Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow! Tempering the Spine!

Lu Xiao was carried through the air at high speed by Du Busi. Watching the snowfield rapidly recede behind them, he was filled with confusion.

"Master, what exactly happened?"

Frowning, Lu Xiao could not help pressing the question. "Everything went smoothly when I absorbed the Titan Snow Demon Soul Ring. How did it become a life-or-death crisis? And what did you mean by something sinister?"

Du Busi did not slow down. He glanced at the bewildered Lu Xiao from the corner of his eye, still shaken by lingering fear.

"Snow Empress came while you were absorbing the Soul Ring!"

"Snow Empress?"

Lu Xiao's pupils contracted slightly as information about Snow Empress flashed through his mind. "Snow Empress, the foremost of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North?"

"That's her."

Du Busi nodded grimly. "I just don't know why she left again!"

"If this had happened somewhere else, this old man might have been able to protect you while we fled. But this is the Far North..."

Du Busi's voice sank. "This is Snow Empress's territory. If she had even the slightest intention to kill us, neither master nor disciple would have been left with a corpse."

Lu Xiao's heart felt heavy as countless thoughts tangled chaotically in his mind. His back had long since been drenched in cold sweat.

A day later, the two of them finally left the dangerous snowfield and returned to Extreme Ice City. Only then did the weight in their hearts ease somewhat.

The moment they returned to the Ice and Snow Hotel, Xiao Wu hurried over. She circled Lu Xiao and carefully inspected him before anxiously asking, "Lu Xiao, how did it go? Did you find a suitable Soul Ring?"

Lu Xiao nodded and replied softly, "I did. My third soul skill is called Titan Body. Once activated, it doubles my physique, increases attack and defense by three hundred percent, and increases speed by two hundred percent! And it has no side effects!"

He did not mention Snow Empress. If Xiao Wu learned about it, it would only make her worry for nothing.

Hearing those outrageously powerful boosts, Xiao Wu was stunned.

"Double physique! Triple attack and defense! Double speed!"

Even Du Busi could not remain calm. He exclaimed, "As expected of a soul skill produced by a Titan Snow Demon!"

Lu Xiao smiled faintly. This soul skill had another advantage: it did not consume much Soul Power.

Xiao Wu's eyes were full of curiosity. She reached out and lightly poked his arm, muttering, "Lu Xiao, could you also be a transformed Soul Beast?"

Lu Xiao chuckled, raised his right index finger, and flicked it lightly.

"Smack."

A crisp, soft sound rang out as Lu Xiao's finger landed on Xiao Wu's smooth forehead.

"What nonsense are you thinking?"

Lu Xiao laughed helplessly. "I'm a perfectly ordinary human. How could I be a transformed Soul Beast?"

Xiao Wu covered her forehead, pouting even more as she shot Lu Xiao a reproachful glare.

Du Busi reminded the two of them to leave early the next day.

After chatting briefly for a while longer, Xiao Wu happily told Lu Xiao to rest well before returning to the room next door.

Night gradually deepened.

Lying on the bed, Lu Xiao sank into his Consciousness Sea and softly murmured, "System, open the Soul Elder gift pack."

[Reward for host: Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow, Top-Grade Thousand-Year Titan Snow Demon Left Palm Bone!]

Two streams of differently colored light slowly floated within Lu Xiao's Consciousness Sea.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow stood about half a person tall, shaped like a pure white ice pillar. Liquid flowed within it, emitting an icy blue glow.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow was a heavenly treasure naturally formed from the gathering of ice-attributed natural origin power. It possessed ultimate ice-attributed energy and pure cold qi, making it an invaluable treasure for ice-attributed Soul Masters and Soul Beasts alike!

According to the records of the Body Sect, the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow was also the finest heavenly treasure for tempering the body's spine.

Beside the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow lay a broad, heavy, snow-white palm bone. The joints at its fingertips were clearly visible, while an icy blue halo flowed across it like ripples on water.

