"Crack... crack..."
A faint sound of ice splitting rang out around her. Starting from where she stood, a layer of crystalline frost rapidly spread across the ground. Moisture in the air condensed of its own accord into tiny ice crystals, swirling around her.
Behind her, the Ice Phoenix's phantom raised its head and let out a long cry. The already noble and beautiful Ice Phoenix now had even more slender, magnificent wings, while its tail feathers trailed dreamy streams of icy-blue light.
Its entire body was crystalline and translucent, as if carved from the finest ice. The chill it radiated even forced back some of the heat from the Blazing Yang Spring just a stone's throw away!
A peerless Ice Phoenix! Evolution complete!
Shui Bing'er's long eyelashes quivered as she slowly opened her eyes. Her icy-blue pupils now seemed to hold glaciers that had remained frozen for ten thousand years, yet also reflected the stars. They were deeper and colder than before, but more brilliant too.
Feeling the powerful Soul Power surging through her body, and the unprecedented sense of completeness and strength conveyed by her Martial Soul, even her usually cool face could not help but reveal a look of stunned disbelief.
Her Soul Power had been at level twenty-five. Tempered by the ice and fire of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower, it had surged forward like a bamboo splitting in a storm, charging straight to the threshold of level thirty!
And she could feel that her Soul Power was incredibly condensed, her foundation terrifyingly solid. It even seemed to be on the verge of rising further. Once she obtained her third Soul Ring, she would make an even greater leap!
All of this... was because of him.
Shui Bing'er's gaze turned involuntarily toward the small figure nearby, still sitting with his eyes closed, his little face faintly flushed from the impact of the medicinal power. Ning Xiaochun.
The boy who had said, "Sister Bing'er, if you don't get stronger, how will you protect me in the future?" The boy who seemed like a coward, afraid of death.
Yet at a crucial moment, he could display astonishing wisdom and courage. He had given her an Immortal Herb so precious it could change her fate, without a moment's hesitation.
Protect him?
Shui Bing'er's frozen heart seemed to have been struck by a blazing stone. Beneath the ice, a warm current quietly stirred. This promise...
It was no longer merely a responsibility brought on by a marriage pact. It now carried a complicated feeling she herself had yet to fully understand.
She gently clenched her fist, feeling the icy Soul Power flowing at her fingertips, several times stronger than before. I'll grow stronger, strong enough to face any danger.
Then... I'll protect you, Yue'er, and... everything I hold dear.
At last, everyone's eyes settled on Ning Xiaochun.
He had been absorbing the herbs the longest, and the fluctuations of Soul Power around him were also the strangest.
One moment, auspicious seven-colored light flowed around him; the next, a dark, ominous aura spread. The two forces appeared in turn, sometimes clashing, sometimes blending, and seemed extremely unstable.
Just as everyone began to grow worried, Ning Xiaochun's body suddenly shuddered!
Hum—!
Seven-colored radiance shot up from his left palm. The phantom of a glazed pagoda appeared of its own accord, spinning rapidly. Under the astonished gaze of everyone present,
the pagoda, which had originally possessed only seven tiers, shimmered with flowing light. At its very top, the phantom of a new glazed-brick tier began to form, bit by bit, with difficulty yet unshakably determined.
One tier! Then another!
As the light slowly faded, a crystalline, nine-tiered glazed pagoda, dazzling and breathtakingly beautiful, hung quietly above Ning Xiaochun's left palm! Auspicious energy filled the air, as if it could bless all creation!
The Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda! Evolution successful!
Before everyone could recover from the shock, a dark light burst from Ning Xiaochun's right palm as well!
The phantom of a deep, shadowy glazed pagoda appeared. Purple, gray, and dark-red light surged wildly across its body, radiating an unsettling aura of decay and ill omen.
Just like the other pagoda, this dark tower had originally possessed seven tiers. Now the phantom of a new tier began to form at its top. The process seemed even more difficult than it had for the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda. The dim light flickered unsteadily, as if resisting, yet also yearning for it.
At last, with an inaudible chime, two new tiers took shape!
Nine tiers! The Seven Killings Glazed Pagoda had likewise evolved into a nine-tiered pagoda!
The tower's body had grown even more profound, its dim light contained within. Yet the unsettling "killing" aura seemed to have settled, becoming denser and more terrifying. Just one more glance seemed enough to strip away some of a person's fortune!
Twin Martial Souls, evolved at the same time! The Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda had evolved into the Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda! The Seven Killings Glazed Pagoda had evolved into the Nine Killings Glazed Pagoda!
The instant the Martial Soul evolutions were complete, the Soul Power around Ning Xiaochun erupted like a volcano long held back!
His Soul Power had originally been at level twelve. Now, spurred by both the Immortal Herbs' effects and his Martial Soul evolution, it surged wildly!
Level thirteen, fourteen, fifteen... it advanced like a bamboo splitting in a storm, without the slightest hitch!
At last, under the dumbfounded gazes of everyone present, it stopped just short of the threshold of level twenty! With just one Soul Ring, he would become a Soul Grandmaster!
Ning Xiaochun slowly breathed out a mouthful of stale air. His breath seemed to shimmer with a strange glow, seven-colored light intertwined with darkness. His long eyelashes quivered, then he opened his eyes.
The large eyes that had always shone with "caution" now seemed brighter and deeper. A flash of seven-colored light flickered in the depths of his left pupil, while a streak of darkness passed through his right.
He looked down at the Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda in his left hand, beautiful enough to take one's breath away, then at the Nine Killings Glazed Pagoda in his right, so deep it made one's heart tremble. His little face was blank at first, then filled with overwhelming delight and a dawning realization of just as I thought.
"Level twenty... nine tiers..." he murmured. Then he abruptly looked up at his father, Ning Fengzhi, who was gazing at him with excitement and relief.
"N-nine tiers..." Bone Douluo Gu Rong was the first to recover from his shock. His hoarse voice trembled with disbelief as he pointed at the glazed pagoda in Ning Xiaochun's left hand.
"It really has nine tiers! The Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda—no, the Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda! The legend was true! The generations of aspirations of our sect..."
Sword Douluo Chen Xin still stood straight as a sword, but his eyes, usually as sharp as a hawk's, now shone with excitement and relief.
He gazed at Ning Xiaochun, as if seeing an unprecedentedly glorious future for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Twin Martial Souls, evolving at the same time... an unprecedented miracle!"
Dugu Bo drew in a sharp breath, his dark-green pupils contracting.
He was a pure Power Attack System Titled Douluo and did not know the Support System as well as some, but he could clearly feel the energy fluctuations radiating from the two evolved pagodas.
Whether it was the auspicious enhancement or the baleful weakening, both were several times stronger than before! These were strategic-level Martial Souls practically made for the battlefield!
As long as the boy didn't die young, he would definitely grow strong enough to make the entire continent look upon him with awe!
Ning Fengzhi said nothing. He simply gazed, almost greedily, at the two pagodas in his son's palms.
His breathing quickened slightly. His refined face flushed with excitement, and his eyes even grew warm.
Before you continue