The Profound Ice Sandworm King
A month later, the group had basically entered the core area of the desert.
The wind grew stronger, and sandstorms became more frequent. Sometimes, the sun wouldn't be seen for days on end, and people could only rely on their Soul Power to sense direction.
In the core area, there is only sand and wind.
That evening, the five men set up camp on a tall sand dune.
Tang San had just taken out a tent and dry rations from his Storage Soul Tool.
Suddenly, his senses detected a powerful fluctuation of Soul Power.
The ripples were rapidly approaching from behind the sand dunes not far away.
"Careful!"
Tang San stood up.
All four girls became alert at the same time.
Behind the sand dune, a huge figure rolled over and appeared in front of the five people.
It was an enormous worm, over ten meters long, with a body that writhed like a dragon.
Its entire body is ice blue, and within its translucent interior, one can vaguely see ice blue energy flowing.
Its body surface is covered with a layer of fine ice crystals, radiating a chilling aura.
Wherever it passed, it left a long trail of frost on the sand, which stood out against the golden dunes.
The Profound Ice Sandworm King an extremely rare ancient species found deep in the desert.
Its aura is cold and profound, like a moving glacier; even in the heart of the desert, the surrounding temperature drops several degrees due to its presence.
The Profound Ice Sandworm King was originally an ice worm from the Far North. Countless millions of years ago, due to geological changes, it was buried deep in the desert. Under extreme temperature differences and pressure, it mutated and evolved, and now possesses both ice and earth attributes within its body.
The Profound Ice Sandworm King, which has existed for over 40,000 years, is probably the top predator here, with almost no natural enemies.
Its mouth is filled with sharp, inward-growing ice teeth that can easily crush rocks.
The Profound Ice Sandworm King usually lurks deep within the sand, feeding on the icy water veins underground, and rarely emerges.
Could it be that they sensed a strong life force emanating from them?
Tang San's pupils contracted slightly, but then his eyes lit up.
The Profound Ice Sandworm King's Soul Rings are of extremely high quality, containing pure and vast ice-attribute energy, which is very compatible with Shui Bing'er's Ice Phoenix Martial Soul.
The 40,000-year timeframe is just right for Shui Bing'er to break through to the Soul Emperor.
"Bing'er, this Soul Beast is perfect for you."
Tang San's voice carried a hint of excitement.
Shui Bing'er also sensed the rich ice-attribute energy emanating from the Profound Ice Sandworm King, and a hint of fighting spirit flashed in her eyes.
The Profound Ice Sandworm King sensed the presence of the five people and let out a low hiss.
Its body suddenly burrowed into the sand, creating a long sand dune, and it charged towards the five people at an astonishing speed.
Where the sand dunes passed, a thin layer of frost condensed on the sand surface, shimmering with a cold light in the setting sun.
"Spread!"
Tang San gave a low shout.
All five people simultaneously dodged to the sides.
The Profound Ice Sandworm King burst out of the sand, its enormous body soaring into the air as it lunged towards Tang San's location.
Its mouth opened, and a stream of extremely cold air shot out, heading straight for Tang San.
Where the freezing air passes, the sand makes a crisp "crackling" sound in the extreme cold, and its surface is frozen into a glass-like hard shell.
With the Clear Sky Hammer in hand, Tang San swayed and avoided the direct attack of the freezing air.
The freezing air brushed past his clothes and slammed into the sand dunes behind him. The surface of the dunes froze instantly, forming a large expanse of glassy ice.
Tang San and the others immediately launched an attack.
However, the Profound Ice Sandworm King has extremely strong defense, very high ice resistance, high speed, and can burrow into the sand to avoid attacks.
The combined attack of five people was hardly enough to contain it, and there was simply no chance of delivering a fatal blow.
The battle dragged on for a long time without any progress.
The group was also greatly exhausted.
Tang San put away the Clear Sky Hammer, wiped away his sweat, and frowned. "We must restrict its movement so it can't burrow into the sand."
The group understood each other perfectly.
Shui Bing'er first used her Ice Seal skill to freeze the ground around the Profound Ice Sandworm King, forcing it to break through the ice before it could burrow into the sand, thus slowing it down.
During the brief pause in the Profound Ice Sandworm King's attack, Dugu Yan's Spiderweb Cage and Tang San's Blue Silver Vine were used simultaneously to powerfully control it.
