Yu Tianshuang's Third Soul Ring
Early the next morning, Yu Tianshuang, who had spent the whole night without cultivating, let out a sigh. After washing up, he left his room, went downstairs, and sat at the dining table to eat breakfast.
Before long, Shui Xinrou also sat down across from Yu Tianshuang with a yawn and picked at her breakfast.
After the two finished eating, Shui Xinrou signaled that they should set off immediately.
When they reached the door, Yu Tianshuang, as if prompted by some mysterious impulse, looked up at the door to Shui Bing'er's room on the second floor and fell into a daze. Hearing Shui Xinrou call from ahead of him, he came to his senses, quickly turned his head, and hurried after her.
At the edge of the Frozen Forest's central region, a few Soul Beasts that had only just reached ten thousand years of age ran past from time to time. This time, however, Yu Tianshuang's target was a Soul Beast around twenty-five thousand years old.
Just then, the ground began to shake in steady jolts, and sheets of ice and snow fell from the trees.
An enormous ice-blue earth dragon, over a dozen meters long, appeared in the distance within the two's field of vision.
The earth dragon's entire body was covered in ice-blue scales that gleamed and looked exceptionally hard at a glance. Most fearsome of all were the three rows of spiked armor running down its back from its head to its tail. Its head resembled that of an alligator snapping turtle, and the ghastly fangs occasionally exposed in its mouth showed the terrifying strength of its bite. In contrast to the fearsome scales on its upper body and the spikes on its back, its thick, short limbs meant it could not possibly move very quickly. At the end of its tail was an enormous round bone hammer covered in spikes. Together with the long tail, it looked like a giant hammer at first glance.
Shui Xinrou widened her beautiful eyes and said gravely, "A Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon. It's one of the three most powerful known Soul Beasts in the entire Frozen Forest. Judging by its size, this one is just about twenty-five thousand years old. But the Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon has extremely powerful defenses, and look at that enormous bone hammer on its tail. Its attacks are extremely powerful too, and it has extraordinary stamina and endurance. Apart from its speed, this Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon has almost no weaknesses."
After summoning her Martial Soul, Shui Xinrou said to Yu Tianshuang, "Your teacher's attack power isn't particularly strong among Soul Douluo of the same level, so this is bound to be a protracted battle. Hide here and don't come out."
With that, she immediately summoned her Martial Soul Avatar and flew toward the Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon.
Hidden in the snow, Yu Tianshuang watched his teacher fighting the Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon in the distance, while the aftershocks of their battle rumbled through the ground. He could not help exclaiming, "The Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon really is worthy of being one of the three most powerful Soul Beasts in the Frozen Forest. With only twenty-five thousand years of cultivation, it can tangle with a Soul Douluo powerhouse like Teacher for so long."
The battle lasted for a full two hours or so. After Shui Xinrou's final Diamond Stardust Strike landed, the Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon crashed to the ground and became an enormous ice sculpture.
Panting, Shui Xinrou used her Soul Power to drag the enormous ice sculpture of the Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon as she flew toward Yu Tianshuang.
With an enormous crash, the giant ice sculpture that had been the Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon struck the ground, shaking countless clumps of ice and snow from the surrounding trees.
After using her Soul Power to melt a section of thick ice around the Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon's neck, Shui Xinrou coated her delicate hand in another layer of Soul Power and tore away the hard scales beneath it.
With a sharp clang, the Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon's hard scales struck the ground and rang out clearly.
Yu Tianshuang condensed a short sword in his hand and ended the enormous creature's life. As a black Soul Ring rose and floated above the Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon's corpse, he drew it toward himself with his Soul Power and began absorbing it.
In stark contrast to her anxiety when Shui Bing'er had absorbed her Soul Ring, Shui Xinrou was completely at ease now. Although she remained on guard against their surroundings, she only checked on Yu Tianshuang's progress occasionally, without the slightest trace of worry.
Two hours passed. Yu Tianshuang let out a long breath, and a ripple of Soul Power spread from his body.
"Just like the first two times, with the Big Dipper Seven Primordial Purple Extremity Seal, I could barely feel the soul impact formed after the Soul Beast died. The absorption went incredibly smoothly."
"Tell me, then. What powerful Soul Skill did the Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon's Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring give you?"
Shui Xinrou looked at Yu Tianshuang, who had completed his breakthrough, and asked curiously.
"Mm, first of all, my Soul Power Level rose by four levels at once. And the Soul Skill this Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon's Soul Ring gave me is Frost Dragon Bone Hammer. It can be used in two ways. The first is to summon a Frost Dragon Bone Hammer in my hand and throw it straight at a target location, dealing group damage and freezing enemies. The second is a single-target attack Soul Skill. After summoning the bone hammer in my hand, I jump up with it and smash it hard at the enemy, dealing heavy single-target damage and freezing them. Also, with my Martial Soul this time, my left hand underwent Dragon Transformation and became a dragon claw too. Now both my hands have completed Dragon Transformation, and my attack power has increased greatly."
With that, he summoned his Frost Dragon Martial Soul and used Martial Soul Possession. Where Yu Tianshuang had previously had a dragon claw only on his right hand, he now had two identical frost dragon claws.
"Will of Winter, Ice Dragon's Might, Third Soul Skill, Frost Dragon Bone Hammer."
An ice-blue, round bone hammer appeared in the dragon claw on Yu Tianshuang's right hand, almost identical to the one on the Scaled Ice Hammer Earth Dragon's tail. He then gathered his strength and hurled it at an open area not far away.
The frost bone hammer spun through the air toward the nearby clearing. Then, with a boom, the clearing was frozen solid.
"Mm, not bad. It's a formidable Soul Skill, with both group damage and control. Most importantly, another part of your body has undergone Dragon Transformation through your Martial Soul. As far as I know, ordinary members of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan only have one part undergo Dragon Transformation for every ten levels of Soul Power they gain after level forty. You're only level thirty, yet both your hands have already undergone Dragon Transformation. Tianshuang, you're truly wonderful."
Shui Xinrou gazed in amazement at the large frozen clearing in the distance and could not help speaking with emotion.
At dusk, the two returned to the inn in the Frozen Forest town just in time for the afternoon meal, and Shui Bing'er happened to be coming down from her room on the second floor.
Watching Shui Bing'er descend the stairs gracefully, Yu Tianshuang could not help recalling the tender scene when he had given her the Immortal Herb in the Frozen Forest, as well as the coquettishly reproachful look she had given him outside her room before he left the previous night. His cold, stern face flushed slightly, and he did not dare look at Shui Bing'er's pretty face.
Sitting at the dining table, Shui Xinrou stretched and said, "Ah, the task is finally complete. Both you little ones have broken through. Get a good rest tonight, and we'll return to the academy tomorrow morning. I wonder whether Shui Yue'er and those other little girls have been cultivating properly while we've been away."
The two sitting across from her both had their heads down, busily shoveling food into their mouths. By chance, their chopsticks reached into the same dish and bumped together. Both immediately withdrew their chopsticks and furiously shoveled down rice.
Seeing how strangely the two were behaving, Shui Xinrou could not help letting out an "Oh..." and began looking them over with a subtle expression.
Shui Bing'er was the first who could no longer bear it. She hurriedly shoveled down all the rice in her bowl and said indistinctly, "I, I, I'm full. I'll go back to my room and rest first."
With that, she dashed upstairs.