Several days passed.
Su Wen was immersed in cultivation.
He hadn't even left his room.
He could have forced a breakthrough with pills, but he had none suitable on hand, and such methods would harm his foundation—something Snow Empress firmly forbade. She didn't want Su Wen to harm himself for her sake.
Three days passed in a flash.
Ka-cha~
In the hotel room.
Su Wen sat cross-legged on the bed, hearing a faint sound. Suddenly, a golden glow radiated from his body, and his height shot up—reaching about 1.78 meters.
The golden core spun and then retracted back inside him.
"Level fifty! I broke through!"
He let out a long breath. Finally, he'd made it in time.
He stretched his stiff muscles—after sitting cross-legged for three days, his legs were almost numb. Now, though, he could feel his body was much stronger. Once he truly broke this shackle (fully becoming a Soul King), his transformation would be earth-shattering…
After all, he was only a quasi-Soul King now—he still needed a fifth soul beast for the metamorphosis.
Level fifty, and the next milestone at seventy, were both critical points.
Su Wen took a deep breath.
With a thought, he vanished from the room.
...
"Did you succeed?" Snow Empress's voice trembled.
"Mm."
Su Wen smiled, "Just a Soul King! Besides, look at this…"
A bright red Pokéball lay quietly in his palm.
All the conditions were fulfilled! Next, it depended on whether the most critical step would work—could he use the martial soul system to turn Snow Empress into one of his contract beasts?
"Don't resist," Su Wen said.
"Okay!"
"Go, Pokéball!"
The fiery ball spun through the air, suddenly bursting with a beam of light that enveloped Snow Empress's embryonic form. Since this was inside the Pokéball—Azure Luan's domain—there was no worry about outsiders noticing.
Su Wen watched the beam anxiously.
Until the "capture" was successful, he sensed nothing.
Fortunately, after several seconds, a gentle, slightly astonished female voice sounded in his spiritual sea.
"Su Wen, can you hear me?"
"Yes."
Su Wen coughed, listening to her joyful voice.
The light faded.
Snow Empress's full form was revealed.
She was now the mature, queenly version of Snow Empress, not the loli who liked to call people daddy in the original.
"Su Wen, I think… I evolved." Snow Empress took a step, appearing at Su Wen's side, her voice tinged with happiness.
"A true, bloodline evolution!"
"Let me see…"
With a thought, Su Wen brought up the interface.
[Arctic Snow Spirit]→[Arctic Snow Maiden]→[Mysterious Arctic Snow Maiden]
Third form is Mysterious Arctic Snow Maiden?
So before "capture," Snow Empress was at the second stage?
After tens of thousands of years of cultivation, she had already evolved once, from Snow Spirit to Arctic Snow Maiden…
Su Wen nodded slightly. Third stage, the form she had now.
Appearance changed little.
But he wondered—would the next stage come with a crown?
Her attributes were explosive. As a soul beast of this bloodline, she was at least seven or eight times stronger than her peers. Yet her physique was still the least impressive of her trump cards.
Snow Empress was always strongest as a "mage."
Her skill list still had the three signature moves, but now all were top-tier blue (heaven level) skills, unable to be upgraded further. As expected of Snow Empress, the skill list was so packed that it was almost too small… Tiny words crowded together, but most were green or yellow skills. With the top three, the rest would rarely see use.
One skill, though, surprised Su Wen—Pride of the Snow Empress (brown, earth level).
Can this even be listed separately?
"Level fifty-four."
Su Wen clicked his tongue.
This time, it wasn't the result of slow accumulation, like last time when he was stuck at forty for months. These four levels were all thanks to Snow Empress…
"This world is so comfortable, really comfortable…"
Snow Empress now had her own Pokéball, and the inner domain suited her. It was a world of endless snow, unlike the Ice Emperor's ice pits.
She loved it here.
"Thank you."
"I feel my three skills have made another qualitative leap."
Standing barefoot in the snow, Snow Empress lifted her silver hair and looked gently at Su Wen.
"I'll benefit too," Su Wen grinned.
Shouldn't have learned them.
He could use two-thirds of Snow Empress's power—that was more than enough. Now, though the Snow Empress was only at ten thousand years, with her bloodline boost, she was easily comparable to a hundred-thousand-year soul beast.
That meant even in a fight against Soul Douluos, she'd have no trouble.
And more terrifyingly—
He had five soul beasts of this tier…
"No, only what you learn yourself is truly yours." Snow Empress's ethereal voice made Su Wen raise an eyebrow—something was wrong!
"Let me teach you in more detail."
"Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice isn't used that way…"
Snow Empress smiled as she approached the ashen-faced Su Wen, her mood bright, "Remember to come here every night and practice a hundred times!"
Su Wen: "..."
But from this moment, the two were truly intimately linked, hearts as one…
...
Inside Azure Luan's Pokéball.
It was still lush, ancient trees towering, and the life lake in the center had doubled in size. Su Wen gaped at the small piece of Life Gold in his hand.
There really was some!!!
After Azure Luan advanced to [Saint Healing Azure Luan], Su Wen checked the lake bottom and actually found a tiny piece of Life Gold.
It was tiny—even smaller than a drop of Skydream's tear.
But it was enough to upgrade!
"Whew…"
Glancing at Azure Luan—who had shed her swan form and was now evolving toward a phoenix-luan hybrid—Su Wen nodded. Her beauty was off the charts: noble, elegant, green wings, looking more like a peacock from his previous life, but a super-evolved version, with a long jade-green tail and an aura of light and purity.
He handed the Life Gold to Azure Luan. She carefully swallowed it, storing it in her belly, and looked at Su Wen with gentle eyes.