The temperature at the bottom of the Extreme Cold Yin Spring reached at least super-absolute zero. Even though Zhu Ziyang fully unleashed his Ultimate Ice to resist most of the cold, he still shivered as if he were standing naked in the snow in the dead of winter.
However, the physical cold couldn't diminish Zhu Ziyang's mental joy. As he landed on the frozen ground at the bottom of the spring, the root of a plant entered his line of sight. It was clearly the root of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. Compared to the flower above, this root was the true priceless treasure, for with it, he could possess countless Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.
Yet, even in the face of such a priceless treasure, Zhu Ziyang was unmoved. At this very moment, his entire attention had been drawn to something less than ten centimeters away, right beside the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass root.
A majestic blue-white true dragon!
The true dragon showed no signs of life, appearing no different from a statue, every part of its body exquisitely detailed. The terrifying pressure Zhu Ziyang felt as he approached the bottom of the spring originated from this colossal dragon.
"Is this the Ice Dragon King?" Zhu Ziyang stared, muttering to himself, "How truly powerful!"
Zhu Ziyang wasn't sure how long the Ice Dragon King had been fallen, but he could certainly say it had been at least over a hundred thousand years. A hundred thousand years—even the bones of a 100,000-Year Soul Beast would likely have turned to fossils. Yet, the Ice Dragon King's corpse had not only avoided turning into mere white bones but still retained its flesh and blood, even its vitality and activity.
This was a divine body!
Zhu Ziyang walked towards the Ice Dragon King's corpse. With every step, he felt a terrifying pressure. His Heavenly Frost Sacred White Dragon Spirit also instinctively produced a sense of submission. If Zhu Ziyang hadn't been desperately holding on, he would have long since knelt.
It took Zhu Ziyang about fifteen minutes to reach the Ice Dragon King's remains. This short distance of a few meters left him feeling intensely fatigued. However, as he drew closer to the Ice Dragon King's corpse, within a fist's distance, he felt the joy and sorrow emanating from his Heavenly Frost Sacred White Dragon Spirit, like a wanderer returning home, his emotions complex and numerous.
He bowed his head, observed a moment of silence, and after offering his condolences and apologies to the Ice Dragon King, Zhu Zi made his move.
Zhu Ziyang extended his hand, placing it on the Ice Dragon King's scales. A chilling cold penetrated his fingertips to his heart. He paused, hesitated for a few seconds, then acted again. His palm released spirit power, which entered the Ice Dragon King's corpse and began to circulate.
Although the Ice Dragon King's corpse was remarkably well-preserved, it had, after all, been fallen for too long. The divine force and spirit power within its body had mostly dissipated. The only things that could possibly retain spirit power were the Spirit Bones. Therefore, Zhu Ziyang intended to use his spirit power to search for a source of spirit power within the Ice Dragon King's corpse.
He closed his eyes, fully sensing the feedback from that wisp of spirit power, searching for the Spirit Bone that very likely existed.
It was inevitable that Spirit Bones existed within the Ice Dragon King's remains. Zhu Ziyang quickly detected a rich spirit power and instantly located it. A translucent, jade-like section of spine appeared in his perception.
"I've won big time!" Zhu Ziyang instantly opened his eyes, his face filled with intense surprise and excitement. Although that section of spine was small, it undeniably indicated that a Spirit Bone existed within the Ice Dragon King's body, and it was the most precious torso Spirit Bone!
In the usual sense, a torso Spirit Bone is actually the spinal column, which is one of the most important bones in the human body, its importance to humans self-evident. Therefore, the value of a torso Spirit Bone is also the highest among the six major Spirit Bone locations.
After confirming that the Ice Dragon King's remains contained a torso Spirit Bone, Zhu Ziyang no longer hesitated. He first respectfully bowed to the Ice Dragon King's corpse and, full of apology, said, "Pardon my intrusion!"
Immediately after, he climbed onto the Ice Dragon King's corpse and, facing the Ice Dragon King's back, at the location of the spinal column, suddenly released his spirit power. Instantly, the Ice Dragon King's corpse trembled violently, causing even the calm water of the Yin Spring to generate considerable ripples. These ripples pushed upwards, soon encountering the Snow Empress and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass looked at these ripples, a strong sense of unease rising within her.
"Please, let me go down and see!" the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass pleaded, "The Ice Dragon King's corpse really cannot be disturbed! Please!"
"Even if I let you go down, can you stop Father?" the Snow Empress said disdainfully.
