Three days later.
The once majestic Ice Lake had completely dried up. The central island that once stood proudly at its heart had vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.
Under the watchful gazes of the five Undead Kings, Zhu Ziyang slowly opened his eyes. As his memories rushed back, joy surged across his face until it overflowed into unrestrained excitement. In the end, he couldn't help but leap to his feet.
"Hahaha! We did it! Teacher, we did it!" Zhu Ziyang exclaimed with elation.
"We've merely completed the most critical step. How things end from here… that's up to you," Electrolux replied. His voice was weak, yet it couldn't hide the joy, the relief, and even a touch of pride.
Zhu Ziyang, too caught up in his happiness, didn't notice Electrolux's exhaustion. Instead, in high spirits, he released his Heavenly Frost Holy Dragon Martial Soul.
Five soul rings lit up behind him, four of them radiating with a brilliant crimson-gold glow. Yes, crimson-gold. At first glance, they seemed crimson like blood or vermilion, but upon closer inspection, one could see that they shimmered with resplendent gold, exuding mystery and nobility. Clearly, these four crimson-gold soul rings originated from the Spirit Soul of the Snow Empress.
Thinking of her, Zhu Ziyang willed his second soul ring to activate. It flickered slightly before a transparent sphere emerged from it. This was the Snow Core, the crystallization of the Snow Empress's origin and cultivation. Inside the Snow Core curled a small infant — the yet-to-be-born Spirit Soul embryo.
As the first Spirit Soul in all of Douluo Continent, the Snow Empress's Spirit Soul still required one final step to be complete: the fusion of intelligence. Only by allowing her soul to accept the fact that she had become a Spirit Soul could the embryo develop true consciousness. Without that, it would forever remain an empty shell — a decorative existence without thought.
Convincing her to accept this fate was now up to Zhu Ziyang. He would need to reason with her, perhaps tempt her with benefits or awe her with strength — but that could only happen once she awakened within his spiritual sea.
Indeed, the Snow Empress's soul was currently sleeping soundly within Zhu Ziyang's spiritual sea — a masterpiece of Electrolux. In truth, the Spirit Soul contract between Zhu Ziyang and the Snow Empress had been forcibly imposed by Electrolux. Without her consent, her origin was forcefully converted into a Spirit Soul, and her soul was shackled in the process.
It was, in essence, a case of boiling rice before informing the farmer. Under these circumstances, the Snow Empress had only two options. One: submit willingly and fuse with the Spirit Soul embryo, sharing glory and shame with Zhu Ziyang. Two: resist to the death, only to be forcibly integrated once Zhu Ziyang's power grew strong enough to erase her will. No matter which path she chose, Zhu Ziyang was destined to win. The only difference was whether she chose mutual benefit… or gave Zhu Ziyang a second victory after her own loss.
Electrolux believed that she would make the right choice.
Zhu Ziyang gazed at the four crimson-gold soul rings behind him, his eyes filled with admiration and excitement.
Golden soul rings were said to exist only for gods. While these crimson-gold rings weren't divine, they represented a recognition from the rules of Douluo Continent — an acknowledgment and reward for his creation of the Spirit Soul system.
These four crimson-gold rings granted him five soul skills. The reason there were five instead of four was that the first three rings, originating from the Snow Empress, each granted one soul skill — but all of them required the Snow Empress's Spirit Soul to be used. In other words, Zhu Ziyang couldn't use them just yet.
Second Soul Skill: Emperor Sword · Absolute Ice Peerlessness. The Snow Empress condenses the ultimate ice into a sword of pure cold. The blade is without edge; the snowbound power is boundless, and the might is unparalleled.
Third Soul Skill: Emperor Palm · Great Chill Without Snow. The Snow Empress channels ultimate cold into her hands, launching a rapid series of palm strikes powerful enough to freeze oceans.
Fourth Soul Skill: Emperor Frost Heaven · Snow Dance Shining Sun. A domain-type skill. The Snow Empress performs a graceful dance, invoking the laws of ice through her identity as the Heavenly Snow Woman. Snow falls endlessly, blanketing the world. Within this domain, she gains a 50% boost to all attributes and 50% damage reduction.
These three skills were the famed "Three Supreme Techniques of the Snow Empress." They were the foundation of her reign over the Far North and the key to her undefeated legend.
