Skywater Ice Battle: The Ice Crystal Talisman

The exchange match with Skywater Academy was scheduled for the fifth day after Blazing Fire Academy left.

The night before, Ye Lingling came to the guest elder's room with a scroll of information on Skywater Academy.

"Skywater Academy's captain is Shui Bing'er. Her Martial Soul is the Ice Phoenix, and she's level twenty-seven," she said. "In last year's exchange match, she froze three Blazing Fire Academy students on her own."

"Your Tower Realm can devour fire-attribute Spiritual Power. Ice is another matter."

"Ice-attribute Spiritual Power tends to stagnate. It flows through the meridians half as fast as ordinary Spiritual Power, and it has powerful penetrating force. If she uses an ice-attribute Soul Skill inside your Tower Realm, its Devouring efficiency will be reduced."

Nan Feng nodded.

The Ice Phoenix Martial Soul was a top-tier Beast Martial Soul with tremendous control. Shui Bing'er was calm and composed, the polar opposite of Huo Wu.

The following afternoon, the exchange match was held at the main cultivation grounds.

Skywater Academy's team was smaller than Blazing Fire Academy's, with only four people. Their leader was an instructor who was a Soul Ancestor above level forty, and there were three students.

At the front of the team stood a slender, fair-skinned girl in a pale blue dress.

Her long silver-blue hair fell behind her shoulders, its tips glinting coldly in the light.

She stood there expressionless, her gaze sweeping over the ranks of students. It paused for a beat as it passed Nan Feng.

Shui Bing'er.

The fluctuations of her Soul Power were different from Huo Wu's. Huo Wu's Soul Power was like a dancing flame, flamboyant and violent.

Shui Bing'er's was like ice lying at the bottom of a pool, restrained and dense, with no heat spilling out that he could sense.

In the first two matches, Skywater Academy fought students from the intermediate division. Shui Bing'er didn't take part; she sat with her team and watched. Heaven Dou Royal Academy won both matches.

For the third match, Skywater Academy's lead instructor stood up and said a few words. Shui Bing'er stepped out and took her place in the center of the grounds.

The wind lifted a corner of her pale blue dress. Her long silver-blue hair swayed in the light.

"Would anyone from Heaven Dou Royal Academy like to fight me?" Shui Bing'er asked. Her voice was soft, but every word was clear. "I'm level twenty-seven, with the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul. Anyone can come up against me."

Her gaze crossed the grounds and settled on Nan Feng for three breaths.

Nan Feng stepped out and took his place in the center. The two faced each other from ten paces apart.

Shui Bing'er's eyes were pale silver-blue, with a layer of cold light deep in her pupils. It was different from the eerie gleam in Dugu Yan's eyes, like frost flowers on a windowpane on a winter morning: quiet and sharp.

"Nan Feng."

"Shui Bing'er." She nodded, her long hair swaying behind her shoulders. "I know your Martial Soul. The Bronze Tower, level thirty-four. I can't beat you, but I didn't come here to win."

Nan Feng looked at her. Her tone was even; she neither concealed the gap in their strength nor showed weakness.

"Then what did you come for?"

"I wanted to see your Tower Realm." The corner of Shui Bing'er's mouth curved ever so slightly, and Nan Feng caught it. "My Ice Phoenix Martial Soul has hit a bottleneck in control. My instructor said I needed to find a domain Soul Skill that could suppress both Soul Power and attributes at the same time, and use it as a reference."

"Your Tower Realm can devour both fire and poison attributes. I want to know how it reacts to ice."

Qin Ming announced the start from the raised platform.

Shui Bing'er didn't charge. She stood where she was and traced a circle in front of her with both hands.

Pale blue Soul Power poured from her palms and condensed into an icy mist in the air. It spread slowly but covered a wide area, shrouding half the cultivation grounds.

Nan Feng stood in the mist as the air grew colder. Frost formed on the edge of Tower Suppression's halo, and ice crystals appeared on the loose stones on the ground.

Nan Feng activated Tower Suppression.

A cyan halo spread out five paces from beneath his feet. When the icy mist touched its edge, it wasn't devoured, but seeped slowly through.

Ice-attribute Spiritual Power had strong penetrating force. Tower Suppression could slow its spread, but couldn't stop it.

Nan Feng unfolded the Tower Realm. The cyan halo doubled in size, and the Power of Creation circulated through the icy mist.

When the mist touched the Power of Creation, its warmth began breaking down the Spiritual Power within it, much more slowly than it devoured fire-attribute Spiritual Power.

Ice-attribute Spiritual Power had a denser structure than fire-attribute Spiritual Power, so the Power of Creation needed more time to convert it.

Shui Bing'er's eyes lit up.

Her icy mist was slowly devoured and converted within the Tower Realm.

The energy fed back to her was different from what she had released. It was gentler and more enduring, remaining in her meridians twice as long as ordinary ice-attribute Spiritual Power.

She took a step forward and traced another circle with both hands. A second layer of icy mist settled over the first.

With the two layers stacked together, the Tower Realm's conversion efficiency dropped. The Soul Power in Nan Feng's dantian was being consumed thirty percent faster than usual.

