Grabbed in an Instant, Refined in a Flash!

Xu Qing swallowed the walnut-sized piece of Mystic Ice Marrow.

A cold current flowed from his mouth into his stomach, then rapidly spread, surging along his meridians to every corner of his body.

Boom!

His total Soul Power Level surged twofold in an instant!

"Hiss... that feels a bit bloated."

Xu Qing stood up and attempted to use all of his Soul Power to condense the Mystic Ice Marrow. After all, this stuff could be stored; if he made it ahead of time, he could take it whenever he needed. No, wait...

It seemed he didn't need to take it out at all. The Mystic Ice Marrow could be integrated into the Sea of Consciousness, so why was he taking it orally?

Wouldn't it be more convenient to digest it directly with his spirit, and wouldn't the effects be more rapid?

Suddenly enlightened, Xu Qing began to work with fervor, acting like a master of stir-fried ice.

A steady stream of walnut-shaped ice marrow and popsicle-shaped ice marrow was produced.

The consumed Soul Power was replenished by Xu Qing's own incredibly fast recovery rate; he simply couldn't run out!!

What if the duration of the effect passed?

Well, let me ask you, couldn't you just eat another piece?

The "cannot be reused" note in the soul skill information only specifically referred to not being able to reuse it within one minute.

After it ended, couldn't he just seamlessly connect to the next piece of ice marrow?

He wasn't relying on using a soul skill for the boost; he was gaining the boost by eating the ice marrow.

Clatter, clatter...

After a while.

Countless pieces of Mystic Ice Marrow piled up into a small mountain in front of Xu Qing, about half the height of Ice Empress.

There were nearly several hundred pieces.

"That's enough... The previous ice marrow only relied on the elemental energy it held to forcibly push my Soul Power Level. I still need to use Ring Fusion to create it on the spot for that."

Xu Qing waved his hand, and the small mountain on the ground was stored into his Sea of Consciousness.

It was truly interesting to say that as his spiritual power increased, Xu Qing's unique Sea of Consciousness seemed capable of storing some external items.

Of course, for now, it could only store small objects like clothes or socks.

As for the ice marrow, since it was originally generated by the combination of Xu Qing's Soul Power and spiritual power, it had always been able to be placed in the Sea of Consciousness.

"As for the second piece..."

Xu Qing's gaze fell upon the popsicle-shaped ice marrow in his hand. He examined it up and down for a moment before taking a bite.

BOOM!

It felt as if his entire body had been stuffed into a freezing ice cave, yet he didn't feel any cold at all.

Immediately after, his heartbeat began to accelerate: thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump...

His field of vision began to expand, and everything before his eyes started to slow down.

Elder Yi's motion of stroking his beard, the look of contemplation as he studied the Mystic Ice Marrow.

The tiny dust motes drifting in the air, the Skeleton Soldiers wandering aimlessly in the distance, the Soul Fire flickering in their eye sockets, the Skeleton Horse Knight patrolling on the hillside...

It was as if someone had pressed the slow-motion button on the world.

Whoosh!

"Haa... haa... haa, what was that..."

Xu Qing gasped for air. The scene he had just witnessed played back in his mind with absolute clarity.

Even though he was only observing with his naked eyes, he possessed the same capabilities he usually had when probing with spiritual power, and it seemed...

Before Elder Yi could ask, Xu Qing began to focus his mind again, attempting to enter that mysterious and profound state once more.

Boom!

The world slowed down again.

"Heh, hahaha... I understand now. By accelerating my thinking, concentrating my spirit, expanding my field of vision, and optimizing my reactions, among a series of other states,"

"I am accelerating myself to achieve a slow-motion effect. Hehehe..."

Boom...

The Silver Self appeared abruptly! A more powerful sense of bodily control surged from the depths of his being!

Time was even slower.

No... it was that I had become faster.

Xu Qing exhaled slowly. The Silver Self returned to the Martial Soul Space, continuing to diligently refine his Soul Power.

However, this time, the speed of refinement was significantly faster than before.

"Little one, it seems you have done something quite extraordinary..."

Elder Yi naturally sensed the gazes that had swept over him several times in that incredibly brief span of time.

Yet, as far as he could see, Xu Qing remained in that same state, showing no changes whatsoever.

But when he subconsciously called out with his divine sense, he was astonished to discover that Xu Qing was moving at an incredibly high speed.

Xu Qing's movements had already exceeded the limits of what the human eye could perceive.

Even he, if he did not use his divine sense and relied only on the eyes of this body condensed from spiritual power, could not see clearly.

However, he could perceive it through intuition.

"Elder Yi, just now, I transcended the Self and reached a realm I have never known before..."

Xu Qing's state of mind was clear and empty, his thoughts contemplating himself in a direction he had never explored.

"The so-called Martial Soul is merely an extension of the Willpower, another form of power."

"Hoo... perhaps you cannot understand my current state, but that is fine..."

"Hold it right there."

Elder Yi sensed that something was wrong with Xu Qing.

Why did this kid sound exactly like that great sage who left such a deep impression on him during his travels across many worlds?

Did he enter Sage Mode after consuming the Mystic Ice Marrow??

Xu Qing's gaze was as calm as an ancient well as he grabbed the strongest piece of Mystic Ice Marrow obtained from Ring Fusion, which was suspended in mid-air.

His silver-white palm was wrapped in ice-blue Soul Power.

After consuming this Mystic Ice Marrow, Xu Qing seemed capable of using both Martial Souls simultaneously.

"Now, while using my second Martial Soul, Self, I can freely call upon the first soul ring of the Mystic Ice Marrow."

His eyes flickered with deep blue.

"Beyond that, it seems as if something is blocking me. But having taken the first step, there will be a second, and a third."

"Elder Yi, protect me. I want to take advantage of this current state to absorb this Mystic Ice Marrow."

As his voice fell, a point of golden light drifted toward the center of Xu Qing's brow, helping him stabilize his spirit.

Following that, Xu Qing crushed the Mystic Ice Marrow, his spiritual power wrapping around the fragments and pulling them into his Sea of Consciousness!

"BOOM--!!"

Refined in an instant!!

An immense, indescribable amount of ice-attribute elemental energy flowed from his Sea of Consciousness into every part of his body!

They crashed recklessly against his indestructible meridians!

They brought an unspeakable, extreme cold to every part of his body!

Yet, there was no pain; they radiated their power in an orderly fashion, finally returning to his Lower Dantian, where they came to a halt right in the center.

By this time, it had exhausted nearly all of its elemental energy, leaving behind only a single blue speck of light that appeared solid.

However, this speck, emitting a faint blue glow, stood firm like a boulder, neither being absorbed nor shaken by the surging Soul Power within the Dantian!

Instead, it began to autonomously absorb that Soul Power, solidifying itself!

In the outside world.

The second the Mystic Ice Marrow entered his Sea of Consciousness, Xu Qing's body erupted in a mist of blood.

He felt as if a wild, arrogant beast had been forcibly shoved into his body; his meridians were being forcibly expanded, and his muscles groaned in agony.

"BOOM--!!"

An invisible wave of air surged forth, blasting away all the surrounding rubble and dust.

His Soul Power Level advanced once more! Level Fifty-five!

Xu Qing let out a muffled groan as his spiritual power began to guide that massive elemental energy within his body.

He wanted to seize this opportunity to attempt the path of condensing a Soul Core.