Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San

Chapter 451: Wu Bingji's Evolution

Watching them enter the woods, Tang San quietly hid his hands in his sleeves. At this moment, his hands and even his arms were trembling violently. Uncontrollable spasms of pain came from his muscles, and his blood was surging within him. He might have coughed up blood if not for his mighty spiritual power.

Although it seemed like he had won the battle just now by a landslide, he knew very well that unless he used his divine consciousness at all costs, it would have been tough to defeat Huang Bingbing, even if Huang Bingbing didn’t use the Throne of Frost.

When he brought down his hammer, the target wasn't Huang Bingbing; only then did Huang Bingbing refrain from activating the Throne of Frost. Otherwise, although he might have technically won because the opponent used the Throne of Frost, the situation wouldn't have been as clear-cut as it was now. There was even a possibility that he might have been silenced.

In the battle just now, Tang San had given his all. The suppression from the Polar Domain played a crucial role and combined with the Disorder Wind Splitting Hammer, it caught Huang Bingbing off guard. The Temporal Beacon was used to slow Huang Bingbing down; its effect was comparable to a divine weapon’s, and even Huang Bingbing's cultivation couldn't fully resist it.

Why wasn't Tang San affected? The simple answer was that he was actually affected. However, he used his Chrono Croc Transformation to accelerate himself, so it appeared as if he weren’t, and there was also the teleportation ability from the Peacock bloodline.

As for the final Great Sumeru Hammer, he had invoked a sliver of his divine consciousness. His powerful ability from his previous life displayed extreme power in this life as well.

However, he no longer had the Clear Sky Hammer from his past life. He could only simulate some of the Clear Sky Hammer's characteristics with his divine consciousness and integrate them into the Sky Shatterer. This was the only way he could barely use this technique.

The power was immense, but Tang San himself suffered from it due to both overexertion and insufficient toughness of his own physique.

The entire process was very complicated, but in the end, he had managed to defeat his opponent and achieve the outcome he most desired.

If Huang Bingbing had intended to use the Throne of Frost to get rid of him, with Tang San's current strength, he wouldn't have been able to win against her. But if he had fully unleashed his divine consciousness, escaping with Wu Bingji wouldn't have been a problem. In that case, they would have become mortal enemies, and the Ice Maiden clan wouldn't be worth cooperating with.

As it turned out, Huang Bingbing was rational and chose the best outcome.

***

Huang Bingbing led Wu Bingji into the woods.

She didn't immediately release the Throne of Frost but stopped and turned to look at Wu Bingji.

Wu Bingji stopped as well and looked at her, feeling a bit uneasy. After all, this was the clan leader of his maternal clan!

Huang Bingbing took a deep breath and asked, "How old are you this year?"

Wu Bingji replied, "I am not sure how old I was when my teacher found me, but I should be about twenty now."

"Twenty? Twenty years ago?" She squinted her eyes, lost in thought.

Wu Bingji suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "No, don't. I..."

Huang Bingbing waved her hand and said, "Even if I find out who your parents are, I won't harm them. What they did might not be wrong. Perhaps this is the future path for our clan, so don't worry. Once the clan makes a decision, I will find you. And if I can find your mother... I will bring her along."

Wu Bingji's expression became somewhat complex, but he still nodded lightly.

"You inherited our clan's bloodline power. And even though it's not pure and you have human blood, you've cultivated to this level, which is quite remarkable. I have to say, you humans don't cultivate slowly. Even though you're not a full member of the Ice Maiden clan, I hope that in the future, no matter what happens, you'll lend a hand when our clan needs help."

Wu Bingji looked at her in surprise, knowing that the demon and nymph clans had always looked down on humans, treating them as slaves or vassals. However, he quickly understood that Huang Bingbing's change in attitude was related to her defeat by Tang San. Tang San had earned her recognition with his strength.

He nodded without hesitation. "Absolutely."

A dazzling, gigantic ice throne suddenly appeared behind Huang Bingbing, radiating an icy blue glow.

Instantly, the surrounding air temperature plummeted, everything turned cold, and frost began forming on the grass and trees around them.

"Kneel before it. This is the inheritance of your ancestors," Huang Bingbing said, stepping aside.

Wu Bingji hesitated for a moment but then knelt as instructed.

The Ice Maiden clan was different from other demon or nymph clans, as far as he was concerned. Most of his companions had human mothers, but his mother was from the Ice Maiden clan. This meant that the Ice Maiden clan hadn't killed his mother once he had awakened his bloodline, as was customary among the others. Although he didn't know who his father was, an Ice Maiden wouldn't be with a human without a reason, so they likely had genuine feelings for each other. And with half of his blood being from the Ice Maiden clan, it wasn't wrong to call it his family.

He respectfully kowtowed three times, then stood up and looked at Huang Bingbing.

Huang Bingbing's expression was somewhat complex, but she still waved her hand and said, "Go ahead, sit on it."

Wu Bingji hesitated, his breathing becoming a bit rapid. He took a deep breath to calm himself before walking toward the Throne of Frost.

The closer he got to the throne, the more pronounced the strange sense of familiarity became. It felt like the ice element was calling out to him, guiding him forward.

Finally, he arrived before the throne and slowly sat down.

When he sat on the Throne of Frost, the extreme cold he felt before vanished. Instead, a refreshing coolness flowed through his body, making him feel as if he was soaking in an ice spring.

His mind instantly cleared, and his body emitted an icy blue glow. He instinctively closed his eyes, savoring the beauty of being immersed in the ice elements.

Huang Bingbing watched his transformation intently. When it saw ice flower-like patterns appear on Wu Bingji's skin, a trace of surprise appeared in its eyes. This human's Ice Maiden clan bloodline was surprisingly pure and combined very well with his human blood. There was no sign of rejection, as confirmed by the Throne of Frost's acceptance of him.

Perhaps Asura was right; the Ice Maiden clan's physical characteristics had to be very close to humans. If the descendants of Ice Maidens and humans could have such a degree of bloodline purity, then these descendants would be slightly inferior to the Ice Maidens born of divine consciousness division, but not by much. With subsequent bloodline purification, the clan's heritage could essentially be continued.

Wu Bingji felt some strange changes occurring in his bloodline. It seemed as though something within his body was being activated, causing his body to freeze, while something else seemed to melt during the freezing process.

In his spiritual perception, he could see a woman of stunning beauty sitting on the throne. Around the throne were crisscrossing images, seemingly recording her life.

Strange sensations followed, as if he had learned something intangible, and he felt that his perception of and affinity with ice slowly improved.

The feeling of cold gradually disappeared because he had become the cold itself.

At dawn, Wu Bingji returned.

Tang San ended his meditation and looked at him, noticing that his senior brother seemed different.

Compared to before, Wu Bingji’s aura had turned more subtle, carrying an otherworldly feeling. His movements had changed in equally subtle ways. Ice flower patterns were faintly visible on his forehead, slowly fading but still noticeable.

"How do you feel?" Tang San asked with a smile.

Wu Bingji replied, "I've become more of an ice element user. My understanding of the ice element has deepened a lot. My bloodline seems to have changed as well."