Under the night sky, the Wolf Head Mercenary Group headquarters was brightly lit. The patrolling mercenaries remained dutiful at their posts, unaware that a devastating storm was about to descend.
A white figure appeared soundlessly outside the headquarters gate.
It was Mo Lin. His white robe fluttered lightly in the night wind as he stood with his hands behind his back, calmly sweeping his gaze over the bustling courtyard like a king inspecting his own territory.
"Who goes there? Stop!" the guards shouted sharply, drawing their blades as cold light flashed.
Mo Lin still did not answer. He merely curled his lips into a cold smile. With a thought, the vast power inherited from the Ice Empress began to surge within him.
The first change occurred on the surface of his body. A layer of translucent armor, as though carved from profound ice, rapidly spread downward from his neck, covering his torso and limbs!
The thin armor had sleek, flowing lines and glittered with diamond-like ice crystal radiance. His joints moved freely within it, yet it exuded an indestructible aura—this was the defensive skill, Ice Emperor's Armor!
At the same time, even more astonishing changes took place in his arms and hands.
Emerald-like solid ice rapidly spread from his elbows, instantly transforming his forearms and palms into two exquisite, savage ice crystal claws with blade-sharp fingertips!
The claws radiated an extreme chill. Their diamond-shaped crystal structure reflected heart-palpitating cold light beneath the lamps—this was the powerful offensive skill, Ice Emperor's Claws!
Ice armor over his body, claw blades in his hands! At that moment, Mo Lin was like a god of war who had emerged from the far northern ice fields—majestic, cold, and brimming with destructive power!
Icy killing intent swept outward like a tide. The guards at the gate felt their souls trembling, as though even the strength to grip their weapons had been frozen away.
"Enemy...!"
The warning was cut short. Mo Lin moved! His figure became a bolt of white lightning as Ice Emperor's Claws casually slashed forward in a crossing motion!
"Slice—crack!"
There was no violent collision, only the faint, crisp sound of sharp blades cutting through flesh and bone.
Like butter cut by a hot knife, the two guards were instantly sliced into several pieces. Before their mangled bodies could hit the ground, the terrifying chill that followed froze them into rigid blocks of ice!
Without even looking at the bloody scene, Mo Lin stepped over the frozen blood and entered the Wolf Head Mercenary Group headquarters courtyard.
"Someone has broken in!"
"It's a kid in white! Stop him!"
The mercenaries in the courtyard were alarmed. Like an enraged swarm of bees, they rushed in from all directions, blades and swords reflecting the firelight as their battle cries shook the air.
Several dozen mercenaries, their eyes red and faces twisted, lunged at the lone "frost monster" who had invaded their grounds.
Faced with the surging crowd, Mo Lin frowned slightly and muttered, "Tch, clearing trash mobs really is a hassle... Ice Emperor's Claws has unbeatable single-target tearing power, and Ice Emperor's Armor is tough enough, but they're too inefficient for clearing fodder. It'd be nice to have a large-scale AOE attack."
Though he complained, his movements never stopped. He neither dodged nor evaded, instead charging headlong into the torrent of blades!
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The dense barrage of strikes landed on the ice armor formed by Ice Emperor's Armor, scattering only a few ice chips and leaving shallow white marks. They could not break through his defense at all. Meanwhile, Ice Emperor's Claws became the reaper's scythe!
With a slap! One mercenary, armor and all, had his chest caved in and was sent flying into a courtyard wall, smashing it apart!
With a sweep! The ice claws cut through a semicircle, severing three mercenaries charging side by side at the waist. Their blood froze before it could even spray out!
With a grab! A mercenary trying to launch a sneak attack was seized directly by the head with the ice claws. With the slightest exertion, his skull burst like a watermelon!
With a thrust! The ice claws pierced straight through a heavy shield with ease, pinning the mercenary behind it dead to the ground!
Mo Lin was like a tiger among sheep, unstoppable! The ice armor gave him absolute protection, allowing him to ignore most attacks, while the ice claws bestowed unparalleled strength and sharpness. Every swing brought devastating results.
