There's a prerequisite for soul beast sacrifice: it must
be voluntary!
A soul beast is willing to offer its entire being to you; that's called sacrifice.
Generally, after sacrifice, it's equivalent to death, but it might retain a little consciousness or a "seed."
Like in the original story, after the Blue Silver Emperor sacrificed himself to Tang Hao, he left behind a Blue Silver Grass; after Xiao Wu sacrificed herself to Tang San, she became a weak little rabbit.
But Ma Hongjun is different. Because of the existence of his Dragon Soul, he can preserve the soul spirit of the soul beast.
So his method of sacrifice is actually a kind of contract,
linking the fate of these soul beasts with his.
However, it still requires voluntariness. If the soul beast is unwilling to offer its soul spirit, Ma Hongjun has no way to forcibly seize it.
So, winning and subduing a soul beast is one thing, persuading it is another.
Of course, for Ma Hongjun, whether the opponent sacrifices or not doesn't matter if he can win.
This mainly applies to powerful soul beasts like the Ice Emperor, whom he might not be able to defeat.
Of course, there are also soul beasts that are difficult to kill.
Soul beasts over 100,000 years old generally possess intelligence comparable to humans, so they need to be treated as intelligent beings.
In this situation, assassins inevitably feel some distance.
Therefore, it's best to have them sacrifice themselves.
Furthermore, there are many benefits to sacrifice; it accelerates the fusion of soul rings and soul bones, making the process much smoother. Additionally, the existence of the soul spirit helps Ma Hongjun unleash its associated soul skills,
essentially providing an extra ally .
In short, there are many advantages.
To get the Ice Emperor to sacrifice herself willingly, Tianmeng needs to act as a persuader.
However, Ma Hongjun isn't planning to go to the Ice Emperor yet. His third martial soul, the Dragon Soul, is currently in poor condition, and Tianmeng wouldn't be able to perform at her best if he went to see the Ice Emperor now!
Although Ma Hongjun wasn't injured after fighting Di Tian and Xiong Jun in the Star Dou Great Forest, he was exhausted.
He dug a hole in the ice mountain and went inside to rest.
After a night's sleep, Ma Hongjun's spirit finally improved.
Furthermore, Ma Hongjun made a surprising discovery:
his Dragon Soul martial soul could absorb the ice-attribute power here to recover.
This is good news. The ice-attribute energy in the far north is extremely rich, making it a natural, simulated cultivation environment for ice-type martial soul masters.
Sure enough, the Dragon Soul Ice Heart Lotus he consumed earlier, this celestial-grade plant, laid the foundation for the Dragon Soul's ice attribute.
Thus, the Dragon Soul can be positioned as an ice and spirit-type martial soul.
Ma Hongjun isn't in a hurry; what he needs now is a 100,000-year-old soul beast soul ring, preferably obtained through sacrifice, so there's no rush.
In the far north, the known 100,000-year-old soul beasts include the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North!
The Snow Empress, nearly 700,000 years old;
the Ice Empress, nearly 400,000 years old ; and
the Titan Snow Demon King, 250,000 years old.
There's also the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm and another Ice Bear King, nearly 200,000 years old, the Snow Empress's pet, Little White.
These are all naturally Ma Hongjun's targets.
The relationship between these five peak soul beasts of the far north is quite interesting.
The Snow Empress is supreme, the darling of heaven and earth.
The Heavenly Dream is the lowest, the darling of fate.
The Ice Bear King is the Snow Empress's darling.
Then, Tianmeng likes Bingdi, and Bingdi likes Xuedi.
Titan Snow Demon King also likes Xuedi, and
Tianmeng and Bingdi are natural enemies, like predator and prey.
Ice Bear King and Titan Snow Demon King have a contradictory relationship of "I treat you as my brother, but you want to be my father." The situation
among the Northern Soul Beasts is truly chaotic.
Besides these four strongest, there should be quite a few other 100,000-year-old Soul Beasts.
Ma Hongjun plans to first find ordinary 100,000-year-old Soul Beasts to strengthen his Dragon Soul Martial Soul before attacking these four Heavenly Kings.
Ma Hongjun plans to meditate for a few days and continue cultivating on the ice mountain.
His Dragon Soul is currently too weak; he needs to stabilize its condition first.
On the third day of cultivation, Ma Hongjun suddenly opened his eyes.
"A Soul Master is approaching!"
Ma Hongjun exclaimed in surprise.
