"You..."
"Why isn't your martial soul the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion?!"
The moment Qi Lin's martial soul possessed him, a shocked voice rang out in his spiritual sea—none other than the Ice Empress.
She wasn't the only one surprised. Skydream and Gu Yuena also looked over in confusion.
Logically speaking, since Qi Lin had merged with the Ice Empress's origin, he should have awakened the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion martial soul.
So how could it mutate under such conditions?
And this martial soul… did it have any relation to the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion?
It didn't look the slightest bit similar.
They had never heard of any mutation where a scorpion could transform into a qilin.
Could it be just because his name—Qi Lin—sounds like "qilin"?
But… is that even reasonable?
Besides, this martial soul of Qi Lin didn't even look like a conventional qilin.
That terrifying pressure—it was so overwhelming that even Gu Yuena felt a deep sense of dread, as though her bloodline was being forcefully suppressed.
Even more disturbingly, when she looked at Qi Lin again, her heart was suddenly flooded with desire.
The most primitive desire—to mate with him.
She didn't understand why. Although she'd sometimes daydream when around him before, she had never felt this kind of intense impulse.
A faint blush appeared on Gu Yuena's always-cold face, adding a rare touch of charm to her beauty.
Qi Lin raised his hand, examining the changes after his martial soul possession. Outwardly, there wasn't much difference. But he could feel a distinct chill at his back.
A majestic tattoo of an ice-elemental qilin appeared behind him, radiant and divine.
He could now sense the identity of his second martial soul: a qilin. An ice-attribute qilin.
So the qilin called itself the Mystic Ice Qilin.
"Mystic Ice Qilin?"
Even after hearing the explanation, Gu Yuena, the Ice Empress, and Skydream were still confused.
"In ancient records, qilins and qilin martial souls have appeared before," Skydream said seriously, "but none of them ever released the kind of terrifying pressure that yours does."
"Exactly! And you clearly absorbed my origin!" the Ice Empress chimed in.
Qi Lin shrugged. "I don't know either. Maybe the heavens decided the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion wasn't right for me, so they swapped it out."
Obviously, the Ice Empress and Skydream didn't buy that explanation.
But strangely enough, Gu Yuena had a gut feeling—maybe that absurd theory was closer to the truth than they realized.
How else could they explain Qi Lin awakening a qilin martial soul that had absolutely nothing to do with the Ice Empress, despite absorbing her origin?
Just then, Skydream, recovering quickly from shock, became visibly excited.
"Even though Qi Lin didn't awaken the Ice Empress's martial soul, it might not matter! This Mystic Ice Qilin martial soul is clearly even stronger than the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion!"
How could he not be excited?
Qi Lin had already had a great chance to become a god. Now, with an even stronger martial soul?
Didn't that mean his godhood was practically guaranteed?
And as his intelligent spirit ring, Skydream would be able to ascend with him to the Divine Realm and gain eternal life!
How awesome was that?!
Then Skydream asked eagerly, "A hundred-thousand-year spirit ring grants two soul skills. What are yours?"
Qi Lin smiled.
"My two soul skills are called Qilin Divine Body and Qilin Wrath Technique."
"The Qilin Divine Body increases all of my attributes by five hundred percent, lasting until my soul power is exhausted."
"As for Qilin Wrath Technique, it boosts the next attack. There's a 99% chance it doubles the power, 0.99% chance it multiplies by ten, and a 0.01% chance it explodes with a hundredfold power."
When he finished, both Skydream and the Ice Empress gasped.
Even Gu Yuena couldn't hide the shock in her eyes.
"My spirit ring can grant a soul skill this powerful?" the Ice Empress murmured in disbelief.
She didn't even believe her own words.
Such a monstrous boost—most likely even million-year spirit rings couldn't provide that.
Only now did she truly understand why Skydream was so confident that Qi Lin was destined to become a god.
Qi Lin wasn't just immensely talented—he was freakishly abnormal.
The Ice Empress could sense something deeply unnatural and mysterious from him.
Skydream was even more amazed. "Wait... if you get lucky, could you one-shot a Titled Douluo with a single punch?"
Qi Lin thought about it and nodded.
After all, a level 99 Titled Douluo was still a Titled Douluo.
Skydream then sighed with regret. "In theory, yes. If you activate Qilin Divine Body first, then trigger the hundredfold power of Qilin Offensive Art, you could explode with five hundred times your normal strength."
"It's just... the probability of activating that hundredfold attack is too low. You might not even trigger it once per battle."
Qi Lin smiled faintly. "Well, it's not that hard. You know how it is—my luck has always been pretty good."
That made Skydream fall completely silent.
He suddenly remembered Qi Lin's inexplicably absurd luck in the past.
Maybe… he really could pull it off.
At that moment, Gu Yuena picked up the discarded Ice Empress's torso bone, curiosity flashing in her eyes. "What do you plan to do with this soul bone?"
"Why not absorb it? It's nearly four hundred thousand years old. Should be quite helpful to you."
Qi Lin glanced at the glittering, mist-shrouded soul bone in her hand and shook his head.
"I'll pass. There's still some remnant origin of the Ice Empress inside. I'd rather save it as a material."
Gu Yuena knew the function of Qi Lin's third soul skill, so she didn't push the issue. Instead, she asked, "So, what's next?"
Qi Lin had already made up his mind. "Next, I'm going to add my sixth soul ring to my Four-Leaf Clover Martial Soul. I'll choose a soul beast—the Snow Lotus."
As he spoke, he looked at Gu Yuena with a smile. "Sister Na, I'll need you to help me locate the oldest Snow Lotus."
Gu Yuena nodded, then released a wave of mental energy.
In the blink of an eye, she had already pinpointed its location.
"I've found one—it's ninety thousand years old. It should meet your needs."
Qi Lin smiled.
"Then let's go."
Gu Yuena nodded again. Her expression remained calm and frosty, but there was a softness in her eyes.
Walking beside Qi Lin, she gave off the feeling of a devoted and graceful partner.