Song of Ice and Fire

Soto Great Soul Arena, Soul Battle Stage Five.

Spider Woman was a rare Control-type Beast Martial Soul Master. Although her soul ring configuration was average, it was no exaggeration to say that her control abilities were even stronger than those of Plant Control-type Soul Masters at the same level. The air above the arena was now almost entirely covered by a massive white web.

"Quite the flashy display," Ye Buqun muttered as he looked toward the low sky.

"Hmph! This isn't the time for you to be looking around!"

At that moment, Snake Man moved. He controlled his Twin-Headed Snake martial soul as it shot upward, while his second soul ring suddenly lit up and spun rapidly around the snake's body.

"Second Soul Skill: Flame Impact!"

Snake Man gave a low shout, and blazing flames poured from the two snake mouths, rushing straight toward the Ye-Doudou Duo.

"Buqun!"

"Don't worry about me. Just protect yourself."

Doudou flapped her wings and rose into the low air, still worried about her partner below. Yet Ye Buqun remained where he was. He merely raised his right arm, and an ancient-looking mirror appeared in his palm.

The scorching flames immediately slammed into the mirror's surface. Strangely, the flames actually rebounded, shooting back toward Snake Man.

Snake Man had not expected this at all. He was forced back several steps and quickly controlled the Twin-Headed Snake to open its gaping jaws and suck the flames back in.

Snake Man was startled. This kid is rather strange.

Little did he know that this was the derived soul skill of Ye Buqun's true-body Mirror Beast martial soul: Mirror Reflection. It could reflect elemental and physical attacks with Soul Power below his own.

While the two faced off on the ground, an intense battle was also unfolding in the air above the arena.

"Hehehe! Little girl, you really are unlucky. To tell you the truth, flying Soul Masters are exactly what I fear least."

Watching Doudou rise into the low air, Spider Woman revealed a wicked smile. A huge white spiderweb had already covered the sky above.

Everyone knew that spiderwebs were specially made to ensnare flying creatures, much less spiderwebs created by a Soul Master. If Doudou got caught in it, she would truly be walking right into the trap.

But things did not seem nearly as simple as everyone imagined.

As Doudou flew up, the spiderweb descended over her. The first two yellow soul rings on her body brightened.

"First Soul Skill: Acceleration!"

"Second Soul Skill: Sharp Angle Turn!"

After using her first two soul skills, Doudou's flight speed became even faster. Even changing directions midair became swift and fluid, and the tightening web could not catch her for the moment.

However, wherever Doudou flew, the spiderweb rapidly closed in after her. Doudou had no means of attack and could only defend without the power to retaliate. If this continued, she would sooner or later be captured by Spider Woman.

"Little girl, stop dodging! If you make me angry, you'll suffer once I catch you!" Seeing Doudou weave and evade again and again, Spider Woman finally grew angry and threatened her.

Doudou had no intention of backing down. The reason she was tangling with Spider Woman was to keep the enemy occupied and ease Ye Buqun's pressure. More importantly, she wanted to prove that she had a role to play, that she was not dead weight who only coasted through matches—especially to prove it to Ye Buqun.

The spiderweb's stickiness had to be immense, and Doudou could not let her body touch it. She understood that clearly. Her constant flying and dodging finally enraged her opponent completely, and Spider Woman released even more threads to encircle and suppress her.

The spiderweb grew larger and denser, on the verge of wrapping Doudou up completely. At that moment, Doudou's third soul ring finally lit up, its purple glow dazzling and brilliant.

"Third Soul Skill: Wings of Frost!"

The wings behind Doudou became shrouded in cold air, rapidly condensing into a pair of translucent ice wings. As the spiderweb closed in before her eyes, her frost-wreathed wings swept past it in a flash.

In an instant, every part of the spiderweb touched by the frost wings froze solid. The freezing spread faster and faster, and the entire web turned into a frozen net!

Her third soul ring, the Ice Dual-Winged Serpent, possessed both ice and flight attributes. It was naturally an excellent fit for a Flight-type Soul Master, and its ice-based offensive power made it even more formidable.

What?!

The moment Doudou unleashed this skill, the spectator stands erupted into discussion once more.

The Ye-Doudou Duo, the pair representing Soto Great Soul Arena, had always relied on Ye Buqun as the main attacker, while Doudou only carried out insignificant harassment. The appearance of such an outstanding thousand-year soul skill naturally shocked quite a few people.

The speed of the freezing exceeded everyone's imagination. Once the entire spiderweb had frozen, more than half of Spider Woman's body was frozen as well, leaving her unable even to use her soul skills.

Spider Woman's four soul rings were white, yellow, yellow, and purple. Her soul ring configuration was poor. Though she was a Soul Ancestor, her Soul Power was not particularly high. Moreover, seeing Doudou, a mere Soul Elder a full major realm below her, made her underestimate her opponent even more. She had intended to use her third soul skill, Spiderweb Control—a hundred-year soul skill—to take down her opponent, but she had never expected that Doudou's third soul skill, a thousand-year soul skill, was no joke. Before Spider Woman could even use her strongest fourth soul skill, also a thousand-year soul skill, she was instead restrained by her opponent.

As the saying went: the victor grew arrogant, the arrogant underestimated the enemy, and defeat was already within reach.

But Ye Buqun on the ground was completely different.

He was even more cocky than Spider Woman, effortlessly neutralizing Snake Man's flame attacks time and again, showing no regard for his opponent at all.

Especially after seeing his partner Spider Woman frozen, Snake Man burned with even greater fury. His fourth purple soul ring also gleamed and revolved, and the aura of flames became even more intense.

"Fourth Soul Skill: Twin Snake Possession!"

With a low shout, the phantom of the Twin-headed Fire Serpent behind him grew larger. Then the phantom turned into a streak of light and entered his body. Next, Snake Man's hands transformed into the two heads of fiery snakes, a rather intimidating sight.

"You two, die!"

Snake Man shouted again, crossing his arms with the snake heads thrust forward. Then, even more dazzling flames blasted from the snakes' mouths.

It could be called a small pillar of fire.

"Watch out!"

After defeating Spider Woman, Doudou immediately rushed to support the ground battle. Seeing the pillar of fire bearing down on Ye Buqun, she beat her wings at high speed, whipping up a biting gale mixed with icy rain and snow. An ice wall rapidly condensed from the ground in front of Ye Buqun.

The ice wall was not particularly thick. When the fire pillar struck it, it quickly turned it into steam. Part of the fire pillar was also offset, breaking into sparks that drifted through the air. Ye Buqun then casually slashed his hand, and a streak of Sword Qi instantly scattered the remaining fire pillar into nothingness—