"My sword techniques… I can remember them again?"
"Good."
Hearing the Ice Empress's words, Li Zhexian's tense heart finally eased.
If the Ten-Thousand Mirage Beast truly had the power to permanently erase a person's Spirit Abilities, that would be far too heaven-defying.
Even so—
A creature that could make one forget their own Spirit Skills mid-battle, even forget the instinct to flee—
Such an ability was utterly terrifying.
"If I could possess a Spirit Ability like that…"
A glimmer of heat burned behind Li Zhexian's eyes.
"That Ten-Thousand Mirage Beast has cultivated for a hundred thousand years," the Ice Empress said, her expression grave. "It's on the verge of dispersing its power and beginning anew."
She turned slightly, icy light flickering along her crown.
"Judging by your aura… this would be your sixth Spirit Ring?"
"Can you truly withstand a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring?"
"A hundred thousand years…"
Li Zhexian's hand tightened within his sleeve.
"I'll take the risk!"
A Spirit Ability of such power stood right before him—
how could he turn away?
"Very well."
The Ice Empress nodded lightly.
Her body then turned into a streak of dazzling azure light,
soaring straight toward the illusionary, veil-like form of the Mirage Beast above the frozen lake.
Li Zhexian saw it clearly—
even the Ice Empress hesitated for a heartbeat midair,
as though the Mirage Beast's spiritual domain had disrupted her focus.
BOOM!
An explosion of blue radiance erupted around her.
The vast, hundred-acre ice lake shattered in an instant,
countless spears of ice—hundreds of feet long—burst into the sky.
But the Mirage Beast, as if expecting it,
drifted lightly between the strikes,
dodging them all with eerie grace.
"Hmph."
"Troublesome indeed."
The Ice Empress raised the icy stinger atop her crown-like headpiece,
and coldly uttered:
"Domain of Eternal Frost!"
From that single point, boundless chill spread outward.
Blue mist engulfed the lake, freezing everything in its wake—
Spirit Beasts, trees, rock, even the ambient Spirit Power itself.
Within moments, everything was frozen solid—
including the Mirage Beast, caught in mid-flight.
The sight made Li Zhexian's heart tremble.
"As expected of the ultimate power of ice that can freeze all things…"
And yet—
for the Mirage Beast to force the Ice Empress to use her Domain Spirit Ability,
its strength was beyond comprehension.
He knew—
their cultivation differed by over three hundred thousand years.
And the Ice Empress was the Ice Jade Scorpion Empress,
a being of the highest tier among Spirit Beasts!
"So… the Mirage Beast truly isn't a mere Spirit Beast at all."
A thunderous explosion followed.
The frozen lake shattered into four massive sections.
The Mirage Beast crashed violently into the ground,
dragging a long trench of frost and bloodied ice before finally halting at Li Zhexian's feet.
The Ice Empress's voice echoed through the storm:
"I'm going to assist the Snow Empress!"
"This creature's power is beyond expectation—
and this is its home ground!"
"Li Zhexian, you have half an hour!"
"Whether you succeed in absorbing the Spirit Ring or not—"
"We must leave this place!"
Before her final words had even faded,
her form had already shot into the sky and vanished into the blizzard.
...
Time was running out—every second counted.
Zheng—!
Li Zhexian drew his Qinglian Sword.
A single crimson sword strike fell—
cutting through the Mirage Beast's final breath of life.
Whoooosh—!
A storm of Spirit Power burst forth,
sending his robes whipping in the gale.
Before his focused gaze—
A blood-red Spirit Ring and a mist-like scarlet skull slowly floated up from the corpse.
A hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring!
A hundred-thousand-year Spirit Bone—Ten-Thousand Mirage Skull!
"Little Yazi, guard me."
"Roar!"
Li Zhexian uncorked the Clear Spring Wine Gourd, his eyes glinting with resolve.
"Once again… time to stake my life to absorb a Spirit Ring."
Beside the ruined frozen lake, Li Zhexian sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.
The crimson ring and phantom skull hovered before him, releasing threads of bloodlike light that seeped into his body.
Pchhk—
Cracks split across his skin, blood welling out in streams.
But in the next instant—
a complex pattern of blue, red, and violet spirit patterns
surfaced faintly beneath his flesh.
It was his Triform Spirit Meridian Body!
Moments later,
a thunderous surge of Blood Energy erupted outward from within him.
This was the power forged by the "Blood of Resentful Incense of the Forgotten River"—
a body of pure blood essence and vitality.
