Chapter 325.
"You're the offspring who ran away... You didn't die?" the Mountain and Sea Ice Dragon Whale weakly muttered, glaring at Bingjira in disbelief.
Wang Feng felt a strange sense of familiarity with those words.
Without a word, Bingjira launched a furious assault on the Mountain and Sea Ice Dragon Whale. Despite its body being nearly torn in half, the tenacious beast refused to die.
"Don't kill it just yet," Thunder Spirit Fox interjected calmly. "Boss Feng needs its soul ring to break through the bottleneck."
"Don't worry. I won't be satisfied by just killing him that easily," Bingjira growled, snorting.
Thunder Spirit Fox could only sigh, saying nothing more.
–From deep within the Hanjue Ice Cave, an agonizing cry echoed, shaking the entire structure violently.
Wang Feng smiled faintly, and as his body recovered, he continued refining the Ice Herat of All Spirit with the Qiankun Cauldron. Afterward, he asked the Wind Blizzard Crocodile to carry him toward the ice crystal cage.
"Boss Feng, what's the deal between you and the Goddess Qing Huang'er?" the Wind Blizzard Crocodile slyly asked. "Don't tell me you two are..."
The crocodile vividly remembered an event from a year and a half ago. When he had presented Qing Huang'er's feathers to him, his demeanor had changed entirely. Boss Feng had vowed to deal with the Mountain and Sea Ice Dragon Whale after that.
Now, they had found Qing Huang'er. Could it be...?
Smack!
Wang Feng slapped the crocodile on the head, knocking it askew.
'This bastard crocodile with it's vivid imagination and fantasies. *Sigh..'
The Wind Blizzard Crocodile, now with its head tilted, blinked in confusion but said nothing more.
Ignoring the crocodile's insinuations, Wang Feng struck the ice crystal cage with a powerful punch, shattering it immediately. Without the Ice Heart of All Spirit, the cage had become fragile, proving how crucial the ice heart was to the cave's very existence. It was like the core of this place, and without it, the Hanjue Ice Cave would slowly lose its value, much like the Ice and Fire Lake would without its dual Yin Yang springs.
Stepping into the vast prison, Wang Feng gazed at QingQing, a tinge of nostalgia and weariness in his eyes.
From a small blue bird to a magnificent blue phoenix, her transformation was nothing short of incredible. She had grown bigger, stronger, and more beautiful.
But now, Qing Huang'er lay limp on the ground, and Wang Feng was suddenly reminded of the first time they had met. Back then, this little blue bird had nearly been eaten by a snake while trying to save a few baby birds—not her own, but just some she happened to encounter. When they met again, she was gravely injured, found lying on the ground again, and Wang Feng had used his newly awakened Golden Lotus to test its ability on her. Even then, she must have had a spark of intelligence, right?
Now, years later, history seemed to be repeating itself.
"Look at you!" Wang Feng squatted down and gently stroked the feathers on her head, untangling the ones frozen by ice. "You ran off with those two little –ones, and now there's no news of them! You even traveled so far away! After a few years, you've become wilder than ever. And now, look—those two little ones are in trouble! Fortunately, they're soul is still remaining, and I have a chance to bring them back. But if they weren't... What were you thinking?"
Wang Feng grumbled as he continued to smooth out her feathers.
Qing Huang'er chirped softly, almost in protest. She didn't know how to speak human language—Wang Feng had never taught her—but they communicated through their spiritual connection. Her cultivation simply wasn't advanced enough for speech yet at that time.
Hearing that familiar call, Wang Feng shook his head, amused.
Meanwhile, the Wind Blizzard Crocodile outside was dumbfounded. Qing Huang'er, a goddess of soul beast feared by both humans and soul beasts, was now being scolded by Boss Feng!
The crocodile had never seen her like this. In the far north, Qing Huang'er was revered as a proud and untouchable being. She was fierce, protective, and unforgiving in battle. Yet now...
In the crocodile's eyes, this wasn't the same goddess. This was just like them Boss Feng's little brothers.
As the Wind Blizzard Crocodile pondered this, Bingjira and Thunder Spirit Fox finished venting their frustrations and settled down, satisfied.
Back in the cage, Wang Feng sighed deeply after hearing the explanation. "Don't blame yourself," he said, standing up.
Qing Huang'er, now recovered, rose to her feet. She had changed so much since the last time they met.
