NABC 22. Complete integration
22. Complete integration
"Huh?" The Ice God in the divine realm also noticed something was wrong almost instantly. The child's speed of absorbing divine power had suddenly increased significantly.
However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. As long as he can absorb and digest it, what does it matter if he absorbs all the divine power contained in the altar? With this in mind, the Ice God immediately increased the intensity of his divine power output.
The vast and continuous divine power, mixed with the power of the Frost Dragon's body and bones, was constantly being absorbed by Ling Bingtian. His physical attributes were also rapidly improving due to this extremely high-quality energy, laying a solid foundation for him to absorb higher-level soul rings in the future.
Time passed slowly, and while the Ice God, who sensed the extremely high value of this soul bone, was heartbroken by his loss, he also made sure to kick Ling Yongsheng and Ling Yongming out of the small plane from under the altar.
Even with the help of the inheritor, given their cultivation level and endurance, it would probably take several days to absorb such a high-quality soul bone.
In the next few days, it's also necessary to prevent outsiders from getting close to the membrane. Therefore, sending Ling Yongsheng and Ling Yongming out to guard the entrance is the best option.
Moreover, with Ling Bingtian's current physical condition, it's impossible for him to perfectly absorb such a high-quality soul bone. I'll even have to help him seal the energy contained within the soul bone; there's no need for either of them to witness this process.
Soon, with a casual wave of the Ice God's hand, Ling Yongsheng and Ling Yongming's bodies flew out of the membrane like kites with broken strings and returned to the familiar cave.
"You two guard this place. Ling Bingtian has become my successor, and you must protect him well in the future." The indifferent voice rang in the ears of the two who had regained consciousness, yet it was like heavenly music.
The two elderly men, whose combined age was close to five hundred, exchanged a glance and both saw the ecstatic joy in each other's eyes.
"It's done!" That was the only reaction in the two brothers' minds. This was the first time Ling Yongsheng had heard the Ice God's voice, but it was the second time for Ling Yongming.
He had heard the Ice God's teachings long ago when he inherited the position of the previous guardian, but those were voices fixed in a small plane.
But now, they were receiving the Ice God's orders face to face! What an honor this was for such devout people as the two of them.
Immediately, the two summoned their martial spirits and became highly vigilant. Since the Ice God had given instructions, and Ling Bingtian was receiving the inheritance in the minor plane, the two of them had to ensure that not even a fly could fly into the membrane!
Ling Yongming further utilized his connection with the altar, using the altar's power to scan the surrounding area for hundreds of miles. Whenever a target that might threaten the membrane appeared, both of them decided to kill it without exception!
Ling Bingtian was naturally unaware of the conversation and plans between the Ice God and the two elders. Right now, he was still fully absorbing the Frost Dragon's torso bone, which had already fused with him by nearly 40%.
After the extreme pain at the beginning was relieved by the divine power of the Ice God, Ling Bingtian went through a long period of stability. During this process, Ling Bingtian could clearly feel his physical fitness being strengthened little by little by the energy in the bones of the Frost Dragon and the divine power transmitted from the altar.
Ling Bingtian could only describe this feeling with one word: awesome!
A warm current flowed through his body, leaving behind a portion to strengthen his body wherever it passed.
As a continuous stream of warm current flowed into his body, Ling Bingtian felt as if he had fallen into a large ball of cotton, surrounded by a soft and intoxicating sensation.
In particular, comparing his current feelings with the extreme pain he had experienced before made Ling Bingtian feel even more comfortable.
No comparison, no harm!
After an unknown amount of time, Ling Bingtian sensed something was wrong during the absorption process.
It's bloated!
A feeling of expansion gradually started from his back and spread throughout his entire body. In just a few breaths, Ling Bingtian felt as if his originally lean body had swelled several times its original size, and his body swelled up like a huge fat man weighing hundreds of kilograms.
pain!
This was the second reaction after the body swelled up. It felt like the body was about to explode from the rapidly circulating soul power and external energy! Even if he used his Devouring Yuan technique at full power, he couldn't digest the vast and seemingly endless energy in his body.
"Damn it." Ling Bingtian realized where the problem lay. The energy contained in the Frost Dragon's torso and bones was simply too powerful. Even with the divine power from the altar assisting him in absorbing it, his current body simply couldn't absorb it completely.
