How much time had passed?
Lin Xiao had long since forgotten. He had even somewhat forgotten what he was doing, simply walking forward aimlessly.
A strange aura permeated the surroundings, yet upon careful sensing, it felt extremely comfortable.
His feet transmitted waves of softness. Looking down, he saw flowers of peculiar shapes—petals not plump like ordinary flowers, but long and narrow instead.
He slightly bent down, intending to pick one, but before he could extend his hand, one of the flowers leaped into his palm as if it had life, slowly rotating in his hand.
Is this the world after death?
For some reason, this thought suddenly arose in his heart, though naturally, no one would answer him.
A breeze seemed to brush past, blowing his hair onto his face, causing a slight itch. Lin Xiao puzzledly raised his hand to touch it, somewhat confused as to when his hair had grown so long.
However, before he could think it through, a few strands of coolness touched the back of his hand. Looking up, tiny snowflakes seemed to be falling from the sky.
Is it snowing?
Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes and looked around, yet he saw no trace of snowfall anywhere, as if it were merely his illusion.
"Where... is this?"
"This is your 'soul core'."
An aged voice suddenly sounded behind Lin Xiao. Turning around, he saw an elderly figure standing there.
"Tea...cher..."
The word escaped his lips subconsciously as countless memories surged into his mind from nowhere.
Frowning in some pain, it was a long while before Lin Xiao slowly raised his head.
"Teacher, we succeeded?"
"Yes, we succeeded."
Electrolux said, suddenly raising his hand. A gray mist rose, and within it, countless shadowy remnants drifted continuously.
Assassin, Spirit Devourer, Nightmare, these few relatively complete souls also floated in the air, their gazes fixed on him, as if awaiting his command.
Only the God Seal was nowhere to be seen, unknown where it had gone.
Shaking his head lightly, many memories once more.
The breakthrough method, his own choice, the meditation before losing consciousness...
The breakthrough process had gone much more smoothly than he anticipated. The fusion of the soul core with the undead plane had proceeded without major incidents under his and Electrolux's control. The only exception was the Snow Empress trapped within...
At this thought, Lin Xiao suddenly turned his head. Behind him, another figure floated quietly, a young woman in the prime of her beauty, dressed in white robes like snow.
Though he had never seen her before, Lin Xiao still knew who she was: the Snow Empress.
This was his first time seeing the Snow Empress's original appearance. Whether emerging from the God-Sealing Platform or later as a soul, the Snow Empress had never shown her true form.
More memories surfaced in his mind. Lin Xiao vaguely recalled opening the Soul-Capturing Device on the table at the final moment, releasing the Snow Empress's soul inside.
"Thank you."
The Snow Empress shook her head, then turned to glance at Electrolux beside her. "I didn't expect you to have a teacher like this by your side."
Lin Xiao clenched his fist slightly upon hearing this, sensing his current state. "This is also my fortune."
"Hahaha." Electrolux laughed. "Alright, we can save those words for later. First, try out your current state?"
"I..." Lin Xiao paused, then nodded. "Mm."
Several more snowfalls had occurred in the Far North, covering even the Snow Empress's ice house with a thick layer of ice and snow. Inside the room, Lin Xiao sat cross-legged on the ice bed.
Ice fragments mixed with streaks of red clung to his body, as if some terrifying force was about to burst out from within, cracking his body and spilling threads of blood.
Lin Xiao's body suddenly moved. Black, black, black, black, black, black, red, red, red—nine soul rings rhythmically rose around him.
However, the ninth soul ring was not pure; gray patterns covered it, adding a touch of impurity.
Ice fragments fell as Lin Xiao slowly opened his eyes. Lowering his head slightly, he could see the streaks of crimson on his body.
Containing a half-plane as his soul core sounded tempting, but it was truly not something ordinary people could achieve. If not for the two years of tempering in the Far North, his body would likely have failed to withstand it long ago.
Fortunately, those bloodstains had already dried; they merely retained their original color under the freezing ice fragments.
His interior felt empty. No soul power could be sensed in his meridians, nor even the soul core in his dantian.
No.
Lin Xiao calmed his mind, and a mysterious sensation appeared in his dantian, the place where his original soul core had been. It seemed empty now, yet upon careful sensing, it felt as though an entire world existed there.
With a slight shift of his mind, the next instant, vast soul power surged forth as if from another world, filling his meridians in mere moments.
Lin Xiao could feel that his soul power level was not high, only level ninety-one, but the amount of soul power his body could contain was absolutely incomparable to that of ordinary soul masters.
Standing up, the ice fragments on his body fell away. His clothes had long been dyed red with blood. Taking a fresh set from his storage soul tool and changing into them, Lin Xiao's gaze finally fell on the Soul-Capturing Device on the table.
However, the Soul-Capturing Device had lost its luster long ago, and the Snow Empress inside had already been released.
Though the Snow Empress's attitude had changed, Lin Xiao hadn't expected her to suppress her power within the undead world to help him condense this entirely new "soul core."
From what she had just said, it seemed that after he lost consciousness, Electrolux had spoken to her again.
"Teacher."
"How does it feel? This was only my conjecture. Fully mastering this power will still require you to gradually adapt on your own."
"Additionally, you've already seen what your current soul core looks like. After my undead plane fused with your soul core, it was influenced by your martial soul and transformed into that appearance."
"Though it can contain the remnant souls absorbed by your martial soul, you yourself can no longer use the undead plane to escape danger."
"It's fine, Teacher." Lin Xiao slightly lowered his head to glance at his body. "Compared to a life-saving measure, this 'soul core' will bring me far greater help."
"Mm. As for how you should cultivate in the future, I need to think it over carefully. But one thing is certain: your soul core is closely tied to your own strength. As your power increases, the soul core will have opportunities to grow further."
"Likewise, as long as the soul core can expand, your own strength will change accordingly. Make good use of this power that has never appeared in this world before."
Lin Xiao nodded and stepped out of the room.
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