"I, I, I, although my strength is lacking, I can try to persuade him, please, you really can't let the Ice Dragon King's corpse be disturbed!" The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass continued to plead desperately. The Snow Empress's strength made her despair; she could only hope that her pleading would soften the Snow Empress's heart, but it was clear this was impossible.
The Snow Empress ignored the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass's pleas, looking towards the bottom of the spring with anticipation and worry in her eyes. Through the deep spring water, she seemed to be able to see Zhu Ziyang's joyful expression. Suddenly, her expression froze, then turned to delight. She said, "Father wants me to take you down. I advise you to behave!"
"Really?!" The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass was overjoyed at the news, but then became apprehensive, saying, "Has Zhu Ziyang already achieved his goal? What exactly does he want with the Ice Dragon King's corpse? The Ice Dragon King's blood has already formed this Yin Spring water, and the Ice Dragon King's divine force and divinity have transformed into the rules of this Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Now, the Ice Dragon King is nothing more than a body of flesh and blood!"
"Why are you talking so much?" The Snow Empress swam downwards, casting a displeased glance at the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, and said, "Father naturally has his needs. As for you, since the Ice Dragon King's corpse is no longer valuable, why are you still so agitated?"
"This..." The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass suddenly became somewhat embarrassed and flustered, unsure how to answer.
"Forget it, Father has already gotten what he wanted anyway." The Snow Empress showed an indifferent expression and said, "I'm taking you down now because Father wants to discuss something with you. You'd best consider your answer carefully. If you displease Father, hmph, I'm not as easy to talk to as Father is!"
"I'll try!" The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass was indifferent at this point, wanting to passively give up.
The Snow Empress and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass quickly arrived at the bottom of the spring, where they saw Zhu Ziyang sitting on the Ice Dragon King's corpse, his left leg extended, his right leg bent, his right arm resting on his right knee, and in his hand, he was toying with a translucent jade bone. Upon seeing the Snow Empress and the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, he said joyfully, "Xue'er, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, you're here."
The Snow Empress let go of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and, with a smile on her small face, swam to Zhu Ziyang's side. She looked joyfully at the jade bone in Zhu Ziyang's hand and said, "Father, is this the Ice Dragon King's torso Spirit Bone?"
"Uh-huh!" Zhu Ziyang nodded proudly, but his gaze turned to the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and he said, "Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, let's talk."
At this moment, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass was meticulously examining the Ice Dragon King's corpse. When she discovered a crack on the Ice Dragon King's spine and that a bone within had disappeared, she immediately jumped up in agitation. Upon hearing Zhu Ziyang's words, she immediately cried out, "Ah, ah! Zhu Ziyang, quickly return the Dragon King's bone! This is a great disrespect to the Dragon King!"
"Hmm?!" Hearing the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass's shouting, Zhu Ziyang said nothing, but the Snow Empress, sitting on Zhu Ziyang's shoulder, frowned, revealing an expression of displeasure.
"Uh! I mean, can you not take the Dragon King's bone? What use is this bone to you?" Seeing the Snow Empress frown, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass immediately quieted down, her voice becoming much softer, and she spoke to Zhu Ziyang in a pleading tone.
"Ha!" Zhu Ziyang chuckled, saying with a smile, "You can't possibly fail to see that this is a torso Spirit Bone. How could it be useless to me? Never mind, I didn't call you down here to argue about the Dragon King's corpse. Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, I ask you, if I take you as my Soul Spirit, are you willing?"
"What?" The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass was stunned, staring blankly at Zhu Ziyang. The topic had shifted too quickly; she couldn't adapt immediately.
Zhu Ziyang looked at the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass's reaction, not urging her, but smiling as he fiddled with the Ice Dragon King's torso Spirit Bone in his hand. The design of this torso Spirit Bone was quite unique; it was an entire spinal column, including the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and caudal vertebrae—a complete spine, commonly known as a 'Great Dragon', which was the ultimate among the best!
If he didn't need to complete the Five Trials of the God of Death, Zhu Ziyang would probably be integrating this top-grade torso Spirit Bone right now.
He still lacked a left leg bone. To avoid any further complications, Zhu Ziyang set his sights on the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. Originally, Zhu Ziyang hadn't intended to take the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass as a Soul Spirit. However, plans couldn't keep up with changes. To integrate this Ice Dragon King's torso Spirit Bone, he first needed to complete his left leg bone. And the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, as the closest 100,000-Year Soul Beast to him, and one with the Ultimate Ice attribute, taking her as a Soul Spirit would directly grant him a Hundred-Thousand-Year left leg bone!
The fact that a 100,000-Year Soul Beast could generate a Spirit Bone at will was truly cool!