After absorbing the Soul Ring, Youheng had replenished his Soul Power and fully recovered from his injuries. Although his Soul Power and spiritual power had not returned to their peak, he was completely out of danger.
Only then did Xiao Bai, who had been holding her breath and guarding him with painstaking care, finally dare to speak in her deep, muffled voice. Confusion and worry filled her enormous Ice Bear face. "Mother? How... how did you end up inside this human's body?"
The Snow Empress's consciousness seemed to "glare" at her before briefly recounting what had happened: how the pressure of her heavenly tribulation had forced her to choose human transformation, how a despicable human Level 9 Soul Engineer had ambushed her at her weakest moment, and how she had ultimately been left with no choice but to entrust her essence to Dai Youheng, whose unusual constitution made him a suitable vessel and who had happened to fall from the sky and crush that Level 9 Soul Engineer to death.
Once she finished, a hint of anger immediately colored the Snow Empress's consciousness as she scolded sharply, "You were at fault too, Xiao Bai! Where had you run off to play, you unfilial daughter, when my transformation was at such a critical stage? If you had been there to protect me, how could a mere Level 9 Soul Engineer have harmed even a hair on my head? Look at the predicament I've ended up in!"
Under the scolding, Xiao Bai ducked her enormous head. Her normally fierce bear eyes brimmed with hurt and guilt, and she let out several low, whimpering sounds.
Her mountain-sized body looked almost comically helpless, a contrast to her standing as one of the overlords of the Far North that left one unsure whether to laugh or cry.
She revered her mother above all else. Now that she knew her mother had suffered such a calamity while she had failed to remain at her side and protect her, her guilt and lingering fear were easy to imagine.
Xiao Bai blinked her enormous ice-blue eyes. Although knowing her mother was safe had relieved her, being simple and straightforward did not mean she was stupid.
She tilted her enormous head and spoke again in her deep, muffled voice, which echoed through the empty entrance hall of the Ice Castle. "Mother, did you come back so suddenly because you have some other important business?"
With a thick paw, she gently pointed at the corpse of the Abyssal Ice Prison Tiger on the floor, now utterly dead and stripped of its Soul Ring. "Running into this unlucky fellow seemed like an accident. You and Uncle Youheng surely didn't come all the way to the heart of the Far North just to find him, did you?"
The Snow Empress's consciousness stirred gently within Dai Youheng's mind, carrying a trace of approval. "You big oaf. You aren't entirely stupid after all."
At this point, there was indeed no need to hide anything further from Xiao Bai. The Snow Empress turned her consciousness toward Dai Youheng, her cool voice taking on a solemn note. "Youheng, the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring I prepared for you does not come from any mighty beast of the ice fields. It comes from an extremely unusual Plant-type Soul Beast-one that could even be called unique."
Dai Youheng's expression grew intent as he listened closely. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Plant-type Soul Beast? That was incredibly rare in the Far North.
After all, very few plants could survive in this godforsaken place.
"Its name is the Ice-Fire Twin Lotus," the Snow Empress continued. "Its true form is an enormous, wondrous lotus, with a single rootstock planted deep beneath the frozen plains, above the source of a rare subterranean fire vein. Yet its upper stem branches in two, nurturing and blooming into two utterly different lotus flowers at once."
"One is blazing as the sun, like an eternally burning flame. It gleams with the purest crimson and brilliant gold, radiating astonishing heat."
"The other is cold enough to pierce the bones, as though carved from ten-thousand-year-old ice. Its entire body is a translucent ice-blue, and its chilling aura is enough to freeze the soul."
"Ice and fire, two utterly opposing powers, have achieved a kind of ultimate balance and coexistence within this twin lotus. They complement each other, forming its unique essence."
A trace of reminiscence and emotion surfaced in the Snow Empress's consciousness. "At first, this balance sustained its growth. Yet all things incline one way or another. As long years of growth and cultivation passed, the influence of its surroundings would gradually reveal itself. It was born in the Far North, where the boundless ice element should have held sway. In theory, the ice lotus would gradually suppress the fire lotus and draw in more power, eventually turning the entire twin lotus's attribute fully toward ultimate ice."
