Profound Ice Marrow was currently the best treasure for restoring Ma Hongjun's third martial soul.
Based on Shui Bing'er's description, Ma Hongjun judged that the 100,000-year-old soul beast in the Phoenix Ice Cave was neither one of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North,
nor the Ice Bear King.
Since it wasn't one of those four, it was roughly estimated to be an ordinary 100,000-year-old soul beast, certainly no more than 200,000 years old.
Therefore, Ma Hongjun wasn't worried about this 100,000-year-old soul beast.
With his current strength, dealing with a 200,000-year-old one wouldn't be a problem.
Ma Hongjun, holding Shui Bing'er's hand, stepped into the ice cave.
The two summoned their martial souls.
Ma Hongjun held the Martial God Spear in his left hand, his seven soul rings unfolding, enveloping both him and Shui Bing'er.
With this defense formed by the seven soul rings, these ordinary ice centipedes simply couldn't break through.
Moreover, the powerful aura directly forced back the ice centipedes under 10,000 years old.
"The outer perimeter is full of Ice Centipedes, and inside are Mystic Ice Centipedes, most of them over ten thousand years old."
Shui Bing'er's Ice Phoenix was attached to her, though her five soul rings revolved around her, pulsating up and down.
Entering the ice cave, the light was slightly dim, and some ice stones and vegetation could still be seen near the entrance.
However, after entering the first bend, the scene changed. The walls were entirely composed of Mystic Ice Crystal, emitting a white light, much brighter than the outer section.
The Ice Centipedes here were stronger, all ten-thousand-year-old Mystic Ice Centipedes.
They absorbed the energy of this Mystic Ice to cultivate, evolving from Ice Centipedes.
This Mystic Ice was a treasure, practically unmeltable.
The number of Mystic Ice Centipedes had decreased considerably, but they were all over ten thousand years old and larger than ordinary Ice Centipedes. They
slept and cultivated within the crevices of the ice crystals.
As soon as Ma Hongjun and Shui Bing'er entered, they awoke, emitting squeaking sounds.
They were not afraid of Ma Hongjun and Shui Bing'er; despite being pressured by Ma Hongjun's aura, they still attacked him.
At the same time, their roars could be heard, and the ice centipedes outside also surrounded Ma Hongjun and Shui Bing'er from the cave entrance, trapping them inside.
The weaker ice centipedes outside initially dared not attack Ma Hongjun and Shui Bing'er, but now, led by the Xuanbing Centipede, their momentum surged.
The aura unleashed by Ma Hongjun was equivalent to the pressure of a 100,000-year-old soul beast; most soul beasts would know to avoid such a threat and keep their distance.
But this was the ice centipede clan's lair, and Ma Hongjun was an intruder; they had no way out.
Battle was inevitable.
Fortunately, although there were many ice centipedes here, the ice cave was small, and the battle line couldn't be stretched out. Only
a few ice centipedes could attack Ma Hongjun simultaneously. This meant that Ma Hongjun faced approximately twenty ice centipedes attacking at the same time each time.
"Don't worry about it, conserve your soul power, leave all this to me!"
Ma Hongjun tightly embraced Shui Bing'er, holding her close, and single-handedly fought the ice centipedes with his spear.
The seven spirit rings on the Martial God Spear—purple, black, and red—were fully deployed, forming the first line of defense!
The seventh spirit ring, in particular, came from a 200,000-year-old fire dragon, carrying the energy of extreme fire. Ordinary ice centipedes were instantly melted upon approach, and even 10,000-year-old Xuanbing centipedes would be burned upon contact.
However, the ice centipede swarm was too numerous, numbering in the thousands. If Ma Hongjun continued to slaughter them here, he wouldn't be able to hold out.
"Go inside. Once inside, these ice centipedes won't dare to chase us in,"
Shui Bing'er reminded him. Last time they came, they passed through quickly.
"Okay!"
Ma Hongjun nodded and, with Shui Bing'er, began to advance inside.
