Three days later.
The once-mighty Ice Lake had completely dried up. The island at its center had vanished without leaving a trace of its existence.
Under the watchful eyes of the five undead guardians, Zhu Ziyang slowly opened his eyes. As his memories returned, his face lit up with joy, and soon he was so ecstatic he jumped to his feet.
"Hahaha, we did it! Teacher, we succeeded!" he shouted in excitement.
"We've only completed the most important step," Electrolux's weak yet satisfied voice replied in his mind, tinged with pride. "How you finish this is up to you."
But Zhu Ziyang barely noticed his teacher's exhaustion. Instead, he joyfully released his Holy Frost Saint White Dragon martial soul.
Five soul rings gleamed behind him, four of which were a brilliant crimson-gold. At first glance, they appeared blood-red, but closer inspection revealed dazzling golden hues within, exuding mystery and nobility. These were the marks of Xue Di's soul spirit.
With a thought, his second soul ring flickered, and a translucent sphere floated out. Inside lay Xue Di's Snow Pellet – her origin and cultivation crystallized into a soul spirit embryo, curled in the shape of a tiny baby.
As the first soul spirit in Douluo Continent's history, Xue Di's embryo still needed one final step – the merging of her consciousness. Without it, she would remain a mere decorative vessel devoid of awareness.
And to make her accept her fate as a soul spirit… that was up to Zhu Ziyang. He would have to persuade her through benefits, or force her through sheer power. But this could only begin once she awoke within his spiritual sea.
Indeed, her soul was currently sealed in his spiritual sea, courtesy of Electrolux's methods. In truth, their soul spirit contract had been forced upon her without her consent, binding her essence and soul to this fate.
It was, undeniably, a case of cooked rice that could never turn back to raw. Xue Di now had only two options: submit willingly and merge with her embryo to become his soul spirit, or resist to the end and eventually be fused passively once Zhu Ziyang grew powerful enough to erase her memories. Either way, he would win – the only question was whether she would choose a mutual victory, or let him win twice.
Electrolux believed she would make the "right" choice.
Zhu Ziyang gazed at his four crimson-gold soul rings, eyes filled with awe and anticipation.
Golden soul rings were said to belong only to gods. While his were not true god-rings, they signified the world's recognition and reward for creating the soul spirit system.
These four rings granted him five soul skills. Three of them came directly from Xue Di's powers and required her soul spirit to use – for now, they remained sealed.
Second soul skill: Imperial Sword – Peerless Ice Extreme. Xue Di's ultimate ice transformed into a long, edge-less sword of limitless cold, peerlessly powerful.
Third soul skill: Imperial Palm – Great Cold Without Snow. Gathering absolute chill in her palms, she unleashed rapid strikes strong enough to freeze entire oceans.
Fourth soul skill: Imperial Frozen Heaven – Snow Dance Shining Sun. A domain skill where her elegant dance called upon the Ice Laws, summoning a blizzard to cover the skies. Within this snowfield, Xue Di gained a 50% boost to all attributes and a 50% damage reduction.
These were her famous "Three Imperial Skills," the foundation of her invincibility as the Snow Empress of the Extreme North.
Zhu Ziyang hadn't expected her soul spirit to preserve these abilities so completely – a pleasant surprise. After all, he had forcefully seized this melon; it wasn't supposed to be sweet. The fact it was only proved his astonishing luck.
The fifth ring granted him two personal skills, born from the fusion of Xue Di's soul ring with his Holy Frost Saint White Dragon martial soul:
Heaven Frost Dragon Aurora: A circle of ultimate ice light burst from his fingertips, expanding instantly to slice any enemy nearby in half.
Heaven Frost Dragon Prism: Eight pristine ice prisms formed around him, reflecting all light and energy waves – a perfect defense.
These two defensive skills complemented Xue Di's powerful offense, granting him a complete balance of attack and defense.
"Not bad," he whispered with a smile.
But these soul rings weren't his only gains. There were two more.
First, his soul power rose by three levels, reaching level 60. In theory, absorbing a seven-hundred-thousand-year soul beast's power should have given him far more. But he wasn't surprised. As Electrolux said, establishing a new system required immense world energy. The Snow Empress's soul bone, along with the entire lake's Source-less Water, had been the price – an offering to the world's laws to allow this new soul spirit system to exist.
Second, his ice element affinity reached its absolute limit – one hundred. Beyond this, elemental control would evolve into elemental laws, something only gods could wield.
With the Snow Empress's ice origin now within him, he was undoubtedly the strongest ice user on the continent.
Reaching maximum affinity awakened his second extreme talent: King of Ice.
This granted his ultimate ice the authority to suppress all other ultimate ice users, reducing their power by 20% in his presence – a natural-born king's might. It was the innate ability of Ice Sky Snow Women, the foundation of Xue Di's dominance over other ten-thousand-year ice beasts in the Extreme North.
Compared to his four crimson-gold rings and three-level advancement, this talent was his greatest harvest. It meant he now held the qualifications to rule the Extreme North unchallenged – if he ever desired to do so.
Rising to his feet, he looked around with mild surprise.
Where once was an island, now only a barren lakebed remained. The island had merged with the earth, the giant ice tree gone, the ice house ruins cleared. Even the Snow Lotus patch was buried under thick frost. Only the area guarded by his undead guardians remained unchanged.
He put away the half Emperor-grade Snow Lotus into his Starflame Ring. For now, it was useless, sealed by Xue Di's power. But once she submitted, he could absorb it safely.
"Thank you all. Rest now," he said to his five undead guardians.
"It is our honor to serve you!" they replied, bowing deeply before returning to the undead demi-plane without complaint.
With them gone, Zhu Ziyang wasted no time. He left the Extreme North's core, heading home to rest for a few days before returning to Shrek Academy to hunt for his sixth soul ring.
On the journey back, he planned to awaken Xue Di within his spiritual sea and have a "friendly conversation" – to show her what it meant to be the fish under the knife, to bow under another's roof… and that even a melon forced from the vine could taste sweet.