Watching Ximen Qing ultimately use a forbidden technique, Ximen Ding sat back down as if his soul had left him, utterly dejected. For the first time, he felt that he understood his son so little. Was a competition really worth this...? Even if it had been a battle to the death, he could have stepped in to stop it directly. He had seen that Xiao Feng had no killing intent, which was why he had not acted.
But he had never imagined that Ximen Qing would use a forbidden technique because of this. Did he truly care so much about this so-called "face"? Even at the cost of sacrificing his future?
What was done was done. Ximen Ding was already powerless to change anything...
He loudly said to the clansmen beside him, "This is the seventh level of the Ice Soul Art. No one in the Ximen Family has ever mastered it. Watch carefully—you will surely benefit greatly from it!"
"Hiss—The seventh level of the Ice Soul Art? No wonder its icy might is so extraordinary. Even watching from afar, I can feel its bone-piercing intent."
"This time, Xiao Feng will probably lose..."
"Yeah, what a pity. He was clearly just one step away from victory..."
Everyone's emotions rose and fell along with the changing battle.
Ximen Qing walked slowly. With every step he took, a layer of ice flowers bloomed where his foot had landed, creating a scene of sacred peace.
Xiao Feng curled his lips in disdain. "You forget the pain as soon as the wound heals. You're putting on airs again already."
Ximen Qing did not get angry in the slightest upon hearing this. Right now, he was like a god above the heavens, while Xiao Feng was nothing more than a clown jumping about in his eyes. Why would a god lower himself to argue with a clown?
Ximen Qing spoke indifferently, "Xiao Feng... Since you managed to fight me to this point, I'll grant you another five breaths of time. Take a good look at this world while you still can. Otherwise, you won't have another chance to experience the world like this. Aren't I generous?"
Xiao Feng's mouth twitched. "You really know how to put on a damn show!"
After saying that, Xiao Feng stopped talking. The sword aura in his left hand stabbed down fiercely, while the sword's might at his side pierced forward with the force of Sky Shatter.
Clang!
With a crisp sound, Xiao Feng's sword might struck the ice wall Ximen Qing had created, producing a clear, pleasant ring.
"Second breath. You have three breaths left. Enjoy them quickly, Xiao Feng..." Ximen Qing remained calm and completely unpressured.
Xiao Feng: "..."
Using Star God Shattered Image, he flashed above Ximen Qing's head and condensed his sword might before smashing it down fiercely...
Another ice wall appeared above Ximen Qing... but the expected collision never came... Ximen Qing instantly sensed that something was wrong. He had been so immersed in his arrogant, invincible state that he had completely forgotten about Xiao Feng's unpredictable movement technique.
He had not taken any precautions at all. He had only just sensed sword might appearing behind him, but it was clearly too late to defend. He could only staggeringly form a suit of ice armor in haste to block it.
Heavenly Wolf Slash!
Vast sword might descended upon Ximen Qing's back with boundless force!
Boom!
The defense Ximen Qing had hastily formed in his arrogance could not withstand the terrifying heavy sword technique at all. He was blasted several miles away, and just as he was about to be sent flying off the arena, he hurriedly condensed several ice walls in front of himself and slammed into them to cushion the impact.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...
Several ice walls shattered violently beneath Ximen Qing's impact. He finally came to a stop near the edge of the arena, gasping heavily. But he was clearly not tired—he was frightened. He had come within a hair's breadth of falling for Xiao Feng's dirty trick!
A vicious expression flashed across his face as he turned to look at Xiao Feng, but Xiao Feng had already closed in before him. The sword aura in Xiao Feng's left hand erupted with violent sword might, intending to sweep Ximen Qing straight out!
"Hmph!"
Ximen Qing snorted disdainfully and directly transformed the chill around him into ice spikes. Three thousand ice spikes formed in an instant and shot fiercely toward Xiao Feng. Xiao Feng had no choice but to change his attack into defense, sweeping his left-hand sword aura around and using its sword might to shatter the surrounding ice spikes.
Xiao Feng pulled back and said, "Tsk, tsk, tsk... Exactly five breaths. Young Master Ximen, you scared me to death. If I hadn't been lucky, I would've nearly died in some forsaken place. Looks like your words are no different from farting after all!"
Ximen Qing's face darkened at those words. He had thought that after burning his essence blood, he should have been the one humiliating Xiao Feng. Yet he had been played by Xiao Feng once again!
Even without looking toward the spectators, he could imagine what expressions they wore right now!