However, Ling Bingtian could not stop the absorption process at this moment.
Part of the Frost Dragon's torso bones had already fused with his spine. Forcibly stopping now meant that Ling Bingtian's spine would also be damaged, which would be absolutely fatal for a Soul Master or even a person.
For now, Ling Bingtian had no choice but to trust his protector. After all, even the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm and the Ice Emperor were able to solve the problem of Huo Gua absorbing the Ice Emperor's torso bones, so there was no reason why the Ice God couldn't solve the problem he was facing right now, right?
In fact, the Ice God did keep a certain amount of attention on Ling Bingtian. He had already noticed the situation of Ling Bingtian's body about to explode when he realized the great increase in the age of the Frost Dragon's torso bones.
Ice God also has his own solution to this.
Just as Ling Bingtian's entire body turned an unnatural reddish hue due to energy overload, the Ice God made his move.
The Ice God moved his hands quickly, drawing several array-like marks in the void in front of him.
As he manipulated the altar, ice crystals in three more corners began to shimmer, representing the southern, eastern, and southwestern triangles. This meant that a full half of the altar's power was now operating for Ling Bingtian.
The divine power quickly flew out from the shimmering ice crystals, and then, under the Ice God's remote control, gradually transformed into arrays radiating powerful energy.
"You got off easy, kid." After repeating this sentence countless times, the Ice God sighed helplessly. He was careless and didn't notice the preciousness of the Frost Dragon's torso bones. Who else could he blame?
Since the die is cast, regret is not in my nature. Ice God calmly thought that rather than regretting his mistakes now, it would be more important to think about how to make amends, or even turn the wrong into the right.
For example, the successful integration of this soul bone could further enhance the talent of the successor in front of him, and perhaps even give him the same level of talent as the successor of the Angel God who fought against the Asura God King ten thousand years ago?
Ice God still has some expectations for this.
Thinking this, the Ice God's hands did not stop moving, and a series of mysterious formations were quickly created on the altar in the small plane under His control.
If there were any knowledgeable deities here, they would surely be able to tell that these formations are used to seal certain things and are products of a certain lower realm under the jurisdiction of the Douluo God Realm.
However, in the hands of the Ice God, these formations were clearly improved, possessing more powerful effects than the original formations.
Moreover, these formations have only one function: sealing!
The formation formed extremely quickly, and almost instantly, it flew towards Ling Bingtian at an incredible speed. Upon reaching Ling Bingtian's swollen body, it directly merged into it, with most of it entering the Frost Dragon's torso bone, which had further fused with Ling Bingtian, sealing its power while accelerating the absorption rate. The remaining small portion merged into the rest of Ling Bingtian's body, sealing the power that had leaked out due to the forced absorption of the Frost Dragon's torso bone.
Once Ling Bingtian's body can withstand this power, it will be released, further strengthening his body. Especially the energy contained within the Frost Dragon's torso bone; the Ice God went all the way, sealing its power while simultaneously imbuing it with a unique divine array.
With this magic array, Ling Bingtian's soul rings will also be able to be upgraded when he releases the power sealed in the Frost Dragon's torso and bones.
His successor couldn't possibly have a purple thousand-year soul ring, could he? The Ice God felt he couldn't afford to lose face like that.
Ling Bingtian was naturally unaware of all this at the moment. After experiencing pain, comfort, and throbbing, the fusion between him and the Frost Dragon's torso bone had finally entered a stable period. Moreover, due to the extreme icy aura of his Ice Crystal Phoenix Martial Soul, Ling Bingtian could clearly feel the high degree of compatibility between the Frost Dragon's torso bone and himself, which was probably far superior to the Golden Light Left Arm Bone that Wang Dong obtained at the Shrek Treasure Appraisal Meeting.
Not only is the true dragon status of the Frost Ice Dragon far superior to the sub-dragon status of the Golden Earth Dragon King from which the Golden Light Left Arm Bone originated, but in terms of attribute compatibility, I am probably also a cut above.
After sensing that the immense power of the Frost Dragon's torso bone had been suppressed and sealed by a force most likely from the Ice God, Ling Bingtian's body returned to its original state within a few breaths. The Frost Dragon's torso bone also disappeared from Ling Bingtian's back almost instantly and merged into his body.
