"This is my primary divine artifact, the Extreme Dust Ice Bow."
"Although it is broken, it is more than sufficient to serve as your second martial soul."
"The Extreme Dust Ice Bow can command immensely powerful ice and snow. Once your cultivation rises, even those two little girls, the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress, won't be able to match your Ice Control."
"Gu Yunxiao, I hope it can shine with its former glory again in your hands."
"I'm a little tired. I'll sleep now."
The Ice God's voice echoed through Gu Yunxiao's mind, then fell silent.
Gu Yunxiao could sense how weak the Ice God's remnant soul was. By "sleep," she actually meant falling into a deep slumber.
"It really is ultimate ice!"
Just then, Di Tian's voice rang out.
"Yes."
Gu Yunxiao nodded and smiled faintly. "This bow is called the Extreme Dust Ice Bow. It's a rather special martial soul."
With a primary divine artifact as his martial soul, calling it a divine martial soul would hardly be an exaggeration.
Moreover, in a sense, he was also the Ice God's successor.
The three god positions of the God of Heavenly Tribulation, the Dragon God, and the Ice God.
With their support, he finally had some confidence.
"Not bad. Although its quality falls short of your other martial soul, it's more than enough to tide you over at this stage." Di Tian nodded.
"Twin martial souls!"
The Snow Empress's and the Ice Empress's pupils contracted as they stared at Gu Yunxiao in utter shock.
And the Extreme Dust Ice Bow martial soul was only a stopgap?
Just how terrifying was Gu Yunxiao's other martial soul?
At that thought, the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress instinctively exchanged a glance, each seeing profound shock in the other's eyes.
Gu Yunxiao's talent was even greater than they had imagined.
"Now that this matter is settled, we won't linger."
"Yunxiao, let's go."
Di Tian gave the Ice and Snow Empresses a slight nod, preparing to take Gu Yunxiao back to the Star Dou Great Forest to complete the final absorption of his soul ring.
"All right."
Gu Yunxiao answered, his gaze shifting as he instinctively glanced at the Snow Empress.
Just as he was about to look away, the Snow Empress chuckled and said gently, "Come visit the Far North again when you have time."
"Your Extreme Dust Ice Bow isn't just an ultimate ice martial soul. It possesses the rare ultimate ice and snow attributes."
"Di Tian doesn't understand ice and snow. There isn't much he can teach you."
"But I specialize in snow, and Bing'er specializes in ice. We can teach you more."
"...All right."
Gu Yunxiao paused in surprise, then nodded in agreement.
If the Ice God had still been available, he certainly wouldn't have needed the Ice and Snow Empresses' guidance.
Unfortunately, the Ice God was sleeping to heal her injuries.
Although the Extreme Dust Ice Bow was only a stopgap, he still had to give it some attention. Having one-no, two good teachers to guide him was quite necessary.
"We're leaving."
Di Tian glanced at the Ice and Snow Empresses without saying anything else, then vanished with Gu Yunxiao.
"Hmph, that Di Tian has such a rotten attitude!" The Ice Empress snorted, thoroughly displeased with his manner.
"Beast God Di Tian is the strongest on the continent. It's only natural that his pride should tower into the heavens."
The Snow Empress shook her head. What truly concerned her was Gu Yunxiao. "But that Gu Yunxiao's identity is far from simple."
"Since he accepted the Ice God's blessing, he is also one of us in the Far North."
"Besides, I'm very curious to see just how far this little fellow will go."
She was deeply interested in Gu Yunxiao.
"That's true."
The Ice Empress nodded, then changed the subject with a mischievous smile. "Speaking of which, Gu Yunxiao is pretty cute. I want to sting him."
"Bing'er, you just want to bully him." The Snow Empress shook her head helplessly.
"Heehee."
The Ice Empress giggled.
"All right, let's..."
Just as the Snow Empress was about to leave with the Ice Empress, a strange noise came from the Ice Mountain behind them—the sound of ice cracking.
