Mage Who Wields a Sword

The instant Lu Jun swung his Ice Abyss Sword, hundreds of ice spikes suddenly condensed around its edge.

These ice spikes did not remain still. Instead, they continuously burst along the path of his slash like living creatures.

"Bang, bang, bang."

Dense Ice Explosions detonated around Huo Yuhao, each blast scattering sharp Ice Crystal Shards.

Huo Yuhao struggled to dodge amid the Ice Explosions.

He tilted his head to avoid the main blade, but three bloody cuts were carved into his left shoulder by the flying ice crystals.

When Huo Yuhao stepped back to evade the ice spikes erupting from the ground, the cold air from the explosions froze his trouser cuffs into icy debris.

"Spirit Detection was interfered with?" someone in the viewing room exclaimed.

"Looks like wide-range Soul Skills really are more effective against this type of Soul Master."

Indeed, these utterly erratic Ice Explosions were disrupting Huo Yuhao's predictions.

Whenever he tried to dodge an ice spike in one location, a new Ice Trap would suddenly explode in an adjacent area.

Lu Jun continuously swung the Ice Abyss Sword, every strike aimed at Huo Yuhao's vital points, making him even harder to defend against.

The human body had its limits.

So did the number of times one could dodge.

As long as Lu Jun's attack frequency exceeded Huo Yuhao's ability to evade, there was a chance he would hit Huo Yuhao.

Just as Huo Yuhao was about to retreat to the edge of the battlefield, an eerie blue light suddenly flashed in Lu Jun's eyes.

He also activated his Spiritual Power and used the move he was best at against Huo Yuhao.

Spirit Shock!

The invisible Spirit Shock stabbed straight toward Huo Yuhao's brow.

The attack came far too suddenly. On top of that, he still had to dodge Lu Jun's sword, as well as the ice spikes, ice shards, and other hazards in the environment.

Huo Yuhao had no attention left to evade it and took the blow head-on.

"Hmph."

Huo Yuhao let out a muffled groan, and blood began to flow from his seven orifices.

Lu Jun's Spiritual Power was no weaker than his.

After all, he was a Sword Cultivator who appeared to wield a sword but was actually a mage.

A trace of blood trickled from the corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth.

Worse still, his breathing grew heavy, and every exhale carried tiny ice crystals.

Frost had formed on his eyelashes, while his fingertips were turning faintly blue.

This was a sign that the Ice Poison had seeped into his bones.

The cold energy lurking in his meridians was eroding the circulation speed of his Soul Power.

The longer he remained within Lu Jun's domain, the more Ice Poison he sensed accumulating within his body, even with Spirit Detection.

Once the Ice Poison built up to a certain degree, he would die outright.

Huo Yuhao had just checked his physical condition when he saw that Lu Jun had already pulled as far away from him as possible.

Clearly, Lu Jun's strategy was simple.

Couldn't you use Spirit Detection?

Fine. He would use his domain to cover the entire battlefield. Even with Spirit Detection, there would be nowhere Huo Yuhao could escape to.

Moreover, the Ice Poison invaded every existence within the domain along with the cold energy. Even if you knew about it, it was difficult to avoid.

Someone like Huo Yuhao would not be able to hold on for long.

If Lu Jun dragged this out a little longer, the Ice Poison would erupt, and that would be the moment of his death.

So all Lu Jun had to do was stall.

Huo Yuhao switched his martial soul back to the Spirit Eye. Having lost the Ice Jade Scorpion's protection, his body began to freeze at an accelerating rate.

Yet the golden light in his eyes flickered within the Ice Mist. The Ice Poison had already invaded his Heart Meridian. If this continued any longer, defeat was inevitable.

"I can only gamble on one final strike."

He suddenly stopped moving and no longer dodged the ice spikes filling the sky.

The fingertips of his right hand pressed against his temple. Veins bulged across his forehead as the golden light of his Spirit Eye martial soul instantly surged to a blinding intensity.

At that moment, the entire Virtual Battlefield trembled.

The Spiritual Power Huo Yuhao unleashed compressed into a solid golden beam that violently shot toward Lu Jun.

This was a desperate strike that abandoned all defense.

A Spirit Shock unleashed at full power.

