After leaving the middle region of the Extreme North, Xue Tianxing slowed his flight.
Most Spirit Beasts on the outskirts of the Extreme North were around the millennium mark. With his current strength as a level forty-two Soul Ancestor, coupled with the newly absorbed twenty-three-thousand-year Soul Ring, these Spirit Beasts posed no threat to him at all.
Xue Tianxing stretched his Ice Phoenix wings and flew leisurely at low altitude, his gaze occasionally sweeping over the ice fields below as he admired the boundless snowy scenery unique to the Land of the Extreme North.
Just then, the sounds of fierce combat carried over on the freezing wind, mixed with the booms of Spirit Abilities erupting and the shrill cries of birds.
Xue Tianxing's heart stirred. He immediately concealed his aura and quietly flew toward the source of the sounds.
Xue Tianxing then landed behind an ice mound and peeked out. In an ice valley not far away, a fierce siege was underway.
The ones being besieged were two people. One wore a fitted green outfit, with five Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black—circling him. He was clearly a Soul King. The other had a slender figure and wore a white dress. She had only two yellow Soul Rings, but Xue Tianxing's Soul Power detection revealed that her Soul Power had already reached the peak of level thirty. She only needed one more Soul Ring to advance to Soul Elder.
Surrounding and attacking them was a flock of snow-white sparrow-like Spirit Beasts with wingspans of around one meter—the Snowy Sparrows found only in the Land of the Extreme North.
After observing for a moment, Xue Tianxing quickly grasped the situation.
That Soul King had clearly brought the girl in white to hunt her third Soul Ring, but for some reason, they had alerted the entire flock of Snowy Sparrows and were now tightly surrounded.
His gaze settled on the largest bird in the flock. That Snowy Sparrow had a wingspan of over two meters, and dense Soul Power fluctuations swirled around it. It was actually a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the leader of this flock.
With one Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and more than a dozen Millennium Spirit Beasts attacking together, even though the Soul King was not weak, he was gradually struggling to hold on.
He swung the longsword in his hand, repeatedly slashing back the sparrows diving at him. But there were simply too many Snowy Sparrows, and they excelled at coordinated group attacks. Cracks soon appeared in his defense, and several wounds from bird claws had already been added to his body.
The girl in white at his side was also resisting with all her might. She continuously unleashed ice-type Spirit Abilities to freeze the attacking sparrows, but due to her insufficient Soul Power, their effects grew weaker and weaker.
Xue Tianxing frowned, hesitating over whether to help. The less trouble, the better. Right now, he wanted more than anything to reach the town and reunite with Liu Tianfeng and the other person as soon as possible.
But just then, the girl in white seemed to have been forced into a desperate situation and suddenly unleashed her Martial Soul:
A phantom of an ice-blue phoenix spread its wings behind her. As its wings flapped, a biting wave of ice-type energy spread outward. It was her second Spirit Ability, and an ice-blue beam shot toward a Millennium Snowy Sparrow.
"Hm?"
Xue Tianxing's heart jolted. He could clearly feel that his Ice Phoenix Spirit had actually produced a powerful resonance with the girl's Martial Soul, as though it had encountered a power from the same source!
Xue Tianxing looked more closely. The girl's Martial Soul was unmistakably an Ice Phoenix, and judging from its Soul Power fluctuations, it was also of the Extreme Ice attribute!
"Shui Bing'er!"
Xue Tianxing recognized her instantly—the captain of Skywater Academy from the original story, a gifted genius who possessed an Ice Phoenix Martial Soul with the Extreme Ice attribute.
As netizens from his previous life would put it, if Shui Bing'er had not encountered the protagonist's group, she would absolutely have counted as one of the top geniuses among Douluo Continent's younger generation.
Seeing Shui Bing'er's pale cheeks from Soul Power exhaustion, as well as the Ice Phoenix Martial Soul that shared the same origin as his own, Xue Tianxing no longer hesitated.
