Three days later.
The former ice lake had dried up, and the island in the center of the ice lake had also disappeared, leaving no trace of its existence.
Under the gaze of the five Undead creatures, Zhu Ziyang slowly opened his eyes, the joy on his face growing stronger as his memories returned, finally making him jump up in excitement.
"Hahaha, it worked! Teacher, we succeeded!" Zhu Ziyang immediately shouted excitedly.
"You've only completed the most important step. How you finish it now is up to you!" Electrolux's reply came, his voice a little weak, but unable to hide his joy, relief, and a hint of pride.
Zhu Ziyang, however, did not notice Electrolux's weakness. Instead, he happily released his Heavenly Frost Sacred White Dragon Spirit.
Five spirit rings shone, four of which were crimson-gold. That's right, crimson-gold. At first glance, they were a blood-red, but upon closer inspection, one would find a magnificent and brilliant gold within the red, full of mystery and nobility. It was obvious that these four crimson-gold spirit rings came from the Snow Empress Soul Spirit.
Speaking of Soul Spirits, Zhu Ziyang's mind stirred. The crimson-gold spirit ring in the second spirit ring position flickered a few times. Then, a transparent sphere floated out. This was a Snow Core, the crystallization of the Snow Empress's origin and cultivation. Inside the Snow Core, an infant was curled up, which was the Soul Spirit embryo about to take shape.
As the first Soul Spirit on the Douluo Continent, the Snow Empress Soul Spirit still needed one final step before birth: the integration of intelligence. To complete this step, the Snow Empress's soul needed to accept the fact that she had become a Soul Spirit. Otherwise, the Soul Spirit's spiritual body within the embryo would only be an unconscious decoration.
And how to make the Snow Empress accept becoming a Soul Spirit? This required Zhu Ziyang's own efforts. It was nothing more than reasoning with her through benefits and moving her with strength. This would have to wait until the Snow Empress awakened from his spiritual sea before he could begin to implement it.
That's right, the Snow Empress's soul was currently completely and soundly asleep within Zhu Ziyang's spiritual sea. This was naturally Electrolux's doing. In fact, the Soul Spirit contract between Zhu Ziyang and the Snow Empress was forcibly signed by Electrolux. Her origin was forcibly transformed into a Soul Spirit, and her soul was held captive without her consent.
It was not unlike a fait accompli. In such a situation, the Snow Empress had only two choices: either compromise and actively merge with the Soul Spirit embryo, becoming a Soul Spirit and sharing honor and disgrace with Zhu Zi, or resist to the death, and then, after Zhu Ziyang's strength grew, be passively merged after her memories were erased. In any case, no matter which choice, Zhu Ziyang would win. As for the Snow Empress, she could either choose a win-win, or choose for Zhu Ziyang to win twice alone; there was no other possibility.
Electrolux believed that the Snow Empress would make the correct choice.
Zhu Ziyang's gaze fell on these four crimson-gold spirit rings, his eyes filled with scrutiny and excitement.
Golden spirit rings, it was said that only god-level spirit rings would be golden. And his four crimson-gold spirit rings, although not god-level spirit rings, represented the Douluo Continent's rules' recognition and commendation for his creation of the Soul Spirit System.
The four crimson-gold spirit rings provided Zhu Ziyang with five Spirit Abilities. The reason there were five was because the first three crimson-gold spirit rings carried the Snow Empress's abilities, each generating only one Spirit Ability. Furthermore, the Spirit Abilities they generated could only be cast through the Snow Empress Soul Spirit. In other words, Zhu Ziyang could not use these three Spirit Abilities yet.
The second Spirit Ability, Emperor Sword: Peerless Ice Extremity. The Snow Empress transforms the Ultimate Ice and snow into an extremely cold longsword. The longsword has no edge, the ice and snow are boundless, and its power is unparalleled.
The third Spirit Ability, Emperor Palm: Great Cold Without Snow. The Snow Empress gathers extreme cold power in her hands and unleashes terrifying attacks through rapid, continuous palm strikes, enough to freeze vast oceans.
The fourth Spirit Ability, Emperor Cold Sky: Snow Dance Illuminating Sun. A Domain-type Spirit Ability. The Snow Empress performs graceful dances, communicating with the Law of Ice through her identity as the Ice Snow Maiden, bringing down overwhelming snow that forms a snow Domain. Within the snow Domain, the Snow Empress gains a 50% increase in all attributes and a 50% damage reduction.
These three great Spirit Abilities were the famous Snow Empress's Three Peerless Techniques, and also a major capital for the Snow Empress to dominate the Extremely North Land without a single defeat, asserting her authority over the kings.
Zhu Ziyang really didn't expect that the Snow Empress Soul Spirit would be able to preserve these three great Spirit Abilities so completely. This was an unexpected pleasant surprise, after all, he had essentially forced the issue, and it would have been reasonable for it to be unpalatable. The fact that it was sweet and fragrant only showed his excellent character and extreme luck.
