[Mystic Yellow · Water Controller], Sovereign of the Water Element!

Mystic Yellow Gilded Gold spread across the ground at the bottom of the ice cavern, while the Spirit Ring, radiating an ancient, boundless aura, quietly hovered beneath Xiao Yan's feet.

As the Spirit Ring revolved, an obscure yet profound message that pointed directly toward the Great Dao was imprinted into Xiao Yan's sea of consciousness through the spiritual bridge.

Xiao Yan closed his eyes and carefully sorted through the newly received true meaning of the laws in his mind.

This was not a Soul Skill in the conventional sense of Douluo Continent, one that provided a specific offensive or defensive method. It was an authority over laws that touched upon the very origin of the world.

The Eastern Emperor Bell suppressed Primordial Chaos, fixed earth, water, fire, and wind, and stabilized the world.

This Mystic Yellow Spirit Ring, born from Snow Empress's seven-hundred-thousand-year origin energy, had awakened the Eastern Emperor Bell's authority over "water."

This Soul Skill was named [Mystic Yellow · Water Controller].

Its core effect was simple to understand, yet utterly overbearing—it granted supreme control over all derivative forms of the water element, including liquid water and solid ice and snow.

Before this authority, any water-attribute or ice-attribute Martial Soul or Soul Skill used against Xiao Yan would turn against its wielder the instant it approached him, completely losing its threat and becoming his to command.

Even Ultimate Ice, revered across Douluo Continent as the ultimate standard, could only obediently bow under the origin suppression of [Mystic Yellow · Water Controller].

What was even more terrifying was that this authority had already fused into Xiao Yan's body. He did not need to deliberately circulate Soul Power or activate this Mystic Yellow Spirit Ring to use it.

It was like an instinct Xiao Yan had been born with. Wherever his will reached, all waters obeyed.

Electrolux paced twice around the Eastern Emperor Bell, carefully examining the divine inscriptions on its surface, which faintly flowed with an azure radiance.

The Holy Necromancer, weathered by countless years, stopped in his tracks, clapped his hands together, and let out a hearty laugh.

"What a blessing!" Electrolux looked at Xiao Yan, whose spiritual consciousness had re-formed within his sea of consciousness, his eyes full of admiration.

"Little Yan, do you understand where the true value of this Soul Skill lies?"

Xiao Yan nodded, his gaze settling on the enormous bell.

Seeing that he understood, Electrolux directly revealed the key point.

"Before, if you wanted to wield the power of this divine artifact, you could only force yourself to comprehend those ancient divine inscriptions at the risk of spiritual damage. Not only was that inefficient, but it could also easily invite rejection from the artifact itself. But [Mystic Yellow · Water Controller] is different. It is equivalent to building you a stable bridge outside those profound laws of water."

The old Holy Necromancer pointed at the region of divine inscriptions beneath the Eastern Emperor Bell that represented the water element and continued his analysis.

"With this authority as your foundation, comprehending the water-element divine inscriptions on the bell in the future will come naturally, allowing you to advance by leaps and bounds. The control you possess now is merely the tip of the iceberg of what the Eastern Emperor Bell has revealed. Once you thoroughly master those inscriptions, the might of this authority will multiply several times over. This deal is practically a gift from heaven!"

Xiao Yan withdrew from his sea of consciousness, opened his eyes, and looked toward the surrounding dark-blue ten-thousand-year profound ice.

He decided to personally test this newly acquired authority.

Xiao Yan did not mobilize any Soul Power. He merely raised his right hand casually and spread his fingers.

The entire ice cavern responded at that moment.

The enormous icicles hanging upside down from the ceiling year-round, harder than steel, silently transformed into streams of clear water without being struck by any external force.

Xiao Yan slightly curled his fingers.

The water streams in midair instantly changed form, turning into countless fine, razor-sharp ice needles arranged neatly in the air.

