Ice Empress's Shock

The Ice Empress's voice was bone-chillingly cold, carrying the lofty scrutiny and unquestionable authority of one looking down from above. Like a declaration of winter, it echoed across this deathly silent ice field.

Yet Jiang Zhen was not crushed by that terrifying ferocious aura.

Having endured the immense pressure of the deep sea and even faced the Plane Origin directly, his will had long since been tempered to be as unyielding as profound ice.

He took a deep breath and suppressed the Soul Power within him, which had stirred slightly under that terrifying pressure. His sky-blue eyes calmly met the Ice Empress's emerald-green pupils.

"I was passing through this place in search of something. I meant no offense."

Jiang Zhen's voice was clear and steady, neither humble nor overbearing.

"Searching for something?"

The Ice Empress's Corner of the Mouth curved into a cold arc. There was not the slightest warmth in that smile, only deep mockery and disbelief.

"The Northern Extreme Core is a forbidden zone of life. Is it a place where a mere human Soul Ancestor can come and search for things whenever he pleases?"

"What's more, the aura clinging to you... is very strange!"

As the last words fell, jade light suddenly flashed in the Ice Empress's eyes!

Without any warning, the temperature of the space around Jiang Zhen plummeted once more!

Countless sharp, jade light-flickering ice spikes visibly condensed in the air.

From every direction, they shot toward him like a torrential storm!

Every ice spike contained Ultimate cold and piercing force enough to easily penetrate a Spirit King's defenses!

This was not a spirit skill. It was merely an attack formed by the Ice Empress manipulating the ice elements of heaven and earth With a thought!

Yet its power already far surpassed the full-force strike of an ordinary Spirit Emperor!

Jiang Zhen's pupils contracted slightly. He knew that holding anything back would be foolish.

Facing a Super Fierce Beast with cultivation nearing four hundred thousand years, even if it was only a test, he had to go all out!

"First Spirit Skill: Moisten All Directions!"

"Second Spirit Skill: Azure Glow Source!"

The two enhancement spirit skills activated instantly! A surging sense of power filled his entire body as his Soul Power roared through him, and his reaction speed and perception skyrocketed!

At the same time, he did not use the Domain Ability of his fourth Spirit Ring—that consumed too much power and could easily provoke her completely.

He thrust both Hands forward as the Ultimate Water Martial Spirit Inside the Body circulated madly, drawing in the surrounding moisture.

"Water Condensation Shield!"

A protective water barrier, thicker and more solid than before and laced with strands of icy blue light, instantly formed around him, protecting him securely within!

Clang clang clang clang—!

A dense barrage of impacts erupted like rain striking banana leaves! The emerald-green ice spikes crazily slammed into the Deep blue water barrier, exploding into countless ice crystals and splashes.

The water barrier shook violently, ripples surging wildly across its surface. It looked ready to collapse at any moment, yet it remained resilient, blocking every attack laden with terrifying cold!

"Hm?"

The Ice Empress let out a soft sound of surprise, a trace of astonishment flashing through her emerald eyes.

Though she had not used her full strength in that attack, it was still not something an ordinary Soul Ancestor could withstand.

The strength of his barrier and his resistance to icy power far exceeded her expectations.

"Interesting."

The Ice Empress's interest grew slightly as she lightly pointed a jade finger forward.

In an instant, a massive phantom of an emerald-green scorpion tail stinger, as though directly condensed from Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice, appeared out of thin air above Jiang Zhen's head.

Carrying sharpness capable of piercing anything and cold capable of freezing the soul, it silently stabbed down!

The pressure suddenly intensified!

Jiang Zhen did not dare be careless. A dark blue radiance blazed from the spot between his brows!

"Third Spirit Skill, Deep Sea's Eye, activate!"

The Vertical Pupil opened, and the patterns of the world's laws instantly became clear.

Along the trajectory of the descending scorpion tail stinger phantom, he saw several nodes where the flow of energy was relatively weak.

"Profound Water Dragon Soar!"

He gave a low shout and raised both Hands overhead.

A Dark Blue Water Dragon entirely condensed from Ultimate Water, larger and more solid than before, with every scale and claw clearly visible, roared as it soared into the sky. With incomparable precision, it bit down on an energy node of the scorpion tail stinger phantom!

