"You succeeded. Now it's my turn."
Jiang Qingtong looked at Huo Yuhao, straightened her clothes, and released her martial soul.
The Mirror-Image Flower unfurled crystal petals—three soul rings of purple, purple, and black reappeared. The black ten-thousand-year third ring hovered before her, gleaming brightly.
"Cousin, what are you doing?" Huo Yuhao asked in surprise.
"Of course I'm imprinting your Ice Jade Imperial Scorpion martial soul! Where else would I be doing it?" Jiang Qingtong smiled and affirmed.
At once, Skydream Iceworm's voice crackled in their minds: "What? You can imprint multiple martial souls?"
Jiang Qingtong nodded, chuckling: "That's right. My soul skill is all about imprinting. Each soul ring can hold one imprint. With nine rings, I can imprint nine martial souls—and all their soul skills too."
"Insane!" Skydream Iceworm growled.
He and Huo Yuhao had fought so hard to gain that second martial soul—and now Qingtong could seize it with a single imprint? Unacceptably unjust!
"How can a human possess such terrifying martial souls? Little girl, is this your family's legacy?" Skydream demanded.
Jiang Qingtong shook her head in a playful shrug: "Actually…I don't know why I ended up in this world or how I got these souls. But yes, it's mine."
"How many others have such martial souls?" Skydream pressed.
"Just me." Qingtong replied calmly. "My brother's is Water-in-Moon—you likely already know that."
"What kind of family heritage must that be?" Skydream murmured. "To produce such talents…your family can't have been obscure."
"Whatever our past was, only my brother and I remain now." Qingtong's tone grew quiet.
Skydream was silent for a moment, then asked: "You can only imprint martial souls and soul skills—not living beings, right? Don't accidentally imprint a second Ice Empress!"
Jiang Qingtong laughed and shook her head: "Only soul skills and martial souls. I can't replicate a beast's spirit."
Skydream huffed. "Who said I'm your wife?"
Qingtong rolled her eyes, deciding to stop chatting and press on. She looked at Huo Yuhao and asked: "Yuhao, ready? It's your turn."
Huo Yuhao nodded confidently: "Yes! I'm ready. Go ahead."
"It's my first time imprinting someone fully awake—let me know if you feel odd."
She activated the Imprint skill. From the black soul ring, a shimmering brilliance enveloped Huo Yuhao, warming him gently.
Behind Qingtong, the image of the Ice Jade Imperial Scorpion emerged. Jade-green light radiated from her back and across the Mirror-Image Flower petals, imprinting the beast's pattern.
Whenever the sinister flames of her Evil Fire Phoenix stirred, the power of Extreme Ice suppressed them, making the flames vanish entirely.
Then Qingtong summoned the Scorpion martial soul. Her right hand was sheathed in jade-green ice crystals—the Scorpion's Claw ability. In front of Huo Yuhao, she demonstrated every soul skill the scorpion mastery held, then gave a thumbs-up: "Great."
Both Huo Yuhao and Skydream Iceworm were stunned.
Skydream finally muttered, "Even knowing in advance, seeing it again makes the martial soul feel overwhelming."
Thankfully only one human—Jiang Qingtong—had such power, or soul beasts everywhere would be even more endangered.
Once the imprint was complete, Huo Yuhao and Skydream set off to secure his Second Soul Ring (the spirit-eye soul). Naturally, Qingtong went along. There, Huo Yuhao witnessed firsthand the power of Qingtong's Mirror-Image Flower—she can not only imprint other souls, but can update them!
In time, she could wield nine martial souls at Nine-Ring Spirit King level—all under her control.
Skydream even snorted, "If your martial soul were of the mental branch, I'd pick you!"
Given Qingtong's talent, godhood wasn't impossible for her.
"Skydream!" Huo Yuhao called, embarrassed—should he have elicited that comment in front of her?
Skydream waved dismissively, "I'm your soul ring now—why would I go find someone else? Besides, I don't even know the attribute of Mirror-Image Flower. I'm not even sure how to describe it."
Qingtong laughed: "Neither do I. Let's just call it a brand-new category: Superhuman."
Back at the testing grounds, Jing Hongchen asked Jiang Shengyu: "They've been gone a month, yet you're so calm—what secrets do you know?"
He replied with a knowing smile, "Everyone has secrets. Soon, you'll get a big surprise when Yuhao returns."
A few days later, Jiang Qingtong and Huo Yuhao returned.
Qingtong immediately dashed to the cafeteria and declared: "Nothing tastes better than home!"
Jing Hongchen and other less busy Spirit Masters flocked over. Qingtong, chopsticks in hand, grinned: "Want some?"
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