Not long after the Iceflame Phoenix carried the Ice Emperor away, a figure cold as ice itself came streaking through the northern skies, swiftly flying across the battlefield they had just left behind.
The Snow Emperor did not pause. After all, while the Titan Snow Demon King had lost an arm, its life was not in danger. The Ice Emperor, however, now faced a life-and-death crisis.
More importantly, in her heart, the Ice Emperor's place far outweighed that of the blockheaded Titan Snow Demon King.
But as time passed, the Snow Emperor's expression grew darker and darker.
In this frozen land of the Extreme North, so long as the gods did not descend, she considered herself invincible. Even if her opponent was strong, she still held absolute confidence in victory.
Yet in terms of sheer speed, that Martial Spirit Fusion Skill resembling an Ice Phoenix was faster than even she was.
An hour later, the auras of both her enemy and the Ice Emperor had already slipped beyond her range of spiritual perception. The Snow Emperor's face grew utterly grim.
Despicable human… I will find you!
Gazing southward for a long moment, the Snow Emperor's expression shifted. Then she clenched her teeth and resolutely chose to continue her pursuit.
She and the Ice Emperor were like sisters. As the elder, even if she could not rescue her, she had to avenge her!
On the other side, after evading the Snow Emperor's chase, the Iceflame Phoenix veered slightly, then flew another half hour before descending onto a barren wasteland beyond the borders of the Extreme North, carrying the Ice Emperor.
One had to admit—before, Mu Yang and Shui Bing'er would never have been able to sustain a Martial Spirit Fusion Skill for nearly two hours unless they constantly consumed pre-prepared Red Jade Soul-Returning Ginseng.
Fusion Skills drained soul power massively. Even without a battle, merely flying for such a long time would once have been impossible for them.
But times had changed. With a soul core automatically drawing in and replenishing heaven and earth energy, and Mu Yang himself having formed dual yin-yang complementary soul cores, if the intensity of battle wasn't too high, they could now be considered to have nearly limitless soul power.
And so, the familiar process of sacrifice began once more.
A dazzling red glow suddenly spread from between the Ice Emperor's brows—her consciousness still bound—expanding outward into a golden-edged scarlet halo that swept across the wasteland.
Everywhere the crimson radiance passed, the barren land was dyed in blood-hued light.
Before long, with a terrifying surge of power, golden-tinted crimson flames of blood ignited upon the Ice Emperor's body.
The bloodflame burned higher and higher, shifting gradually from bright red to dark crimson. And the Ice Emperor's petite body slowly began to fade, becoming translucent, like a crimson crystal dissolving into light.
Soon, the expanding scarlet energy gathered into a vast circular ring marked with three golden stripes, slowly contracting, encircling both the sacrificing Ice Emperor and Mu Yang, who received the sacrifice.
At length, as the Ice Emperor's body faded entirely, the surging bloodflame ring abruptly shrank inward. In that instant, bursts of explosive sounds rippled around Mu Yang's body.
As the Ice Emperor's figure vanished, the contracting ring of bloodflame shone with brilliant radiance—then transformed into the sixth spirit ring of his Iceflame Holy Shadow Martial Spirit.
At the same time, a beam of red light shot onto Mu Yang's chest, a green chestbone flickering briefly into view before vanishing.
The next moment, though Mu Yang's spirit power level did not break past the barrier of level 90, his aura surged sharply.
Thanks to his Iceflame Holy Shadow Martial Spirit gaining another extremely high-aged sixth ring, and with the missing torso spirit bone now filled, completing all six major bones, his physical body received yet another powerful transformation.
Looking at the Iceflame Holy Shadow surrounded by six shining rings—red, red, red, red, red, red—with four of them etched with triple golden patterns, Mu Yang nodded with satisfaction.
Comparing them to his own self-condensed third, fourth, and fifth rings of three hundred thousand years each, it was clear his earlier estimate had been correct. The Ice Emperor's age surpassed three hundred thousand years, but only slightly. Likely around three hundred and twenty thousand.
"How is it? For your ninth God-bestowed ring later, how many years do you think it could reach?"
After the sacrifice concluded, Shui Bing'er stepped forward and asked.
"A million years, or even nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, is impossible. But sixty thousand should be no problem."
Mu Yang replied after calculating.
This leap in his ability to bear spirit ring ages came primarily from the torso spirit bone the Ice Emperor had produced.
While the Ice Emperor's three-hundred-twenty-thousand-year ring also enhanced his body, compared to the load it imposed, its boost to endurance was minimal.
In fact, without the torso bone's help, after obtaining her ring, his margin for ring endurance would actually have decreased.
And most importantly—although his total spirit power had skyrocketed, without a ninth ring he had not advanced into a Title Douluo. That quantitative change had not yet become qualitative.
Which meant, before breaking through to nine rings, he could not yet use the Solar Body Refinement art to strengthen his physique.
Still, there was good news. Compared to before, now Mu Yang no longer needed to hold back for ring endurance. When attaching the God-bestowed ninth ring to advance into a Food-type Title Douluo, he could push to the absolute limit, condensing the maximum age his body could bear.
Because once he did break through, with the accumulation beyond rank ninety from his self-condensed fifth ring, plus the Ice Emperor's ring and bone, and the God-bestowed ninth, his spirit power level would soar. At that point, the Solar Body Refinement art would give his physique enormous room for growth.
Thus, even if he exhausted all endurance capacity attaching the God-bestowed ninth, afterward he would still be able to forge a tremendously high-aged seventh ring for the Iceflame Holy Shadow.
If all went well, this would not merely be a step from quasi-Title Douluo to Title Douluo, but a soaring leap to higher tiers. When attaching his God-bestowed seventh, he might even touch the very upper limits of God-bestowed rings.
Afterward, Mu Yang gathered up what remained of the Ice Emperor—her vitality gone, her body reverted to that of a small ice-green Emperor Scorpion no bigger than a palm. Then he tested the two new sixth spirit abilities and two torso bone abilities he had gained.
Unlike self-condensed or most God-bestowed rings, which yielded only one ability, the Ice Emperor's was a true hundred-thousand-plus-year spirit ring. Such rings gave not one, but two spirit abilities.
After a round of trials, Mu Yang finally understood the exact effects of the four new powers the Ice Emperor had bestowed upon him.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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