Crack, crack!
Cracks appeared across the Ice Mountain, spreading into a dense spiderweb.
Then the enormous Ice Mountain collapsed with a thunderous crash right before the eyes of the Ice and Snow Empresses, leaving only a field of shattered ice.
Most importantly, there was nothing inside the Ice Mountain. The aura of the Ice God's blessing was gone.
"How could this..."
The Snow Empress's and the Ice Empress's pupils contracted in disbelief.
The Star Dou Great Forest.
By the time Di Tian brought Gu Yunxiao back, the sky had begun to darken, and the sun was about to set.
Without delay, Di Tian took Gu Yunxiao into the special space imprisoning the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and ordered him to resume his sacrifice.
"Yunxiao, summon your Extreme Dust Ice Bow. Let this worm sacrifice himself and become your first soul ring," Di Tian said.
"Yes."
Gu Yunxiao nodded. With a thought, light flashed in his right hand, and the Extreme Dust Ice Bow appeared in his grasp.
In an instant, the aura of ultimate ice spread outward.
"Ultimate ice!"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm trembled inwardly, utterly shocked. "What martial soul is this? Weren't you supposed to obtain a beast martial soul?"
The sight of the Extreme Dust Ice Bow left the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm completely dumbfounded.
Still, he didn't dare remain distracted for long.
Di Tian's icy gaze had already turned toward him. If he spent even another second in a daze, that dragon claw would surely come crashing down.
Hum!
As a humming sound rang out, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's body seemed to catch fire.
His blood, flesh, bones-everything burned, transforming into the purest energy and surging toward Gu Yunxiao.
This sacrifice was different from the previous one.
Thus, Gu Yunxiao felt no pain at all.
"Oh? Such rich spiritual energy."
Just then, a soft exclamation sounded from the depths of Gu Yunxiao's sea of consciousness.
It was the Ice God!
The energy from the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's sacrifice had briefly awakened the sleeping Ice God.
"So it's a million-year soul beast. A pity that only his cultivation and spiritual power amount to anything. He's pitifully weak in every other respect."
The Ice God saw through the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's true capabilities at a glance.
After examining him for a while, a glint flashed in the Ice God's eyes as another idea occurred to her.
"Gu Yunxiao."
The Ice God called softly.
Hearing the Ice God's call while receiving the sacrifice, Gu Yunxiao diverted a thread of consciousness and formed a soul body within his sea of consciousness. "What is it?" he asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Would you like to make the Extreme Dust Ice Bow stronger?" the Ice God asked with a soft chuckle.
"Just tell me what to do."
"Channel all the energy from this big worm's sacrifice into the Extreme Dust Ice Bow, including his remaining soul power, to restore part of the bow's essence."
"All right."
Gu Yunxiao agreed without a second thought.
"...Aren't you even going to ask why?" The Ice God was immediately surprised.
"It's the same principle as 'don't employ those you distrust, and don't distrust those you employ.'"
"Since I've already let you in, we're grasshoppers tied to the same string. If things go badly for me, you certainly won't fare much better."
Gu Yunxiao's voice was calm, his purple eyes frighteningly still.
Under Gu Yunxiao's gaze, the Ice God couldn't help feeling a shiver of unease. She grumbled inwardly, He's clearly just a little brat, yet he talks like an old monster.
Gu Yunxiao was undoubtedly the most unusual... child she had ever met.
Crack, crack!
Following the Ice God's instructions, Gu Yunxiao poured the energy from the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's sacrifice into the Extreme Dust Ice Bow, and a series of strange sounds followed.
Standing beside Gu Yunxiao, the Ice God explained, "This big worm has decent cultivation and spiritual power. They're ideal for restoring part of the Extreme Dust Ice Bow's essence."
"Once that ability of the Extreme Dust Ice Bow returns, it will surely be able to transform into a Super Divine Artifact in the future."
Before you continue