After making their decision, Wang Xian'er took Su Yuan into the air and landed in a secluded spot sheltered from the wind, then used her vast soul power to force an ice cave open.
Once inside the ice cave, Wang Xian'er first healed all of Su Yuan's injuries before having Mo Yunxing start a fire.
Meanwhile, Luo Shan slaughtered a hundred-year Snow Rabbit he had caught in passing earlier, deftly bleeding and skinning it.
"Recover your soul power first, then eat something and rest. Once you're in peak condition, absorb this external soul bone," Wang Xian'er said softly.
"Understood." Su Yuan promptly sat down and began recovering his soul power.
Absorbing a soul bone was no laughing matter, especially an external soul bone, which was far more difficult to absorb than a normal one.
This Ice Bear Left Palm Bone might have been only six hundred years old, but actually absorbing it would hardly be easier than absorbing a four- or five-thousand-year soul ring.
Even after Xiao Xiao had become a Soul Elder, with a soul ring from the same source assisting her, the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's palm bone had nearly crippled her right hand. With her experience as a warning, Su Yuan took this Ice Bear Left Palm Bone as seriously as possible.
Taking it seriously is one thing, but I certainly don't think I'll fail to absorb it.
Having recovered his soul power, Su Yuan accepted the Snow Rabbit Luo Shan had just finished roasting and dug in, replenishing the stamina and energy he had exhausted in battle.
After finishing the Snow Rabbit and resting a while longer, Su Yuan finally took out the Ice Bear Left Palm Bone and sat opposite Wang Xian'er, ready to absorb it.
"I'm starting." Su Yuan drew a light breath.
Wang Xian'er said nothing, merely nodding at him with a gentle smile.
Luo Shan and Mo Yunxing stood guard outside the ice cave, preventing any soul beast foolish enough to approach from disturbing Su Yuan.
Everything was ready.
Looking down at the ice-blue left palm bone in his hand, which exerted such a powerful attraction that he wanted to merge it into his body immediately, Su Yuan hesitated no longer. Following his instincts, he released his soul power to establish a connection with it.
Once their auras connected, the Ice Bear Left Palm Bone immediately shone more brightly.
Upon coming into contact with Su Yuan's aura, the bone itself gradually melted into a blue gel that clung to the skin of his left palm and steadily seeped inside.
Searing heat.
That was Su Yuan's first sensation.
His gel-covered left palm felt as though it had been plunged into a pan of hot oil, fiery pain relentlessly tormenting his skin.
But as the gel seeped deeper into his palm, another sensation emerged within him.
Numbness, bone-piercing cold.
His skin burned with searing pain, while his bones were numb and icy.
The two utterly different kinds of pain made Su Yuan tremble uncontrollably. Cold sweat soaked his clothes in an instant, and his tightly knitted brows spoke of his struggle to endure.
Just then, another green light, brimming with vitality, flowed into his body from every direction.
Seated before him, Wang Xian'er had already unfurled five pairs of wings. Her slender, pale fingers, delicate as spring onions, pointed toward the space between his brows from a distance.
Wang Xian'er had intervened.
The vitality within the gold of life was drawn out once more. Taking advantage of Su Yuan's absorption of the external soul bone, she strengthened his physique a second time, nourishing his flesh and connective tissues while accelerating the fusion and reducing its pain.
She said nothing, but the moment Su Yuan obtained the soul bone, she had known what she needed to do.
With Wang Xian'er's intervention, the pain of Su Yuan's fusion diminished greatly. Both the bone-piercing cold and the fiery burning swiftly subsided to a level he could fully endure.
The gel formed from the soul bone also merged completely into his left palm, adhering to the bones of his fingers and palm.
Unlike the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's razor-sharp claws, the Ice Bear's claws were not well developed. Its paws were instead extremely broad, allowing it to run more easily across the snow on its palms.
This meant the Ice Bear's ability to physically breach defenses fell far short of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's.
But it had another advantage.
That was its control over the ice element and its tremendous raw strength.
If the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's paw was a curved blade, then the Ice Bear's paw was a heavy hammer: the former sliced with a sharp edge, while the latter smashed with blunt force.
After the soul bone fused with him, frost-flower patterns appeared across the surface of the bones in Su Yuan's left palm, and those bones grew slightly thicker.
The increase in their size was barely perceptible, yet it granted him far greater physical strength. Compared with before he absorbed the palm bone, his raw strength had nearly doubled.
Not only that, but as the fusion deepened, Su Yuan's control over the ice attribute grew stronger and stronger. He could even feel the ice element in the outside world becoming increasingly drawn to him.
The entire night slipped quietly away as the fusion progressed.
Wang Xian'er had long since withdrawn her martial soul, but she continued to watch Su Yuan silently, remaining alert for any possible mishap.
Even though Su Yuan had already passed the most difficult stage and the fusion had settled into a steady process, with no danger likely to arise, she kept watching.
When Su Yuan finished absorbing the soul bone and opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Wang Xian'er's emerald-green eyes, filled with concern.
"Little Yuan, how do you feel?"
"I feel... very good. Incredibly strong." Su Yuan raised his left hand and clenched it a few times. His bones crackled like beans popping in a pan, and a powerful sense of strength instantly surged through him.
At that moment, Su Yuan also sensed the connection between the soul bone in his palm and his own body. Information about the abilities contained within it naturally surfaced in his mind.
"The Ice Bear Left Palm Bone can grow alongside my cultivation, passively absorbing my soul power to increase its age. It also won't interfere with my normal absorption of a Left Arm Soul Bone."
"As an external soul bone, it has granted me two abilities. The first lets me actively pour soul power into it to awaken its strength. While it's active, my control over and affinity for the ice attribute increase dramatically, and the strength of my ice attribute rises by one hundred percent."
"The second ability is an offensive soul skill called Heaven-Frost Palm. It can launch palm imprints at a distance, or store power in my hand to unleash at close range."
Su Yuan turned over his now fairer left palm as he explained the external soul bone's abilities in detail.
Compared with Huo Yuhao's purely offensive dark gold terrorclaw bear right palm bone, Su Yuan's Ice Bear Left Palm Bone leaned more toward utility. Its offensive soul skill seemed merely an extra; its main benefits were the amplification of his ice attribute and his greater affinity for and control over the ice element.
Control over one's martial soul's element was an extremely important part of developing self-created soul skills.
If one could not even establish an affinity with one's own attribute, how could one develop powerful self-created soul skills?
In Su Yuan's eyes, that affinity for the ice element was even more important than Heaven-Frost Palm.
"My physical strength has also improved quite a bit. I just don't know what age of soul ring I can absorb for my third one now."
Hearing this, Wang Xian'er reached out and lightly patted various parts of his body, testing his physical strength.
After completing the full examination, Wang Xian'er's face lit up with delight.
"Little Yuan, you can absolutely try absorbing a five-thousand-year soul ring now!"
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