Dazed, Tianlin opened his eyes to a world still enveloped in white. However, this time he was inside a mountain cave. Even in such a place in the Extreme North, snow filled every corner. Strangely, despite being unable to muster any soul power, Tianlin did not feel cold at all.
"Brother Sword, you're finally awake." Ning Rongrong's delighted voice sounded in Tianlin's ear.
Tianlin slowly sat up and asked, "Rongrong, how many days have I been unconscious?"
"Seven whole days. Sister Snow Empress and Sister Ice Empress said you forced yourself to raise your domain to help me, which severely overtaxed your mental strength. Thank goodness you had your million-year skull protecting you—otherwise, they said that if it were anyone else, they might never have woken up." Ning Rongrong's voice was tinged with sobs, making it clear just how worried she'd been these past days.
"Snow Empress, Ice Empress?" Tianlin suddenly remembered something. "Right, Rongrong, you succeeded completely in the end, didn't you? Do you feel unwell anywhere now?"
Seeing that Tianlin's first thought upon waking was for her, Ning Rongrong was deeply moved and reassured him, "Don't worry, Brother Sword, I'm fine. Look!"
She stood up and released her second martial soul: the Ice Heaven Snow Maiden.
Ning Rongrong, who once wore an emerald-green dress, had brown hair and green eyes, looking like a living jadeite, was now transformed. She sported silver-white hair and blue eyes, her dress covered in blue icy crystals, her whole form floating gracefully in the air.
If her previous beauty was elegant, her current appearance was coldly alluring—a beauty now three times more magnetic.
At the same time, two red soul rings revolved around her Snow Maiden martial soul: the first from the Ice Heaven Snow Maiden, seven-hundred-thousand years; the second from the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, three-hundred-ninety thousand years.
Since Ning Rongrong awakened her martial soul, the surrounding cold had all rushed into her—Tianlin now understood why the cave was so warm. It turned out that the new Ning Rongrong could freely manipulate cold within a small area.
It truly felt like soaring to the heavens in a single step. In terms of talent now, aside from Tianlin, not even Qian Renxue or the deceased original protagonist Tang San could necessarily compare to her.
"Brother Sword, what do you think? Isn't Rongrong pretty now?" Ning Rongrong dove into Tianlin's arms, looking up at him with a face begging for praise.
The contrast between her coldly beautiful face and her cute, spoiled gesture made her even more irresistibly charming—Tianlin almost lost all composure.
"Ahem! You two, this isn't the time for flirting." Just then, the voices of two women rang out. Behind Ning Rongrong appeared two spiritual figures: Snow Empress and Ice Empress. According to Skydream Iceworm's plan, they had indeed become wisdom soul rings, now coexisting in Ning Rongrong's spiritual sea—much to Skydream Iceworm's envy.
Because the Crystal Lotus protected her soul, Snow Empress had not turned into a loli as in the original but remained that cold, mature beauty.
During Tianlin's days of unconsciousness, she had learned all about their past through Ning Rongrong, and both she and Ice Empress felt quite fond of these two.
"Xiao Tian, Rongrong watched over you for seven full days, even encountering danger during that time. What you should do now is recover your soul power as soon as possible, so you can protect her in this Extreme North. I heard from Rongrong you want to search for that Fire Within Ice legend? That place isn't a joke—you can't waste any time." Snow Empress said.
"Danger? Rongrong, were you hurt?" Tianlin asked with concern.
"So this guy only heard the part about Rongrong being in danger." Ice Empress shook her head sarcastically. "No wonder you and Skydream Iceworm are such good friends—you're just alike."
"No, Sister Snow Empress exaggerated. It wasn't that dangerous. While hiding here, I did run into a sixty-thousand-year-old Titan Snow Demon, which scared me to death. Luckily it wasn't the Titan Snow Demon King, or I wouldn't have been able to beat it," Ning Rongrong said, still a bit shaken. "But I turned it into a soul ring."
"Turned it into a soul ring? Rongrong, you single-handedly killed a sixty-thousand-year Titan Snow Demon? Wait, what level are you now? The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda can absorb a seventh ring?" Tianlin was stunned. Just now, the Snow Maiden martial soul only had two soul rings, so Rongrong must have used the Titan Snow Demon's ring for the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
"Seventy-three. I didn't expect it either—these two sisters gave me so much soul power. Besides the two super soul rings, they provided soul bones: Sister Snow Maiden gave me a torso bone, and Sister Ice Empress gave me a right arm bone," Ning Rongrong explained.
"Xiao Tian, what's so strange about that? That Oslo could break through with just a few ten-thousand-year soul bones plus a hundred-thousand-year ring. Rongrong is way ahead—her Snow Maiden torso bone alone is worth more than Oslo's whole body," Skydream Iceworm said as if it were perfectly natural.
With both former kings of the Extreme North assisting, if Rongrong couldn't even gain ten levels, it would be embarrassing.
Tianlin nodded—Skydream Iceworm was right. What surprised him more was Ning Rongrong's combat ability; despite just acquiring her second martial soul, she could already solo-kill a sixty-thousand-year soul beast.
Actually, while the soul rings on the Snow Maiden martial soul weren't many, the combat skills Ning Rongrong gained from them were plentiful.
Two fierce beast soul rings and two fierce beast soul bones gave her a total of eight combat skills at once.
Ning Rongrong began explaining her abilities to Tianlin. The right arm bone from the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion provided two soul skills: Ice Empress Claw, a powerful physical attack, and Ice Emperor Armor, an incredibly strong physical defense.
The soul rings granted domain-type skills: the Domain of Eternal Frost, which could freeze a thousand miles instantly, and Ice Emperor's Wrath—the Ice Empress's ultimate move with overwhelming freezing power.
The Snow Maiden's soul bone skill was Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice, a domain skill similar to the Domain of Eternal Frost; the two domains could fuse together for earth-shaking power.
She also gained a support-type soul skill: Ice Heaven and Earth, which could change the weather to summon endless snow and ice—after all, only in such an environment could the Snow Maiden martial soul unleash its full power.
The soul ring skills were Empress' Palm and Empress' Sword, two ultra-powerful attack skills. With the Snow Maiden martial soul, soul rings, and soul bones, Ning Rongrong had fully inherited her signature skills: Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice, Empress' Palm, and Empress' Sword.
Their trip to the Extreme North had been incredibly fruitful. Not only had they dealt with Tang Hao and collected all six of his soul bones, but Ning Rongrong had also transformed completely. The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda gained its sixth and seventh rings and awakened its true form, while the Snow Maiden martial soul was now almost as strong as a god-level martial soul.
At this rate, Ning Rongrong should be able to gain the Sea God's recognition, Tianlin thought, as he opened his soul tool and took out the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud.