Chapter 52.3: The Ice Empress’ Armor
Wang Yan’s eyes lit up. “This… were you were late because of your second martial soul? Is it because it just awakened? Come, follow me. There are some questions I’d like you to answer for me.” He grabbed Huo Yuhao’s arm as soon as he’d finished speaking and left. Zhou Yi had an odd expression on her face when she saw him leave, but she couldn’t leave since he had! In order to guide their students through the advancement test, a teacher was required to be present at all times.
Huo Yuhao had been dragged away, but Wang Dong was still there! Even though he had been just as surprised by Huo Yuhao’s performance, Huo Yuhao was still his martial soul fusion companion. The stronger Huo Yuhao was, the stronger their combined combat strength would be. Thus, although he was stunned, he was also greatly excited. He turned and looked towards Dai Huabin with a look of disdain, whose face had begun to alternate between shades of green and white. He ridiculed, “How about it, Mr. Dai? It seems that you were full of shit this time around. Whaddaya mean ‘taking on both of us by yourself’. Huo Yuhao’s score alone is enough to beat yours. Remember to honor your promise later. Aih, the feeling of looking down on you from above truly feels good.”
“You—!” When he heard this, Dai Huabin became so angry that his entire body began to shiver. His blood-drenched body caused him to look even more sinister. Zhu Lu almost rushed towards Wang Dong, while Xie Huanyue simply had an astonished look on his face.
Dai Huabin grabbed ahold of Zhu Lu; he’d unexpectedly managed to calm himself down after such a short amount of time. He looked towards Wang Dong and said indifferently, “Since I was willing to make a bet with you, I’m also willing to admit my defeat. I’ll naturally honor my promise when I see Huo Yuhao later.” After he said this, he turned towards Mu Jin. “Teacher Mu, I’m heading back to clean myself up first.” With that, he let go of Zhu Lu and glanced towards her with a deep look before leaving.
The rancor and killing intent within Dai Huabin’s eyes surged out like a waterfall as he left the Great Beast Duelling Arena.
Wang Dong lips curled as he watched Dai Huabin’s distant figure. “He’s actually quite a man; he still knows how to pay up when he loses.” However, he didn’t realize that Dai Huabin’s loss today had thoroughly transformed him into a crazy madman who would disregard the consequences of his actions.
Wang Yan dragged Huo Yuhao all the way to his office, then shut the door once they’d entered. As soon as he’d shut the door, he impatiently inquired, “Yuhao, did you just awaken your second martial soul?”
Huo Yuhao nodded, then proceeded to give Wang Yan the same explanation he’d given to Zhou Yi and Fan Yu.
Wang Yan became somewhat tongue-tied as he listened to his story. Once he’d finished listening, he asked, puzzled, “Why would this happen? Just what in the world could cause this!? This can’t be right! Even if your Body Soul were to have a second awakening, a brand new martial soul shouldn’t have appeared. Twin martial souls are born at the same time; how in the world could a second one appear after the first? Was your second martial soul hidden from the very beginning? However, a situation like this has never occurred in the annals of history…”
The current Teacher Wang was a completely fanatical scholar. He continued to ponder unceasingly as he talked to himself.
“Yuhao, what exactly is your second martial soul?” Wang Yan looked towards him, an urgent tone in his voice.
Huo Yuhao replied, “I heard Teacher Zhou say that it’s the Ice Jade Scorpion.”
Wang Yan sharply inhaled when he heard this. Perhaps the other teachers wouldn’t recognize the Ice Jade Scorpion, but he did. He had always devoted his efforts to the research of martial souls, thus he had naturally done research on soul beasts that solely belonged to the Extreme North. He naturally knew about the terrifying existences that lived in that place.
“I understand, I understand.” Wang Yan’s eyes lit up. “No wonder that Flaming Lion King ran with its tail between its legs. Your second martial soul is actually an extremely rare Ultimate martial soul! Heavens… it’s actually an Ultimate martial soul!”
Huo Yuhao scratched his head. “Teacher Wang, I think I’ve heard Teacher Fan Yu mention this as well. What does an ‘Ultimate martial soul’ mean?”
Currently, Wang Yan was looking at Huo Yuhao the same way he’d look at a lover in a dream. Huo Yuhao felt somewhat guilty when he saw this.
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“What is an Ultimate martial soul? How should I explain this to you… Let’s put it this way. As you know, there are various ranks within the world of soul masters.”
Huo Yuhao nodded.
Wang Yan continued, “Within these ranks, it’s appropriate to say that twin-souled soul masters are existences who stand at the top of the pyramid. Regardless of what their martial souls are, they’re definitely much stronger than ordinary soul masters, due to the fact that they can add soul rings to their second martial soul after they reach a certain level of strength. However, twin-souled soul masters are extremely rare. You’re one of them, and Xiao Xiao is too. It’s the first time in the outer courtyard’s history that two twin-souled soul masters have appeared at the same time.
“Besides a unique situation such as this however, there are certain differences between martial souls. There are Beast Souls, and then there are Tool Souls. All martial souls have characteristics that belongs to them alone; its existence is worth something as long as soul power appears when it awakens. Due to this fact, it’s often very hard to differentiate strong and weak martial souls. Under different circumstances, or perhaps I should say, ‘different domains’, there won’t be just one ‘strongest’ martial soul. However, even though that’s normally the case, there are a few martial souls publicly recognised as extremely powerful ones.