"Your Tower Realm's efficiency drops against ice," Shui Bing'er said, her voice still soft. "My second Soul Skill is Ice Mist Stacking. I can release three layers in succession. Once the third layer is added, the conversion speed won't be able to keep up."

Nan Feng looked at her. She had revealed her trump card not to show off, but to test the Tower Realm's limits.

"You can add another layer."

Shui Bing'er tilted her head, her long hair sliding off her shoulder. She traced another circle with both hands, adding a third layer of icy mist.

The concentration of icy mist in the Tower Realm surged. Fine cracks appeared in the frozen stones on the ground, and the air was so cold that their breath came out white.

Nan Feng felt the Devouring efficiency pushed to its limit. The conversion channels narrowed before the dense structure of the ice-attribute Spiritual Power, and his Soul Power consumption rose another ten percent.

Nan Feng didn't withdraw the Tower Realm.

He activated the Compression Method, doubling the speed at which his Soul Power circulated. The Soul Power in his dantian compressed to its limit, then burst forth.

The Tower Realm's cyan halo brightened a little. Boosted by the Compression Method, the output of the Power of Creation surged.

The three layers of icy mist churned within the Tower Realm. The ice-attribute Spiritual Power was devoured, converted, and fed back at a faster rate, and the gentle energy flowed back into his dantian.

Nan Feng felt the gap in the third-layer door widen another fraction. The Power of Creation grew more pliant as it fought the ice attribute, like steel quenched in ice water: its hardness unchanged, but its toughness raised a notch.

Shui Bing'er withdrew the icy mist. As all three layers dispersed, the temperature on the cultivation grounds rose again.

She stood in the center of the grounds, her long silver-blue hair loose, a few stray strands sticking to her cheeks. Her pale silver-blue eyes held surprise, as well as the confirmation that she had found something.

"Your Tower Realm's efficiency drops against ice. Even after that drop, its Devouring efficiency is still higher than any domain Soul Skill I've seen."

Shui Bing'er walked up to Nan Feng and stood very close. Her breath condensed into white mist in the air, then quickly dispersed.

"What is that layer of warm light in your Tower Realm?"

Nan Feng looked at her. Shui Bing'er's perception of energy structures was more refined than Huo Wu's; she had sensed the pliancy of the Power of Creation.

"A nourishing power that comes with the Tower Realm," Nan Feng said. "It can temporarily ease the freezing of meridians caused by ice-attribute Spiritual Power, much like mending burns caused by the fire attribute."

Shui Bing'er fell silent for a breath and tilted her head. Her long silver-blue hair slid down over her chest.

"My Ice Phoenix Martial Soul has a problem. When I release icy mist, the ice-attribute Spiritual Power erodes the walls of my meridians. Over time, they become brittle," she said. "My instructor said there's no solution unless the Martial Soul itself evolves."

"Can you help me evolve my Martial Soul?"

Nan Feng looked at her. Her gaze was calm, without Huo Wu's urgency, as she waited for his answer.

"Not now," Nan Feng said. "Only when my Soul Power reaches level forty and the tower's third-layer door is fully open will I be able to truly release the Power of Creation. Then I can help you evolve it."

Shui Bing'er nodded. She didn't ask when he would reach level forty, nor did she say she would wait for him.

She took out a pale blue Ice Crystal Amulet and handed it to him. It was small and cold to the touch, engraved with Skywater Academy's emblem.

"This is for you. It contains cold Qi from the Far North, which might be useful to your Tower Realm," she said. "If you go to the Far North someday, you can use this talisman to find Skywater Academy's contact point."

Nan Feng accepted the talisman and put it away.

Shui Bing'er turned and walked back to her team. Her pale blue figure was still in the afternoon light, her long silver-blue hair swaying behind her.

At the edge of the team, she turned her head and glanced back. It was a brief glance. She was waiting, her patience unlike Huo Wu's urgency, as unflappable as ice.

Nan Feng stood in the center of the grounds and took out the Ice Crystal Amulet for a look.

The cold Qi inside the talisman circulated in his palm, touching the Power of Creation seeping through the gap in the third-layer door at the bottom of the tower. The cold Qi was enveloped in warmth, neither devoured nor dispersed, maintaining a balance.

Old Huai's voice drifted out from the crack at the bottom of the tower.

"Ice-attribute Spiritual Power is a new challenge for the Tower Realm. The Power of Creation has grown more pliant while fighting the ice attribute, and the gap in the third-layer door has widened another fraction," Old Huai said. "There's something you need in the Far North. You can go take a look after level forty."

Nan Feng tucked the talisman back inside his robes. The deep-black underlying light of the Soul Ring in his palm pulsed against his skin, rising and falling in answer to the cyan light in the crack at the bottom of the tower.

His Soul Power was at level thirty-four. The gap in the third-layer door continued to widen under the alternating impacts of the two extreme attributes, ice and fire, and the Power of Creation was more pliant when fighting the ice attribute.

Huo Wu was waiting at Blazing Fire Academy for him to reach level forty. Shui Bing'er had given him an Ice Crystal Amulet that could lead him to the Far North.