"When I happened upon it during my travels through the Far North, I was overjoyed," the Snow Empress said. "To me, this Ice-Fire Twin Lotus was a treasure beyond compare. I did not rush to harvest it, but allowed it to grow naturally. My original plan was to consume its fully matured Ice Lotus Seed when I faced my heavenly tribulation. The immense power of its essence, tempered by ultimate ice, would have been enough to send my cultivation soaring, allowing me to break through in one stroke and weather the tribulation safely."
At this point, helplessness and bewilderment entered the Snow Empress's consciousness. "But heaven toys with us. For some unknown reason, deep within the Far North, in an undiscovered hidden realm or geological stratum, there lay an ancient and immensely powerful source of fire-attribute divine power. By an extraordinary coincidence, the roots of this Ice-Fire Twin Lotus touched a faint wisp of divine power leaking from it."
"That single trace of foreign fire-attribute divine power, of an exceedingly high order, completely shattered the Ice-Fire Twin Lotus's own balance. It profoundly influenced and permeated the lotus, causing its attribute to shift sharply toward fire. Now, the core it has condensed, its most precious 'ice-fire lotus seed,' is not the translucent, ice-blue Ice Lotus Seed I expected at all. Instead, it is an intensely scorching Fire Lotus Seed, shimmering with crimson radiance!"
The Snow Empress's tone carried a hint of anger and regret. "I am the embodiment of wind and snow. If I forcibly consumed a Fire Lotus Seed filled with such violent fire-attribute essence, it would not merely fail to benefit me-it would trigger a clash of ice and fire within my body. A severe loss of cultivation would be the least of my worries. Damage to my foundation would be the real disaster!"
"With no other choice, I could only act before its power had fully stabilized amid the conflict between its attributes. I captured it and brought it back to my Ice Castle, sealing it in the castle's deepest reaches. There, I slowly nourished and harmonized it with my ultimate freezing power, hoping that the environment and my strength would gradually wear away the influence of that fire-attribute divine power. Then its ice attribute could regain the upper hand, turning the Fire Lotus Seed back into an Ice Lotus Seed."
She sighed. "Unfortunately, though that trace of fire-attribute divine power is faint, its essence is of an extremely high order, and it is remarkably stubborn. More than a thousand years have passed with little effect. To this day, it remains an Ice-Fire Twin Lotus inclined toward fire. Fortunately, as long as you do not take the Snow Soul Condensing Ice Pill, you are not an ice-attribute Soul Master. Whether it possesses a fire or ice attribute will make little difference to you."
"Now that I have sacrificed myself to you, Youheng, this Ice-Fire Twin Lotus is no longer of use to me," the Snow Empress said. "So I will give it to you. Your Martial Soul is not purely ice-attributed, and your cultivation method embraces all streams as the sea does. Whether this twin lotus leans toward ice or fire, its vast hundred-thousand-year essence will be immensely nourishing to you. Absorbing its Soul Ring may bring you unexpected surprises. In particular, your special-effect pill will very likely gain an ability similar to that lotus seed's. When that happens, it will surely resolve your most pressing problem."
After listening to this lengthy account, Dai Youheng's eyes flashed with intense interest
and anticipation.
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Plant-type Soul Beast whose attribute had shifted under the influence of divine power? This was indeed far beyond his expectations, and far more challenging than hunting an ordinary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. It also promised greater potential rewards.
"Ice-Fire Twin Lotus... Fire Lotus Seed..." he murmured, the corners of his mouth curving upward. "Sounds very interesting."
His gaze turned toward the dark, deep passage within the Ice Castle, as though he could already see that blazing miracle sealed in the depths of the bitter cold.
Xiao Bai listened from the side, only half understanding, but she grasped one thing: her mother had given a very powerful treasure, one she had previously been unable to use herself, to this newly acknowledged Uncle Youheng.
She swayed her great head and let out a low rumble, seemingly indicating that she understood and would help as well.
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