"Not bad. You reacted quickly."
The black-robed man spoke in a hoarse, unpleasant voice, his gaze fixed directly on Ling Luochеn.
"Ling Luochеn, our Cult Master would like to see you. Give up this pointless resistance and come back to the Cult with us."
"You're with the Holy Spirit Cult!"
Ling Luochеn's delicate body shuddered as she instantly realized who he was.
So it really had been a trap!
The black-robed man seemed to relish the fear on her face.
He let out a cackling laugh, then turned his gaze to the terrified mercenaries surrounding them.
"As for you ants... perfect. It's been ages since I've had a taste!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised a hand. A mass of dense black energy began gathering in his palm!
"Stop!"
Ling Luochеn shouted angrily.
She forced what little Soul Power remained in her to surge into action.
Two yellow, two purple, and one black Soul Ring rose into the air!
"First Soul Skill: Ice Staff!"
A staff two meters long, formed entirely from ice crystals, appeared in her hand.
"Go!"
Extreme cold surged into the sky. The moisture in the air instantly condensed into countless sharp ice spikes, which shot toward the black-robed man like a blizzard!
"A mere speck of light dares to shine?"
The black-robed man gave a scornful snort.
He didn't even use a Soul Skill, merely waving his hand casually.
A surging tide of black Soul Power swept out, easily shattering every ice spike!
Then, his figure flickered, and he appeared in front of Ling Luochеn as if by teleportation.
A hand as withered as a ghost's claw shot straight for her throat!
Too fast!
Between a Soul King and a Soul Saint lay an insurmountable gulf!
Ling Luochеn had only enough time to conjure an ice shield in front of herself.
"Crack!"
The ice shield shattered on impact. Ling Luochеn grunted, and her body flew backward like a kite with its string cut.
She skidded more than ten meters across the ground, leaving a long trail behind. A mouthful of blood stained the dust before her.
She had been grievously wounded by a single blow!
It was over...
Despair swept over her like a rising tide, drowning her completely.
Ji Xuan, standing some distance away, felt a chill run through his entire body.
Run?
How could he escape from a Soul Saint?
The man was so fast that Ji Xuan couldn't even make out his afterimage. Any thought of fleeing was a joke.
Wait to die?
That wasn't something he did!
If death was inevitable either way, he might as well... take a gamble!
In the blink of an eye, Ji Xuan made his decision!
"Ling Luochеn!"
He suddenly darted out from his hiding place and shouted at Ling Luochеn, who was struggling to get back up.
"I need mirrors! As many as you can get! Anything that can reflect light!"
The inexplicable shout made the black-robed man pause as he was about to finish Ling Luochеn off. He glanced at Ji Xuan in confusion.
But the moment Ling Luochеn heard those words, a spark suddenly flared in her unfocused eyes.
Mirrors!
She immediately thought of Ji Xuan's mysterious Soul Skill, the one that had forcibly pulled her back from the brink of losing control!
She had no idea what he intended to do, but right now, Ji Xuan was her only hope!
"All right!"
She gritted her teeth, ignoring the blood at the corner of her mouth, and desperately channeled the last of her Soul Power!
"Fifth Soul Skill: Ice Radiance Ring!"
A brilliant ring of ice crystals burst forth and expanded through the air, surging toward the black-robed man!
"Desperate struggles!"
A trace of impatience flashed through the black-robed man's eyes. He threw a punch, and the surging black energy instantly swallowed the ice ring.
But that brief obstruction bought Ling Luochеn precious time!
"Third Soul Skill: Ice Cage!"
She slammed both hands onto the ground!
Centered on the black-robed man, the water elements in the earth and air gathered frantically.
A massive circular cage made of countless hexagonal ice crystals rose from the ground, instantly enclosing the black-robed man!
Unlike an ordinary cage, every piece of ice forming it was as smooth as a mirror!
The ice crystals reflected the black-robed man thousands upon thousands of times!
"Foolish! You think something like this can hold me?"
The black-robed man snorted in contempt and raised a hand to smash the impractical cage.
But at that very moment,
Ji Xuan raised his right hand high outside the cage!
The ancient Mirror Martial Soul in his palm was aimed at one of the ice crystals!
An unbelievable sight unfolded!
The surface of the mirror was projected onto an ice crystal.
Then that ice crystal reflected it onto every crystal opposite it, beside it, and above it!
One became two, two became four, four became countless!
In an instant, every icy surface inside the cage became an extension of Ji Xuan's mirror!
Looking at the black-robed man surrounded by countless mirrors,
Ji Xuan's eyes reddened as he squeezed every last drop of strength from his spiritual power!
The deep black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring beneath his feet blazed with dazzling light!
"First Soul Skill—"
"Mirror Flower, Water Moon!"
Hum—
The entire world seemed to come to a standstill.
Countless illusions of Mirror Flower, Water Moon were reflected and layered one upon another!
Just as the black-robed man was about to attack, his vision blurred, and the surroundings suddenly changed!
He was no longer inside an ice cage. He stood in an infinite space made up of countless mirrors!
Above, below, left, right—in every direction, there were only reflections of himself!
Thousands upon thousands of versions of him stepped out of the mirrors.
They radiated the exact same aura as he did and watched him with the same eerie smiles!
Then every one of them attacked at once!
Thousands upon thousands of attacks swept toward him from every direction, leaving him nowhere to dodge!
However,
the black-robed man was stunned for less than half a second.
"Such a feeble trick, and you dare show it off before me?"
The black-robed man gave a contemptuous snort. He couldn't be bothered to distinguish illusion from reality.
Before absolute power, every flashy trick was nothing but a paper tiger!
"Seventh Soul Skill: Martial Soul Avatar!"
Boom!
An enormous surge of Soul Power, unlike anything he'd released before, erupted from his body like a volcano!
His entire body transformed into a massive, writhing shadow. Countless anguished faces flickered within it, and a terrifying aura capable of corrupting the soul poured out!
Crack—
In an instant, the ice cage Ling Luochеn had constructed with all her strength burst apart from within, as if it were made of paper, under the onslaught of that violent power!
Countless shards of ice shot in every direction!
"Ugh!"
Ling Luochеn took a devastating blow and spat out a mouthful of blood.
On the other side, Ji Xuan, who was controlling the illusion, fared even worse!
The moment the ice cage shattered, it felt as though ten thousand red-hot needles had pierced his brain!
Mirror Flower, Water Moon had been broken through so brutally that the backlash from the spiritual power nearly tore his soul to pieces!
He couldn't even scream. Blood gushed from his mouth and nose, and his vision went black. His body went limp as he collapsed, instantly losing consciousness.
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