"Hurry and absorb it. Otherwise the cold energy from that thing will chill your heart and freeze your nervous system. If it lasts too long, there'll be no cure."
Xiao Lin hurriedly warned.
Just because he and Shui Bing'er could hold the derivative of the Octagonal Ice Crystal Herb without problems didn't mean others could do the same.
Fortunately, Shui Bing'er was not the hesitant type. She immediately drank the entire bottle in one gulp.
As the dew of the Octagonal Ice Crystal Herb entered her body, Shui Bing'er instantly felt an intense cold poison trying to freeze her entire body.
In that instant, she summoned her martial soul.
After the Ice Phoenix martial soul manifested, Shui Bing'er managed to suppress the cold within her body.
The biggest difference between Shui Bing'er and Xiao Lin was this:
Her Supreme Ice attribute came from her Ice Phoenix martial soul.
Xiao Lin, on the other hand, had absorbed Supreme Ice and Supreme Fire perfectly with the help of the Coiled Dragon Staff.
His body itself possessed both attributes.
After suppressing the cold energy, Shui Bing'er smiled sweetly at Xiao Lin.
"Xiao Lin, earlier you said you would help me choose soul beasts for my soul rings. Could you also help Shen Liuyu and my sister pick one? They both need their fourth soul rings right now."
For Xiao Lin, that request was a trivial matter. After learning about Shen Liuyu's and Shui Yue'er's martial souls and the cultivation years of their previous soul rings, he quickly made his recommendations.
"Shen Liuyu's martial soul is the Enamel Blessed Crocodile. It isn't a martial soul that excels particularly in water, but the Diamond Rune Crocodile you wanted earlier is still a good choice."
"As for Shui Yue'er's Crystal Jade Dolphin, that's an agility-type martial soul. You should look for a six-thousand-year Bubble Flying Fish."
"This soul beast specializes in leaping out of the sea and gliding at extremely high speeds. It's incredibly fast."
"And its bubble attacks are area-of-effect attacks. Their destructive power is astonishing, and the damage depends entirely on the number of bubbles."
As soon as Xiao Lin finished speaking, Shui Yue'er stared at him with admiration written all over her face.
"Really? Really?!"
Seeing the expectation in her eyes, Xiao Lin smiled confidently and nodded.
"You might not realize how powerful exploding bubbles can be. If the bubbles themselves didn't contain relatively little energy, they would be practically unbeatable."
"And if you wrap yourself in bubbles, they can also isolate both extreme cold and extreme heat."
Xiao Lin was extremely confident about this.
Because it was based on science.
If his own martial soul had been water-attributed, he definitely would have chosen a similar soul skill.
Even if he had no other offensive methods, this single ability alone would be enough to deal with most enemies.
(Other soul skills could simply be enhancement-type abilities.)
"Wow!"
Hearing Xiao Lin's confident explanation, Shui Yue'er's eyes sparkled with excitement. She admired him even more.
"Alright. If there's nothing else, I'll head back. If you need anything, send a letter to the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy."
Xiao Lin didn't have much to talk about with a group of girls. After a brief farewell, he left in a rush.
"Shui Yue'er, you scared Xiao Lin away."
Shen Liuyu couldn't help giving Shui Yue'er a light smack on the head.
"All you do is fangirl."
"So… what do we do now?"
After Xiao Lin left, Xue Wu finally voiced her question.
Should the Tianshui Team continue hunting soul beasts, or return?
"Let's continue. I'm confident I can defeat the Diamond Rune Crocodile now."
Feeling the Supreme Ice energy within her abdomen, Shui Bing'er's confidence soared.
At this point, she felt confident even facing a ten-thousand-year soul beast alone.
"What about you?"
Shui Bing'er looked toward Yu Hairou and the others. Now that she had the confidence to hunt a ten-thousand-year soul beast independently, she gave them the choice.
Would they temporarily leave the team or continue hunting together?
"We'll take our teacher back first."
Yu Hairou had no desire to continue hunting in Sunset Forest. There was already tension between her group and Shui Bing'er's group, and it was better to avoid further trouble.
Besides, Shao Wanqing's condition wasn't suitable for staying in the forest any longer.
"Alright. We'll split into two groups. You go back first."
"Xue Wu, you're the strongest. Escort them."
Shui Bing'er understood Yu Hairou's decision and immediately assigned the team's second-strongest fighter to accompany them.
"Okay."
Xue Wu nodded.
The Tianshui Team split into two squads.
Meanwhile
Xiao Lin was already on his way back to the Ice–Fire Yin Yang Well.
This trip had actually cost him a treasure instead of earning him any gold soul coins.
But Xiao Lin didn't mind.
