Douluo Continent: Martial Soul - Ice and Snow Maiden, Calls Snow Empress "Mom"

Let's turn back time to the present.

On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year in the Douluo Continent calendar.

For the far north, today is a truly historic day.

Because the human cub that carried all the hopes of the two Ice and Snow Emperors had finally turned six.

The day of awakening the Martial Soul has finally arrived.

The two emperors of ice and snow had gone to great lengths to prepare for this day.

In particular, Xue Di, in order to learn about the specific process of human awakening of martial souls, took Xue Bingchen back into human society last year when Xue Bingchen was five years old, and went to a remote town on the far northern border of the Heaven Dou Empire.

The mother and son hid in the shadows of the void, watching quietly as if they were gods looking down on ants, as the Great Soul Master, the deacon of the Spirit Hall, performed the Spirit Awakening for the common children in the town.

That experience left a deep impression on Xue Bingchen.

Looking at the Spirit Hall steward who, despite his somewhat arrogant attitude, diligently traveled to every remote and impoverished village to awaken martial spirits for commoner children free of charge, Xue Bingchen secretly gave him a thumbs up.

"It has to be said that, putting aside the factional conflicts in the later stages, the Spirit Hall's treatment of commoner soul masters is truly impeccable."

Xue Bingchen was nestled in Xue Di's arms at the time, whispering:

"Not only do we give ordinary people free martial soul awakening, but we also give them gold soul coins as a subsidy as long as they have a trace of soul power."

"This isn't a villainous force at all; it's practically the God of Wealth and Project Hope for the Douluo Continent!"

At that moment, when Xue Di heard Xue Bingchen's mutterings, she merely glanced indifferently at the human children below who had awakened useless martial souls such as "hoe," "scythe," and "blue silver grass" and had no soul power. A trace of indifference and disdain belonging to a superior flashed in her beautiful eyes.

"Chen'er, these mortals have impure and mixed blood flowing through their veins, so naturally they can only awaken these useless inanimate things."

The Snow Empress gently stroked Xue Bingchen's cheek, her tone filled with undisguised pride:

"But you are different. You are a treasure of my far north, a child blessed by this world. Your martial spirit is destined to surpass all living beings."

Recalling that scene from last year, Xue Bingchen took a deep breath of the frigid yet incredibly refreshing air of the far north ice plains and slowly opened his eyes.

At this very moment, he is standing atop the highest, millennia-old snow-capped mountain in the far north's core region.

Beneath his feet was a massive six-pointed star awakening formation, carved by the Ice Emperor over a full month using the hardest and purest 'Ice Extreme Divine Crystal' from the far north.

At each node of the formation, there is an inner core of a ten-thousand-year-old ice-attribute soul beast that exudes terrifying coldness, used to replace the awakening stone used in human awakening rituals.

This spectacle would leave even the Pope of the Spirit Hall, let alone the gods of the divine realm, speechless.

The two emperors of ice and snow stood on the left and right edges of the six-pointed star formation, their eyes fixed on Xue Bingchen in the center of the formation.

Hyotei's emerald green eyes were filled with tension and anticipation. Her delicate white hands gripped her twin ponytails tightly as she muttered to herself:

"It has to be the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion... It has to be the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion... God help me, let Xiao Bingchen awaken my martial soul, so I can be his rightful mother..."

Hearing Hyotei's rambling, Yuki-tei simply shook her head helplessly, a calm smile playing on her lips.

There was no worry on her beautiful face, because she had absolute confidence in the foundation she had laid for Xue Bingchen over the past six years.

"Chen'er, are you ready?" Xue Di's ethereal and melodious voice rang out in the wind and snow, like heavenly music.

Xue Bingchen nodded emphatically, her little face full of seriousness and determination: "Mom, I'm ready! Let's begin!"

"it is good."

Xue Di nodded slightly, and then she gently raised her flawless jade-like hand and pointed it towards Xue Bingchen in the center of the formation.

"Buzz—!"

As Xue Di moved, a pure and unadulterated source of ice energy, without any impurities, flowed from her fingertips like a trickle and instantly poured into the underground Ice Extreme Divine Crystal Array.

In an instant, the entire six-pointed star formation burst forth with an extremely dazzling ice-blue light!

The six ten-thousand-year-old soul beast inner cores seemed to be ignited, releasing an immense power of ice and snow, which transformed into six ice-blue pillars of light that shot into the sky and converged into a huge ice and snow vortex above Xue Bingchen's head.

"Close your eyes, feel the dormant power within you, guide it, release it!"

The Snow Emperor's voice resounded in Xue Bingchen's mind like a morning bell and evening drum.

Xue Bingchen closed her eyes as instructed.

At that moment, he felt as if he were inside a warm, icy mother.

The energy drawn by the Snow Emperor surged into his limbs and bones like a gentle spring breeze and rain, flowing unstoppably through his broad and resilient meridians to the deepest part of his soul.

He felt as if a heavy door within his body, which had been closed for six years, was slowly opening under the impact of this force.

"Click—"

A sound like shattering from the depths of the soul rang out.

Immediately afterwards, an indescribable chill suddenly erupted from Xue Bingchen's dantian!

This chill wasn't the kind that's bone-chillingly cold, but rather an absolute zero that carried immense pressure, seemingly capable of freezing time and space and forcing all things to submit!

"boom--!!!"

The moment this chill erupted, the sky above the far north changed.

The howling wind and snow fell into absolute stillness in an instant. Then, a dazzling ice-blue beam of light, more than 100 meters in diameter, shot straight into the sky from Xue Bingchen's body like a volcanic eruption!

This beam of light was so dazzling that it seemed to tear apart the perpetual gloom of this far north and pierce straight into the divine realm above the heavens!

"It's a success!"

Outside the formation, two extremely dazzling bursts of light suddenly erupted from the Snow Emperor's ice-blue eyes, which had remained calm and still for millennia.

A breathtaking smile bloomed on her stunningly beautiful face, a smile so captivating it could melt even the snow and ice of the world.

She looked excitedly at the small figure in the center of the pillar of light, her voice even trembling slightly:

"It really is...it really is the Ice and Snow Maiden Martial Soul!"

Within the dazzling pillar of light that shot straight into the sky, countless crystal-clear ice and snow elements gathered wildly, eventually condensing into a stunningly beautiful figure tens of feet tall above Xue Bingchen's head.

The beautiful figure wore a white dress, her silver hair flowed freely, and she was barefoot, her steps graceful as lotus blossoms.

Her appearance, her temperament, and even the aloof and imposing aura emanating from her were exactly the same as the Snow Empress, the ruler of the far north, standing to the side!

However, this phantom appeared more ethereal and pure, as if it were a manifestation of the laws of ice and snow in the world.

This is one of the top martial souls in the Douluo Continent, and it can even be said to be the absolute ceiling of ice attribute martial souls - Ice and Snow Maiden!

The scale of Xue Bingchen's awakening of his martial soul was truly immense.

This towering, icy-blue pillar of light not only illuminated the entire far north, but the terrifying fluctuations of its laws swept across the entire Douluo Continent like a tsunami, traversing thousands of mountains and rivers!

……