Seeing Ma Hongjun's advance, the Xuanbing centipedes became even more anxious, their attacks becoming fiercer, sending streaks of ice light towards Ma Hongjun and Shui Bing'er.
However, these Xuanbing centipedes' ice attribute abilities weren't strong enough, far from reaching the level of extreme ice.
Ma Hongjun didn't even need his Fire Phoenix Martial Soul to withstand them.
With ice centipede corpses littering the ground, Ma Hongjun and Shui Bing'er successfully entered the swarm.
"Hiss!"
A chilling aura swept over, instantly making Ma Hongjun feel the cold, his blood flowing slowly.
Ice threads instantly solidified on Shui Bing'er's hair; the sudden icy power almost froze her.
"It's just ahead!"
Ma Hongjun looked in the direction Shui Bing'er was pointing.
The road ahead suddenly extended downwards, and the chilling aura emanated from there.
"This is the aura of Xuanbing Marrow!"
Tianmeng exclaimed in surprise.
At this moment, Ma Hongjun understood why the ice centipedes dared not pursue them.
Although Xuanbing Marrow was a treasure for ice-attribute soul beasts, weaker soul beasts simply couldn't withstand its extreme cold.
If they came closer, they wouldn't be able to absorb it; they would simply be instantly frozen.
Ma Hongjun took out two Vermilion Bird Feather Bones from his spatial belt, each with two feathers.
"Take these; they can withstand the icy power here!"
Shui Bing'er took them, and a warm energy immediately emanated, dispelling the approaching icy power.
The soul power on these feathers wasn't violent; they were two relatively gentle fire-attribute soul bones that Ma Hongjun had specially chosen.
Feeling the warmth from the Vermilion Bird Feathers, Shui Bing'er was even more amazed by Ma Hongjun. This man was truly too strong, seemingly omnipotent.
This made Shui Bing'er eager to learn more about this man.
He possessed too many secrets unlike ordinary soul masters.
The two arrived at the downward bend.
Although they had escaped the ice centipede swarm, they would next face an unknown 100,000-year-old soul beast.
"Tianmeng Baby, after we go in, you must protect Shui Bing'er for me,"
Ma Hongjun instructed.
A great battle was inevitable. He wasn't worried about dealing with the soul beast, but he was concerned about Shui Bing'er.
In the midst of such a fierce battle, the aftershocks of both sides' soul skills could potentially take Shui Bing'er away.
Tianmeng is a special spiritual-type soul beast; its soul spirit can detach from the dragon soul.
Most importantly, it wasn't sacrificed to Ma Hongjun; it directly fused into the dragon soul.
The ice cave dimmed again, and the downward slope wasn't straight, but rather slanted.
Ma Hongjun, carrying Shui Bing'er, slid down, supporting her waist with one hand.
This section was rather long, like a path to the underworld, appearing eerie and terrifying, with an icy aura.
Finally, the extreme cold enveloped them.
The path through the ice cave leveled out, and ice pillars appeared before them.
Several rays of colorful light shone towards them.
They were getting closer!
These rays of colorful light were actually transmitted by souls—four people wearing blue soul master robes, each with seven soul rings around them.
The four people's movements were different, but they all faced the direction inside, displaying gestures of casting soul skills.
They were frozen.
Including their martial souls, soul rings, and soul skills.
"Teacher Shui Xin!"
"Teacher Shui Jing!"
…
Shui Bing'er's eyes glistened. These four women were the four Soul Saint teachers from Tianshui Academy who had stayed behind to hold off the 100,000-year-old soul beast when they first arrived.
They all faced the soul beast, using their soul skills to block it.
However, the 100,000-year-old soul beast was too powerful, freezing them all in ice.
Although they couldn't stop it, they had bought Shui Bing'er and the others time to escape.
These four teachers were truly admirable!
Shui Bing'er reached out, wanting to save her teachers.
"Don't move, you'll be frozen!"
Ma Hongjun stopped her.
"It's alright, these four aren't dead yet."
Tian Meng's voice rang out.