"This is the Ice Fan form. It controls a single target. Anyone weaker than me won't be getting out anytime soon. Most Soul Grandmasters and Soul Elders will have to put in some effort to break free."
As Beiming Yuan spoke, he flipped the Snow Fan over and activated the Soul Skill once more.
The next moment, a dense flurry of icy-white snowflakes flew out. They swept over another exposed rock, freezing it into an ice sculpture.
"This is the Snow Fan's effect. Its control is a little weaker, but it makes up for that by controlling multiple targets. Only Soul Masters a full rank above me can break free quickly."
The Ice and Snow Fan had two forms: the Ice Fan for controlling a single target and the Snow Fan for controlling a group. Its control effects were maxed out.
With his "unlimited Soul Power," he could keep targets of his own rank, or even a higher rank, locked down until they died.
"They're both for control? What about attacking?" the Snow Empress asked.
"Right here."
Beiming Yuan smiled and moved his right hand, closing the Ice and Snow Fan into a blade. He walked up to the rock ice sculpture and casually slashed it.
The rock was sliced cleanly through, and the severed piece slid onto the snow.
Beiming Yuan turned back and smiled at the Ice and Snow Empresses. "The Soul Ring directly strengthened the attack power of the Ice and Snow Fan's blade form. Like the unlimited energy supplied by the Ice God Pearl, it's a passive Soul Skill."
The Snow Empress and Ice Empress nodded and smiled.
Looked at this way, the Soul Ring suited Beiming Yuan's "half assault, half control" cultivation path: control first, attack afterward.
"In that case, you'll need to put more thought into close combat in the future. The Ice and Snow Fan's blade form is too short; it's no different from a longer dagger."
"Bing'er, I'll leave that part to you."
The Snow Empress spoke as she looked at the Ice Empress.
When it came to close combat, the Ice Empress was unquestionably among the very best in the entire Far North, making her well suited to teaching Beiming Yuan.
As for herself, she would naturally teach Beiming Yuan to control Ultimate Ice and further develop his use of the Ice and Snow Fan.
For example, he could throw the Ice and Snow Fan to defeat an enemy, and he would also have to learn to control Ultimate Ice to retrieve it quickly...
Beiming Yuan still needed to hone his skills and grow.
"All right, leave it to me." The Ice Empress nodded.
"Xiao Yuan, live with me from now on. It'll make it easier for me to teach you, and I can use your Martial Soul to help me cultivate while we're at it," the Snow Empress continued.
"...All right." Hearing the words "help me cultivate," Beiming Yuan's thoughts strayed a little, but he answered obediently nonetheless.
"Xue'er, how can you do that?" The Ice Empress was a little unhappy.
"Bing'er, you come live with us too."
"Okay!"
The Ice Empress immediately brightened up.
Beiming Yuan watched the scene in surprise.
The Snow Empress shook her head helplessly. Seeing how happy the Ice Empress looked, she didn't want to point it out.
It was true that the Ice Empress liked her, but she also seemed to like Beiming Yuan.
She and Beiming Yuan had been matching wits, courage, and techniques, only for the Ice Empress to reap all the benefits in the end.
Afterward, the three returned to the palace.
In the days that followed, Beiming Yuan's strength grew rapidly under the Ice and Snow Empresses' guidance, and his Soul Power cultivation steadily increased.
Besides his routine cultivation, Beiming Yuan also traveled throughout the Far North, concealing his presence and using the entire region as a training ground.
He had his moments of triumph, his moments of distress, and his moments of flight. As long as his life wasn't in danger, the Snow Empress and Ice Empress, who watched over him from the shadows, never intervened.
Five years passed in this fashion.
Five years later.
On an ice field somewhere in the Far North, a ten-thousand-year Ice Wolf led a dozen or so thousand-year and Hundred-Year Soul Beast Ice Wolves in surrounding a man in white robes.
The Ice Wolves didn't rush to attack. Instead, they waited around him for an opportunity to strike.
The white-robed man they had surrounded was none other than Beiming Yuan.
In five years, his appearance, build, and bearing had undergone earth-shaking changes. He was no longer the little demon child he had once been, but a great demon king.