Shui Bing'er had sworn a martial-soul oath.
Her martial soul was the Ice Phoenix, which meant she possessed the potential to become a god with enough effort. There was no need to worry about her breaking her word.
If someone like Yu Xiaogang had made such an oath, Xiao Lin would have slapped him on the spot.
Yu Xiaogang making promises?
What credibility would he even have?
On the way back, Xiao Lin felt that this deal had been extremely profitable.
Even the incredibly wealthy Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had only offered five million gold soul coins per year when asking him to help Ning Rongrong evolve her martial soul.
With twenty million gold soul coins, Xiao Lin could already trade with immortal herbs.
The Octagonal Ice Crystal Herb dew he gave Shui Bing'er had only been given because Xiao Lin felt slightly embarrassed.
That said, giving it to her was also an investment.
"Old Ice, do you know about the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow?"
Inside his consciousness space, Xiao Lin suddenly asked.
Although he had an almost omniscient perspective and knew the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow was incredibly powerful, his understanding of it was still vague.
Even if he wanted to read about it, there had to be books that recorded it first.
Thinking about it now, Shui Bing'er's family background might not be simple.
Entering the core region of the Extreme North and discovering something like the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow wasn't something an ordinary family could accomplish.
Even the Spirit Hall probably couldn't manage it.
Otherwise, why hadn't Bibi Dong gone to the Extreme North to hunt soul beasts?
"The Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow is a supreme treasure among heavenly materials. It's the most suitable treasure for soul beasts with Supreme Ice to absorb."
The Ice Dragon King explained.
"To put it simply, if the Titan Snow Demon King you keep thinking about absorbed enough of it, it would become the strongest soul beast."
Xiao Lin rolled his eyes.
That statement was obvious.
By that logic, if each of his soul rings were a million years old, he could probably create his own God King position.
Seeing Xiao Lin's expression in the consciousness space, the Ice Dragon King continued.
"The Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow is essentially a soul core formed from condensed ice-attribute energy."
"You should understand how difficult it is to condense the natural spiritual energy of the entire continent into something like a soul core."
Now Xiao Lin understood.
No wonder it had turned an otherwise ordinary soul beast into the first million-year soul beast in history.
No wonder the Evil Eye Tyrant King believed devouring the Dream Ice Silkworm could create a new divine position.
"By the way, Old Fire—if I go absorb the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow in the Extreme North, but I don't have a matching fire-attribute resource, won't the balance of ice and fire inside my body collapse?"
This was Xiao Lin's biggest concern.
When discussing awakening his second martial soul earlier, the two Dragon Kings had strictly forbidden him from absorbing ice- or fire-attributed soul rings into it.
At the time, Xiao Lin had even considered draining the Dragon Kings' ice and fire energy completely.
Although the Coiled Dragon Staff could still absorb that energy, doing so might prevent his second martial soul from gaining enough hundred-thousand-year-level soul rings.
In any case, an imbalance between Supreme Ice and Supreme Fire would be extremely dangerous.
"What are you worried about? The sun itself is the best treasure of Supreme Fire."
The Fire Dragon King half-opened his eyes and replied calmly.
So that was the answer.
Xiao Lin finally understood.
He now knew how to choose his sixth soul ring.
Since the Extreme North could provide enough ice energy and the Ten-Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow would supply even more, then his sixth soul ring should come from a soul beast capable of absorbing solar energy.
That way, his Supreme Fire would have enough power to balance his Supreme Ice.
And since this would be Xiao Lin's sixth soul ring, its cultivation age had to be at least fifty thousand years.
After narrowing the conditions step by step, Xiao Lin arrived at two possible soul beasts.
The first was the Golden Crow.
According to ancient records, the Golden Crow was a soul beast proficient in both Supreme Light and Supreme Fire.
If he wanted to absorb the power of the True Solar Flame, a Golden Crow soul ring would definitely work.
The second option was a creature called the Corona Sprite, which lived deep within volcanoes.
This was a small fairy-type soul beast whose body was formed from light and flame resembling the solar corona.
It possessed both Supreme Fire and Supreme Light.
Legend said that when the sun disappeared, the Corona Sprite would emerge to replace it and bring light to the world.
Xiao Lin was very satisfied with this soul beast.
First, it was a spirit-like being, meaning it would have a high compatibility with the human body.
Second, it possessed both light and fire attributes, which perfectly suited Xiao Lin's plan involving the Angel God.
Author's Note
I couldn't find any existing martial souls or soul beasts related to the Golden Crow in the encyclopedia, so I didn't specify what type of Golden Crow it is.
Thank you everyone for the monthly votes and recommendation votes.
(End of Chapter)