His fighting style was domineering and efficient, relying purely on force to overcome skill and crushing everything with absolute defense and offense!
At first, faced with attacks from every direction, his dodges and shifts were still somewhat deliberate. However, the powerful defense of Ice Emperor's Armor gave him ample room for error.
Soon, he had completely adapted to the rhythm of being surrounded. His movements became smooth and fluid, as though he were dancing an elegant yet cruel dance of death.
As the ice claws swung, they stirred gusts of freezing wind. Wherever they passed, men were thrown from their feet and flesh turned to ice!
Screams, shattering, and freezing sounds rang out without end. The Wolf Head Mercenary Group's elites were utterly fragile before this combination of ice armor and claw blades.
The front courtyard swiftly became a blood-red hell sealed in ice. The biting cold mixed with the heavy scent of blood, enough to make one retch.
"M-monster! An unbeatable monster!"
"Run... run!"
The mercenaries' morale completely collapsed, and they scattered in terror.
While the front courtyard was in chaos, Mu She, the Wolf Head Mercenary Group's leader and a Two-star Dou Master, was inside the headquarters hall, frowning as he listened to reports from his subordinates. Most concerned trivial business matters and friction with other factions.
As for his son Mu Li taking men out to "handle something," he assumed it was merely an ordinary patrol or hunt and gave it no further thought.
After all, in Qingshan Town, no one dared casually lay a hand on the Wolf Head Mercenary Group.
"What's going on outside? Why all the shouting?" Startled by the battle cries and screams from the front courtyard, Mu She shouted irritably.
A mercenary stumbled and crawled into the hall, his face deathly pale as he cried in terror, "C-Commander! This is bad! Someone has broken in! The brothers... the brothers can't stop him!"
"What?!" Mu She shot to his feet, his face filled with shock and fury. "Who is it? Myriad Medicine House? Or the Blood Battle Mercenary Group? How dare they!"
"N-no idea! It's just one person! A very powerful young man! His Dou Qi is ice-attributed!"
"One person?" Mu She froze for a moment, then flew into a rage. "Trash! A bunch of trash! One person beat you into this state? Come with me. I want to see who dares cause trouble on my Mu She's territory!"
Mu She grabbed the refined steel saber resting beside the table and charged out of the hall with great momentum.
When he reached the front courtyard and saw the frost covering the ground, his groaning subordinates, and the white-robed youth moving through the crowd as though no one were there, his pupils suddenly contracted.
Especially when he sensed the icy aura around the other party—though it seemed less profound in level than his own, it was exceptionally pure and piercing, carrying the majesty of a superior—Mu She's heart sank. This visitor had come with ill intent!
"Kid! Who are you? Why did you break into my Wolf Head Mercenary Group and injure my men?" Mu She forcefully suppressed the alarm in his heart, pointing his saber at Mo Lin as he shouted.
He truly could not understand when he had offended such a strange and formidable enemy.
Was this for revenge? But he had not provoked anyone of this caliber recently!
Upholding justice and punishing evil? Though Mu She acted domineeringly, he did not think he had become so hated by heaven and earth that an expert like this would specifically come to wipe him out. He was utterly baffled.
Mo Lin punched the last mercenary daring enough to rush at him into the air, then flicked nonexistent blood from his wrist and calmly looked toward Mu She, as though he had merely finished warming up.
"You're Mu She?" Mo Lin's voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly throughout the entire courtyard. "There's no particular reason. I just think... your Wolf Head Mercenary Group is an eyesore."
His reason was simple and domineering. It ignited Mu She's anger, while making him even more suspicious and uncertain.
"Arrogant! Wind Blade Dance!" Mu She roared in fury, unleashing the full force of his Two-star Dou Master Dou Qi and using a Mysterious Tier Intermediate Combat Skill!
His saber danced wildly, and the afterimages of green wind blades formed a dense net of blades that howled toward Mo Lin.
