A Soul Ring, dazzling with brilliant light, rose from beneath his feet. This halo was extremely peculiar; the entire object was blood-red but exuded an air of nobility, cold and majestic. On its outer surface, four golden lines shimmered, appearing and disappearing. The two colors, red and gold, were already striking, but against the pure white snow here, they became even more resplendent. The instant the Soul Ring appeared, the young man also underwent a slight transformation; a wild aura continuously surged from his body.
No obvious changes appeared on his body, but the large tattoo on his back emitted a blinding light. The most prominent feature of the tattoo was a long, emerald-green tail—was it not the form of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion?
This tattoo was so large that it almost covered his entire back. Its six long legs pressed against his ribs, its two massive pincers hung down over his shoulders, and its long tail ran along his spine, then gradually curved and stopped at his right hip.
Aside from that tattoo, the greatest change in the young man was his hands. Both of his hands were covered by something that emitted a brilliant golden light, seemingly formed from countless exquisite, bead-like objects. Each bead was perfectly hexagonal and about the size of a normal green pea. All of them combined to make his hands gleam, and together with the tattoo on his back, everything became even more radiant. Of course, if he were wearing clothes, everything except his ten fingertips would be concealed.
"I succeeded."
The young man murmured, tears uncontrollably streaming from the corners of his eyes. For this moment, he had endured so much physical and mental torture. Only through sacrifice could one truly appreciate something. The moment he felt the changes in his body, he almost couldn't control his emotions.
Indeed, this young man was Huo Yuhao. He had finally completed the fusion process with the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, the second strongest among the Three Great Heavenly Kings.
And that blood-red Soul Ring with four golden lines was the first Soul Ring of his second Martial Soul, a four-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring.
That's right, it was four hundred thousand years, not three hundred ninety thousand years. Do you know why? Because during the process when the Skydream Iceworm used its primordial power to help the Ice Empress complete the fusion, it also conveniently helped it overcome the four-hundred-thousand-year bottleneck. Thanks to this, the Soul Ring now had four golden lines, symbolizing four hundred thousand years. Don't be mistaken into thinking that the difference between three hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred years and four hundred thousand years is only one hundred years; it's a small difference, but the meaning is extremely profound, because three lines and four lines will bring completely different sources of energy.
"Finally successful. My painstaking efforts were not in vain."
The Skydream Iceworm's voice sounded weary, yet also as if a great burden had been lifted.
"Skydream Ge."
Huo Yuhao called out loudly, tears once again gushing forth.
"Thank you, Ge."
He naturally understood that from now on, he was no longer an ordinary talented student at Shrek Academy as he once was. He no longer needed to worry endlessly just to barely keep up with other students. Everything was brought to him by the Skydream Iceworm. How could he not be grateful?
The Skydream Iceworm laughed heartily and said:
"Success is good, the first step is complete. Thanks to the Ice Empress for helping your body undergo a complete transformation; your innate talent has increased by at least fivefold. You can probably now withstand a spirit ring of around three thousand years. This is also why I wanted you and the Ice Empress to merge first, before acquiring your second spirit ring. Currently, the Ice Empress has become your second spirit soul and also the first wisdom spirit ring for that spirit soul. Your cultivation is still too low to receive too much of her energy. But if your cultivation continues to increase, the Ice Empress can bring you many more surprises."
"Before, I brought you four spirit skills and one spirit soul. Although the Ice Empress's cultivation is not as high as mine, she has a noble lineage. Therefore, based on her abilities and special inheritance, this time she has also brought you four spirit skills and a spirit bone that has perfectly merged into your body. The reason for four spirit skills is because she herself is a spirit ring over one hundred thousand years old, which grants two spirit skills. The other two spirit skills come from that spirit bone. Although the Mysterious Left Arm Bone Spirit Method disappeared after merging, it was absolutely worth it. Without it, the pain you endured would have increased by at least 20%, and furthermore, the merger might not have been as perfect as it is now."
An increase of 20%? Just hearing it made Huo Yuhao shiver uncontrollably. He absolutely did not want to recall that feeling worse than death. Especially that last hour; just thinking about it made him feel itchy all over.
"Four spirit skills, another four spirit skills?"
Huo Yuhao was overjoyed when he heard this and asked eagerly, "Tianmeng Ge, what four spirit skills did the Ice Empress bring me? And where is she? Is her consciousness alright?"
