The Ice Dragon King's Soul
"If you save someone, see it through to the end. Since you asked me for help, and I agreed, I naturally won't give you halfhearted treatment."
"You've already noticed what's special about the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, so I won't waste words. I'll plant you here. Since you've awakened your intelligence, take some initiative and actively absorb the ice and fire power."
"I've given you the opportunity. Whether you can seize it is up to you."
Li Jin approached the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, chose a spot near the spring, dug into the soil, and planted the Blue Silver Emperor.
He gave the Blue Silver Emperor another cast of "Wildfire cannot burn it all away; with the spring breeze, it grows again," letting her quickly take root in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The Blue Silver Emperor swayed gently. Ever since arriving at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, her condition had visibly improved, and a faint blue-gold halo enveloped her.
"Thank you, benefactor. Ah Yin will certainly engrave this immense kindness in her heart."
"In that cave where the sun never shone, I spent every moment thinking of recovering my cultivation and confronting that faithless man."
"I gave everything for him. Why did he treat me like this?"
"Now that the opportunity is before me, I'll seize it even if I have to stake my life."
Li Jin nodded slightly.
He, too, looked forward to seeing what expressions Tang Hao and Tang San would wear when he brought a living Ah Yin before them.
Then his gaze swept over the many Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
After breaking through Tang San's mental defenses, my Spiritual Detection could see the circulation of Soul Power inside his body, but it couldn't directly read his memories. There are only a few Immortal Herbs here that I recognize...
The Far North is extremely cold. Without sufficient resistance to the cold, even heaven-defying luck would leave me fumbling helplessly.
I've decided on you two: Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot.
Li Jin took a jade shard and a dagger from Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges and used them respectively to harvest the Infernal Delicate Apricot, which gave off scorching heat, and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, which radiated icy cold.
"First Soul Skill, Spiritual Telekinesis!"
Rather than touching them with his hands, Li Jin used Spiritual Telekinesis to lift the ice and fire Immortal Herbs and swiftly bring them before him. Their extreme heat and cold neutralized each other, and the two extreme emanations quickly subsided.
He grabbed the two Immortal Herbs and stuffed them into his mouth in great mouthfuls. They melted on his tongue, turning into ice and fire power that coursed through his body.
After finishing them, Li Jin let out a long breath, swiftly removed Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges, stripped off his clothes and trousers, and jumped into the spring of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The medicinal power of the ice and fire Immortal Herbs protected Li Jin from the spring's harmful effects, while the spring's ice and fire power accelerated his absorption of the herbs.
Under this stimulation from within and without, Li Jin's body began another transformation.
The ice and fire medicinal power merged into his muscles, bones, meridians, internal organs, limbs, and every part of his body... making each of his organs emit a faint golden glow.
Ice and Fire Golden Body!
The process continued for an entire day and night. As the sun set and the moon rose, then the sun rose and the moon set outside, Li Jin finally opened his eyes.
An unending stream of strength surged through his powerful physique.
Just then, Li Jin's second Martial Soul, the soulless embryonic ice element, began pulsing.
The source of those pulses lay at the bottom of the ice and fire spring.
After a moment's thought, Li Jin understood the crux of the matter.
The ice element has no soul, while the souls of the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King slumber underground. As long as I swim down now and fuse with the Ice Dragon King's soul, I can have the Ice Dragon King as my second Martial Soul.
A god-level Martial Soul, the Ice Dragon King, is certainly very tempting. Unfortunately...
You, the Ice Dragon King, aren't even among the strongest of the Nine Great Dragon Kings, and you'd also be subject to bloodline suppression from the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King. I don't want to run into Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena in the future and be easily suppressed by her.
The Far North has the Ice Empress, the Snow Empress, and the Ice God's inheritance. For others, those opportunities are far beyond reach, but for me, they're there for the taking.
With the Ice and Snow Empresses as my Martial Souls and the Ice God's position as my inheritance, my potential ceiling would surpass the Ice Dragon King's, and I wouldn't be subject to suppression from the Golden and Silver Dragon Kings.
That's my first choice. It's time to leave the ice and fire spring. After this Ice and Fire Golden Body refinement, I can directly hunt a Soul Beast over five thousand years old for my second Soul Ring.
With these thoughts, Li Jin raised his head and kicked his legs, steadily swimming up through the ice and fire spring.
A short while later, amid a splash of water, Li Jin returned to shore and wiped the spring water from his body.
Li Jin put his clothes and trousers back on and fastened Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges around himself.
Then, after searching the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he found a small white flower with several crystalline dewdrops on it.
This was the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew!
It could increase spiritual power and grant the ability to see through all manner of wondrous things, directly raising the realm of the Purple Demon Eye.
It was also extremely valuable to Li Jin.
He picked the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, tilted his head back, brought it to his mouth, and let the few dewdrops fall inside.
The Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew then rapidly withered.
He sat cross-legged and began absorbing its medicinal power.
Wisps of coolness rushed along his meridians straight into his brain, leaving his mind exceptionally clear.
As he activated the Purple Demon Eye, the coolness gathered in his eyes, making them tingle and grow numb, as though they were undergoing a transformation.
Meanwhile, above his Sea of Consciousness hung ten masses of Spiritual Origin, as dazzling as suns.
At that moment, one mass of Spiritual Origin was also stirred, scattering myriad rays of light that merged into Li Jin's Sea of Consciousness and suddenly sent great waves surging across it.
Watching this from his corner, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's heart bled.
Mine! That's mine!!
Within Li Jin's Sea of Consciousness, he could not stir up so much as a ripple. He could only watch helplessly as his own Spiritual Origin expanded Li Jin's Sea of Consciousness, wave after wave.
By the time the great waves subsided, his Sea of Consciousness had doubled in area.
Li Jin opened his eyes, divine light flashing within them.
He had reached the third realm of the Purple Demon Eye.
Mustard Seed!
Moreover, the increase in his spiritual power had brought a qualitative leap in the effectiveness of his first Soul Skill.
This trip to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well had truly yielded a bountiful harvest.
Li Jin let out a long breath. "Time to set off. It's time to secure the Koi Martial Soul's second Soul Ring, as well as my second Martial Soul."
He stood up and walked over to the Blue Silver Emperor.
"I'm leaving."
"I'll come see you again next time."
Enveloped in a blue-gold halo, the Blue Silver Emperor gave off a refreshing vitality. She gently swayed, her tender voice filled with gratitude so thick it could not be dissolved.
"I'll pray for you here, benefactor, and wish you safety and smooth sailing."
"If the day comes when I regain my human form, I will remain by your side until I have repaid this great kindness."
Hearing this, Li Jin nodded.
He had casually placed an idle piece on the board; only in the future would its effects become apparent.
He turned and walked out of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.