"First, I'll absorb the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow to temper my spine! Then I'll absorb the Titan Snow Demon Left Palm Bone to maximize the benefits!"

The instant the thought crossed his mind, the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow appeared before Lu Xiao!

At the same time, a mysterious force emerged from the system and enveloped the entire room, isolating every trace of leaking aura!

A wave of pure cold swept over him, and the temperature abruptly plummeted. Fine fragments of icy mist condensed out of thin air, lingering around the bed.

The room's temperature dropped below freezing, and a thin layer of white frost swiftly formed over the floor, tables, and chairs.

Lu Xiao did not dare lower his guard. He placed both hands on the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow and immediately circulated the Body Sect's Innate Secret Technique!

The Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow shook violently. Its outer layer of ice cracked apart, and the liquid ice marrow within surged like an inverted galaxy, rushing through the meridians in his arms and washing toward his spine.

Bzzzt—

An incomparably sharp yet utterly pure chill swept through his entire body.

The moment the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow touched his spine, it seeped layer by layer through the gaps in his bones and into his marrow.

Lu Xiao's body stiffened abruptly, and his back suddenly tensed.

The next instant, piercing, bone-deep pain swept through his body, as though countless tiny ice blades were grinding down and reshaping every vertebra in his spine.

The spine was the core pillar of a human body's blood, qi, and Soul Power.

Under the tempering of the Profound Ice Marrow, impurities were continuously stripped away, while the quality of his bones steadily evolved.

Crack, crack...

Soft sounds of bones rubbing together echoed through the silent room.

Lu Xiao gritted his teeth. His entire body was wrapped in icy mist, and the sweat seeping from his skin instantly froze into frost.

As time passed, a faint white glow lit up along Lu Xiao's entire spine.

He could clearly sense that his spinal bones were slowly transforming!

Nourished by Extreme Ice Origin Power, every vertebra became increasingly hard and heavy!

At the instant the tempering of his spine reached completion, the heavy Titan Snow Demon Left Palm Bone suddenly began to tremble violently.

Whoosh!

Before Lu Xiao could react, the snow-white palm bone had already transformed into an ice arrow and shot toward his left hand.

His five fingers clenched abruptly as a dense icy blue halo spread out from his left palm!

His luminous white spine shone as it drew the Extreme Ice Origin within the palm bone into his spinal column.

White and blue halos intertwined and flowed through his body.

Lu Xiao's previously taut, rigid body trembled slightly. The icy mist around him surged madly into his body, while all the frost covering his skin melted away.

The excruciating pain gradually faded, replaced by an exhilarating sensation of complete clarity and relaxation throughout his muscles and bones.

Lu Xiao loosened his clenched teeth and exhaled a long breath through his nose and mouth, which turned into a fleeting wisp of white vapor.

After a moment of silence, Lu Xiao slowly sat up. His eyes snapped open, and two pale blue glints of cold flashed through them before vanishing.

He could clearly sense the earth-shattering transformation of his body.

Now, his entire spine resembled a Profound Ice Jade Pillar running through his body—straight, hard, majestic, and heavy!

Lu Xiao slowly raised his left hand. A luminous blue halo flowed endlessly in his palm, the Titan Snow Demon Left Palm Bone having completely fused with his body until they were indistinguishable.

The soul skill bestowed by the Titan Snow Demon Left Palm Bone was called Titan Meteor!

It could gather all the Soul Power in his body into his left hand, condensing it into a terrifying beam of energy to blast down enemy targets.

Meanwhile, in the core region of the Far North.

Snow Empress stood atop a frost-covered cliff, gazing from afar toward Extreme Ice City. Her hands pressed lightly against her chest, yet the faint tremor in her heart refused to subside.

"Only a single meeting... why can't I forget him?"

Snow Empress slowly tightened the jade-like hand over her heart. Her thin lips pressed together, and a trace of melancholy she had not even noticed touched her cool, peerlessly beautiful face...