The ice walls of the cavern reflected a clear, secluded blue glow.
Ice Empress was still processing the soul spirit contract that had overturned her understanding, while Ice Bear King Xiao Bai beside her had no such complicated thoughts.
This giant beast, infamous throughout the Extreme North, now wore the adorable appearance of a white bear. She raised a thick paw to scratch her fluffy head, then grinned honestly at Snow Empress.
"Mom, I'll listen to whatever Mom says. Being with Mom is the best!" Xiao Bai's voice carried the innocence of a child as it echoed through the ice cavern.
At that form of address, Xiao Yan's lips twitched uncontrollably, and his expression became exceedingly strange.
Even though he had long known the secrets of the Extreme North, hearing a bear that had lived for who knew how many tens of thousands of years call a young woman of cold, peerless beauty "Mom" still presented such a jarring visual and auditory contrast that he needed time to adjust.
Snow Empress had long grown used to the name.
She drifted forward and raised a translucent energy hand, gently stroking Xiao Bai's fluffy head.
Xiao Bai narrowed her eyes in contentment and let out a pleased rumble, her huge body rubbing against Snow Empress's feet.
"Xiao Bai was one I picked up on the ice plains shortly after I became an emperor. I raised her by my side." Snow Empress's fingers passed through Xiao Bai's fur as she turned to explain to Xiao Yan.
"This child is exceptionally gifted and now has nearly three hundred thousand years of cultivation. In terms of strength alone, she is no weaker than A-Tai—the Titan Snow Demon King, ranked last among the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North."
Snow Empress paused, her gaze sweeping over Xiao Bai and Ice Empress, her tone carrying a hint of concern.
"That is precisely why I cannot leave her alone in the Extreme North. If I leave, the balance of power in the Extreme North will inevitably be broken. Xiao Bai is naturally simple and honest. If she remains here, she will surely be excluded and plotted against by A-Tai and those who covet the core territory of the Extreme North."
Xiao Yan nodded in understanding. The laws of survival in the Extreme North had always been cruel. Without protection, the Ice Bear King would easily become a target for all.
"Since we understand the stakes." Xiao Yan got straight to the point, his gaze falling on Ice Empress and Xiao Bai.
"Then, Ice Empress, Xiao Bai, have you decided to become my soul spirits?"
Ice Empress put away her previous hostility, crossed her arms over her chest, and nodded heavily without hesitation.
Xiao Bai repeatedly murmured assent beside Snow Empress's feet. As long as she could follow Mom, she did not care where she went.
Seeing this, Electrolux immediately rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.
"Good. Then this old man shall begin."
Electrolux's withered hands rapidly formed seals before him.
The gold-and-gray magic array that had successfully transformed Snow Empress earlier erupted with dazzling light once more across the black-ice floor.
"Enter the array!"
Following Electrolux's guidance, Ice Empress and Xiao Bai walked side by side into the node at the center of the array.
God-Level Mental Power poured out without restraint.
The runes along the array's edge spun at high speed. Light and death magic elements formed two nearly tangible chains, tightly wrapping around the bodies of the two Ferocious Beasts.
The transformation officially began. Ice Empress's petite, adorable little-girl form and Xiao Bai's round white-bear body began to fade bit by bit from their feet under the array's stripping force.
Dazzling emerald-green radiance and pure icy-white light interwove within the ice cavern.
The impurities of their Soul Beast bodies and the accumulated aura of Heavenly Tribulation were ruthlessly stripped away by gray necromancy magic;
Meanwhile, their most essential origin energy and soul consciousness rose and gathered continuously along the array's patterns beneath the protection of golden light magic.
The ice walls let out fine cracking sounds beneath the impact of the energy leaking from the two hundred-thousand-year Ferocious Beasts.
In less than half an incense stick's time, the light gradually drew in.
Ice Empress and Xiao Bai's figures condensed once more in midair.
At this moment, they had broken free from the shackles of mortal flesh and become crystalline, translucent energy bodies. Their soul origins had been perfectly preserved.
"The soul spirit transformation is complete. Next comes martial soul fusion." Electrolux wiped sweat that did not exist from his forehead and stepped aside.
With a thought from Xiao Yan, the Eastern Emperor Bell in his Sea of Consciousness burst forth through the air again and hovered in midair.
Ancient divine patterns flowed across the surface of the enormous bronze bell with a dim, obscure luster.
This time, facing the two immense energy bodies of Ice Empress and Xiao Bai, the Eastern Emperor Bell gave no rejecting tremor. Instead, its body swayed lightly, as if urging the two "feasts" to hurry into its belly.
Ice Empress and Xiao Bai exchanged a glance, preparing to turn into streaks of light and enter the bell.
Just then, an abrupt change occurred.
A tearing pain suddenly erupted in Xiao Yan's mind.
The scene before his eyes instantly doubled. He staggered, both hands pressing tightly against his temples.
Within his Sea of Consciousness, the Fuxi Bagua Formation Map, which had been operating steadily, was now shaking madly. A galaxy churned, and the entire mental space let out a roar as though it could no longer bear the strain.
It was the Sea of Consciousness issuing its sternest warning!
Xiao Yan immediately severed the fusion connection with the Eastern Emperor Bell.
The agony eased slightly. Gasping for breath, he turned toward Electrolux.
Electrolux slapped his forehead as well and immediately understood where the problem lay.
"How careless, truly careless! Boy, stop at once!"
"Although this old man's Soul Spirit Magic Array has optimized the risk of backlash, the vessel carrying the soul spirits is ultimately your Sea of Consciousness."
The old mage analyzed the current situation with perfect clarity.
"Your cultivation is only at Rank Fifty. Even with the Fuxi Bagua Formation Map expanding your Sea of Consciousness, carrying a seven-hundred-thousand-year Snow Empress has already occupied most of your mental capacity. Right now, you can probably only absorb a soul spirit of around ten thousand years."
Ice Empress possessed nearly four hundred thousand years of cultivation, while Xiao Bai was likewise a supreme Ferocious Beast with nearly three hundred thousand years of cultivation.
If these two great burdens were truly crammed into his Sea of Consciousness all at once, the tremendous mental load would instantly swell Xiao Yan's Sea of Consciousness until it burst apart.
Xiao Yan took several deep breaths and calmed the turmoil in his Sea of Consciousness.
The situation was already clear. Ice Empress and Xiao Bai's fusion could only be put aside for now.
"We can only let you enter my martial soul after my mental power breaks through its bottleneck and my Sea of Consciousness expands again." Xiao Yan honestly told the two soul spirits before him.
He had thought Ice Empress's proud temperament would make her seize the chance to lash out, but the two Ferocious Beasts were unexpectedly easygoing.
Ice Empress planted both hands on her hips, without the slightest dissatisfaction on her pretty face.
Having escaped the threat of death from Heavenly Tribulation and transformed into an energy body that neither lived nor died, time had lost all meaning to her.
Whether they fused a few days earlier or several years later was completely unimportant.
"Fine, but you'd better cultivate quickly. Once your mental power breaks through, you have to fuse with us first." Ice Empress lifted her chin slightly, making her only demand.
Xiao Bai was even more indifferent and nodded repeatedly. As long as she did not have to face Lightning Tribulation, staying anywhere was the same.