Boom!

A violent explosion of energy erupted in midair. The Dark Blue Water Dragon and the emerald-green scorpion tail stinger shattered at the same time, turning into ice crystals and water mist that blasted outward in all directions, stripping a thick layer from the surrounding ice!

Jiang Zhen's body swayed slightly. The ice beneath his feet cracked with a crunch, and his blood and qi churned, but he ultimately received the blow steadily!

"You can actually see through the weak points of my attack?"

The surprise in the Ice Empress's eyes deepened. This human was giving her more and more unexpected surprises.

That strange Vertical Pupil Spirit Skill seemed to possess extraordinary insight.

After having two consecutive attacks blocked, even though they had merely been casual probes, Ice Empress's pride as the Northern Extreme Heavenly King was slightly wounded.

She no longer remained still. Her petite figure swayed slightly, as though melting into the wind and snow.

The next moment, she appeared like a ghost at Jiang Zhen's rear flank.

A slender, fair hand that contained terrifying power lightly struck toward Jiang Zhen's back.

The palm strike appeared slow, yet it sealed off every path of evasion for Jiang Zhen. Wherever its palm wind passed, space itself seemed about to freeze and collapse!

A lethal sense of danger descended abruptly!

Every hair on Jiang Zhen's body stood on end. Only by pushing Deep Sea's Eye to its limit did he barely catch sight of Ice Empress's nearly teleporting figure.

At that critical instant, the Ultimate Water within his body and the power of the Ultimate Ice he had just fused boiled and resonated together in an unprecedented manner!

He spun sharply, thrusting both arms fiercely toward the incoming Ice Empress, one to either side!

Above his right hand, Ultimate Water gathered and compressed frantically, roaring and surging as it transformed into a lifelike Dark Blue Water Dragon with savage scales!

Above his left hand, the ultimate chill of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice burst forth, freezing the air and condensing into an Ice White Azure Dragon, crystalline throughout and radiating the frigid aura of absolute zero!

Water and ice! Two dragons emerged from the abyss!

This was the highest-level application and fusion of his own power after his moment of enlightenment here!

The two elemental dragons intertwined and roared, carrying terrifying powers that were wholly different yet shared the same origin and symbiotically coexisted, as they crashed into Ice Empress's seemingly light palm strike!

BOOM—!!!

A deafening explosion erupted across the ice plains!

A terrifying Energy Shockwave suddenly spread outward in a ring, blasting apart and annihilating all snow and ice layers within several hundred meters!

Blue-and-white energy radiance wildly intertwined, eroded, and exploded against the intensely condensed emerald glow in Ice Empress's palm!

As the light faded.

Jiang Zhen was pushed back more than ten meters by the recoil before barely steadying himself. His chest heaved violently, his face slightly pale, and his Soul Power was greatly depleted.

Ice Empress, meanwhile, still stood where she was. Her fair hand slowly withdrew, and from her palm, a thread of nearly imperceptible white vapor curled away and dissipated.

For the first time, clear shock appeared on Ice Empress's peerlessly beautiful face, as though frozen for ten thousand years.

She lowered her head and looked at her uninjured palm, where a trace of strange aura still lingered.

Then she raised her head to look at Jiang Zhen in the distance. Though he was panting heavily, his gaze remained calm, and her emerald eyes were filled with disbelief.

That strike just now... the perfect fusion of water and ice—could a mere Soul Ancestor actually unleash something like that?!

A level forty-one Soul Ancestor could actually release an attack of such intensity?!

Were humans this powerful now?

This completely overturned her understanding of Human Spirit Masters!

She had originally felt only curiosity and slight irritation, but now she was truly shaken by the potential and power displayed by this mysterious human youth.

Ice dust slowly drifted down from the sky, shrouding the two as they faced each other.

The terrifying killing intent and pressure surrounding Ice Empress quietly receded like the tide.

She gave Jiang Zhen a deep look, her gaze lingering especially on his ice-blue and ice-white hair, as well as the vertical pupil on his forehead that was slowly closing.

After several breaths of silence, she spoke again. Her voice remained cold, but the killing intent from before had vanished, replaced by an exceedingly complex sense of inquiry and gravity.

"Human, where exactly did you come from? Why did you trespass into this place?"