"Boom—"
As Lin Xiao's third soul ring shone, another loud explosion rang out. The entire room shook violently. The lighting soul tools in the room had long been destroyed, and only the soul skills occasionally released by the Snow Empress and Lin Xiao briefly illuminated the space.
The Snow Empress was now completely buried amid the soul guidance cannons and the sky full of flower petals.
The martial soul master from the Body Sect had long been stunned speechless. Whether it was the icy chill released by the Snow Empress or the intimidating aura emanating from Lin Xiao, both far exceeded anything he could withstand.
What terrified him even more was that, right after Lin Xiao's strike, his body suddenly became unbearably heavy. Simply lifting his arms seemed to exhaust all his strength.
He wanted to escape, but his feet had already been frozen to the ground by ice. His weakened body couldn't move at all. He could only watch helplessly as death drew closer and closer.
The Snow Empress at the center of the explosion seemed to sense this unusual aura as well. She casually swung her long sword, no longer bothering with the attacks from the array of floating cannons, and abruptly turned to look at Lin Xiao.
She saw that around Lin Xiao there seemed to be an invisible field. Anyone who approached it could clearly feel the life force within their body uncontrollably draining away, as if death itself was taking tangible steps toward her.
A gleam of icy blue flashed in the Snow Empress's eyes. She gently exhaled a breath of cold air and suddenly raised her left hand, which appeared harmless and innocent.
Her entire palm had turned snow-white, as if carved from a piece of pure white jade, giving it a lustrous, jade-like glow.
Though the palm looked beautiful, Lin Xiao's heart jolted in alarm. His feet immediately halted, stomping heavily on the ground as his figure instantly shot backward.
Sword and palm command heavenly ice and snow; the Emperor's Sword, Emperor's Palm, Snowy Dance of Ultimate Ice.
Even though she had taken this form, the might of the Emperor's Palm remained something no one dared to face directly.
Fortunately, while the Snow Empress's palm was powerful and impossible for ordinary people to counter, it required a close-range hit to fully unleash its power.
The Snow Empress naturally understood the strengths and weaknesses of her palm. Seeing Lin Xiao dodge by flying backward, snowflakes suddenly danced around her body, turning into a mist as she pressed forward in pursuit.
Lin Jiayi, who had been waiting nearby for some time, saw the Snow Empress move away from the passage exit. He glanced at Lin Xiao's face, a trace of reluctance flashing in his eyes, but he still quickly dashed toward the outside of the passage.
He knew this was no time for hesitation. His strength couldn't play any significant role in the battle between Lin Xiao and the Snow Empress. Staying here would only distract Lin Xiao. What he needed to do now was to hurry and find other experts from the Illustrious Virtue Hall to come and help Lin Xiao.
Seeing this, the Body Sect martial soul master raised his arms and smashed them heavily against the solid ice beneath his feet. With a ripping sound from his clothes, his legs finally broke free.
However, just as he tried to follow Lin Jiayi's example and run toward the passage exit, he had barely taken a step when he stumbled and fell to the ground with a "thud."
Looking down, he saw that his exposed legs had somehow become incredibly loose and flabby. Spots and marks emitted the decaying aura unique to the elderly. Glancing at his hands, the deep wrinkles on the backs looked as if they had been corroded by endless years.
"I—"
He forced out a single word from his throat, but the hoarse voice made it so indistinct that no one else could understand it.
In the next moment, a narrow, elongated petal seemed to slowly drift down before his eyes. He knew that his life, like this petal, had reached its wilting end.
All the strange phenomena in the room originated from Lin Xiao. That omnipresent anomaly stemmed from the "intent" of death within Lin Xiao's martial soul.
However, when this power affected the Snow Empress, its effect was not particularly pronounced.
As a 700,000-year soul beast, the Snow Empress had survived heavenly tribulations more than once and had experienced the sensation between life and death multiple times. Her will was far stronger than that of most soul masters, and her immense power was sufficient to resist Lin Xiao's influence.
The Snow Empress's figure did not stop, and the distance between her and Lin Xiao grew shorter and shorter. Her left palm reached out, already right before Lin Xiao's eyes.
Yet at this moment, Lin Xiao strangely felt less panicked. Looking at the Snow Empress's palm before him, he sensed something different within it.
Although the Snow Empress's cultivation did not involve the various soul skills or combat techniques that humans used, the application of soul power was ultimately similar.
Lin Xiao vaguely sensed a power beyond soul force within it, a will from the Snow Empress, the intent to bury him beneath ice and snow.
The soul bone in his left leg lit up once more. The Higanbana flowers that had scattered throughout the room when he previously unleashed his martial soul true body now became his landing points. A series of afterimages appeared in rapid succession, and in the blink of an eye, the entire room was filled with his figures.
The Snow Empress sharply turned her head. To her, mere illusions could not deceive her perception; Lin Xiao's true body was crystal clear in her senses.
However, only after locking onto Lin Xiao's true body did she realize that his form was now enveloped in red light. Both legs glowed simultaneously, and his blood-red long hair gently floated.
The intent of "withering" from Lin Xiao's combat technique instantly vanished from the room. Yet the Snow Empress in the white mist slightly furrowed her brows.
It had not disappeared; it had been concentrated by Lin Xiao into a single point.
Sure enough, in the next instant, countless afterimages surged toward the Snow Empress. Each afterimage seemed to materialize into substance, dispersing the surrounding mist and revealing the figure of a young girl who still appeared quite small.
But within this young girl's body resided 700,000 years of soul power.
"Bang—"
Leg met palm. The utterly opposing forces of extreme cold and deathly silence collided, leaving only ice-blue and blood-red colors in the entire room.
Lin Xiao's left leg was instantly frozen by ice and snow. Only by rapidly circulating the soul core within his body and pouring out his mental strength and soul power did he manage to endure.
"Bang—"
Another explosive sound rang out. The ice on Lin Xiao's left leg shattered instantly, and his figure flew backward. Looking at the Snow Empress, she had surprisingly been forced back by this kick from Lin Xiao.
The surrounding mist had completely dissipated, fully revealing the Snow Empress's figure to Lin Xiao. The girl, who appeared as if carved from jade, was visibly growing larger before his eyes.
Lin Xiao panted heavily, his gaze not daring to leave the Snow Empress for even a moment.
This exchange appeared to be evenly matched, but he knew full well that an attack combining his "withering" intent with the soul bone skill Flourishing Fall, against a Snow Empress who had just endured his third soul skill Bloom and the soul guidance device barrage, had only barely tied. The power of a 700,000-year soul beast was truly extraordinary.
The Snow Empress had blocked Lin Xiao's strike in haste, and her petite figure seemed stunned for a moment, somewhat surprised that Lin Xiao, whose cultivation appeared to be below level 90, had managed to stop her palm.
But soon, she cast these thoughts aside. A trace of anger flashed in her eyes, and snowflakes quietly began to fall around the two of them.
Lin Xiao suddenly felt a touch of moisture on his face. Tilting his head slightly, he saw a crystalline snowflake gently landing on his shoulder.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"Don't forget there are 40 early chapters available on Patreon
[email protected]/facficmax10--------(@→a)