Without warning, she wrapped her wings around Wang Feng. "Master, I've missed you so much..."
Wang Feng nodded with a proud smile. 'I knew I raised her right, he thought with satisfaction.'
But her next words made him freeze.
"Especially when I'm injured... it hurts so much..."
Wang Feng's expression darkened as black line formed on his forehead.
'So, you only missed me because you want me to heal you with Golden Lotus?'
Seeing his reaction, Qing Huang'er giggled. "Well, I think about you every day, actually. After Yaya evolved, we were going to return to you, but then... things got complicated. And you taught me to never give up and to finish what I started! So I didn't hold back!"
She snorted coldly. "That idiot whale even tried to make me surrender! Hmph, I've always been the master's bird..."
Wang Feng quickly interrupted, "Wait, Qingqing, don't say that last part like that. If you want to say it, at least replace 'bird' with something else!"
Qingqing blinked, tilting her head. "But I can't turn into a human yet."
"Still, don't say it!"
"Alright, alright."
Outside the cage, the Wind Blizzard Crocodile stood in awe, watching the intimate interaction between Boss Feng and Qing Huang'er. The sight left him feeling like he was witnessing something forbidden and magical. One thing was clear—the goddess had long been Boss Feng's.
Looks like my standing in the group just dropped a notch, the crocodile thought with a touch of sadness.
The Wind Blizzard Crocodile couldn't help but feel a little disheartened. His position in the hierarchy seemed to slip further.
Meanwhile, Bingjira and Thunder Spirit Fox had finished venting their frustrations, looking thoroughly satisfied and at ease.
Wang Feng and Qingqing chatted for a while longer before finally turning their attention to the Mountain and Sea Ice Dragon Whale. The moment had arrived. It was time to absorb his fifth soul ring...
At this moment, the Mountain and Sea Ice Dragon Whale no longer had the strength to even let out a cry.
The relentless attacks from Bingjira and Thunder Spirit Fox had completely drained the last of its energy.
As Wang Feng approached, the Mountain and Sea Ice Dragon Whale could only glare at him, unwilling and resentful, though a hint of mockery flickered in its eyes.
A level 50 soul master dares to absorb a 90,000-year-old soul ring? The thought was clear in the whale's gaze.
'Absolutely.Impossible.'
Hatred blazed in the Mountain and Sea Ice Dragon Whale's eyes, its blood-red pupils staring at Wang Feng as if it wanted to burn him with sheer malice. It resolved to leave its hatred within the soul ring, hoping to shatter the soul of anyone who attempted to absorb it.
"Boss Feng, be careful," Thunder Spirit Fox warned in a deep voice. "This beast's will is immense, and its resentment toward you is also quite strong. Absorbing its soul ring could prove very dangerous."
Though Thunder spirit Fox was not a human and did not fully understand the soul master's cultivation methods, it knew enough to recognize the risk of absorbing the Mountain and Sea Ice Dragon Whale's soul ring under these conditions.
Wang Feng nodded in acknowledgment. There was no doubt—he was the human that the Mountain and Sea Ice Dragon Whale hated the most.
But he wasn't afraid. Even though the Qiankun Cauldron was still busy refining the Ice Heart of All Spirit, meaning he couldn't use the Black Lotus to absorb the whale's raging resentment, Wang Feng had another option.
His Dark Angel Martial Soul could also absorb all of its malice and hatred. In fact, it might even strengthen his martial soul even further.
Wang Feng had long suspected that the Dark Angel Martial Soul had untapped potential. While it granted him heightened perception and absorption of negative emotions and enhanced physical attributes, its true power seemed to lie in its ability to weaken enemies with an aura of corruption and domination.
He also sensed that its growth wasn't solely dependent on absorbing soul rings. It needed something more, perhaps the accumulation of various negative emotions.
Maybe that's why it took so long to awaken, Wang Feng mused.
With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Wang Feng moved forward. Summoning the Armored Black Thorn, he shaped it into a sharp blade and pierced the Mountain and Sea Ice Dragon Whale's head with a single thrust.
The whale let out one final, anguished roar before its massive body went limp, its eyes slowly closing. A dark, red colored soul ring began to materialize upon its massive body.
As Wang Feng observed the ring, he realized that the Mountain and Sea Ice Dragon Whale was likely very very close to a true hundred-thousand-year-old beast, just a little shy of that mark.
"Not easy," Wang Feng muttered under his breath. "This wasn't easy at all."
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