Every result had turned out completely different from what he had imagined!
After being slapped in the face again and again, he felt like a dog being toyed with! Every trace of his outward refinement had been ground away by Xiao Feng!
The viciousness in his expression was no longer concealed. The killing intent he radiated toward Xiao Feng burst fiercely from his icy eyes!
"Oh! Have you finally taken off that disgusting mask of yours?" Xiao Feng mocked.
Ximen Qing did not answer. At this moment, he had only one thought—kill Xiao Feng!
He raised his right hand, and in an instant, an ice spike appeared beneath Xiao Feng's feet. Yet it pierced only a faint afterimage. Sensing an aura coming from his right, Ximen Qing did not even look. Layers upon layers of ice walls instantly wrapped around the source of the aura.
But soon, another aura attacked from behind him. He seemed to be losing patience and directly filled the surroundings with ice spikes, making it impossible for Xiao Feng to approach easily...
As the surrounding auras faded away, only one final aura remained directly in front of him. He stared at Xiao Feng, seemingly thinking about something...
Xiao Feng stood leisurely several miles away from Ximen Qing and said casually, "I heard you bragging earlier about your Hundred-Breath Ice Domain. I want to see whether, after a hundred breaths, you can keep it going for another hundred!"
Ximen Qing: "..."
"Why aren't you talking? How about you surrender now and dispel that useless domain of yours? Maybe you can recover a little strength..."
"..."
"Hahaha..." Ximen Qing was not as helpless as Xiao Feng had expected. Instead, he sneered, "Do you know how a cat catches a mouse? On this open ground, I am the cat, and you are the mouse!"
"How could a mouse without a mouse hole possibly escape a cat's pursuit? It only means the cat is playing with that mouse, teasing it!"
"I was originally going to play with you a little longer, but it seems you don't appreciate it!"
Xiao Feng: "Why does that sound so familiar...?"
Ximen Qing's eyes gleamed with amusement. "Everything is over. Freeze beneath my eternal ice domain, Xiao Feng!"
Ice Soul Art, Seventh Form—Ice Flower Nether Prison!
Crack, crack...
In merely an instant, violent cold air surged from Ximen Qing's body. The shattered ice scattered across the arena turned into powder, followed closely by a chilling cold that pierced straight into the soul.
"Hiss—Everyone, quickly circulate your profound energy to resist it!" someone in the spectator stands shouted.
The residual force of the cold alone caused frost to form over the bodies of those spectators with lower cultivation. They hurriedly used profound energy to resist the cold, or they might truly freeze into ice statues!
The residual force alone was already this terrifying. Then what about the arena...?
Everyone looked toward the arena, but the dense ice mist blocked their vision. Most people could not see what was happening at all, though those with higher cultivation could barely make out the scene upon the stage.
Yet every one of them stood dumbfounded, unable to believe what they saw. They remained silent for a long time, as though they had witnessed something horrifying.
"What happened to Brother Xiao?!" Qi Panjian could not see the situation on the arena clearly and hurriedly asked Qi Qingyun.
Qi Qingyun seemed not to hear him. She stared blankly at the arena, but the tension on her face and the violent pounding of her heart revealed the turmoil within her.
"Ah! What exactly is going on? Why is no one saying anything? You're killing me with worry!"
"..."
After several breaths, the ice mist gradually dispersed, but the sight within left everyone utterly shocked.
Across the hundred-mile arena, thick layers of ice had piled up, covering every corner of the stage and even reaching into the sky.
A massive ice sculpture stretching across a hundred miles seized everyone's gaze and shook their souls!
Figures gradually emerged within it—it was Xiao Feng!
His body leaned forward, as though he had been trying to escape... Several Xiao Fengs were imprisoned within the ice sculpture. Many of them were clearly afterimages created by Xiao Feng, but before the cold that covered every part of the arena, they were meaningless.
Just as Ximen Qing had said, in a place with no mouse hole, the cat had not caught the mouse only because it found the chase amusing...
Only after a long while did the afterimages slowly fade. Even their fading was several times slower than usual because this ice could actually imprison even one's aura!
As the "Xiao Fengs" gradually disappeared one by one, Ximen Qing walked up to the final Xiao Feng and smiled. "Do you understand now just how insignificant you are before me? Weren't you good at running? Run, then. Why aren't you running anymore?"
"..."
The entire venue was deathly silent.
"It's over! It's really over this time..." Qi Panjian muttered absentmindedly.
"..."
Before you continue