Listening to Shui Bing'er's confident words, Shui Yue Ruo couldn't help but smile faintly, "Then my safety for the rest of my life will depend on you two."
Not long after, Shui Wuhen and the others arrived at Tianshui Academy.
"Dean, are you alright?"
As soon as they landed, a figure rushed over and asked anxiously.
This person was the vice dean of Tianshui Academy. After seeing the letter left by Shui Yue Ruo, she had thought something might have happened to her.
Shui Yue Ruo looked at the person who rushed over and smiled, "Vice Dean, I'm fine. I've made you worry."
Upon hearing Shui Yue Ruo's words, the vice dean finally let out a breath of relief, then noticed Shui Wuhen and Shui Bing'er behind her.
"Bing'er, Wuhen, you're here too. Why didn't you inform us in advance? At least let us teachers make some preparations."
The vice dean sounded a bit reproachful. After the last Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament, the number of applicants to Tianshui Academy had more than doubled.
Now, Shui Bing'er and Shui Wuhen were practically like heroes of Tianshui Academy. Especially Shui Wuhen—if he were to come back and give a lecture, it would definitely inspire those students.
"There's no need for such unnecessary things. We still have matters to attend to right now."
Faced with the vice dean's invitation, Shui Wuhen directly refused.
Not to mention he didn't like trouble in the first place, even if he did agree, it wouldn't be now.
Right now, the most important things were undoubtedly the Ice God divine fragment inside the Ice-Sealed Throne, and that Ice Phoenix Inner Core.
Seeing this, Shui Yue Ruo also patted the vice dean's shoulder and said, "Alright, there's no need to rush things. We'll talk tomorrow."
After saying that, Shui Yue Ruo led Shui Wuhen and Shui Bing'er away.
Watching the three figures leave, the vice dean opened her mouth, but in the end did not say anything.
Soon, the three arrived at the entrance of Shui Yue Ruo's exclusive cultivation chamber.
"This is my cultivation chamber. If you need anything, just press the button in the center. After pressing it, someone will come to fulfill your requests."
Shui Yue Ruo reminded them.
"Alright, I understand."
With that, Shui Wuhen pulled Shui Bing'er and walked straight into the cultivation chamber.
Creak—
As the heavy stone door of the chamber slowly closed, the figures of the siblings Shui Wuhen and Shui Bing'er completely disappeared from Shui Yue Ruo's sight.
Passing through a long corridor, Shui Wuhen and Shui Bing'er entered the chamber.
Shui Wuhen casually glanced around. It was a very simple enclosed space, about twenty square meters—not large, but more than enough for their closed-door cultivation.
Shui Bing'er also looked around. She previously had her own exclusive cultivation chamber, so this was her first time here, but aside from being slightly larger, it was otherwise similar.
"Bing'er."
Hearing her brother's voice, Shui Bing'er just turned her head when Shui Wuhen's finger touched her forehead.
In the next moment, a large amount of unfamiliar knowledge flooded into her mind, causing a slight swelling pain.
However, at this moment, the Spirit Condensation Wisdom Spirit Bone activated, quickly absorbing the unfamiliar knowledge and easing the pressure in her head.
"Brother, this is…?"
Shui Bing'er looked at Shui Wuhen in confusion.
Shui Wuhen said calmly, "Didn't you ask me what I was researching recently? This is the result of my research—Spirit Master Inner Core Condensation Method.
Next, I want you to condense your own inner core while refining the Ice Phoenix Inner Core."
"An inner core is a good thing. With it, not only will your total spirit power increase, but your spirit power recovery speed will also increase dozens or even hundreds of times. Once successful, you will no longer need to worry about lacking spirit power.
And with far more spirit power than those of the same rank, your strength will further increase. Combined with the martial soul evolution brought by the Ice Phoenix Inner Core, once you break through to Spirit Sage, you will have the power to contend with ordinary Spirit Douluo."
Hearing Shui Wuhen's words, Shui Bing'er's eyes lit up. There was such a good thing?
But soon after, a complicated emotion rose in her heart.
She had originally thought that after growing stronger, she would be able to help her brother, but now it seemed… nothing had changed.
"My brother is truly too strong… he can even create something like an inner core. I might never catch up to him in my lifetime."
Shui Bing'er sighed inwardly, then focused all her attention on the knowledge transmitted by Shui Wuhen.
Even if she couldn't surpass her brother, becoming stronger was still good. If her level increased, the power of their martial soul fusion skill would also become stronger.
Seeing Shui Bing'er begin to study the inner core condensation method, Shui Wuhen also released the Ice-Sealed Throne and sat down on it to begin cultivating.
Soon, he would extract the Ice God divine fragment from it. By then, this Ice-Sealed Throne would be destroyed and lose its former divine power, so he might as well experience its cultivation-enhancing effect first.
As for why he didn't directly extract the Ice God divine fragment, it was because he planned to help Shui Bing'er fully complete the absorption of the Ice Phoenix Inner Core first.
After all, who knew how long the Ice God divine fragment fusion would take—if it took a year or half a year, Shui Bing'er could not wait that long.
One day later.
Shui Wuhen looked at Shui Bing'er and asked, "Have you fully understood the inner core condensation method I gave you?"
"Yes, brother, I've fully understood it."
Shui Bing'er replied firmly.
"Good. Take out the Ice Phoenix Inner Core. I will help you refine it."
