"Light Energy Convergence!!"
With a low shout from Beiming Lieyang, the Solar Star God Armor rang out with a series of metallic clanks before abruptly contracting into a crimson sphere of light that floated amid the Far North's snowstorm.
Light Energy Convergence.
Centered on the light sphere, the blizzard within a radius of a thousand meters was forcibly dragged in and gathered, transforming into a silver-white dragon that poured into the crimson-gold radiance.
The Far North's biting winds and ice elements were refined and converted by the Sun True Fire into pure energy, replenishing his body.
With Void Mysterious Ice within him, even in the harsh, freezing Far North, Beiming Lieyang's recovery speed through the Solar Star God's Light Energy Convergence would not slow.
Ice and fire coexisted; when things reached an extreme, they reversed!
He would not be like the original Solar Star God Apollo, trapped within the Mysterious Ice Illusion and cut off from sunlight, losing a vast amount of light-energy replenishment.
As a result, when he clashed with the Apollo Puppet's ultimate move, Coronal Light, he had been unable to receive effective replenishment. On top of that, the Apollo Puppet had used Void Mysterious Ice to triple its combat power, leaving him with insufficient stellar energy and causing him to lose.
Instead, he would thrive here!
Ice Empress stood not far away, her golden eyes widened into perfect circles.
"Recovering power... can really be this outrageous?"
Ordinary Soul Masters could only slowly meditate to recover once their Soul Power was exhausted. Even she and Snow Empress, with the Far North as their home ground, needed most of a day to recover from empty to full.
But this little brat before them was different.
He had simply snatched it by force, completing one round of absorption in just a few breaths.
As the light faded, Beiming Lieyang returned to human form, his aura becoming far more solid.
Before anyone could react, he shouted again.
"Light Energy Convergence!!"
Atai and Xiaobai looked at each other.
Hadn't he already recovered just now?
Why was he doing it again?
Snow Empress spoke softly. "That last time, Xiaoyang recovered a full half of his Soul Power."
"Half?!" Ice Empress's voice rose sharply.
Atai and Xiaobai's pupils shrank as well.
He had recovered half his Soul Power in only a few breaths?
Beiming Lieyang's current Soul Power reserves were more than a hundred and fifty times those of an ordinary Soul Master with an ultimate attribute.
If that amount of Soul Power were poured into a Soul Douluo, a single Light Energy Convergence would probably make them explode from overfilling.
After the second round ended, Beiming Lieyang stood in the snowstorm once more, his aura full and brimming.
Ice Empress darted forward and knocked twice against his chest armor, her tone dripping with envy.
"You little brat, you recover fifty percent at a time, so you're completely full after two uses! Xue'er and I have lived in the Far North for hundreds of thousands of years, yet even we don't have a recovery speed as ridiculous as yours!"
Snow Empress also walked over, her eyes filled with emotion. "Light Energy Convergence... it really is a percentage-based ability. Even on our home ground, it takes us most of a day to recover fully after exhausting everything."
"It's planetary form, after all. Rapid power recovery is its most basic function."
Beiming Lieyang's voice came from beneath the armor. "Light Energy Convergence restores fifty percent of my Soul Power each time. I can also maintain the form and recover slowly over time, but since I can recover in the shortest possible time, why wait around slowly? Two uses and it's done."
Atai and Xiaobai exchanged another glance, utterly speechless.
Ice Empress threw herself into Snow Empress's arms, grumbling unhappily.
"I want a percentage-based recovery skill too... Xiaoyang is full of percentage boosts and percentage recovery. Ridiculous, ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous!"
Snow Empress lowered her head to look at her, the corners of her lips curving as she raised a hand and stroked her hair.
Beiming Lieyang smiled as well, extending his crimson-armored hand and gently placing it atop Ice Empress's head.
At that moment, clad in armor, he stood a full two-point-eight meters tall. Just standing there gave off an overwhelmingly oppressive presence.
"Auntie, did you forget that I still have Void Mysterious Ice? With that, can't you recover your Soul Power quickly whenever you want?"
Ice Empress abruptly raised her head, her golden eyes lighting up. "That's right! Void Mysterious Ice can already restore Soul Power and heal injuries!"
Beiming Lieyang looked around at everyone. "In that case, I'll start condensing Void Mysterious Ice for all of you now.
"If we stockpile enough and distribute it among the clans, it won't be a problem to produce a batch of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in a short time.
"Those who have suppressed their cultivation and dared not undergo the Heavenly Tribulation can also use Void Mysterious Ice's enhancement to challenge it ahead of time."
The moment those words were spoken, every Soul Beast present had their eyes light up.