"Good!"

Lu Jun had anticipated it. The Ice Abyss Sword plunged upside down into the ground, and his Third Soul Ring bloomed fully for the first time. A dragon-shaped phantom formed of Ice Crystal soared from behind him. It was his Ice Dragon Spirit Soul, fighting alongside him.

The Ice Dragon Spirit Soul folded its translucent dragon wings around Lu Jun, wrapping him in an ice-blue cocoon.

At the same time, his Spiritual Power condensed into a shield before his brow. Two layers of defense met that devastating golden light.

The shockwave from the collision of the two Spiritual Powers blasted a ten-meter-wide crater into the center of the battlefield.

The Ice Dragon phantom let out a pained howl, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared across its wings.

Huo Yuhao's Spirit Shock actually pierced through the Spirit Soul's defenses, its aftermath smashing into Lu Jun's forehead like a heavy hammer.

"Pfft."

After taking Huo Yuhao's all-out blow, blood spurted from Lu Jun's seven orifices at once. Yet a wild curve rose at the corner of his bloodstained lips.

His right hand had never left the Ice Abyss Sword embedded in the ground.

At the instant their Spiritual Powers clashed, the Second Soul Ring on the sword had already been lit for some time.

"I won."

The moment the Soul Skill was unleashed, Huo Yuhao's body suddenly stiffened. He lowered his head toward his chest and saw countless ice-blue patterns frantically spreading beneath his skin.

The Ice Poison that had lurked within him for so long now transformed into sharp Ice Blades, stabbing outward from inside his body.

His skin split apart inch by inch. Icy blossoms erupted from Huo Yuhao's right arm first, followed by his left leg, abdomen, and finally even his neck, where crystalline ice spikes burst forth.

He tried to suppress the Ice Poison with the last of his Spiritual Power, only to discover that what flowed through his meridians was no longer blood, but solidified ice debris.

Lu Jun staggered to his feet, wiped the blood from his face, and watched Huo Yuhao die.

The outcome had been decided.

Huo Yuhao's chest began to rupture. A longsword formed entirely of ice stabbed out from his heart.

"Combat ended. Victor: Lu Jun."

The moment the electronic voice fell silent, the entire viewing hall sank into deathly silence.

Everyone's expressions froze. Their eyes were wide, their mouths slightly open, yet not a single sound emerged.

Even the sound of breathing seemed to have vanished.

Even Leng Yulai stood with her red lips parted, her jaw nearly dropping to the floor. Her pupils contracted sharply, and her beautiful eyes were filled with disbelief.

Meanwhile, in the monitoring room at the highest level of the Spirit Pagoda, Qiangu Dongfeng abruptly rose from his seat.

The Spirit Pagoda Tower Master, who had always been composed, now pressed both hands hard against the desk, his knuckles turning white from the force.

He stared at the screen without blinking, the muscles on his face twitching slightly.

"Ten Thousand Years Ago... the first person to defeat the Spirit Ice Douluo at the same rank..."

His voice trembled slightly.

Qiangu Dongfeng had merely wanted to see how his grandson performed in the once-every-three-years assessment.

Instead, he discovered that there was actually another expert.

The First Ring Huo Yuhao could be ignored, because he was not included in the count.

But after the Second Ring, this Artificial Intelligence version of Huo Yuhao was absurdly powerful. He had been personally created by Huo Yuhao's ancestor from ten thousand years ago, who turned all of his lifelong experience and techniques into data and preserved them to this day.

The purpose was to train more talents within the Spirit Pagoda and pass down his experience and techniques.

Yet ten thousand years had passed, and not a single person had defeated the Huo Yuhao ancestor from the Second Ring to the Eighth Ring.

Not even with Battle Armor.

The other staff members in the monitoring room were frozen in place as well. Someone did not even notice that the Coffee Cup in their hand had tilted, brown liquid dripping over the edge of the table.

A full ten seconds passed before Qiangu Dongfeng suddenly came back to his senses. His gaze instantly became incomparably sharp as he shouted sternly:

"Seal off all Combat Data and archive everything. Also, everyone is to keep this strictly confidential. Do not allow this matter to be exposed!"

"That child Lu Jun must not be discovered by anyone else."