Chapter Fifty-Four: The Three Supremes

"Am I up to no good?"

Tianmeng glanced over, instinctively slipping into his teasing banter: "Ice Cube, aren't you also unable to forget about me? Even after all these years, you were able to recognize my aura instantly and were the first to rush over to see me~"

"You! I was—"

Emperor Ice suddenly gasped for breath, unable to hold back any longer as her fur stood on end once more: "Ahhh! I'm going to swallow you whole right now!"

The next moment.

Two figures, one green and one golden, chased each other like a couple of frantic dogs around the spiritual sea, occasionally letting out bizarre screeches and bickering.

"Those two..."

Huo Yuhao stood frozen in place, utterly at a loss, truly shocked by these two eccentric soul beasts: "What on earth is their relationship?"

Should this be considered a close bond, or a mortal enmity?

Why did the more he watched, the stranger and more wrong it seemed?

"Sigh~"

Empress Xue's spirit manifested behind Huo Yuhao, raising a hand to gently ruffle his hair, her expression quite complex: "You'll probably understand when you grow up."

As for right now,

it was best not to instill such inappropriate notions into an eleven or twelve-year-old boy.

What if he grew up warped?

"Let's get back to business."

Empress Xue straightened her expression, steering the derailed conversation back on track: "Although there were a few minor twists and turns during the sacrifice, your second martial soul has indeed successfully absorbed a soul ring."

"However, the martial soul ran into a hitch during its subsequent shaping. Different origins conflicted and intertwined with each other, hindering the martial soul from taking form. In the end, it took that senior utilizing Tianmeng's origin as a catalyst for it to successfully condense."

So so many things had happened just now...

Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment: "Then why does my martial soul have the exact same face as me? No, even the body is identical!"

"I don't know."

Empress Xue crossed her arms: "With the catalysis of a god-grade origin, the martial soul constantly adapted and corrected itself during the condensation process... Perhaps this form is the most suitable one for you? A sort of pseudo-body martial soul?"

To be honest, this martial soul was indeed bizarre.

Did it count as a body-type martial soul?

That didn't seem quite right either.

After all, it wasn't a physical part of his body, nor did it overlap with Huo Yuhao's bodily components. It only manifested as an ice-blue figure identical to his appearance whenever he summoned his martial soul.

But to say it wasn't one~

A martial soul was also a part of the body!

From that perspective, it could also be considered a strange kind of body martial soul, especially since this thing looked identical to Huo Yuhao...

Empress Xue had lived for nearly seven hundred thousand years, and this was her first time seeing such a bizarre and peculiar entity.

She supposed she had broadened her horizons today.

"As for that ice-blue soul ring, its age was elevated to a million years. Based on that, the essence of the soul ring underwent a transformation, successfully ascending to another level."

"Perhaps it should be called a million-year god ring now?"

Empress Xue's tone was somewhat uncertain.

Although this soul ring originated from her, under this cascade of twists and turns, it had become somewhat unfamiliar to her.

Deep within that soul ring, certain mysteries had even birthed themselves—mysteries that even she could not see through.

'Perhaps it has some connection to divinity?'

'Forget it.'

Gently shaking her head to temporarily banish these messy thoughts, Empress Xue raised her chin toward Huo Yuhao: "Go and check your gains first! The benefits brought by two fierce beasts sacrificing themselves simultaneously might be even greater than you imagine~"

Unlike those hundred-thousand-year soul beasts that could only randomly generate abilities, fierce beasts at the level of the Ice and Snow Emperors were capable of slightly influencing the formation of soul rings and soul bones, programming desired abilities into them.

"Gains... far beyond imagination?"

Hearing her say this, a trace of anticipation welled up in Huo Yuhao's heart.

Prior to this, he had only experienced a single sacrifice from Tianmeng, which had granted him a soul ring with four soul skills, plus a shapeless ice martial soul.

He wondered what kind of surprises these two powerful fierce beasts, the Ice and Snow Emperors, would bring him.

...

"Clang—"

A chilling, crystalline blue light gleamed brilliantly as a three-zhang-long ice-blue sword blade condensed out of thin air. Carrying a razor-sharp edge, it sliced through the wind and snow, gouging a deep ravine into the thick layer of accumulated ice and snow.

A bone-chilling cold instantly erupted, and translucent blue ice congealed in its wake, completely covering the cleaved cross-section in a split second. It even continued to spread along the moisture evaporating from the air, sprouting dense clusters of interconnected ice crystals.

"Is this... Supreme Ice-Polar?"

Huo Yuhao couldn't help drawing in a sharp, cold breath, gazing with a stunned expression at his hands, which were radiating a cold white glow.

While transmitting her origin into his body, Empress Xue had also bestowed upon him a pair of external soul bones born from his hands. And embedded within these Empress Xue palm bones were two of her three ultimate arts.

Empress Sword · Supreme Ice-Polar.

Empress Palm · Boundless Snow and Cold.

Unfortunately, the latter belonged to an ultimate, all-out kill move with an overwhelming consumption, so for now he could only shape his fingers into a sword and slash out two strikes of Supreme Ice-Polar to test their power.

As for the result...

Magnificent, requiring no further words.

Even though Huo Yuhao was currently only at the Second Ring realm, the sword light cleaved from his hands was enough to shatter three feet of hard ice and leave behind a massive ravine stretching twenty meters long.

The accompanying ultimate chill was even more terrifyingly powerful; the moment the sword was swung, a layer of snowflakes would drift down through the air it cut through—

Every drop of moisture that touched the blade's edge froze instantly!

"The reputation of the Three Ultimate Arts is truly well-earned..."

Resting for a brief moment, Huo Yuhao flipped his hand again, shaping his fingers into a blade once more as an ice-edge condensed anew: "Even the soul power consumption isn't too heavy. With my current soul power, I can slash four times in a row before exhausting myself!"

High power, low consumption, wide range, and it didn't even require a lengthy charge-up time.

Aside from placing a relatively heavy burden on the meridians of his hands and limiting the number of times it could be used in a short period, this skill was practically perfect to the extreme!

As for the final of Empress Xue's Three Ultimate Arts, Empress Frost Heaven · Snow Dance Radiance, it had been directly attached to his first soul ring, existing as a million-year domain skill.

"Due to the soul ring's upgrade, Empress Frost Heaven should have undergone some slight mutation as well. Its power might even be greater than before."

Listening to Empress Xue's analysis, Huo Yuhao tentatively summoned his martial soul.

Whoosh~

Immediately, a deep and pure chill washed over his entire body. Closing his eyes, Huo Yuhao's temperament transformed instantly. His hair, gradually submerged by the biting cold, seemed to rise with the wind, extending into a cascading mane of ice-blue hair.

A phantom seemingly radiating crystal-blue luster detached from his body, shifting sideways as it opened its eyes alongside him.

An extreme icy brilliance, almost surpassing the Ice and Snow Emperors, illuminated the surroundings. The scattered snowflakes drifting along with the cold wind quietly grew under the chilling light, shattering with a crisp snap to form a snow-free zone.

Lifting a finger, the ice-blue soul ring slowly rose, igniting with a dazzling radiance.

Both his physical body and his shadow whispered in unison: "Empress Frost Heaven..."

"Snow Dance Radiance!"