The fifth spirit ring, this spirit ring possessed two great Spirit Abilities, formed after the combination of the Snow Empress's spirit ring and the Heavenly Frost Sacred White Dragon Spirit. These were Zhu Ziyang's Spirit Abilities.
Heavenly Frost Dragon Aurora: Zhu Ziyang releases a ring of ice light, condensed from Ultimate Ice, from his fingertips. The light ring instantly spreads throughout his body, cutting any approaching enemies in half.
Heavenly Frost Dragon Prism: Zhu Ziyang releases ultimate cold air, condensing eight absolutely pure ice prisms around his body. The prisms can reflect all light and fluctuations.
These two great Spirit Abilities were both defensive, one for close-quarters surprise attacks, and the other for preventing long-range attacks. They could form an effective offensive and defensive whole with the Snow Empress's Three Peerless Techniques.
"Not bad!" Zhu Ziyang smiled and said softly.
The four crimson-gold spirit rings were not Zhu Ziyang's only gains; he had two other acquisitions.
The first gain was that his spirit power had increased by three levels, reaching level 60. Logically, all the energy of a 700,000-year Soul Beast should not have only raised his spirit power by three levels. However, the fact was that Zhu Ziyang only gained three levels of spirit power and did not even obtain the Snow Empress's Spirit Bone. Such a huge loss was actually within Zhu Ziyang's expectations.
Electrolux was right; opening up a system and constructing a rule required the support of a vast amount of heaven and earth essence. The Snow Empress's Spirit Bone, which he did not obtain, plus the boundless water of the entire lake, was the price for this support.
To put it bluntly, the Snow Empress's cultivation contained within her Spirit Bone and the vast amount of essence contained in the boundless water were benefits given to the rules of heaven and earth, allowing them to accept the birth and development of the Soul Spirit System. It was a form of bribery; otherwise, Zhu Ziyang, a mere Spirit King, and Electrolux, a remnant soul of a god, could not have changed the rules of heaven and earth.
The second gain was that his ice element affinity reached one hundred. One hundred points of elemental affinity is the highest elemental power that can be mastered on the Douluo Continent. Beyond that, the elemental attribute would transform into an elemental law, which can only be mastered by beings who have entered the Divine Domain.
After obtaining a portion of the Snow Empress's ice and snow origin, Zhu Ziyang's mastery of the ice element could be completely called the best on the continent.
After his ice element affinity reached one hundred points, Zhu Ziyang awakened his second ultimate talent, King of Ice.
With this talent, Zhu Ziyang's Ultimate Ice would gain the king's might to command all Ultimate Ice. Any Ultimate Ice wielder facing Zhu Ziyang could only exert 80% of their full strength. This talent undoubtedly came from the Snow Empress.
In fact, the King of Ice talent is an inherent talent of the Ice Snow Maiden clan. This is also another capital for the Snow Empress to dominate the other 100,000-Year Soul Beasts in the Extremely North Land. After all, among the 100,000-Year Soul Beasts in the Extremely North Land, there are many Ultimate Ice wielder. Not to mention, the Ice Jade Scorpion and the Titan Snow Demon clans, who are also among the Three Kings of the Extremely North, are undisputed Ultimate Ice races.
Compared to the four crimson-gold spirit rings and three levels of spirit power, this new talent was Zhu Ziyang's biggest gain from this trip. Possessing this talent meant that Zhu Ziyang had the qualification to reign over the Extremely North Land. As long as his realm improved, no one in the Extremely North Land would be able to stop him. Of course, this was on the premise that Zhu Ziyang had the idea of reigning over the Extremely North Land.
Zhu Ziyang stood up and looked around at the environment, a hint of surprise on his face.
They were not on an island at all, but clearly at the bottom of a dried-up lake. The original island was completely embedded in the lakebed, the giant ice tree had disappeared, the ruins of the ice house had been cleared, and the areas where the Snow Lotus grew were covered in ice and snow. Only his current location remained unchanged due to the presence of the five Undead creatures.
He put the half-Emperor-grade Snow Lotus into his star flame ring. This half of the 100,000-Year Snow Lotus was somewhat useless to him currently. Although he couldn't absorb it now, once the Snow Empress compromised and lifted the restrictions on it, he could absorb it with peace of mind.
"You've worked hard. Go back and rest," Zhu Ziyang said to the five Undead creatures led by the Hell Knight.
"It is our honor to serve you!" The Undead creatures dared not take credit, bowing respectfully as they replied, then returned to the Undead Demiplane without complaint.
After the Undead creatures returned to the Undead Demiplane, Zhu Ziyang did not linger. He chose to leave the Extremely North Core Circle directly, preparing to go home, rest for a few days, and then return to Shrek Academy to hunt for his sixth spirit ring!
On his way home, Zhu Ziyang prepared to awaken the Snow Empress, who was sleeping in his spiritual sea, and have a friendly exchange with her, making her understand what it means to be at the mercy of others, what it means to have to bow one's head under duress, and what it means for a forced melon to be beyond one's control!