Not only did he want to befriend this genius who also possessed an Extreme Ice Ice Phoenix Martial Soul, but he also found himself drawn to Shui Bing'er's appearance and temperament. Dressed in white, she was delicate and beautiful; even amid fierce battle, she could not conceal her unique liveliness and resilience.
"Time to move!"
Xue Tianxing shouted softly. He abruptly spread his Ice Phoenix wings as Soul Power erupted around him, and the aura of a level forty-two Soul Ancestor burst forth in an instant.
Xue Tianxing leaped into the air and flew toward the ice valley, simultaneously unleashing the fourth Spirit Ability he had obtained from that twenty-thousand-year-plus Raging Wind Ice Vulture—"Ice Phoenix: Gale Howl"!
A roar containing Ice-Wind Power erupted from the Ice Phoenix's mouth and instantly swept across the entire ice valley.
The Snowy Sparrows that had been attacking were blasted backward by that powerful force. Several weaker Millennium Spirit Beasts were even shaken unconscious and sent crashing to the ground.
The Ten-Thousand-Year Snowy Sparrow King was also startled. It turned and glared viciously at Xue Tianxing, its eyes filled with vigilance.
Shui Bing'er and the Soul King were both stunned. They stared in surprise at the suddenly appearing Xue Tianxing and the Ice Phoenix behind him, which looked remarkably similar to Shui Bing'er's Martial Soul.
Xue Tianxing transformed into an ice-blue streak of light and landed beside Shui Bing'er in an instant, asking with concern:
"Are you two alright?"
Shui Bing'er turned to look at Xue Tianxing, who was half a head shorter than her yet radiated a biting icy aura. Surprise flashed through her eyes before she said gratefully:
"Thank you for helping us. We're alright for now."
As soon as Shui Bing'er finished speaking, Teacher Sun of Skywater Academy suddenly shouted in a low voice:
"Enough talking! They're charging again!"
The flock of Snowy Sparrows had reformed their formation and swooped toward the three of them once more, the sound of their beating wings like rolling thunder.
Teacher Sun hesitated no longer. His Soul Power erupted at full force, all five Soul Rings lighting up at once as he charged first toward the Ten-Thousand-Year Snowy Sparrow King, trying to buy the two of them a chance to catch their breath.
"Leave it to me!"
Xue Tianxing shouted. His Ice Phoenix Martial Soul spread its wings, and his third Soul Ring suddenly lit up—"Third Spirit Ability, Ice Flame Phoenix Cry!"
Accompanied by a clear phoenix cry, the Ice Phoenix spat out a mass of deep-blue ice flame that shot like a meteor toward the swarming Millennium Snowy Sparrows.
Wherever the ice flame passed, the air froze instantly. The Snowy Sparrows at the front had no time to dodge and were immediately frozen into gleaming ice sculptures, plummeting straight from the sky.
Immediately afterward, the Ice Phoenix let out another piercing cry. Invisible sound waves spread outward, temporarily pinning the remaining Snowy Sparrows in midair, unable to move!
"What a powerful Spirit Ability!"
Shui Bing'er's eyes were full of shock.
Xue Tianxing did not pause. His first Soul Ring lit up next:
"First Spirit Ability, Extreme Cold Ray!"
A thin ray containing terrifying cold shot from the Ice Phoenix's beak. Like Death's scythe, it swept through the immobilized flock, and several more Snowy Sparrows fell in response, completely losing all signs of life.
In just a short moment, Xue Tianxing had dealt with nearly half of the Millennium Snowy Sparrows. But this also completely enraged the remaining Spirit Beasts.
The Ten-Thousand-Year Snowy Sparrow King let out a sharp screech, broke free from Teacher Sun's entanglement, and led the surviving sparrows in another charge. This assault was even fiercer than before. The birds disregarded their lives as they pounced on the three, their claws and sharp beaks gleaming with cold light, making them difficult to fend off.
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