"Three minutes are up."
Xiao Yan rose from the snow and brushed the ice chips from his clothes, looking calmly at the Ice Empress.
The light in the Ice Empress's yellow-sapphire eyes flickered for several breaths before finally settling.
There was something convincing about this human youth's resolve, a confidence that came from deep within his bones.
The Ice Empress turned her head, directing her annoyance at the golden apparition beside her, who had been grinning foolishly all along. "A million years of cultivation for nothing, and you're still not as good as a youth. Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, you're a good-for-nothing."
Tian Meng froze at the scolding, then his golden body began to sway with excitement. "Bingbing, you agreed?!"
"Shut your mouth." The Ice Empress shot him a cold glare.
Xiao Yan stepped forward and gazed into those magnificent eyes. "Ice Empress, you made a good choice."
The Ice Empress snorted and looked away. "I hope your strength can match your confidence."
"It certainly can." Xiao Yan smiled faintly.
The Ice Empress stopped looking at him and turned to Tian Meng. "Good-for-nothing, why haven't you let me go yet?"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm chuckled. "Of course I'll let you go, but I'll have to inconvenience you first. Hand over your Spiritual Origin. For Xiao Yan's safety, I won't take the slightest risk."
"You don't need to tell me."
When it was time to go all in, the Ice Empress didn't hesitate in the slightest.
The Ice Empress's eyes gradually changed from crystalline yellow to emerald green. Her tail hook rose again, and a soft green light rippled from the base of her tail toward the back, finally gathering at the tip of the hook.
With a flash of emerald light, a small emerald-green sphere of light separated from her and slowly floated into the air.
The eyes of the Ice Empress's body abruptly dimmed, and the lifeless shell slumped helplessly onto the snow, radiating a terrifying, ferocious might that dyed even the sky a shade of emerald green.
Two Spiritual Origins entered Xiao Yan's forehead at the same time.
In the Sea of Consciousness, the Ice Empress spoke with unprecedented solemnity. "Xiao Yan, I can grant you a Third Martial Soul and provide a Soul Bone and a Soul Ring."
"The Soul Bone is a Torso Bone. It can cover your spine and sternum. Once you absorb it, it'll be as though you have an additional External Soul Bone."
"Although your body is much stronger than that of Soul Masters at the same level, the energy of my Soul Ring is still too powerful. So it's best to absorb the bone first and the ring afterward to maximize the benefits. The process will be very painful. You absolutely must not lose consciousness halfway through, or... we'll all die here."
Xiao Yan nodded slightly. "Don't worry, I prepared for this long ago."
"Then I'll begin!" As soon as the Ice Empress finished speaking, a streak of emerald light shot from Xiao Yan's forehead and landed on the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's shell.
The one-and-a-half-meter-long body began to tremble violently. The emerald glow around its tail rippled incessantly, and every hexagonal protrusion on its body burst with dazzling light.
Xiao Yan promptly sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.
A current of emerald-glowing Soul Power lifted him from the ground. The Ice Empress's shell glided beneath Xiao Yan, and its tail hook suddenly rose and stabbed viciously into his tailbone.
Xiao Yan's expression didn't change, nor did he even frown. He silently circulated Bone Spirit Cold Flame, using its ultimate cold to dull his perception of pain.
In the Sea of Consciousness, the Ice Empress's voice carried genuine astonishment. "He's enduring the pain of having his bones replaced without even changing expression... Is he even human?"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm moved closer. "Bingbing, your decision was so wise!!"
"Get lost!"
The Ice Empress ignored him and turned her gaze to the youth outside, who was fusing with the Soul Bone.
Talent, aptitude, temperament, perseverance... he had no weak points.
In her four hundred thousand years of life, this was the first time she had seen the word "perfect" in a human.
Time passed silently amid the wind and snow of the Far North.
A white glow bloomed beneath Xiao Yan and swept upward, enveloping him completely.
The Ice Empress's shell began to melt. This was the burning of her life's origin, akin to a sacrifice.
Every wisp of icy mist contained the most fundamental power of Ultimate Ice. It surged through Xiao Yan's skin and into his meridians, merging with his bones and blood.
An unknown amount of time passed before the white cocoon of light around Xiao Yan suddenly brightened, then shattered, turning into countless motes of light that scattered in the wind.
An upright figure stood in the middle of the snow.
Explosive power lay beneath the smooth lines of his muscles, and his lustrous, jade-white skin gave off a warm sheen against the snow.
Wind and snow howled around Xiao Yan, yet not a single snowflake could land within three feet of him. A pristine space free of snow had appeared with him at its center.
Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes.
Deep within his pupils, platinum and emerald green flashed in succession before sinking into profound black.
He looked down at his hands, then clenched one and punched fiercely forward.
The air exploded with a bang, and the wind from his fist plowed a trench more than ten meters long through the snow.
His physical strength was already no weaker than that of a Soul King with a Beast Martial Soul, and was even stronger!
Xiao Yan carefully felt the changes in his body.
Beneath his skin were no longer mere muscles and bones. Imbued with blue-gold Soul Power, every inch of his flesh was clear and tough, like jade that had been tempered over and over.
If an ordinary Soul Master's body was clay, then his body was now glazed porcelain that had been fired in a kiln.
He tried circulating his Soul Power. The blue-gold Soul Power flowed through his meridians far more smoothly than before, and was much denser.
The Soul Power drifting between heaven and earth rushed into his body, each bit vying to be first. He didn't need to guide it deliberately; his body was instinctively absorbing energy without pause.
This meant his cultivation speed had increased!
In the Sea of Consciousness, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was still circling the Ice Empress's new form, grinning from ear to ear.
The Ice Empress coldly kicked him aside and turned to Xiao Yan's consciousness, a hint of seriousness in her voice. "Xiao Yan, how do you feel?"
"I feel great."
"Refreshed and invigorated!" Xiao Yan replied.
The Ice Empress fell silent for a moment. "Good. Next comes converting the Second Martial Soul. Get ready."
"Mm." Xiao Yan nodded in agreement.
The Ice Empress nodded as well. "Then let's begin."
Xiao Yan sat down cross-legged once more. The blood-red Soul Ring began to merge into his body, and the Soul Power within him was continuously compressed by the Soul Ring's immense energy.
His Soul Power, which had already risen to level thirty-seven after absorbing the Soul Bone, now shot straight up to level thirty-nine!
His Soul Power continued to rise until a Soul Ring shimmering with dazzling brilliance rose beneath Xiao Yan.
It was an intimidating blood-red all over, noble and cold, with an unparalleled pressure!
Four dazzling golden markings also lay across that blood-red ring of light!
Red and gold intertwined, shining with incomparable brilliance across the boundless ice plain!
Xiao Yan's Third Martial Soul, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion!
Its first Soul Ring: four hundred thousand years!
It had originally been a three-hundred-and-ninety-thousand-year Soul Ring. During the fusion, Xiao Yan had the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm use his own origin power to assist the Ice Empress, helping her break through the four-hundred-thousand-year bottleneck!