Faced with this seemingly fierce attack, a trace of disdain flashed through Mo Lin's eyes.
With another thought, the Ice Emperor's Claws covering his arms abruptly vanished, while the Ice Emperor's Armor around his body rippled slightly and reverted into pure energy.
"Out of respect for the boss, I'll use my ultimate move too." Mo Lin's voice carried a hint of laziness, as though he were not facing a life-or-death battle but a boring game.
"Emperor Sword... Ice Extreme Unparalleled!"
As he spoke softly, a longsword formed entirely from concentrated extreme cold energy appeared in his hand out of thin air.
The sword was three feet and three inches long, seemingly carved from ten-thousand-year-old ice. It was crystal clear, and icy blue streams of light seemed to circulate slowly within the blade, emitting a chill capable of freezing one's soul!
Cold air coiled around its edge, even slightly distorting the light—this was the embryonic form of the Snow Emperor's Ultimate Technique. Though far from complete, its splendor and nobility had already begun to show!
The blade net howled toward him, its fierce wind tearing apart the ground!
Yet Mo Lin merely flicked his wrist lightly. Holding the ice crystal sword, he elegantly and casually thrust it toward the seemingly flawless net of blades before him!
There was no earth-shaking momentum, no shrill whistle through the air. That sword thrust seemed to pierce space itself and cross the distance!
"Buzz—"
A strange, soft hum rang out!
The tip of the ice sword struck with perfect precision at the core of the blade net's energy flow—the most vulnerable point!
The next moment, a sight that no one would ever forget unfolded!
The imposing green blade net, formed from countless wind blade afterimages, froze abruptly the instant the ice sword touched it, like a glass work of art cast into absolute zero!
Every afterimage stopped in midair. Then, from the point where the sword tip had made contact, countless fine icy blue cracks spread soundlessly!
"Crack... crack-crack..."
The cracks instantly spread across the entire blade net like a spiderweb!
Then, under Mu She's wide-eyed gaze filled with terror and disbelief, the entire blade net, along with the violent energy contained within it, shattered like broken ice crystals and vanished completely!
There was no explosion, no shockwave—only the absolute silence brought by an extreme cold!
Mu She stood frozen in place, his entire body icy cold. His strongest combat skill had actually been dismantled by the other party in such an effortless, magnificent, and bizarre manner?
However, it was not over yet!
After shattering the blade net, the ice sword seemed to have exhausted its momentum. But Mo Lin's wrist trembled lightly once more, and the sword tip gave a soft cry!
An icy blue sword aura, condensed to the extreme, thin as a cicada's wing and curved like a new moon, silently detached from the blade and flashed across Mu She's neck at a speed beyond the eye's ability to follow!
Mu She could not even react. He only felt a chill at his neck before his vision began to spin.
The last thing he saw was his own headless body rapidly being sealed in ice, and the indifferent, ice-cold gaze of the white-robed youth as he sheathed his sword.
"Thud."
His head hit the ground and turned into a block of ice. His headless corpse then crashed down as well, shattering into fragments of ice crystal.
One sword! Just one sword! It had not only broken his strongest combat skill, but directly beheaded him!
The entire courtyard fell silent! The surviving mercenaries were so terrified that their souls nearly fled their bodies. They no longer even had the strength to run, collapsing to the ground and trembling.
The ice crystal sword in Mo Lin's hand slowly dissipated, as though it had never existed. He glanced over the wrecked courtyard and shook his head. "Clearing the field... really is a hassle."
With a casual wave of his hand, a gust of cold air swept over several mercenaries who had been scared senseless, freezing them into ice statues as a warning.
Then, without lingering any longer, his white-robed figure flashed and vanished into the night like Gui Mei.
Meanwhile, far away at the Myriad Medicine House camp, Xiao Yi Xian was still waiting anxiously, believing Mo Lin had merely gone to cause some trouble.
She had no idea that the youth who had seemed to be going out to "make a little mess" had already ended Qingshan Town's overlord with a single sword in the most domineering way possible.
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