He cultivates in his Dragon Soul Martial Soul state, so his sensory abilities are very strong; even in cultivation mode, his detection range covers the entire ice mountain.
At this moment, in his mental detection, a woman is staggering towards him from the foot of the northern ice mountain.
She seems to be injured!
"A Soul Master actually dares to come here!"
Ma Hongjun was very surprised. Soul Masters usually only operate in the Frosty Forest outside, and very few Soul Masters enter this icy and snowy domain.
Those who can enter this place are generally not ordinary Soul Masters.
Ma Hongjun stepped out of the ice cave.
Snowflakes were falling, blurring his vision, but he still spotted a light blue figure at the foot of the mountain.
With a flap of his Fire Feather Wind Wings, Ma Hongjun instantly flew to the foot of the mountain.
The woman was startled by the sudden appearance of the man.
"Ah~"
That cry was so enchanting!
Ma Hongjun looked at the woman before him; her face was pale, seemingly on the verge of exhaustion.
However, this weakened state only enhanced her exquisitely beautiful face, adding to her delicate beauty and making her all the more endearing.
She had ice-blue hair, deep blue eyes, and wore a slightly tattered blue Soul Master robe.
At this moment, this woman perfectly blended cold arrogance, fragility, and disheveled beauty.
She gazed at Ma Hongjun, her beautiful eyes showing surprise mixed with a hint of delight.
However, her expression slowly turned to worry.
She said anxiously,
"Hurry, there's danger behind!"
Despite her urgency, her voice remained gentle and melodious.
After speaking, her eyes slowly closed, and she fainted.
Ma Hongjun could sense that her soul power was exhausted, which was why she couldn't even maintain her martial soul state.
Reaching out, Ma Hongjun caught the woman as she was about to fall.
Because she had been running, her body wasn't cold; it was slightly warm.
Ma Hongjun examined her body and found a wound on her thigh, the area around which was beginning to change color.
Her originally white skin was gradually turning black.
Clearly, she had been poisoned!
"You know her?"
Tianmeng's voice rang out.
He saw that Ma Hongjun was very concerned about this female soul master, and his actions were very intimate.
"To be honest, Tianmeng, we are both in the same boat.
You have your Bing'er,
and I have mine.
She is my Bing'er!"
Ma Hongjun answered Tianmeng with a very sentimental tone!
The woman in his arms was none other than Shui Bing'er from Tianshui Academy.
"Are you kidding me? What a coincidence!"
Tianmeng asked, looking puzzled.
"It's true, her name is Bing'er, the lover I've been dreaming of!"
"Bullshit!"
Tianmeng didn't believe it. Back in the Star Dou Great Forest, he knew that Ma Hongjun had risked destroying Di Tian's barrier for a pink-clad girl who had transformed into a soul beast.
He clearly loved that rabbit.
Tianmeng felt that one person couldn't love two people.
"Something's coming!"
From the direction Shui Bing'er had come from, a group of soul beasts were chasing after them!
"Ice Centipedes!"
It was a group of centipedes with jet-black backs, icy carapaces, and countless ice-blue legs. They moved incredibly fast, like small motors with blue wheels. This
group of ice centipedes numbered over a dozen. They
were all over a thousand years old, with two of them being ten thousand years old.
"You're the ones who hurt my Bing'er!"
Ma Hongjun summoned his Martial God Spear, pointing it at the group of ice centipedes that were aggressively chasing after them, and said angrily.
Red, purple, black, red!
The moment the seven soul rings appeared, the group of ice centipedes froze, their advancing legs stopping.
"Give me your life!"
Ma Hongjun shouted, charging forward!
He wanted revenge for his woman.
The ice centipedes didn't have time to escape; Ma Hongjun's Fire Feather Wind Wings were incredibly fast, and he instantly reached the swarm of ice centipedes.
His Martial God Spear struck repeatedly, and in no time, more than a dozen ice centipedes fell to the ground.
Soon, more than a dozen spirit rings appeared.
Ma Hongjun ignored these spirit rings, but on the corpse of the strongest ice centipede, a centipede nearly 30,000 years old, there was an unexpected gain:
a left leg spirit bone!
Ma Hongjun temporarily stored the spirit bone in his spatial belt; saving lives was the priority now.
Shui Bing'er had been poisoned by the centipedes and needed an antidote quickly, otherwise she wouldn't last long.
Her body was getting colder and colder; Ma Hongjun needed to revive her while she was still warm.