Zhu Ziyang hadn't expected the Snow Empress's Spirit Soul to retain these techniques so completely. It was a pleasant surprise. After all, this was a melon he had forcibly plucked — it was only natural to expect it to taste bitter. The fact that it was sweet could only mean his luck and character were exceptional.
The fifth soul ring granted two soul skills — these were derived from the fusion of the Snow Empress's ring and the Heavenly Frost Holy Dragon Martial Soul. These skills were uniquely Zhu Ziyang's.
Frost Dragon Aurora: Zhu Ziyang releases a ring of icy light from his fingertip, which expands in an instant to surround his body. Any enemy that approaches is cleaved in two.
Frost Dragon Prism: Zhu Ziyang gathers pure cold to form eight flawless icy mirrors around him. These mirrors can reflect all light and energy fluctuations.
Both of these skills were defensive in nature — one dealt with close-range attackers, the other guarded against long-range strikes. Paired with the Snow Empress's Three Supremes, they formed a solid offense-defense balance.
"Not bad," Zhu Ziyang said with a smile.
But the four crimson-gold soul rings weren't all he had gained.
First, his soul power had risen by three levels — reaching Rank 60. Logically speaking, the full power of a 700,000-year soul beast should offer more than that. But this outcome hadn't surprised Zhu Ziyang — he had anticipated it. He had also not obtained the Snow Empress's soul bone.
The loss was massive. Yet it was the price of forging a new system.
Electrolux had explained it clearly: creating a new cultivation system — establishing new rules — required vast amounts of Heaven and Earth energy. The energy that would've gone into the Snow Empress's soul bone, along with all the energy in the Ice Lake's Source-less Spring, had been sacrificed to bribe the laws of Heaven and Earth — persuading them to accept the Spirit Soul system.
Without these bribes, a mere Soul King and a fragmented god soul like Electrolux would never have been able to alter the laws of the world.
Second, Zhu Ziyang's affinity with ice had reached 100.
One hundred — the maximum elemental affinity anyone could reach on the continent. Beyond that, elemental power would transcend into elemental law — something only beings who stepped into the god realm could grasp.
With the Snow Empress's partial origin of ice, Zhu Ziyang's command of the ice element now made him the undisputed number one on the continent.
Upon reaching full affinity with ice, he awakened his second ultimate innate talent: Sovereign of Ice.
This talent granted him the dominion of all Ultimate Ice. Any wielder of Ultimate Ice would only be able to use 80% of their full power when facing Zhu Ziyang. This talent clearly came from the Snow Empress.
In truth, Sovereign of Ice was an inherent gift of the Heavenly Snow Woman bloodline. It was another reason why the Snow Empress had stood unchallenged in the Far North — for there were many ten-thousand-year beasts with Ultimate Ice in that land. Her fellow Kings — the Ice Jade Scorpion and the Titan Snow Demon — were also born of Ultimate Ice races.
Thus, compared to soul rings and soul power, this talent was the true crown jewel of Zhu Ziyang's harvest. With this talent, he now had the qualifications to reign over the Far North — as long as he had the ambition.
Zhu Ziyang stood and surveyed the surroundings, his brows rising in surprise.
They were no longer on an island, but at the bottom of a dried lakebed. The original island had sunken into the lakebed. The giant ice tree had vanished. The ruined ice house had been cleared. Even the snow lotus grove had been buried under snow and frost — only the area guarded by the five Undead Kings remained unchanged.
Zhu Ziyang stored the remaining half of the Imperial Snow Lotus into his Starflame Ring. It was of little use to him now, but once the Snow Empress gave in and lifted its restriction, he could absorb it at his leisure.
"You've all worked hard. Go rest," Zhu Ziyang said to the five Undead Kings led by the Hell Knight.
"Serving you is our honor!" the Undead Kings replied respectfully, bowing deeply before returning without complaint to the Undead Demiplane.
Once they departed, Zhu Ziyang didn't linger. He left the core of the Far North and began his journey home — planning to rest a few days before returning to Shrek Academy to hunt for his sixth soul ring.
On the road back, Zhu Ziyang began preparing to awaken the slumbering Snow Empress in his spiritual sea — ready to have a little chat. He would explain to her what it meant to be fish on the chopping block, what it meant to bow under another's roof, and most importantly…
What it meant for a forced melon to be delicious too!
(End of Chapter)
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