"How confident are you?"
After careful consideration, the Ice Empress spoke.
"One hundred percent."
It was Lin Qian who answered her.
"Tian Meng told me his plan. I know all of it. You have two paths before you now: the first is to join us, and the second is still to join us."
"???" The Ice Empress wore the expression from the confused Black man meme. "Then why even ask me?"
Lin Qian was perfectly serious. "You still have the right to be informed."
";-)"
Seeing that the atmosphere was off, Tian Meng hurried to smooth things over. "Ice Empress, Master once said, 'Take a chance, and your bicycle could become a motorcycle.' The chance at eternal life is right in front of you. Do you really not want to try?"
He worked hard to stir her up, doing everything he could to move the Ice Empress with words. Aside from being a simp, he also knew that if his master took over, his attitude would not be nearly so pleasant.
Men understood men best. He knew full well that Lin Qian was not someone whose heart overflowed with love for women, and even if it did, it would not be for her.
Rather than be forced to compromise, she would be better off cooperating willingly. That way, she could retain her clear consciousness and intact origin after the fusion.
The Ice Empress sneered. "Do I have any other choice?"
Though her tone was unpleasant, the chilling killing intent was gone. Before eternal life, what did a brief loss of freedom amount to?
Tian Meng sighed in relief. "Wonderful! You'll definitely be glad you made this choice today!"
The Ice Empress said, "Don't get smug too soon, you two. If I find out you're lying, I'll self-destruct even if it costs me my life, and leave you with nothing!"
Lin Qian said, "All right. Release your Spiritual Origin!"
The Ice Empress hesitated for a moment upon hearing that.
Once she released her origin, there would be no turning back. She could only follow this road into the darkness, bound and locked in.
In the end, the simp understood his goddess best. Only after he swore a solemn oath did the Ice Empress finally dispel her doubts.
"All right, let's do it!"
Dithering was not in the nature of the Far North's second Heavenly King. Since she had made her decision, she could only accept it!
Her eyes gradually turned jade green, and the Ice Empress returned to her beast form. Her long scorpion tail rose again, indicating that she was completely free of her restraints and could release her energy to her heart's content.
A gentle halo rose from her tail and gathered at its tip. Then jade light flashed, and a jade-green orb slowly rose.
Having lost her Spiritual Origin, the light in the Ice Empress's eyes dimmed.
Lin Qian beckoned, and the orb immediately landed in his palm. Then, just as he had with Tian Meng back then, he pressed the orb to his forehead and slowly fused with it.
"Mmm~"
As expected of a three-hundred-thousand-year-old Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, even her spiritual power was this abundant.
Lin Qian sighed in comfort.
"Are you ready? I'm going to start!"
Stretching his limbs, he gave her one last reminder.
"Yes, go ahead."
Perhaps because she feared his strength and was about to become a Soul Spirit, the Ice Empress's attitude toward Lin Qian could be called gentle as water compared with her attitude toward the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
After assessing his body, she suggested, "Your constitution is good. There's no need for me to seal my Soul Power. You can absorb it directly."
In the original story, Huo Yuhao had been too weak, forcing the Ice Empress to seal her power within the ring like Tian Meng and let him absorb it slowly.
As a full-fledged Soul Douluo, Lin Qian naturally had no need for such trouble. She could simply perform Sacrifice, and he could absorb her directly.
More straightforward than Tian Meng the simp, the Ice Empress quickly accepted her master and took the initiative to ask, "Soul Beasts over a hundred thousand years old all produce Soul Bones. My cultivation is close to four hundred thousand years, so I can customize mine in advance. Which part do you want?"
Lin Qian said, "A torso bone!"
Whenever a Soul Beast performed Sacrifice, both its Soul Ring and Soul Bone would be of higher quality than those obtained by killing it. This was especially true of an exceptionally high-ranking Soul Beast like the Ice Empress, who had provided Huo Yuhao with a single integrated set comprising a torso bone and two External Soul Bones in the original story.
Even the Million-Year Soul Beast, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, could not compare.
PS: In the original story, Tang San's absorption of the Demon Whale King's Soul Ring had been full of twists and turns, and he had nearly fallen victim to a sneak attack.
So, after careful consideration, Lin Qian had still given up on the seemingly more precious Deep Sea Demonic Whale King and accepted the Ice Empress's gift instead.
And after he absorbed her Spiritual Origin, the Ice Empress's mind was linked to his, only to be struck by lightning right at the opening.
I devoted myself to you wholeheartedly, and you treated me as a backup!
Had Lin Qian not accepted her in the end, she really would have doubted her own charm.
Afraid that he might change his mind, the Ice Empress cried out, "There's no time to lose. Here I come!"
Buzz!
The Ice Empress began burning her own origin, and her body gradually disappeared.
A dazzling Soul Ring rose from her body, its entirety a terrifying scarlet, nobler than an ordinary Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and colder than mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
On closer inspection, four golden markings could be seen flickering faintly over the red Soul Ring. The interwoven red and gold illuminated the snowy plain even more brightly.
As the red and gold gradually dimmed, another jade-green mass of light followed close behind, replacing the Soul Ring as it continued to shine.
Unlike an ordinary Soul Bone, this mass of light was controlled by the Ice Empress herself. Following Lin Qian's instructions, it began to transform, gradually condensing into something resembling a skeleton.
Once fully formed, it swiftly approached Lin Qian's tailbone. The jade green merged into it and spread throughout his limbs and bones.
During this process, his muscles, bones, and internal organs were thoroughly nourished, making Lin Qian's already powerful body even stronger and granting him the attribute of Ultimate Ice as well.
When the fusion was complete, some invisible force slowly lifted Lin Qian, and a huge tattoo appeared on his back.
Dark green wound down along his spine, with six long legs wrapping around his ribs. As he spread his arms, diamond-like granules on them shifted slowly, each the size of a mung bean and gleaming brilliantly.
"It worked."
Descending from midair, Lin Qian opened his eyes. An immense aura surged forth in an instant, then vanished.
He looked down. Shimmering red and gold on the ground was the First Soul Ring of his Second Martial Soul, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion-an exceptional Soul Ring as old as four hundred thousand years.
Just as in the original story, Tian Meng had bolstered the fusion with his origin power, helping the Ice Empress break through that bottleneck and become a true four-hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.
Otherwise, this Soul Ring would have had only three golden markings rather than four, and its power would naturally have been as different as heaven and earth.
The Ice Empress said, "My Soul Ring can give you two Soul Skills-Ice Empress's Pincer and Ice Emperor's Protection. The Soul Bone also gives you two-Eternal Frozen Domain and Ice Emperor's Wrath.
"Get a good feel for them. With your talent, I'm sure you can create more related Soul Skills of your own."
After speaking, the Ice Empress wearily closed her eyes and fell into dormancy. Having just sacrificed all her origin, she urgently needed rest.
Only once she was asleep did the two brothers begin discussing private matters.
Tian Meng was the first to ask, "Feels great, doesn't it?"
Lin Qian nodded. "I'm at the peak of rank eighty-five, only half a step from rank eighty-six."
"Then should we press our advantage and take down the other one next?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Qian and Tian Meng looked outward in unison, gazing deeper into the Far North...