The Seventh Spirit Ring, Head Spirit Bone (Seeking Follow-up Reads 〔◕ˇ∀ˇ◕〕)

The real world.

The enormous blue mystic ice encasing Liu Yueming stood silently upon the ice plains, like an ice crystal tombstone that had frozen time itself.

Within the ice, that figure remained utterly motionless, as if her life had been frozen along with her.

Yi Hongchen clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He stared fixedly at that block of mystic ice, turbulent emotions churning in his eyes like raging waves.

He had fought countless deadly battles and faced enemies stronger than himself, yet he had never felt as helpless and tormented as he did now.

"Dad..." Yi Hongchen's voice was hoarse, but he did not know what to say.

Jing Hongchen was silent as well, yet he remained in front of Yi Hongchen, refusing to let him approach the mystic ice by even a step. Deep in those weathered eyes lay an equally undisguisable worry.

But he knew that any outside interference at this moment could disrupt Liu Yueming's actions and push her into an abyss of eternal damnation.

Yan Hongchen stood behind them, his glazed, multicolored eyes unblinking as they fixed upon the mystic ice. His heart pounded furiously, a sensation that came from deep within his bloodline.

He could faintly sense that Liu Yueming's life aura had not vanished. Instead, beneath that layer of ice, it was like molten fire about to erupt, unleashing unprecedented power.

Time stretched unbearably long in that moment, until an extraordinarily faint crack suddenly sounded from the surface of the indestructible blue mystic ice. A fracture quietly appeared.

Yi Hongchen's pupils contracted sharply. His body abruptly lunged forward, only to be firmly stopped by Jing Hongchen's arm.

"Don't move!" Jing Hongchen shouted in a low voice, barely suppressing his excitement. "She succeeded!"

As if confirming his words, the crack seemed to come alive and rapidly spread outward!

Countless fine fractures intertwined and spread across the mystic ice's surface. The light seeping through was no longer pure icy blue, but a warm and sacred silver-white.

That was the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's core essence—the Extreme Ice Essence—now merging as one with Liu Yueming!

Boom—!

The entire block of mystic ice exploded with a thunderous crash, countless ice crystals scattering in all directions like a magnificent fireworks display.

Every shard refracted rainbow light beneath the pale sky of the Extreme North, dazzling and intoxicatingly beautiful. At the center of that ice crystal storm, the figure stood proudly!

Liu Yueming slowly opened her eyes. Within those snowflake-patterned pupils now flickered a trace of silver-white radiance, and her aura had become completely different.

Most eye-catching of all were the soul rings slowly pulsing around her: two yellow, two purple, two black, and... one brand-new black soul ring, deep as an abyss!

Her seventh soul ring—fifty thousand years!

"Yueming!" Yi Hongchen could no longer restrain himself. He rushed forward and pulled Liu Yueming tightly into his arms. His body trembled faintly, both from the lingering fear of surviving disaster and the wild joy of regaining what he had lost.

Liu Yueming paused in surprise, then a gentle smile spread across her lips. Raising a hand, she softly stroked Yi Hongchen's back. "Yi, I'm fine."

Yi Hongchen still said nothing. He merely buried his face against her shoulder and nodded dully. At that moment, he seemed even more like a child than Yan Hongchen, unwilling to let go.

Watching his parents cling to each other so affectionately, Yan Hongchen felt that he probably should not be here. He was more than a little soured by the sight (⩌-⩌).

Jing Hongchen slowly stepped forward, his gaze passing over the brand-new black soul ring on Liu Yueming's body. He said nothing, merely nodding heavily. That single gesture spoke more than a thousand words.

Liu Yueming stepped out of Yi Hongchen's embrace. Her gaze passed over them and settled on the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's corpse not far away. Having lost its ice heart, its body was slowly dissipating, turning into the most primal ice elements and returning to the ice plains where it had lived.

Its silver-white snow eyes had already closed, but a highly condensed ball of light faintly shone from between its horse-like brows.

Liu Yueming walked forward slowly and crouched before the enormous corpse. She extended her hand without hesitation and reached into that ball of light. The light abruptly contracted.

When she withdrew her hand, a translucent silver-white crystal had appeared in her palm.

It was a head soul bone, its edges smooth and rounded, with a faint icy-blue glow flowing over its surface.

Yet the strangest and most eye-catching part was deep within the soul bone's core. There, a pair of phantom silver-white eyes quietly "glowed"!

They seemed to silently gaze upon the outside world, their stare piercing through the soul bone itself as though it could see through all illusions and look directly into the most fundamental soul!

"This is..." Jing Hongchen's pupils shrank slightly as he blurted out, "A head soul bone!"

Yi Hongchen hurried forward as well, his gaze falling upon the soul bone as astonishment flashed through his eyes.

Head soul bones were already rare, and one that retained the soul beast's core innate talent from before its death was an even more priceless treasure that could only be found by chance!

If this exceptional fifty-thousand-year soul bone were put up for auction, it would be enough to drive the powerhouses of the entire continent mad.

Liu Yueming stroked the soul bone, her expression equally complicated. She could clearly sense that the power contained within it came from the same source as the ice heart she had just fused with, yet each possessed its own profound mysteries.

The ice heart was the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's life essence, while this soul bone was very likely the manifestation of the snow-eye ability it had been so proud of.

Liu Yueming silently thanked the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast for its sacrifice. She had burned her spiritual power, which should have been a sign of her final burst before death, but this head soul bone could replenish her spiritual power and halt that trend. Perhaps this was the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's acknowledgment—its final gift to her.

"Dad, Yi, protect me. I'll absorb this head soul bone as quickly as possible." She did not decline it. Since she still had a chance to live, she had to seize it tightly so that she could remain by her children's side.

Jing Hongchen, Yi Hongchen, and Yan Hongchen all agreed and stood guard. Liu Yueming sat cross-legged and gently pressed the silver-white head soul bone against her forehead.

Closing her eyes, her spiritual power extended like fine threads, slowly entering the soul bone. In that instant, she seemed to fall into a silver-white world—the lingering fragments of the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's consciousness.

But unlike the previous battle of souls, these fragments held no hostility this time, only submission, as though they were waiting for her to accept them. She began guiding the energy into herself.

Liu Yueming had consumed too much spiritual power in the battle of souls. She was now like a dried-up well, while this soul bone happened to be capable of filling that well.

She absorbed the soul bone with unexpected speed, encountering almost no resistance. The fusion proceeded incomparably smoothly.

The light at her brow grew brighter and brighter, and that silver-white halo gradually merged with the glow of her own eyes.

Liu Yueming slowly opened her eyes. Her snowflake-patterned pupils now carried a faint sheen of silver, and the burning trend of her spiritual power had stopped!

"How is it?" Yi Hongchen asked anxiously.

Liu Yueming's lips curled upward, and her smile held a trace of unprecedented delight. "Better than expected."

She sensed the new power in her mind. After fusing with this head soul bone, its soul bone skill was called Soul Freezing.

It was an ice-attribute spiritual attack skill. She could gather spiritual power and turn it into invisible chill, directly striking the opponent's sea of consciousness. At best, it would slow their thoughts and dull their reactions; at worst, it could completely freeze their sea of consciousness!

Liu Yueming's sea of consciousness was currently in a state of self-freezing. The burning trend had stopped, and it would not resume growing until she had nursed her spiritual power back to health.