Then he turned his palm upward, and the ice needles shattered in an instant, transforming into thick swathes of white mist that shrouded the entire ice cavern like an immortal realm.

Water, ice, and mist shifted seamlessly between their three forms with a turn of Xiao Yan's thoughts. There was no resistance, nor the slightest burden of Soul Power consumption.

Xiao Yan carefully felt the pure, heart-palpitating chill and sense of control emanating from his fingertips.

He recalled the ball of Ultimate Fire he had helped Ma Xiaotao temper within Sea God Pavilion several months ago.

If Ma Xiaotao's Ultimate Fire were used for comparison, the water and ice origins he now controlled had already left hers far behind in both purity and level.

Using Snow Empress's immense accumulation of seven-hundred-thousand-year Soul Power in exchange for an origin law that required no Spirit Ring activation, could be used anywhere at any time, and possessed limitless growth potential—

How was this merely exchanging for a Soul Skill? He had practically pieced together a water-element sovereign Martial Soul that stood above all water-element Martial Souls!

Giving up the temptation of Soul Power rising several levels in a row in exchange for a foundation that pointed directly to the origin of the Great Dao—this trade was an enormous profit.

Just as Xiao Yan withdrew his right hand and dispersed the white mist filling the ice cavern—

The Eastern Emperor Bell floating in midair gave a deep, trembling hum.

Immediately afterward, a crack opened in the void on the bell's surface, and a ball of white radiance was unceremoniously "spat" out, landing precisely on the profound ice ground before Xiao Yan.

As the radiance faded, Snow Empress's tall, graceful figure appeared once more.

But at this moment, the Lord of the Far North no longer possessed her former lofty, cold, and arrogant bearing.

After steadying herself, her first reaction was actually to lower her head and straighten her pristine white dress. Only then did she lift her gaze toward Xiao Yan.

The unwillingness and embarrassment in her ice-blue eyes had long vanished, replaced by heartfelt reverence.

During the brief time she had been absorbed into the Eastern Emperor Bell, Snow Empress had undergone a cleansing that overturned her entire worldview.

She had thought the interior of the bell was merely a cramped space similar to a storage Soul Tool or a sealing formation.

But when she truly entered it, she realized just how terribly wrong she had been.

It was a boundless, chaotic starry sky, where the sun and moon alternated, stars were born and died, and the four origin powers of earth, water, fire, and wind evolved the life and death of worlds.

Standing amidst that chaos, the seven-hundred-thousand-year cultivation she had been so proud of was insignificant, not even equal to a speck of dust.

The laws borne by that bronze giant bell far surpassed the limits this plane of Douluo Continent could withstand.

At that moment, Snow Empress came to understand.

This youth named Xiao Yan had never been coveting her power.

With a supreme divine artifact capable of suppressing eternity in his possession, his willingness to leave even a trace of a mere seven-hundred-thousand-year Far North Soul Beast like her upon the bell was an immense opportunity for her. She was the one truly reaching above her station!

Having recognized reality, Snow Empress's mindset underwent an earth-shaking transformation.

The ice cavern was exceptionally quiet. Xiao Zhan stood at the entrance, watching the young man and the Soul Spirit without making a sound, wisely choosing not to disturb them.

Xiao Yan looked at the silent Snow Empress, preparing to say a few words about the arrangements to come.

Yet before he could make a sound, Snow Empress suddenly raised her head.

She took two steps forward, closing the distance between herself and Xiao Yan.

An unprecedented brilliance flickered in those ice-blue eyes, like two burning stars as they fixed tightly upon Xiao Yan's eyes.

"Xiao Yan." Snow Empress's voice was crisp and pleasant, but her tone carried urgency and longing. Even the way she addressed him had become more familiar.

She clasped her hands before her chest, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him, then directly threw out a suggestion that caught even Xiao Yan off guard.

"Do you still want Soul Spirits? Just say the word, and I'll bring them to you immediately!!!"