After all, a wisdom spirit ring is much stronger than an ordinary spirit ring, let alone the Ice Empress, a powerful being from the extreme north. With her status, she must know many things and will certainly be able to help him a lot in the future. Moreover, Huo Yuhao's second spirit soul also has the ice attribute. The Ice Empress has paid a great price for him; it would be a great pity if her core spiritual power could not be preserved.
"The Ice Empress is fine. It's just that after the merging process, even with my protection, she was very tired and has fallen into a deep sleep. During the merger, no abilities, spirit power, or anything else could be used; only core spiritual energy could be utilized for the merging. I have the spiritual attribute, so this process was much easier. As for her, it wasn't like that, so there were naturally some troubles, but fortunately, she overcame them. She will wake up soon."
As soon as the Ice Empress was mentioned, the Tianmeng Iceworm clearly showed a look of joyful excitement.
"What about those four spirit skills?" Huo Yuhao continued to ask.
The Tianmeng Iceworm chuckled and said, "I don't know. I'm not the Ice Empress, so you'll have to figure it out slowly. Alright, my master, let's go find your second spirit ring."
Huo Yuhao was in such an extremely joyful mood that he completely forgot that he was currently still a Spirit Master with only one spirit ring, and his spirit power was limited to rank twenty. Although he had indeed just gained another spirit ring, that was for his second spirit soul, and he truly didn't have a second spirit ring yet. Therefore, if he wanted to advance, he definitely needed another spirit ring.
"Tianmeng Ge, should I add a spirit ring to my Spiritual Eye spirit soul or my Ice Empress spirit soul?"
Huo Yuhao asked curiously. Because both of his martial souls currently only had one spirit ring, he was starting to face the dilemma of which martial soul to cultivate first. Most spirit masters with twin martial souls chose to add spirit rings to one specific martial soul, and then, once their cultivation reached a certain level, they would continue to add spirit rings to the second martial soul. This way, their second martial soul would acquire spirit rings of extremely high quality. Only then would the advantage of twin martial soul spirit masters truly become apparent, making their abilities incomparable to other spirit masters of the same rank.
Normally, spirit masters would not add spirit rings to their second martial soul until they had acquired seven spirit rings.
Xiao Xiao would also do the same, even though she was forced to add a spirit ring to her second martial soul to gain an additional skill, giving her some capital when she entered Shrek Academy later. Each spirit ring not only provided the spirit master with an additional spirit ability but also had the effect of comprehensively strengthening the spirit master's body. This was also the main reason Xiao Xiao decided to add a spirit ring to her Nine Phoenixes Auspicious Flute martial soul. However, she would definitely not add any more spirit rings to her second martial soul before reaching seven spirit rings.
If Huo Yuhao continued to choose to cultivate his Spirit Eye martial soul, then in the future, he would primarily follow the path of a control-type spirit master. If he added spirit rings to his Ice Emperor martial soul, then his path would follow the direction of a strong attack-type. And certainly, with that blazing red four hundred thousand-year spirit ring, if he followed the path of a strong attack-type, he would undoubtedly soar to great heights, becoming the number one genius of Shrek Academy. However, how would he explain the appearance of this spirit ring?
Tianmeng Iceworm said, "Yuhao, I know what you're thinking. The Ice Emperor martial soul is indeed powerful, but in my experience, the longer you want to live, the more you should limit revealing your abilities. Right now, even if you choose to cultivate as a strong attack-type, you must add another spirit ring to your Spirit Eye martial soul, because that red spirit ring is too conspicuous. We must find a way to hide it, otherwise, you will definitely become an object of study for others."
Upon hearing this, Huo Yuhao immediately nodded and said, "Brother Tianmeng, I've decided. We'll continue to add spirit rings to the Spirit Eye martial soul. We'll wait until my cultivation is higher before continuing to add spirit rings to the Ice Emperor martial soul. In the future, I will try to limit the use of the Ice Emperor martial soul, so others won't know of its existence."
Tianmeng Iceworm chuckled mischievously and said, "Why hide it? Why not shock others? Your Shrek Academy is not simple! If you want to stay there, you must have the strength to stand firm and display your abilities. I have a way to help you use the Ice Emperor martial soul without others discovering its mystery."