“The first of these are Body Souls. Body Souls are extremely powerful due to the fact that they’re a part of a soul master’s body. A soul master’s trained body is naturally more accommodating to their wishes when compared to a martial soul created after its awakening. Furthermore, a second awakening can occur in a Body Soul. This second awakening can both occur during the initial awakening of the Body Soul, or at higher ranks. I’ve been paying a lot of attention to your Spirit Eyes, in the hopes that I would be able to see it undergo a second awakening. A Body Soul will experience a qualitative leap when it undergoes its second awakening, and will become an existence that lords over ordinary martial souls. It’s just like a hundred thousand year soul beast that’s broken through its limits; we can use the word ‘transcendent’ to describe martial souls that have achieved this.
“When a martial soul can be referred to as transcendent, it’s obvious that it will definitely be much stronger than a normal martial soul. Besides Body Souls that have undergone their second awakening, there is another type of martial soul that can be classified as a transcendent martial soul: Ultimate martial souls. An example of this would be your second martial soul.”
Huo Yuhao conscientiously listened to Wang Yan’s explanation. He’d never expected Ultimate martial souls to be evaluated this highly.
The more Wang Yan spoke, the more excited he got. His face turned slightly red as he continued, “The strength of Ultimate martial souls is reflected in the word ‘Ultimate’. There are several different types of Ultimate martial souls, and they can belong to any element. However, for a martial soul to reach the pinnacle of any element is easier said than done. If it’s lacking even a little bit, it can’t be considered to have reached the pinnacle. You’ve seen Wu Feng’s Red Dragon; it’s a relatively top-ranked martial soul within the fire element. However, her fire isn’t Ultimate Fire. In fact, there’s a large gap between her fire and Ultimate Fire. Because of that, we say that her martial soul is a Fire Dragon, not a True Fire Dragon. When a True Fire Dragon appears, it’s capable of scorching everything within a thousand miles. However, your Ice Jade Scorpion is a true Ultimate Ice martial soul! Ice Jade Scorpions are soul beasts that live within the Extreme North. The Extreme North is an area that we humans simply cannot enter; soul beasts are the absolute masters of that place.”
“According to the legends, there are three extremely powerful ice-type races who live within that extremely frigid world. They are known as, respectively, the Titan Ice Devils, the Ice Jade Scorpions, and the Snow Ladies. The kings of their respective races are known as the Three Emperors of the Extreme North. I can guarantee that these Emperors are transcendent soul beasts.”
A sense of admiration spontaneously arose in Huo Yuhao’s heart when he heard Wang Yan say this. His description of the Extreme North was identical to what the Skydream Iceworm had said. In a situation where there was no way for them to collect any information from that place, Teacher Wang somehow possessed this much knowledge about it. The amount of dedication he’d put towards the research of soul beasts could be seen from this. Even the newly awakened Ice Empress couldn’t help but praise that he was somewhat knowledgeable.
Wang Yan naturally didn’t know what Huo Yuhao was thinking. He continued excitedly, “The Snow Ladies are supposedly the strongest race within the Extreme North. Nobody’s clear about their origins, but I strongly suspect that they have human blood; their appearance resemble those of humans as well. They’re definitely Ultimate martial souls. Other than the Snow Ladies, there’s the Ice Jade Scorpions, who have also reached to the pinnacle of the ice element. However, the Titan Ice Devils, who are likewise one of the three strongest races in the Extreme North, can’t be considered to have achieved transcendence in terms of their element. As far as I know, I’ve never heard of a Snow Lady or an Ice Jade Scorpion appearing as a human’s martial soul. I didn’t think that I’d actually be able to see one during my lifetime. Furthermore, it even turned out to be one of my students.”
Huo Yuhao was somewhat embarrassed. “Teacher Wang, I’m not even clear as to what happened myself.”
Wang Yan replied, “Ultimate martial souls are extremely rare. The academy’s entrance contains the sculptures of the first generation Shrek’s Seven Monsters. They were extremely powerful. Even the founder of your Tang Sect—Ancestor Tang San—was one of them. However, none of them had an Ultimate element. In the ten thousand year history of our academy, an Ultimate element martial soul has only appeared thrice before. They were, respectively, Ultimate Wind, Ultimate Fire, and Ultimate Wood. This is the the first time the Ultimate Ice element has appeared. In the past, the three of them all managed to achieve extreme fame amongst their contemporaries. Of them, the most famous is the possessor of the Ultimate Fire martial soul. It was under his leadership that the three original empires of our Douluo Continent were able to defeat the Sun Moon Empire. Later on in his life, he created an extremely powerful clan. However, the martial souls that his descendants inherited didn’t have the word ‘Ultimate’ attached to them.
“Do you know why Ultimate martial souls are so rare?”
Huo Yuhao shook his head blankly.
Wang Yan continued, “It’s because it’s extremely hard for our bodies to endure an Ultimate martial soul. Think about it. Regardless of whether it’s your Ultimate Ice or that ancestor’s Ultimate Fire, the extreme amount of power that appears once it awakens could easily blow a soul master’s body apart. Without an unusual amount of innate talent, a person simply couldn’t withstand it. Because of this, the chances that an Ultimate element will appear on the continent are miniscule; they’re exponentially rarer than Body Souls. Based on what you’ve said, I’m going to make an outrageous hypothesis: Your second martial soul had already appeared when you first awakened your martial soul, but a mutation occurred and it gained a shred of intelligence. Its element was too tyrannical, thus it must’ve restrained itself.”