The bitter wind of the Far North whipped snowflakes through the air, and tiny beads of ice formed on Qian Lingche's eyelashes.
"Brother, that swan is glowing!" Qian Lingche suddenly leaned out of the carriage window, his wings sweeping the Warm Jade lamp off the carriage roof.
Grabbing him by the collar, Guang Ling hauled him back into his seat. His fingertips brushed the Ice Crystal from Qian Lingche's nose. "How many times have I told you? If you can't keep your wings steady, don't go flapping them around."
Though his tone was reproachful, he channeled a gentle stream of Soul Power through his palm to soothe Qian Lingche's meridians.
As the Ice Crystal Swans swept over the glacier, the crystal on the leader's forehead refracted phantom snowflakes. The swans landed on an ice platform in the distance.
"A Thousand-Year Soul Beast?" Guang Ling frowned and held back the eager Qian Lingche. "Xiao Che, your Martial Soul is powerful enough, but I'm afraid your body won't be able to take it. Let's find a Hundred-Year Soul Beast instead."
Qian Lingche tugged at his silver sleeve. "But I don't want a Hundred-Year Soul Beast!" His ice wings trembled unconsciously. "Brother Ling, look. My Soul Power is much more stable now."
The fingertips Guang Ling had placed on his wrist paused. Qian Lingche's Soul Power was indeed purer than before, but the risk of backlash from a Thousand-Year Soul Ring...
He gazed at the swan lowering its head to preen its feathers on the ice platform, his silver lashes veiling the struggle in his eyes. "We'll try just once. If it doesn't work, we'll give up."
An Invisible Arrow pierced the Ice Crystal Swan's wings. Qian Lingche hurried over to finish it off, only to be blasted away by a sudden surge of icy Soul Power.
Guang Ling teleported over and caught Qian Lingche as he fell, gently soothing his injured meridians with Soul Power. "Why are you being so reckless?"
"Let me try one more time..." Qian Lingche clutched Guang Ling's lapel, his frostbitten lips exhaling white mist. "I can do it."
"If I were just a little better, Grandpa and Mom would like me more..."
He didn't want to keep being a nobody like this. Qian Lingche thought his mother and grandfather disliked him because his Martial Soul had mutated.
He wanted to prove himself to them, to prove his talent. He never wanted to keep gazing at the Worship Hall and Pope Palace all alone.
Guang Ling silently let him go. The arrow he shot for the third time quivered with a sigh.
As Qian Lingche plunged his knife into the swan, the dying bird suddenly spread its wings. A pale purple Soul Ring, wrapped in an icy blue glow, gently lifted Qian Lingche into the air.
Guang Ling's Soul Power remained around Qian Lingche, like outstretched wings, always ready to catch him.
Inside the makeshift ice hut, Qian Lingche lay across Guang Ling's lap as Guang Ling guided his Soul Power. "Brother Ling's Soul Power is like honey tea steeped in snowmelt."
Burying his face in Guang Ling's silver hair, Qian Lingche mumbled, "It's cool, with just a hint of sweetness."
Guang Ling flicked him on the forehead. "Quit buttering me up." But his touch grew even gentler as threads of Soul Power carefully mended the damaged meridians. "Starting tomorrow, you'll copy out the Martial Soul Containment Method. Make one mistake, and you copy it all over again."
When the morning light pierced the ice wall on the seventh day, Qian Lingche finally condensed a complete First Soul Skill.
A tiny Ice Cone circled Guang Ling in flight, then left behind a few frost crystals like sugar sprinkles. "Brother Ling, look!"
Qian Lingche proudly held out a Snow Honey Cake, frozen solid. "If you cool it with Soul Power, it won't melt!"
Guang Ling took a bite of the frozen cake, a helpless smile curling his lips.
On the fifth day of their search for a Second Soul Ring, cries of pain rang out through the blizzard.
A three-thousand-year-old Ice Soul Profound Bird stood on the edge of a cliff, icy blue blood beading from a wound in its right wing.
Qian Lingche was just about to speak when Guang Ling stopped him. "Don't even think about it."
"But it's badly hurt..." Qian Lingche's ice wing brushed Guang Ling's hand unconsciously. "It'd be a waste not to absorb its Soul Ring, and I really can do it."
The bow in Guang Ling's hand formed, then dissipated, until at last it became a sigh.
When nine Cold Formless Arrows sealed off the bird's escape routes, Guang Ling's Soul Power shield had already enveloped Qian Lingche from head to toe. "Get ready."
But through the gap between his fingers, Qian Lingche glimpsed Guang Ling's tightly pressed lips.
Qian Lingche flapped his wings and flew over, landing in front of the bird.
His First Soul Ring lit up, and an Ice Cone tapped the bird between the brows. "Easy now. It'll stop hurting soon." Qian Lingche's fingertips touched the Soul Beast's beak as it gradually grew cold.
The absorption process lasted thirteen hours. Qian Lingche's face contorted with pain again and again. Guang Ling was frantic, but there was nothing he could do to help.
When Qian Lingche woke, he found himself curled up in Guang Ling's arms. The wings on his back had also become a pair of four wings.
"You'll be confined for a week when we get back." Guang Ling spoke of punishment, yet slipped a piece of candy into his mouth. "You're so reckless—you just had to go and absorb a three-thousand-year-old Soul Ring."
Hearing the helplessness in Guang Ling's voice, Qian Lingche had no idea that for all thirteen hours, Guang Ling had watched him without so much as blinking, never letting his guard down for a moment, afraid something might happen to him.
The carriage rattled over the ice as it began to thaw. Qian Lingche slept soundly with his head pillowed on Guang Ling's lap.
His new ice wings folded into a cocoon, rising and falling gently with each breath.