Tang San seized the opportunity, Blue Silver Overlord Spear condensed in his palm.
He frantically poured his Soul Power into the spear, Blue Silver Overlord Spear shone with golden light.
Soul Breaking Spear Technique, Self-Sacrificing Thrust.
The spear thrust out with lightning speed, heading straight for the seven-inch gap in the shell of the Profound Ice Sandworm King.
That's the weakest point in its entire defense system.
The spearhead pierced the gap, and with a "crack," the shell shattered.
The Blue Silver Overlord Spear pierced the back of the Profound Ice Sandworm King, pinning it to the spot.
The Profound Ice Sandworm King's body suddenly stiffened, then convulsed violently.
With its last ounce of strength, it lashed out at Tang San with its tail.
But Xiao Wu used her Teleportation and Invincible Golden Body to block Tang San and take the hit head-on.
"Bang!"
Xiao Wu was sent flying in a golden arc before landing on the opposite sand dune.
The Profound Ice Sandworm King remained relentlessly rampaging.
Dugu Yan used the Eight Spider Lances, just like Tang San, to pierce into the carapace of the Profound Ice Sandworm King and frantically devour its energy.
The Profound Ice Sandworm King struggled violently, but the Eight Spider Lances remained firmly embedded in its body, and it couldn't shake off Dugu Yan no matter how hard it tried.
Only when the Profound Ice Sandworm King was on its last breath did Dugu Yan retract the Eight Spider Lances and jump off its body.
Tang San shouted, "Bing'er, now's the time! Deliver the fatal blow!"
Shui Bing'er immediately used her Fourth Soul Skill, Frost Swift Cone, to pierce the head of the Profound Ice Sandworm King.
The life force of the Profound Ice Sandworm King rapidly dissipated, its body still twitching slightly, but it was too late to save it.
Soon, the Profound Ice Sandworm King stopped convulsing, and a black Soul Ring slowly rose up.
Xiao Wu also ran back from the opposite sand dune.
Tang San gasped for breath, his face pale, clearly having exhausted much of his Soul Power.
Shui Bing'er walked to Tang San's side and reached out to support his arm.
"Bing'er, absorb it."
Tang San smiled and said.
Shui Bing'er nodded, sat down cross-legged, and began to guide her Soul Rings.
A black Soul Ring floated up from the corpse of the Profound Ice Sandworm King, fell from above Shui Bing'er's head, and enveloped her.
A massive surge of energy entered her body.
The energy was cold and pure, carrying the ice-attribute energy accumulated by the Profound Ice Sandworm King over tens of thousands of years, surging through her meridians.
Tang San didn't dare to delay and immediately activated the Thunder God's Heart to quickly recover his Soul Power in order to prevent any other Soul Beasts from launching a sneak attack.
The ice-elemental energy of the Profound Ice Sandworm King was highly compatible with Shui Bing'er's Martial Soul, and the absorption process went much more smoothly than expected.
An hour later, Shui Bing'er opened her eyes.
Six Soul Rings rose from beneath her feet: two yellow, two purple, and two black.
Tang San asked with concern, "Bing'er, how are you?"
"Soul Power Level 62."
A satisfied glint flashed in Shui Bing'er's eyes as she smiled and said.
"Sixth Soul Skill, Ice Dragon Tornado. Centered on the user, a massive ice crystal tornado is created. The tornado is approximately thirty meters in diameter and fifty meters high, capable of pulling enemies within its range into the air, causing continuous ice-attribute damage and physical tearing damage. During the tornado's duration, the temperature at its eye plummets to an extreme point, capable of freezing all life processes."
Tang San nodded, his eyes filled with satisfaction.
This Soul Skill is an extremely powerful area-of-effect crowd control and damage-dealing skill, which is difficult for Soul Masters of the same level to counter.
Unfortunately, perhaps due to running out of luck, this top-tier Profound Ice Sandworm King failed to produce Soul Bones.
"Alright, it's getting dark. Let's camp here tonight and continue north tomorrow," Tang San said.
The five quickly cleaned up the battlefield, and Shui Bing'er also froze the essence of the Profound Ice Sandworm King as a backup food.
In the vast desert, anything edible is extremely precious.