"It's been over a decade. Has my golden finger finally arrived?"
Hearing the mechanical voice in his mind, Xue Chen, who had just endured the agony of having his bones replaced, immediately perked up.
Who could have known that his golden finger would only awaken once his Martial Soul had successfully awakened?
If the Snow Empress's sacrifice hadn't drawn out his Martial Soul, wouldn't he have missed out on his golden finger forever?
[Congratulations to the host for successfully registering and activating the first SSS-rank goddess: Snow Empress!] [Congratulations to the host for obtaining the activation reward: God-Level Martial Soul draw attempts ×1] [Draw a God-Level Martial Soul now?]
The string of voices in his ears almost made Xue Chen forget that he was in the middle of receiving the Snow Empress's sacrifice.
Only the system's final question brought him back to his senses.
I've already successfully awakened my Martial Soul. If nothing unexpected happens, Sister Xue's true form, the Heavenly Snow Woman, will become my second Martial Soul.
But although the Heavenly Snow Woman is a top-tier Martial Soul with an ultimate attribute, how could it compare to a god-level Martial Soul?
In the flash of a spark, thoughts streaked through Xue Chen's mind like lightning before finally turning into a single command.
"Claim!"
[Drawing a God-Level Martial Soul for the host... Congratulations to the host for obtaining the God-Level Martial Soul: Five Elements Qilin!] [Five Elements Qilin: a legendary auspicious divine beast-level Martial Soul that controls the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. With the right fortuitous encounter, it can grow into the Heavenly Stems Qilin Martial Soul, possessing yin, yang, and the five elements!] [Fusing the Martial Soul with the host...]
Before Xue Chen could think any further, a tremendous force suddenly erupted from within his body.
"Ugh!"
Five halos of different colors appeared behind his head.
The verdant green of wood, the scarlet red of fire, the deep yellow of earth, the keen white of metal, and the deep blue of water-the five colors flickered, each giving off an entirely different presence.
The vitality of wood, the blazing intensity of fire, the weight of earth, the sharpness of metal, and the nourishing moisture of water.
The five elements mingled while keeping one another in check, finally forming a chaos-colored qilin mark on his forehead.
"What's going on?"
The Snow Empress, who had already used her own spiritual power to open a sea of consciousness for Xue Chen, showed a slight change in expression.
Most of her origin power had already been sealed inside the right arm bone she had sacrificed to Xue Chen. Just as she was about to become his second Martial Soul, she suddenly discovered that a peculiar force had taken the place of his second Martial Soul.
"Chen'er actually has twin Martial Souls?"
The Snow Empress's expression turned rather grim.
Even in the world of Soul Masters, twin Martial Souls represented the very pinnacle of talent. Only one or two people in an era could awaken twin Martial Souls.
As long as they did not perish prematurely, these possessors of twin Martial Souls would all go on to leave their names in the history of Soul Masters.
The Snow Empress had accounted for everything except Xue Cheng suddenly producing a second Martial Soul!
"The sacrificial process is irreversible. Since I can't become Chen'er's Martial Soul, all I can do now is become his Wisdom Soul Ring!"
The Snow Empress's willow-leaf brows furrowed slightly, and a trace of hesitation appeared on her already deeply translucent face.
"Chen'er's first Martial Soul is a tool Martial Soul. Its fierce killing intent is too overwhelming, and it doesn't match my attribute."
"Chen'er's second Martial Soul seems to be a beast Martial Soul with many attributes... but none of those attributes is ice."
The Five Elements Qilin Martial Soul possessed the five most fundamental attributes on the continent. Although the ice attribute originated from the water attribute, it could not be counted as the water attribute.
Especially since what the Snow Empress possessed was not an ordinary ice attribute, but the very pinnacle: ultimate ice.
"So be it. Even if Chen'er's Martial Soul doesn't possess the ice attribute, as long as it absorbs my origin power, it will definitely develop the ultimate ice attribute!"
With that thought, the Snow Empress hesitated no longer.
Milky-white energy mingled with the five-colored halos around Xue Chen, forming an enormous cocoon of light that completely enveloped him.
Yet the milky-white energy representing the Snow Empress could not fuse with the five-colored halos around Xue Chen at all.
The collisions between the two sent ripples of energy, large and small, across the ice cocoon from time to time.
"The Snow Empress's presence has disappeared..."
Sensing the Snow Empress's presence completely dissipate between heaven and earth, the Ice Empress, who stood guard below the snowy peak, had a flicker of sorrow in her eyes.
Perhaps it was because of her somewhat warped feelings for the Snow Empress, but more than that, it was the Ice Empress's lament for the fate of Soul Beasts.
The Snow Empress was a spirit born and nurtured by the Far North itself, yet even with seven hundred thousand years of cultivation, she still could not safely survive her heavenly tribulation.
In the end, she had still become a human's Soul Ring and Soul Bone.
Even if that human had been raised by the Snow Empress and her own hands.
Even if she could not be certain whether that human was actually human.
She, too, would soon face her four-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation. Like the Snow Empress, she had no confidence that she could survive it safely.
She was lamenting her own fate as well.
"No!"
As the Ice Empress sank into those complicated emotions, she seemed to sense something. Her expression suddenly changed, and she jerked her head up.
For she saw that the sky above the snowy peak was covered by a milky-white light and another expanse of five-colored radiance.
The two lights remained as distinct as two separate rivers, even faintly showing signs of opposition!
"That milky-white light should be the Snow Empress's origin power after her sacrifice."
"That five-colored radiance... should be that brat Xue Chen's Martial Soul origin."
The Ice Empress waved her two pincers before her a couple of times in agitation.
"Just what is that brat's Martial Soul? Why is its Martial Soul origin so powerful?"
"And why is the origin power from the Snow Empress's sacrifice still unable to fuse with it?"
The Ice Empress instinctively wanted to climb the snowy peak and see what was happening.
But in the next instant, she abruptly stopped, a trace of struggle flashing through her eyes.
The sacrificial process was irreversible. Moreover, the Snow Empress wanted to sacrifice herself to Xue Chen while retaining her memories and intelligence.
If her interference caused anything to go wrong with the sacrifice, she would never forgive herself!
"Damn it!"
After lingering in place for a while, the Snow Empress fiercely gritted her teeth, a look of dejection slowly appearing on her face.
"Now it all depends on Xue'er and that brat's fortune!"
The sun rose and the moon set; the stars shifted and the constellations turned. Although time continued to pass, the Far North, covered in ice and snow all year round, seemed unchanged.
Except for the light from a certain snowy peak shining across the heavens.
Even as the milky-white light contended with the five-colored radiance, the two were quietly mingling.
Atop the snowy peak, the cocoon of light, whose two origins had originally been sharply divided, now looked exceptionally harmonious.
The verdant green of wood, the scarlet red of fire, the deep yellow of earth, the keen white of metal, the deep blue of water, and the milky white representing the Snow Empress's origin were evenly distributed across the cocoon of light.
Crack!
With a soft sound, a fissure quietly opened in the cocoon of interwoven six-colored light.