The instant the Frost Dragon's torso was fully embedded in Ling Bingtian's back, a rich, icy-blue light flowed from Ling Bingtian's entire spine like flowing clouds and water, transforming into wisps of icy-blue energy that completely enveloped him. When the envelope was complete, from the outside, it appeared as if a vibrant energy dragon egg was "breathing" near the center of the altar.
"It's done." Having completed a series of complex operations, the Ice God slowly breathed a sigh of relief. This was all he could do to help the inheritor with this soul bone. The Ice God truly didn't believe that, after helping to this extent, the inheritor could still fail to absorb it. Now, he just needed to wait for the result.
At this moment, Ling Bingtian, inside the "dragon egg," also entered a magical state. His entire body was bathed in the pure ice-blue light emanating from the powerful "dragon eggshell." A cold, yet warm, ice-blue current surged through every part of his body. An intense sense of comfort instantly filled Ling Bingtian's mind, allowing him to fully enjoy this period of tranquility.
This is the benefit of the compatibility between the soul bone and the martial soul. For a soul bone to be successfully absorbed, the soul master's cultivation level is one aspect, but the degree of compatibility between the soul bone and the martial soul is also a crucial factor.
With the help of the Ice God's sealing array, the energy contained in this originally incomparably powerful ultimate soul bone was forcibly reduced to the limit that Ling Bingtian could accept. In terms of compatibility, there was no martial soul more compatible with the Frost Dragon's torso bone than the Ice Crystal Phoenix martial soul, which could even be described as the ultimate ice, or even divine ice.
Therefore, Ling Bing was able to feel incredibly comfortable during this final absorption process. If it were any other ice-attribute soul master, even a top-tier ice-attribute beast soul master, they would likely have experienced immense pain during this process.
After all, even though the resentment left by the Frost Dragon in the Frost Dragon's torso bone was erased by the Ice God, its extremely proud characteristics as a true dragon were deeply engraved into this soul bone.
As a remnant of ancient times, it naturally differs from the soul bones of today.
The biggest difference is that this Frost Dragon's torso bone contains residual characteristics that are different from those of modern soul bones.
This residual characteristic did not originate from the soul of the Frost Dragon, but rather was naturally left in its marrow over many years of inheritance by this race.
Regardless of what kind of soul bone the Frost Dragon dropped back then, that soul bone would definitely retain this characteristic.
Only martial souls with sufficiently noble bloodlines can gain the recognition of the proud traits remaining within the Frost Dragon.
How could a Soul Master with an ordinary Ice Martial Soul possibly gain the approval of the proud characteristics within this Soul Bone?
In this world, perhaps only the Ice Crystal Phoenix Martial Soul within Ling Bingtian's body can fully gain the recognition of the proud characteristics within this soul bone, making Ling Bingtian's final fusion process easy and comfortable.
From day to night, as the sun rises and sets, time flies by like flowing water, and three days pass in the blink of an eye.
The two elders outside were getting anxious. They had thought that Ling Bingtian would take no more than a day to receive the inheritance, but three days had passed and there was still no reaction from inside.
However, since the Ice God hadn't spoken, the two elders believed that Ling Bingtian would be safe. Therefore, guarding their positions was the only thing they needed to do.
In the past few days, several slightly stronger ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts cautiously stepped into this area of a hundred miles, but Ling Yongming sensed them and ordered Ling Yongsheng to quickly kill them.
"I hope everything will be alright." That was all the old couple could think of, as they silently prayed for Ling Bingtian.
Ling Bingtian, whom the two elders had been longing for, had finally entered the final step of the fusion process.
The "dragon egg," which had originally shone with a rich blue light, had now dimmed in color. Through the "dragon egg," one could even faintly see Ling Bingtian sitting cross-legged inside.
At a certain moment, the Ice God, who had been waiting with his eyes closed in the palace of the gods, opened his eyes again, and a series of fluctuations appeared in his indifferent ice-blue eyes.
"It's finally done." A murmured voice echoed within the palace.
"Sizzle." A tearing sound, as if in response to the words of the Ice God, came from the center of the altar.