His life force surged,
his Spirit Power gushed like a fountain,
his bones grew tougher than ever—
and even his recovery speed increased to terrifying levels.
The Clear Spring Wine Flask hovered above Li Zhexian's head, its body tilting slightly.
Fragrant, mellow wine streamed from the spout,
flowing into Li Zhexian's slightly parted lips.
Waves of immense Spirit Power rippled outward from his body.
Blood soaked through his white robes;
his ghastly wounds were so deep that white bone gleamed beneath torn flesh.
Yet only a few breaths later—
under the combined effects of his Wine Martial Soul, Blood-Forged Body, and Triform Spirit Meridian Body—
the wounds scabbed over and healed.
Then split open again.
Over and over it went, like steel repeatedly hammered and reforged—
his body being tempered into a divine vessel.
Meanwhile, the crimson Spirit Ring and phantom skull floating before him
slowly began to fade into his form.
...
In the depths of the Evildemon Forest—
Snow and blood-colored clouds divided the heavens in two.
The Snow Empress and Ice Empress, fighting side by side,
battled the Evil-Eyed Tyrant, their clash shaking the very heavens and earth.
BOOM—!
A massive gray tentacle, spanning the sky itself,
tore up a mountain and hurled it down upon them.
The Snow Empress gripped her Sword of Ice and Snow,
her frost-white hair flaring wildly as she swung.
A sword light a thousand meters long cleaved the cold air—
splitting the mountain clean in two.
Within the rift of shattered stone,
the Ice Empress unleashed the ultimate power of her ice;
the swirling snow in the air condensed into countless spears of frost.
The Snow Empress turned her delicate hand,
and within a hundred miles,
all those ice spears gathered into her palm.
She thrust out a single strike—
and the world froze over.
Even the blood clouds across the sky solidified into frozen scarlet crystal.
The Evil-Eyed Tyrant's massive eye blazed with bloody light.
A beam of blood-purple radiance burst forth,
reversing heaven and earth, twisting the very fabric of space.
The light collided with the colossal palm of ice and snow.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!!!
The clash of frost and spiritual storms swept through the entire Evildemon Forest.
Blood trickled from the corners of the Snow and Ice Empresses' mouths—
azure blood, freezing as it fell.
Both were blasted thousands of meters backward.
Overhead, countless gray tentacles filled the sky,
while the Evil-Eyed Tyrant's aura surged ever more violently,
its spiritual might flooding outward like a crimson tempest.
...
Far away, on the other side of the forest—
A single snowflake before Li Zhexian suddenly shimmered,
transforming into the figures of the Snow Empress and Ice Empress.
The Snow Empress pressed her hand to Li Zhexian's shoulder,
while the Ice Empress scooped up Little Yazi.
"Go! Now!"
Bloodlight rippled outward.
The void distorted.
In an instant, one man and three beasts vanished without a trace.
The very next moment—
an infinite flood of spiritual energy descended like a crimson waterfall from the heavens,
obliterating the spot where they had just stood.
BOOM—!!!
The entire Evildemon Forest quaked violently,
as though the world itself were about to split apart.
Darkness spread over the sky.
The Evil-Eyed Tyrant loomed, blotting out sun and moon.
The Evil-Eyed Tyrant Master loomed, vast and dreadful, scanning the void.
It probed the area—
but found no trace of living presence.
"Hissss—!!!"
The single, massive eye swirled with murderous fury,
and countless gray tentacles writhed upward,
thrashing at the heavens like a horde of mad demons.
...
Extreme North — Ice Crystal Palace
Within the glittering crystalline halls,
the Snow Empress, Ice Empress, Li Zhexian, and Little Yazi suddenly appeared.
The Ice Devil Titan King, guarding the palace, trembled in shock.
"You've returned!"
But before he could speak further—
Pfft—!
Both the Snow and Ice Empresses spat out bright blue blood,
the drops freezing instantly into delicate frost-flowers upon the crystal floor.
"Snow Empress, Ice Empress…"
Li Zhexian's face paled.
"It's nothing," the Snow Empress said, shaking her head.
"That old monster's strength is terrifying.
And that was without it even using the Light of Time and Space."
"Outside the Extreme North, I'm no match for it."
As she spoke,
both the Snow and Ice Empresses turned toward Li Zhexian.
"Have you absorbed the Spirit Ring and Spirit Bone?"
Li Zhexian smiled faintly and bowed.
"Thanks to the two seniors, I did not disappoint."
At his feet, rings of light rose one by one—
And among them, the sixth shone brightest—
a crimson hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring, glowing with a divine luster.