Twin Ultimates

At last, the flames were completely driven away, and Ling Tianchen's body returned to normal. The converted Ultimate Ice was exactly half, maintaining a balance with the Ultimate Fire.

Two phoenixes circled behind Ling Tianchen, one on the left and one on the right.

The one on the left was icy blue as snow, its chill capable of freezing all things.

The one on the right was blazing red, its divine flames burning away the heavens.

Afterward, Ling Tianchen controlled the two godheads that had long lain dormant within him.

The Genesis Godhead turned into a gentle emerald-green divine light and slowly entered the Ice Phoenix's body. Amid the Ice Phoenix's originally fierce chill, there now emerged an unceasing aura of life and spiritual fluctuations.

The Destruction Godhead, meanwhile, merged into the Fire Phoenix's body, adding a strand of heart-pounding destructive intent to its flames.

The two powers opposed one another, yet also depended on one another. They slowly circulated within Ling Tianchen's body, ultimately forming a flawless cycle of yin and yang.

To be precise, his martial soul was no longer simply an ice-and-fire phoenix martial soul. It was now the Genesis Ice Phoenix and the Destruction Fire Phoenix.

Ling Tianchen slowly opened his eyes. The great work was complete, and he had overcome the most difficult hurdle. His future path of cultivation would surely be smooth and open.

Using his ice-controlling technique, he melted every ice crystal in the basement and restored the temperature to normal before landing on the ground.

Though he wanted to study his martial souls properly, he still needed to reassure his sister. He could not leave her anxiously waiting outside for too long.

After the commotion died down, the heavy stone door was carefully pushed open a crack.

"Tianchen? Are you all right?"

Ling Luochan's voice carried a trace of unease as she poked her head in first.

But the moment she looked inside, she froze.

The violent fluctuations from the fusion of ice and fire had long since burned away every last scrap of Ling Tianchen's clothing. He was currently standing naked in the center of the basement.

Following his sister's gaze downward, Ling Tianchen finally realized what was happening. His cheeks instantly flushed crimson as he hurriedly reached down to cover himself.

"Sis, what are you doing? Ouch... Get out! No, wait, put some clothes on me before you go."

Ling Luochan lightly covered her lips and giggled. Her nerves, which had been taut for so long, finally relaxed, yet she showed no intention of looking away.

"Silly little brother, what are you embarrassed about? Who do you think washed you these past few months? I'm already sick of looking at your body."

With that, she took out a loose women's robe from her storage soul tool and tossed it to Ling Tianchen.

"Put it on quickly. Don't catch cold, or I'll have to take care of you again."

Ling Tianchen caught the blue robe, which still carried a faint fragrance, and quickly wrapped his entire body in it. Only then did he let out a long breath.

"Hey, keep things like that to yourself! It was fine when I didn't know, but now that you've said it, I feel terrible."

"What's the big deal? Didn't we still bathe together last year? Why are you suddenly disgusted with your sister this year? Tianchen really is growing up."

Ling Luochan blinked playfully, deliberately letting her gaze drift downward.

"..."

Was this really the Ling Luochan he knew? Wasn't she Shrek's ice-cold beauty?

No one had told him that Ling Luochan was actually the sort of person with so much going on in her head, and who would say things like this in front of her little brother!

"All right, stop fooling around, you two."

Shui Wuyue entered from behind the stone door. Seeing that her son was safe and sound, she too breathed a sigh of relief.

"Tianchen, just now—"

Before Ling An could finish, Ling Tianchen interrupted him.

"I understand. The situation was critical just now, and Father, you made the right choice. Even if you could have endured it, Sister Luochan definitely couldn't have."

"Tianchen is so sensible, unlike someone."

Shui Wuyue walked over and affectionately rubbed Ling Tianchen's head, while shooting her husband an irritated glare. Ling An could only helplessly rub his nose. He had had no other choice.

"What exactly happened just now? Can you tell us, Tianchen?"

Ling Tianchen showed the three of them his Fire Phoenix martial soul, glossing over the details as he explained that it was a martial soul he had awakened later.

Seeing the pair of crimson phoenix wings behind him, the three of them were shocked yet again.

Without question, the quality of a twin martial soul master's two martial souls was generally similar. In other words, this was an Ultimate Fire Phoenix!

"This... what else can I even say?"

Ling An was already somewhat incoherent. After a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out another sentence.

"Tianchen, it would be best if you don't use your Fire Phoenix martial soul in front of others in the future. Treat the Ice Phoenix as your primary martial soul instead. After all, both the Ling family and the Shui family possess ice-attributed martial souls."

Ling Tianchen nodded seriously.

A gentleman did not stand beneath a crumbling wall. In any case, as long as he cultivated step by step, he was guaranteed to reach the level of a God King. If he was lucky, he might even recover to the realm of the Phoenix God King, a Supreme God King. Naturally, he would not put himself in danger.

Shui Wuyue was already smiling from ear to ear. "Though there's no real need, let's test Tianchen's innate soul power anyway."

Ling Tianchen took the crystal ball and poured his soul power into it.

In an instant, dazzling blue light filled the entire crystal ball without leaving the slightest gap.

Ling An stroked his chin in satisfaction. "As expected, innate full soul power."

"My little brother is amazing, just as I thought. He's so much better than me."

Ling Luochan was even more overjoyed. She grabbed Ling Tianchen, lifted him up, and spun him around excitedly.

She had innate rank-nine soul power, already placing her among the top three of her peers in Shrek's outer courtyard. If her little brother went there, becoming the eldest senior disciple would only be a matter of time.

"Sister Luochan, why are you more like a child than I am?"

"What do you mean? You're just too mature, all right? You changed so quickly after being seriously ill. Things like this used to be child's play for you."

Watching the siblings play around, Ling An could not help but smile as well, though a trace of worry remained hidden deep in his eyes.

"Since you already have innate full soul power, there's no time to lose. Pack up. We'll leave at once to obtain Tianchen's first soul ring."

"No problem."

Though Ling Tianchen had been spun until he was dizzy, he still did not forget to give an OK gesture.

At the northern end of the Tianhun Empire lay the Icebound Forest.

This place was covered in ice and snow year-round. As far as the eye could see, there were endless coniferous forests, while biting cold winds howled without cease. Ordinary people simply could not remain here for long.

Precisely because of this, most of the soul beasts living here possessed ice attributes. Thus, the Icebound Forest had become an important hunting ground for northern soul masters seeking soul rings.

Ling An walked at the front, remaining alert to the surroundings as he spoke.

"Tianchen, the soul beast age you need for your first soul ring isn't high. There's no need to risk going to the Far North. That place is a true forbidden zone of life."

Ling Tianchen nodded.

"I understand."

Without strength, it was best not to enter the Far North. That two-hundred-thousand-year Titan Snow Demon King occasionally wandered around the outskirts beyond the core region. If they ran into it, every one of them would die here.

The group continued deeper into the forest.

As they went farther in, the towering coniferous trees gradually became sparser, while low shrubs grew increasingly numerous.

Just then, Ling An halted.

"It's here."