Chapter 65: Soul Ring, Soul Spirit
"That's enough."
Just as Xiao Lan's hands were nearing their limit, Xue Di lifted her foot slightly, signaling that it was time to stop.
Xiao Lan obediently took out a towel and carefully wiped the melting snow from Xue Di's feet. Without a word, Xue Di slowly extended her feet into Xiao Lan's arms.
As a Snow Elf born from nature itself, the body of the Ice Snow Girl was almost entirely composed of extreme ice and snow. Her natural temperature would be fatal to others, but with Xue Di's careful control, the icy cold merely inflicted pain—not death.
Feeling the biting chill seeping into her body, Xiao Lan didn't flinch. She held Xue Di's feet tightly, as if trying to absorb the cold into her own body.
"Aren't you cold?" Xue Di asked calmly.
"I can bear it. Just… don't let my brother find out."
"Is that so? Then hold on as long as you can."
Xue Di said no more. She silently channeled her soul power into Xiao Lan's body, initiating a cleansing of essence and marrow—without Xiao Lan even realizing it.
As a soul beast, Xue Di harbored little goodwill toward humans, especially those who hunted her kind. Even though Xiao Qiang had helped her obtain the Ten Thousand-Year Mysterious Ice Marrow, it was merely a transaction—one life exchanged for another. Likewise, Xue Dan's aid during the Thunder Calamity had also been transactional. These were not favors born of affection.
But when Xiao Qiang sacrificed what was possibly his only opportunity to act in order to help Tian Meng and Bing Di, telling them not to worry about him, Xue Di felt a subtle change stir in her heart. Perhaps not all humans were inherently vile. At the very least… Xiao Qiang was different.
For Bing Di's sake, she did not intend to always support Xiao Qiang, but she was willing to give him a chance—to see what he would do with it. She was not closed off to acting again if necessary.
Her decision to secretly help Xiao Lan cleanse her body was similar to how Xiao Qiang had helped Bing Di find a path to survival. It was a quiet addition—a repayment of sorts.
Why Xiao Lan, and not Xiao Qiang? For one, Xue Di had a long-standing aversion to males, especially after being pursued relentlessly by the Titan Snow Demon Ape. Additionally, Xiao Qiang had just absorbed Bing Di's spirit ring and spirit bone, putting him in peak condition. He didn't need another round of cleansing.
After all, Bing Di's ring and bone already provided substantial cleansing. Unless Xue Di herself became Xiao Qiang's spirit ring and spirit bone, any further methods were redundant.
"That's enough for today. We'll continue tomorrow."
Sensing that Xiao Lan was nearing her limit, Xue Di withdrew her foot and ceased the flow of soul power.
"Okay. Just call me anytime you need something."
Xiao Lan had given her room to Xue Di and was staying in a nearby guest room so she could be available at any time.
Time passed quickly, and soon it was the next day.
"You're telling me that Xiao suddenly became extremely hardworking in cultivation?" Inside the Mingde Hall Master's office, Jing Hongchen raised an eyebrow in surprise after hearing the report. As far as he knew, Xiao Qiang hadn't beaten Xiao Hongchen recently, so why the sudden motivation?
"Yes, Patriarch. The young master said he wants to work hard and take responsibility for the Hongchen Family as soon as possible. He said he wants to make the family great again."
"Hmm, very good. Seems Xiao Qiang has finally put some pressure on him. Pressure breeds motivation. This is a good sign."
The subordinate paused. He couldn't shake the strange feeling that Xiao Hongchen's behavior was less about motivation and more like he thought the family was on the brink of collapse. Still, since the Patriarch had given his blessing, he said nothing more.
"Let Xiao have whatever he needs. Don't worry about the treasury—I've brought enough resources to replenish it. Also, Mingde Hall still has plenty in reserve. He can use them freely whenever necessary."
"Yes, Patriarch."
Just as the call ended, Xiao Qiang entered the office.
"Teacher, I'm here."
"Good. Come with me."
Soon, Jing Hongchen led Xiao Qiang to a sealed laboratory—the experimental base prepared according to Xiao Qiang's specifications. Due to its high confidentiality, no one else was present.
Jing Hongchen handed Xiao Qiang two sets of remote soul guide controls.
"The white remotes—labeled one through four—correspond to soul masters of ranks ten, twenty, thirty, and forty respectively. The black ones—marked white, yellow, and purple—represent soul beast levels. Numbers one through nine indicate their age ranges. For safety, I only acquired soul beasts below two thousand years."
Xiao Qiang nodded in understanding. Better to err on the side of caution. Soul beasts under two thousand years wouldn't pose too much threat, even if something went wrong.
"This is for you as well." Jing Hongchen handed him a monitoring device. "Wear it. It tracks your physical condition and will trigger an alarm if anything unusual happens. If it's destroyed, I'll come in personally."
"Thank you, Teacher. I really appreciate your help."
"No need for thanks."
After the briefing, Jing Hongchen left. Once Xiao Qiang confirmed the lab's privacy through mental detection, he didn't press any buttons right away.
"Xiao Qiang, let me take over your body already. I can't wait!" Tian Meng's voice rang out excitedly in his mind.
"Hold on, Brother Tian Meng. I just remembered something."
"What is it?"
"It's about spirit rings. Brother Tian Meng, do you think a single spirit ring can truly contain the full cultivation power of a soul beast?"
"Huh? What brought this up all of a sudden?"
"Nothing in particular. It just came to mind. Back when we first met, you gave me a million-year spirit ring with four spirit skills and told me you could transform my other rings into the hundred-thousand-year level. But at that time, weren't you already drained of most of your power?"
"'Drained'? I'm still drained! Damn that Di Tian—if I get a chance, I'll turn him into a spirit bone."
"Brother Tian Meng, despite being exhausted, you gave me that powerful ring and the ability to enhance others. Bing Di even used her power to give me an extra martial soul slot, a spirit bone, and sealed away the leftover energy. But even so, there was still a lot of wasted energy, wasn't there?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Brother Tian Meng… is it possible that a soul beast can create more than one wisdom soul ring? Think about it—not whether a soul master's body can handle it, but just the logic. A single ring barely uses a fraction of your full cultivation. Isn't that… wasteful?"
"You're saying… a soul beast could form more than one ring? That's… actually reasonable. I was exhausted and still created a million-year ring and boosted your others. Hmm… but if more can be created, are they still 'wisdom soul rings'?"
"Who cares what they're called? It's just a name. Maybe we could stop thinking in terms of rings altogether. Maybe… what we're really talking about are soul spirits."