"Imperial Sword—Peerless Ice Extreme!"
On the road of frozen ice, a dazzling sword light slashed through the air. Chen Xiaoming's gaze sharpened as a silver glow erupted in his eyes. With a single step, a faint spatial ripple emerged beneath his feet. In a flicker, he thrust his Azurewood Dragon Spear forward, its tip colliding with the oncoming sword light.
"Buzz..."
Space trembled as a minuscule point of extreme light formed at the point of impact. In the next instant, the light seemed to be devoured by darkness, ripping open the surrounding space. The force within it detonated completely, causing the surrounding space to tighten.
As quickly as it shattered, the fractured space mended itself. A brilliant deep-blue sword radiance flickered and vanished. Snow Empress' ethereal form danced amidst the swirling snowflakes as she struck once more with her sword.
This was a deathly sword strike. Chen Xiaoming hesitated for a split second before chuckling softly. At the heart of the World Tree, a budding flower finally bloomed in this moment—like a magnificent flower of the golden age. Silver light radiated, with crimson petals at its center, silvery-white petals surrounding it, and lush green leaves supporting its splendor.
As the flower blossomed, an intense silver light flashed like a meteor streaking past Chen Xiaoming. Space rippled slightly, as though a thin mirror-like layer had emerged before him.
"The flower blooms, the realm forms!"
The blue sword light pierced into the mirrored surface, causing gentle ripples to spread across it. Upon witnessing this, Snow Empress' expression changed. She tapped the Imperial Sword with her right hand before launching a palm strike with her Imperial Palm. Her figure floated gracefully as she retreated to the distance.
"Crack... crack... boom!"
The power of the Imperial Palm only lasted a brief moment before the spatial mirror trembled. All the surrounding ice crystals shattered, dispersing into falling snowflakes.
Within the mirrored space, Chen Xiaoming stood calmly, nodding in satisfaction.
Snow Empress' gaze turned grave as she stared at the strange, radiant flower above. She had never seen anything like it before, let alone a flower that flickered as though it did not truly exist in this space.
A heavy silence filled the air.
Snow Empress remained quiet. Chen Xiaoming's defense had effortlessly neutralized her two ultimate moves without a single crack appearing. His strength far exceeded her expectations.
She hesitated. Though she had survived her 700,000-year tribulation, she could feel her limits approaching. If she were to engage in a life-or-death battle with Chen Xiaoming and sustain injuries, she might not have much time left before her own demise.
Though she ruled as the sovereign of the Extreme North, sacrificing herself for Titan Snow Demon King—who was already dead—seemed an unworthy price to pay.
Her ice-blue eyes flickered as she scrutinized Chen Xiaoming. Meanwhile, Chen Xiaoming also observed her in return.
The battlefield remained still.
Chen Xiaoming glanced at Snow Empress before shifting his gaze to the ethereal spatial flower above, exhaling in relief.
This spatial mirror technique had been crafted through his comprehension of spatial laws, utilizing the ninth soul skill's World Tree and the vast vitality provided by the fourth soul skill, Growth. Combined with his own bloodline power, it was a divine stroke of inspiration.
Witnessing its potency firsthand, Chen Xiaoming was quite pleased.
His bloodline's potential was immense, yet the drawback was clear—the system lacked an "instant comprehension" function. He had to personally unravel its mysteries bit by bit.
Even after months of studying the basics of his bloodline's origin, he had barely scratched the surface. But despite that, integrating his discoveries into his soul skills had led to the creation of two new abilities: Spatial Mirror and Azurewood Dragon Spear.
One for offense, one for defense—a perfect balance.
As for why he called it the Azurewood Dragon Spear instead of Azurewood Staff... Well, wouldn't "Azurewood Dragon Spear" simply sound cooler?
Of course, that wasn't the only reason. There was also the advanced form—Azurewood Silver Spear. But that was a matter for another time.
Positioned safely behind the Spatial Mirror, Chen Xiaoming had secured an invincible defense. He gazed indifferently at Snow Empress.
Snow Empress had unleashed her strongest techniques, yet she failed to even scratch him. A sigh welled up in Chen Xiaoming's heart as his thoughts drifted to Di Tian, the strongest among the Ten Ferocious Beasts.
He wondered if his current strength was enough to challenge Di Tian.
The mere thought of Di Tian's overwhelming cultivation and the Dragon God's inherited soul skill—Dragon God's Claw ignited a battle fervor in Chen Xiaoming's eyes.
"But first... I should deal with what's in front of me."
Chen Xiaoming arched an eyebrow and turned his gaze beyond Snow Empress—where a new presence was rapidly approaching.
From the distant sky, a vibrant green radiance surged forward, enveloping the world in a mesmerizing jade-like hue. In the blink of an eye, the heavens transformed into an enormous emerald gemstone, transparent and alluring.
As the green radiance extended within a thousand-meter radius of Snow Empress, the snow-covered terrain erupted. From the cascading snowflakes, a streak of emerald light flashed—a soul beast emerged beside Snow Empress.
It was a scorpion, roughly one and a half meters long, its body adorned with two distinct colors—one resembling ice and the other a brilliant green.
Its front half was layered in four segments, with its head positioned on the foremost section. A silver-white mouthpart glowed ominously with cold light. Hexagonal, diamond-like scales adorned its body, shimmering with an extraordinary brilliance.
Its eyes, like twin yellow gemstones, radiated a dazzling glow. Six sleek, powerful legs gleamed as they exuded a matchless splendor. The scorpion's emerald tail flickered, pulsating with the radiance of life itself.
"Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion—Ice Empress!"
In the Extreme North, there were few soul beasts with such a formidable aura. If it wasn't the elusive Ice Empress, then Chen Xiaoming truly had no idea who else it could be.
He shifted his gaze from Snow Empress to Ice Empress, his mind conjuring a vivid image.
Tsk, tsk. As expected, Ice Empress and Snow Empress—this is the true love story!
"Xue'er, are you alright?"
The moment Ice Empress arrived, she asked urgently. Having lived in the Extreme North's core region for so long, she had immediately sensed the tremors caused by Snow Empress' battle with Chen Xiaoming and had rushed over.
"Bing'er, I'm fine."
Snow Empress responded as she met Ice Empress' gaze. With her companion's arrival, the tension in her expression eased slightly. With Ice Empress by her side, she now had a fighting chance.
Chen Xiaoming pricked up his ears as he listened to their affectionate exchange—"Bing'er," "Xue'er"—his mind painting an image of a captivating drama. His inner gossip spirit burned fiercely.
Damn! If only I had arrived tens of thousands of years earlier, I could have witnessed Ice Empress and Snow Empress' legendary past! What a pity!
His gaze swept over Ice Empress, lingering for a moment on her exceptionally long scorpion tail. He blinked in surprise and involuntarily muttered, "So long..."
Realizing what he had just said, he quickly averted his gaze, coughing awkwardly as a hint of embarrassment flashed across his face.
Ahem. He had let his thoughts drift again. Now was not the time for such distractions.
Meanwhile, Ice Empress had already understood the situation from Snow Empress. As her gaze landed on the lifeless Titan Snow Demon King, a cold glint flashed through her amber gemstone-like eyes.
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