His long black hair fell loose over his shoulders. He wore a simple silver-white robe, had a well-proportioned build, and stood over 1.8 meters tall.
With delicate features and a handsome face, he held a folding Ice and Snow Fan and looked every bit a refined, graceful young master.
Only his black eyes revealed their true golden-amber color when caught by the light. They were large and bright, with a hidden depth to them.
Judging by his looks and bearing alone, Beiming Yuan was like a young, handsome master, but those eyes gave him a somewhat aloof and indifferent air.
"Awoo..."
Just then, several hundred-year Ice Wolves howled and were the first to pounce at Beiming Yuan.
Faced with attacks from the front, back, and both sides, Beiming Yuan's gaze remained indifferent, an ambiguous smile playing at the corners of his lips. The Ice and Snow Fan in his hand folded shut as he moved.
Beiming Yuan easily dodged the Ice Wolves' lunges and lightly struck out with the fan blade in his hand.
With several bangs, the Ice Wolves were all sent flying, the fur on their heads shorn away. Some had bald crowns, some were left with bowl cuts, and others were completely bald on top.
"Awoo!"
Five thousand-year Ice Wolves took the opportunity to pounce, and the ten-thousand-year Ice Wolf leading them leaped forward as well. They meant to take Beiming Yuan down in a single strike.
"Hum!"
At a thought from Beiming Yuan, three Soul Rings-one yellow, one purple, and one black-quickly descended, revealing his level-thirty-four Soul Power cultivation for all to see.
"Third Soul Skill, Ice and Snow Body Protection."
The black Soul Ring lit up, and the Ice and Snow Fan in Beiming Yuan's hand flashed with light. A dense flurry of snowflakes immediately swirled around him.
The next moment, all six Ice Wolves were swept away by the snowflakes.
This was the Snow Fan's protective effect. Rather than protection, it was more of a "repelling" effect: it could repel not only Soul Beasts and Soul Masters, but also all kinds of Soul Skills. Only spiritual Soul Skills were immune.
The Ice Fan's protective effect, however, blocked all attacks, including spiritual Soul Skills.
Although Beiming Yuan had planned to follow a half-assault, half-control path, having a defensive Soul Skill was also useful for improving his "survivability."
"Second Soul Skill, Ice and Snow Frost Blades." Beiming Yuan continued using his Soul Skills. His Ice and Snow Fan fired sixteen diamond-shaped ice spikes straight at the six Ice Wolves.
Then Beiming Yuan flipped the Ice and Snow Fan over and used the Second Soul Skill again. He waved the fan, sending snowflakes like fine blades striking continuously.
Under the combined assault of ice and snowflakes, the five thousand-year Ice Wolves were the first to crack and chose to flee.
Beiming Yuan's Second Soul Ring was as old as 3,500 years, and combined with his own Ultimate Ice, its power was not to be underestimated.
"Awoo!"
The ten-thousand-year Ice Wolf endured the damage from the ice and snowflakes and pounced at Beiming Yuan once again.
Beiming Yuan gave the Ice and Snow Fan a fierce flick, sending it flying straight at the ten-thousand-year Ice Wolf and leaving a clean gash on its body.
The wound was deep, but no blood flowed.
That was because the Ultimate Ice had already invaded the ten-thousand-year Ice Wolf's body and was freezing its flesh and blood, slowing its movements.
Beiming Yuan dodged the Ice Wolf's pounce and lashed out with a sideways kick. Using his considerable physical strength, he easily sent the nearly twenty-thousand-year-old Ice Wolf flying several meters.
"Whoosh-"
Under Beiming Yuan's control, the Ice and Snow Fan flew back into his hand and folded into a blade.
Beiming Yuan caught up to the ten-thousand-year Ice Wolf, stepped onto its body, and stabbed down with the Ice and Snow Fan's blade, stopping just before it struck the wolf's eye.
"Awoo..." The ten-thousand-year Ice Wolf stared at the Ice and Snow Fan's coldly gleaming blade before its eyes and growled softly, its eyes full of fear.