Douluo Dalu: This Soul Master is to Weird

With its extraordinary defensive power combined with the damage reduction buff, unless an opponent possesses an absolute advantage in level or effective spiritual means, Mu Yang would be a nightmare for any soul master to face.

But if it were him facing such an opponent, the experience would certainly be far from pleasant.

Relying on the external soul bone armor's inherent powerful defense, coupled with the 30% damage reduction and additional defensive secret techniques, Mu Yang had now essentially turned into a humanoid version of the mutated Scale Armor Beast!

What's more, the damage reduction percentage from the soul bone skill Crystal Body is fixed. Even if a Title Douluo's ninth offensive soul skill hit him, the attack would still be reduced by 30%.

Of course, if Mu Yang were to rely solely on his current strength to withstand a Title Douluo's ninth offensive soul skill, even with the 30% damage reduction, he would undoubtedly meet his end.

"Why not... call it Crystal Scale Armor?"

After some thought, Mu Yang decided on a name for his external soul bone armor.

"What about your fourth soul skill?"

Glancing at the yellow, purple, black, and black soul rings shining around Mu Yang, Shui Bing'er asked.

"The essence of all things, Emerald Jade!"

Reciting the incantation softly, Mu Yang's fourth soul ring lit up. As his soul power surged, a three-inch-long, soul-powered ginseng appeared, seemingly carved from the finest green jade.

As expected, following the red, orange, and yellow hues, the soul-powered ginseng created by the fourth soul skill now displayed the fourth color of the rainbow: emerald green.

Similarly, after the addition of the fourth soul ring, the body of his Ice Fire Immortal Jade Ginseng martial soul gained an additional emerald green ring beneath the existing red, orange, and yellow patterns.

"What exactly does it do? Does it generate a soul power shield?"

Taking the emerald green soul-powered ginseng and examining it closely, Shui Bing'er asked again.

"The fourth soul skill, Emerald Jade Protection Ginseng, generates a protective light when consumed. It grants immunity to 30% of both physical and energy attacks for three minutes. It remains effective for ten days after creation.

However, the 30% damage reduction is the maximum effect. The actual reduction depends on the attacker's strength.

Using my current soul power level as the benchmark, if the attacker is at five rings or above, the protective light from the Emerald Jade Protection Ginseng will offer less than 30% damage reduction, or if the level gap is too significant, it may not work at all.

If the attacker is at four rings or below, it will provide the full 30% immunity to physical and energy attacks."

The Emerald Jade Protection Ginseng was quite effective, and could even be considered excellent. However, for Mu Yang himself, it was somewhat redundant, as its effect overlapped with the soul bone skill Crystal Body from his Crystal Scale Armor. The damage reduction percentages from the two could not stack.

Moreover, the Crystal Scale Armor is an external soul bone, meaning its age will increase as Mu Yang's soul power level rises. The damage reduction from the Crystal Body skill would undoubtedly exceed 30% in the future.

At just under 30,000 years of age, it already provided a 30% reduction. When its age reached 100,000 years, while it might not achieve 100% immunity, a 50% reduction should be entirely possible, right?

Of course, under normal circumstances, a food-type soul master's martial soul true body could further enhance the effects of food-type soul skills.

If, in the future, Mu Yang finds a way to increase the age of his soul rings, then his fourth soul skill, Emerald Jade Protection Ginseng, may not necessarily be inferior to Crystal Body from the Crystal Scale Armor.

Twenty days later, in the perpetually snow-covered extreme north.

In mid-air, two ice-blue avian creatures were locked in fierce combat.

On one side was a majestic ice-blue phoenix, over seven meters long, radiating an air of nobility and engulfed in blazing icy flames.

It was none other than the Iceflame Phoenix, the martial soul fusion skill jointly unleashed by Mu Yang and Shui Bing'er.

On the other side was a six-meter wingspan soul beast covered in ice-blue feathers and emanating a biting chill—a 30,000-year-old ice-type avian soul beast: the Frost Bird.

Of course, despite its name, the Frost Bird does not possess the ultimate ice attribute.

In the known world of soul beasts, the only soul beast with the ultimate ice attribute is one of the rulers of the extreme north—the fierce beast Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, also known as the Ice Empress.

As for the Snow Empress, another ruler of the extreme north, her attribute is not pure ultimate ice but a variant known as ultimate ice snow. The two are similar but not identical.

Faced with the relentless assault of the Iceflame Phoenix, the Frost Bird focused more on defense than offense, finding itself at a disadvantage in every exchange. Its performance did not match its 30,000-year age.

However, this wasn't because the Frost Bird was reckless with its life, nor was it due to the presence of an eight-ring Soul Douluo hovering in the distance. Rather, it was because of bloodline suppression.

While the Frost Bird is indeed a top-tier ice-type avian soul beast, its bloodline barely reaches the threshold of the top tier. How could it compare to the strongest ice-type avian, the Ice Phoenix?

And the Iceflame Phoenix wasn't merely an Ice Phoenix; it was a fusion of Shui Bing'er's Ice Phoenix martial soul and Mu Yang's Iceflame Saint Shadow martial soul, creating a martial soul fusion skill of an even higher level.

"Clang—"

As the saying goes, prolonged defense leads to inevitable failure. After dodging the Frost Bird's soul power feathers, the Iceflame Phoenix let out a resonant cry. A fan-shaped burst of icy flames erupted from its beak, striking the Frost Bird, which couldn't evade in time.

In an instant, the Frost Bird, now covered in the strange icy flames, felt an intense chill invading its entire body.

It tried to circulate its internal ice-type soul power to resist, but to its horror, the icy flames rapidly spread across its body, freezing it entirely before it could react.

The Frost Bird's natural resistance to ice, as a top-tier ice-type soul beast, seemed nonexistent against this peculiar icy flame.

"Crack, crack—"

Soft cracking sounds echoed as the terrified Frost Bird was encased in ice mid-air, then plummeted to the snow-covered ground.

"Boom—"

Amidst the howling winds, the Frost Bird, now an ice sculpture, crashed into the snowy terrain below. A loud rumble followed as countless fine ice crystals scattered across the snowfield.

Before the Frost Bird, still dazed and frozen, could free itself from its icy prison, the Iceflame Phoenix, under Shui Bing'er's control, swooped down. Its beak opened wide as surging soul power gathered, spewing another torrent of icy flames that engulfed the Frost Bird entirely.

This time, the Iceflame Phoenix didn't return to the air. Instead, it landed beside the Frost Bird, which was now engulfed in blazing icy flames. Every time the flames showed signs of weakening, it added another burst of fire.

Before long, under the relentless burning of the icy flames, the Frost Bird, still trapped in its frozen state, reached the end of its life.

Amid the flickering blue flames, countless tiny golden specks of light emerged and danced in the air. A pitch-black ten-thousand-year soul ring gradually materialized, adding a striking contrast to the snowy white world.