bdsm-fiction 67. The Ice Jade Scorpion and the Chase
67. The Ice Jade Scorpion and the Chase
next day
"Da da da, da da da—"
The sound of horses galloping echoed continuously along the road leading to the far north.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that two people were riding two snow-white horses with ice-blue horns on their heads, bright eyes, and frost rising from the ground where their ice-blue hooves trod.
One looked like a fit middle-aged man, while the other looked like a teenager, but the beautiful muscle lines and muscles that clearly concealed great strength proved his physical prowess.
Who else could be riding the Ling family's exclusive Ice Edge Horned Horse, heading towards the far north, but Ling Bingtian and his protector Ling Yongsheng, who are they?
Early this morning, Ling Bingtian, who was led out of the training camp by Leng Ming, saw his grandfather Ling Yongsheng, who was leading two Ice-Front Wildebeests and smiling at him.
After the handover was completed, Ling Bingtian saw that Leng Ming's face showed emotions other than calm for the first time due to excessive excitement.
Ling Yongsheng's reputation was quite renowned within the Arctic Army.
Then, Ling Yongsheng led Ling Bingtian on the road to the inner circle of the far north.
The reason Ling Yongsheng dared to bring out the Ice Edge Horned Horses this time was largely thanks to Ling Bingtian's ability to connect to the small plane of the Ice God, allowing him to put them inside.
Otherwise, in the wild, these soul beasts, which have been trained by the Ling family to be gentle, would be the best prey for other soul beasts.
Sitting steadily on his horse, Ling Yongsheng looked at Ling Bingtian, who was displaying superb riding skills beside him, and asked with a smile, "Little Tian, have you decided what kind of soul beast you need for your third soul ring?"
"Well, Grandpa, didn't the clan's theoretical elders analyze it for me? It's either an ice-attribute soul beast with phoenix bloodline, or a soul beast with the ultimate ice attribute. In that case, Grandpa, I think the Ice Jade Scorpion with Ice Explosion Technique is a good choice, and its attribute is also the ultimate ice." Ling Bingtian said with shining eyes.
Aside from the terrifying Ice Emperor, who has already survived several Heavenly Tribulations, the strongest skill of most ordinary ten-thousand-year-old Ice Jade Scorpions is basically Ice Explosion. If Ling Bingtian can successfully hunt down a ten-thousand-year-old Ice Jade Scorpion, he's almost certain that the soul skill it drops will be the coveted divine skill of every ice-attribute soul master—Ice Explosion!
Moreover, because of the Ice God's sealing energy within the Frost Dragon's torso, as long as his body can withstand it, he could potentially strengthen it into a 100,000-year soul ring at any time. At that point, even the soul bone with the Ice Explosion technique that Huo Gua would obtain in the future would be inferior to his own soul ring.
Although Ling Bingtian's body is now strong enough to withstand a ten-thousand-year spirit ring, the reason he hasn't upgraded his first and second spirit rings to ten-thousand-year is that he doesn't want to attract too much attention.
The first spirit ring in a millennium is already astonishing enough. But even if they are enemies, even if they are wary of the Ling family's apparent strength, their first thought would probably be to capture Ling Bingtian alive and then interrogate him about how he obtained the first spirit ring in a millennium. This would give Ling Bingtian time to teleport back to the Ice God's small plane.
However, if Ling Bingtian had revealed the number one spirit ring of ten thousand years when he was still weak, most enemies would probably have first killed Ling Bingtian, then gathered enough people to massacre the Ling family, and then forced them to reveal how they obtained the number one spirit ring of ten thousand years.
Even more extreme, they might not even bother asking about the methods; to "ensure" the balance of the continent isn't broken, directly annihilating the Ling family isn't out of the question. Therefore, Ling Bingtian didn't use the energy from the Frost Dragon's torso to upgrade his first and second soul rings to the level of ten-thousand-year soul rings, thinking he would wait until he had enough strength in the future before doing so.
"Ice Jade Scorpion? That's certainly a good choice." Ling Yongsheng stroked his stubble, pondering the pros and cons.
The Ice Jade Scorpion is not a social species; they are usually solitary, only seeking out another Ice Jade Scorpion to reproduce when they are nearing the end of their lifespan. Capturing a ten-thousand-year-old Ice Jade Scorpion is not impossible.
Even the Ice Emperor, ranked seventh among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, could not possibly know every single Ice Jade Scorpion living in the vast far north. And the Ice Jade Scorpion's Ice Explosion Technique is indeed a top-tier soul skill, especially for soul masters with ice-attribute archery-type martial souls.
Xiao Tian possesses the first soul skill, Ice Martial Condensation, which is equivalent to having an ice bow-type martial soul. Therefore, a soul skill like Ice Explosion is indeed the perfect fit.
"Alright, it's decided then. It's just an Ice Jade Scorpion that's about 20,000 years old. Even if you encounter the Ice Emperor, one of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, Grandpa will definitely take care of it for you. Once we ride to the outer circle of the far north, we'll put these two horned horses into the small plane that the gods gave you, and then I'll take you to the core area to search for them."
Ultimately, Ling Yongsheng finalized the tone for this operation.
Ling Bingtian naturally nodded in agreement.
…………
One day later, in the core area of the far north
"Human! Die—"
A roar resembling a woman's voice echoed throughout the world. If the anger contained within were to be transformed into tangible flames, it would be enough to incinerate the heavens and destroy the seas.
Zooming in reveals that the roar did not come from a human, but from a strange yet beautiful scorpion.
The scorpion is about 1.5 meters long and has two colors: an icy blue and a bright green.
The front of its body has four layers stacked on top of each other, each layer being slightly longer than half a foot. The head is located on the frontmost layer, with silvery-white mouthparts. The front half of the four-layered body is covered with hexagonal protrusions.
These protrusions are densely packed on its front half and its six long legs.
Both front claws are one meter long, and they are also covered with hexagonal, diamond-like protrusions. Only the frontmost pincers and mouthparts are silver-white with a mirror-like luster.
Its eyes are yellow and hexagonal. Unlike the multi-segmented tail of a normal scorpion, its tail has only five segments, each a vibrant turquoise green. The segment closest to the upper body is the widest, tapering towards the back. The last segment also features a diamond-like stinger, with a silvery-white, mirror-like tip.
As the scorpion spoke, a burst of energy, emerald green with a hint of icy blue, suddenly erupted from its body, rapidly spreading to a radius of a thousand miles around it. This instantly froze almost all living things within that radius, except for a figure rushing hurriedly ahead of it.
Upon closer inspection, it was none other than Ling Yongsheng, who had boasted so much just a day ago. In his two hands, he was carrying Ling Bingtian, who looked terrified, and a smaller version of the same scorpion that had already fainted but was clearly much smaller than the one behind him.
The identity of the scorpion that could force Ling Yongsheng to flee in such a hurry in this icy and snowy place is obvious.
The seventh most terrifying being among the ten ferocious beasts, the second king among the three great kings of the far north—the Ice Emperor!