maw and swallowed the whole thing in one bite!

"Gulp—"

Almost the instant the Mystic Ice Marrow entered its belly, the incomparably pure ice-attribute energy burst through its body like a bomb!

The energy swept through its meridians like a dam bursting, surging straight toward its brain!!

"Ohohoho—!!!"

The Titan Snow Demon threw its head back and roared. Thick white steam poured from its entire body!

"Roar... more...!!"

It actually managed to form clear syllables!

The pleasure, spreading from the soles of its feet all the way to its brain, made it pound its chest and stomp its feet uncontrollably, trying to vent the restlessness of that ultimate sensation!

But it was no use!!

This was the enhanced Mystic Ice Marrow Xu Qing had prepared especially for intelligent Soul Beasts!!

As for what he'd added... that was a secret.

It began pounding the ground wildly, beating the snow until it was as solid as ice.

Then it started swinging its fists about, blindly swallowing snow flecked with a trace of Mystic Ice Marrow.

But that was no better than adding fuel to the fire!

It was like someone who'd made up their mind to quit smoking, managed to hold out for ten days or half a month, and was suddenly allowed one puff—only to have the cigarette thrown into the toilet and the flush pulled right in front of them.

The Titan Snow Demon was driven mad.

"Roar, roar, roar—!!!"

"Master, I have my own path to walk. Trust me. I'll win."

Xu Qing stepped out of Du Busi's Soul Power barrier, exposing his aura without restraint to the frenzied Titan Snow Demon.

The moment that supreme aura, far above its own station, was revealed,

it was like tons of ice water crashing into a gigantic wok full of boiling oil!

The Titan Snow Demon's murky blue eyes instantly turned bloodshot!

Its eyes went scarlet! Its breathing grew as rough as a bull's!

It—

had gone berserk.

This crazed Soul Beast would stop at nothing to destroy the human who had provoked it!!!

"Kill... kill, kill!!!"

The syllables it uttered grew clearer and clearer. By the end, they boomed like drums and thunder!!

Deafening!!

The Titan Snow Demon suddenly sank low and plunged both palms into the ground!

"Boom—!!!"

The earth shook violently!

Within a hundred meters of it, the ground split apart inch by inch, and countless enormous ice spikes blasted up from below!

One, ten, fifty, over a hundred!!

Each was over ten meters long, its tip as sharp as a spear. Their entire lengths were a deep blue, catching the faint sunlight and reflecting the sheen of death.

They burst from the ground and surged in from every direction, blotting out the sky and burying the earth!!

Like an entire forest had toppled down from the heavens.

And every spearpoint was aimed at Xu Qing alone!!

"Heh heh heh... hahahahaha!!!"

Such pressure as he'd never experienced before! Such a vivid feeling that made his heart pound wildly!!

"Boom—!"

Ultimate strength poured out!!

Every ice spike in the path of his fists shattered, turning to dust!

The ice burst with a force enough to shatter eardrums, its clattering ringing across the entire battlefield!

Heh...

If strength existed as an attribute,

then Xu Qing's Second Martial Soul would surely be something that stood above all else—

Ultimate Violence.