Shui Bing'er nodded and immediately took out the Ice Phoenix Inner Core.
Due to Shui Wuhen's previous suppression, the Ice Phoenix Inner Core now looked no different from an ordinary ice-blue bead.
Without hesitation, Shui Bing'er sat down cross-legged and began circulating her meditation technique, preparing to refine the Ice Phoenix Inner Core.
In the next moment, as the Ice Phoenix Inner Core turned into strands of pure ice-blue energy absorbed by Shui Bing'er, her body was enveloped in dense ice-blue energy.
In an instant, the entire chamber began to freeze, as if turning into an ice and snow absolute domain.
"Ugh~~"
At this moment, a painful expression appeared on Shui Bing'er's face. Clearly, as a Spirit Emperor at level seventy, absorbing a Ten Thousand-Year-level Ice Phoenix Inner Core was not easy.
One misstep could result in her body exploding.
Naturally, Shui Wuhen would not allow such a gamble. He placed his hands on Shui Bing'er's back, and surging spirit power poured out, helping her regulate the energy.
Under normal circumstances, this would be extremely dangerous, because even with compatible martial souls, each person's cultivation route differs. Interfering rashly could harm both.
But Shui Wuhen was clearly not included in this case. As Shui Bing'er's brother, he was extremely familiar with her circulation routes, and his powerful spiritual power allowed him to correct any issue instantly.
With Shui Wuhen's help, the pain on Shui Bing'er's face gradually disappeared. Instead, she felt a comfortable warmth as the Ice Phoenix energy washed over her body.
However, she did not forget Shui Wuhen's instructions and began compressing the energy toward her lower abdomen using her spiritual power.
Gaseous… liquid… solid…
Under extreme compression, a crystal the size of a mung bean gradually formed.
At the same time, the Ice Phoenix Inner Core completely dissipated into nothingness.
Shui Wuhen narrowed his eyes. "Not enough energy?"
Condensing an inner core required massive energy. Without external support, Shui Bing'er's current spirit power was clearly insufficient.
By Shui Wuhen's estimation, forming a true inner core would require at least the energy of a Titled Douluo.
The Ice Phoenix Inner Core provided far more than that, but most of its energy had been used to transform Shui Bing'er's body, leaving only a small portion for condensation.
"However, I still have plenty of energy sources."
With a thought, all the Ice Spirit Pills from Shui Wuhen's storage soul device and Shui Bing'er's storage pouch flew out.
In the next moment, under Shui Wuhen's spiritual control, the pills burst open, turning into pure energy that poured into Shui Bing'er's body.
Unlike the Ice Phoenix energy, this energy contained not only ice attribute power but also life and spiritual energy—far more comprehensive.
With this support, the inner core gradually stabilized.
Soon, the crystal inside Shui Bing'er's body completely stabilized, and Shui Wuhen finally let out a breath of relief.
Although there were minor complications, everything went smoother than expected.
Shui Wuhen withdrew his hands and waited for Shui Bing'er to awaken.
The inner core was complete. Next, she only needed to digest the energy and complete her martial soul evolution.
However…
One hour later, Shui Bing'er showed no movement.
Two hours later, still in meditation.
Three hours… four hours…
Shui Wuhen finally realized something was wrong and frowned.
"Strange… the inner core is already formed. Could martial soul evolution really take this long?"
Seeing no abnormalities, he did not interrupt her and allowed her to continue.
But what he did not expect was that Shui Bing'er remained in meditation for an entire week.
Buzz—
As waves of energy fluctuations spread from her body, Shui Wuhen's expression sharpened.
Finally…
But at this moment, something shocking happened.
Spirit rings began to emerge around Shui Bing'er's body.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black…
In the blink of an eye, her first six spirit rings appeared and circled her.
Just when Shui Wuhen thought it was over, his pupils suddenly contracted.
A seventh spirit ring slowly emerged—and its color was a dazzling blood red.
A blood-red ring—the symbol of a Ten Thousand-Year Spirit Ring.
Shui Bing'er had unknowingly obtained a Ten Thousand-Year Spirit Ring.
Shui Bing'er opened her eyes and excitedly threw herself into Shui Wuhen's arms.
"Brother, I also have a Ten Thousand-Year Spirit Ring now!"
Without waiting for him to ask, she quickly explained everything.
"Brother, you guessed right. That Ice Phoenix Inner Core was indeed Ten Thousand-Year level—and not an ordinary one. It not only evolved my martial soul, but also gave me this Ten Thousand-Year Ice Phoenix Spirit Ring."
After hearing this, Shui Wuhen understood.
So absorbing an inner core also grants a spirit ring.
Although this was theoretically impossible, he had already experienced too many impossible things, so this was not unacceptable.
"As long as the result is good."
He then thought of the Ten-Headed Sun-Snake Inner Core he obtained in the Slaughter City.
That inner core, although not comparable to the Ice Phoenix Inner Core in age, would still be a priceless treasure for fire-attribute spirit masters.
After the excitement, Shui Bing'er checked her spirit power.
"I've reached level seventy-five!"
She was overjoyed.
"Level seventy-five is strange?"
Shui Wuhen glanced at her. "To stabilize your inner core and evolve your martial soul, all remaining Ice Spirit Pills were used on you. With the Ice Phoenix Inner Core energy, only reaching level seventy-five is already low.
If not for the inner core and martial soul evolution, you could have reached level ninety."
"What?! The Ice Spirit Pills are gone?!"