For countless years in the Far North, how many Soul Beasts had been stuck at over ninety thousand years, not daring to take that final step?
The Heavenly Tribulation meant nine chances of death for every one chance of survival. With even slightly weaker bloodlines, it was practically suicide.
Many Soul Beasts chose to suppress their cultivation, some not daring to break through for their entire lives, making it difficult for the Far North's top combat power to expand.
But Void Mysterious Ice tripled all attributes and could rapidly restore injuries and Soul Power.
Under the Heavenly Tribulation, it was a genuine lifeline.
Ice Empress was the first to grow excited. "That's right! With this, forget about the Far North's high-end combat power—our mid-tier combat power alone can definitely leave the Star Dou Great Forest far behind!"
Atai quickly nodded. "Several members of my Titan Snow Demon Clan have been above eighty thousand years for a long time and have suppressed their cultivation for years. With the Void Mysterious Ice bestowed by the Young Lord, they can one hundred percent become Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts."
Xiaobai hurriedly added, "The Ice Bear Clan has several as well. They've long since reached the critical point!"
Beiming Lieyang nodded and immediately raised his hand to condense Void Mysterious Ice.
However, after condensing only a small amount, he stopped.
Ice Empress immediately moved closer. "What's wrong?"
"This is too slow."
The corners of every Soul Beast's mouth twitched in unison.
Slow?
You could recover to full after two uses of Light Energy Convergence, and in one hour condense ultra-high-quality Void Mysterious Ice compressed from all your Soul Power.
One piece was equivalent to several Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Ice Marrows, and you still thought that was slow?
Beiming Lieyang did not explain. With a thought, ripples spread through the space beside him.
Three pitch-black figures slowly stepped out from the void.
Their armor was covered in dark golden patterns, crystalline blue cores embedded in their foreheads and chests. Blue-gold Corona Swords rested on their backs, while their blood-red eyes radiated a suffocating dark aura.
The three Apollo Puppets dropped to one knee.
"Greetings, Master." ×3
Atai and Xiaobai were utterly stunned.
Why did these three black-armored monsters look exactly like the Young Lord?
Ice Empress froze for a moment before her eyes suddenly lit up.
"Wow! Xiaoyang, you're maximizing resource use! You're having the puppets help you condense Void Mysterious Ice!"
Beiming Lieyang glanced down at her, laughter audible beneath his armor.
"Auntie is so smart."
"Damn it!"
Ice Empress raised her hand and struck his chest armor again, only for the impact to leave her palm red. She shook her hand and bared her teeth. "Your armor is way too hard!"
Snow Empress chuckled and stepped forward, taking Ice Empress's wrist and rubbing it for her as she chided gently.
"Bing'er, stop bothering Xiaoyang while he's doing something important."
Ice Empress hummed twice, but did not continue making a fuss. She simply leaned into Snow Empress's embrace and wrapped her arms around Snow Empress's waist without another word.
Beiming Lieyang then condensed several pieces of Void Mysterious Ice. Ice-blue radiance spread outward, pulling all the Soul Beasts into the Mysterious Ice Illusion.
It was Atai and Xiaobai's first time entering. The ice beneath their feet was crystal-clear, ice-blue crystals floated around them, and the air was filled with an incomparably rich icy fragrance. Just one breath made their Soul Power stir faintly, and both of them swallowed at the same time.
This place smelled far too good!
The next moment, however, the three puppets slowly merged into the void and vanished without a trace.
Ice Empress poked her head out from Snow Empress's arms. "Huh? Weren't they supposed to help condense ice?"
"The three puppets replicated my previous power level."
"Now that I've improved again, they can no longer keep up with my current state. Only by remaking three puppets at my current level can I achieve maximum efficiency."
Atai and Xiaobai both sucked in a sharp breath.
The puppets' strength would be reset in sync with the Young Lord and his little brother?
Wouldn't that mean every time they advanced, the puppets would update alongside them to a new peak?
And most importantly, they possessed all the Young Lord's and his little brother's strength and abilities.
Wouldn't that mean he could casually summon a terrifying puppet army with the same combat power as himself?!
Hiss!
The corners of Ice Empress's mouth slowly curled up into a radiant smile.
"Tsk, Xiaoyang, this ability of yours... upgrades seamlessly."
Snow Empress stood nearby, her gentle gaze falling on the figure wrapped in crimson armor, her lips curving upward slightly.
She knew that the infant they had brought back from an ice pit all those years ago was growing into the light they had hoped for, at a speed the Far North had never seen before.
However, in the very next moment, five Apollo Puppets appeared directly in the void.
"Did two more appear?"
Before you continue