Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar!
A ferocious bear's roar shattered the clouds.
Under the Seventh Soul Skill's enhancement, Zhao Wuji's already massive body began to undergo a startling transformation.
His muscles swelled wildly, and his bones crackled.
In the blink of an eye,
a giant Vajra Bear over five meters tall, its entire body covered in thick, dark-golden armor, appeared in the ice pit.
The giant bear Zhao Wuji had become threw back its head and roared, then hammered its hard chest with both arms.
The sound echoed through the night like a war drum.
Its enormous, blood-red eyes, like lanterns, locked onto Xue Tianyu in midair.
"Kid, you brought this on yourself!"
The giant bear spoke, its words muffled yet deafening.
"To die beneath my Martial Soul Avatar is a fitting end for you!"
As he spoke, Zhao Wuji bent his knees.
His enormous body shot upward like a heavy missile, hurtling straight toward Xue Tianyu in midair.
His massive bear paw tore through the air, striking with the force to destroy everything in its path.
Watching the Vajra Bear rush at him like Mount Tai crashing down,
Xue Tianyu stood in midair, making no move to retreat.
His handsome face showed not the slightest flicker of emotion.
He was like a god high above the world, looking down on ants.
"Martial Soul Avatar?"
"So this is your final struggle?"
Xue Tianyu shook his head gently, his eyes filled with boundless contempt.
"Pathetic."
He slowly extended his right hand.
The Hundred-Thousand-Year God-Bestowed Soul Ring that had hovered around him all this time, radiating an eerie red glow, finally unleashed its terrifying power, enough to make heaven and earth change color!
Dark-red light swept over the entire world like a tangible substance.
The intricate ice-blue dragon patterns on the ring seemed to come alive, writhing wildly.
The absolute pressure of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring poured out without restraint.
The surrounding space groaned and crackled under its force.
Moisture in the air instantly condensed into countless razor-sharp icicles, hovering around Xue Tianyu.
Zhao Wuji, charging toward Xue Tianyu through the air, suddenly stiffened.
He felt a threat of death that made even his soul tremble.
It was the most primal power of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
An overwhelming gap that even his Martial Soul Avatar couldn't overcome!
But he was already in midair, with no way back.
He could only grit his teeth and pour all his Soul Power into his palms.
Xue Tianyu looked at the enormous bear paw only inches away.
The corner of his mouth lifted in a chilling smile.
The dark-red Soul Ring on his right arm suddenly contracted, and all its power converged wildly into his palm.
The Ice Heaven Snow Lotus that had been quietly blooming all this time
was suddenly stained with an eerie shade of blood.
Ultimate Ice and the God-Bestowed power fused perfectly.
A dark-red ice lotus, radiating an aura of destruction, slowly took shape in his palm.
Its petals quivered faintly, freezing the space around them and leaving fine cracks in their wake.
"Since you love risking your life so much,
then let me use it to consecrate this Hundred Thousand Year Soul Skill."
Xue Tianyu held the Dark Red Ice Lotus in his palm, his deep eyes brimming with murderous intent.
The Sixth Soul Ring blazed brightly, its dazzling red light illuminating the entire valley as if it were broad daylight.
Dark-red light swept over the entire world like a tangible substance.
The absolute pressure of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring poured out without restraint.
The surrounding space groaned and crackled under its force.
Moisture in the air instantly condensed into countless razor-sharp icicles, hovering around Xue Tianyu.
Sixth Soul Skill, Red Lotus Extreme Abyss!
Xue Tianyu clenched his fingers, and the dark-red ice lotus in his palm shot away.
Bearing the power of a Hundred-Thousand-Year God-Bestowed Soul Ring and Ultimate Ice, the lotus swelled as it caught the wind.
In the blink of an eye, it became a massive blood-red ice lotus over ten meters across, suspended in midair.
The Vajra Bear that Zhao Wuji had become had no time to change his move.
His gigantic paws, carrying the power to split mountains and shatter stone, struck the blood-red lotus's petals squarely.
There was no earth-shaking explosion, nor any violent surge of Soul Power.
The instant they touched, everything fell silent.
Zhao Wuji felt a terrifying cold, cold enough to freeze his very soul, rush from his paws into his extraordinary meridians.
His vaunted Martial Soul Avatar was as fragile as a sheet of paper before that dark-red frost.
The thick, dark-golden armor cracked apart inch by inch, falling in a shower of ice shards.
"Ah—!"
A scream of utter agony rang across the skies above Sunset Forest.
Zhao Wuji's massive bear body convulsed violently.
His arms were quickly covered in a layer of dark-red ice.
His flesh, bones, and even the Soul Power coursing through him were forcibly crystallized by that overwhelmingly domineering force.
Hovering in midair, Xue Tianyu looked down at Zhao Wuji as he struggled in agony.
He didn't even lift a finger, merely watching the cornered beast beneath the shadow of death.
The blood-red ice lotus slowly revolved.
Its dark-red petals were like the sharpest divine weapons in the world, easily slicing through the ice on Zhao Wuji's arms.
Crack!
A bone-chilling shatter rang through the night.
The entire right arm of Zhao Wuji's Martial Soul Avatar snapped clean off at the shoulder.
Not a drop of blood spurted from the severed stump.
His boiling blood had already turned into crimson ice shards under the extreme cold.
The enormous bear arm slammed onto the ground and shattered into pieces.
The excruciating pain drove Zhao Wuji out of his mind.
His Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar, could no longer be sustained. After a violent flicker of light, it shattered with a crash.
His enormous body plunged from the sky like a broken kite, smashing into the huge ice pit below.
The ground shook violently.
Sunken into the ice, Zhao Wuji vomited chunks of his frozen, mangled innards in mouthfuls.
His once-thick right arm was now gone, the wound covered in dark-red ice crystals.
His left arm was still there, but it was completely frozen stiff, hanging limply at his side like deadwood.
The Immovable Wisdom King, who had dominated the Soul Master World for years, was now in a wretched state, his eyes filled with horror and despair.
The icy wings behind Xue Tianyu fluttered lightly as he slowly descended to the edge of the pit.
His soles crunched on the shattered ice.
To Zhao Wuji, the sound was even more terrifying than the death god's funeral bell.
"Didn't you say you'd risk your life to kill me here?"
Frost Sword Qi formed once again in Xue Tianyu's hand, its tip aimed at Zhao Wuji at the bottom of the pit.
"Now your life is almost over. How come you haven't even touched the hem of my robe?"
Zhao Wuji gritted his teeth, trembling like a sieve.
Not from anger, but because the Ultimate Ice that had invaded his bones was devouring his life force.
The power of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring was more than a seventy-sixth-rank Soul Saint like him could withstand.
And this was a killing blow unleashed by a God-Bestowed Soul Ring!
He would die!
If he kept fighting today, he would definitely die at the hands of this terrifying boy!
His instinct to survive now overwhelmed the dignity of a Soul Saint.
Zhao Wuji bit through the tip of his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of essence blood.
Without hesitation, he burned what little Soul Power he had left, even at the cost of exhausting his life force.
His First and Second Soul Rings detonated at the same time.
A raging torrent of Soul Power burst before him, kicking up a thick cloud of yellow dust that instantly obscured the view.
Using the tremendous recoil from the Ring Detonation, Zhao Wuji kicked off the ground with one leg.
Like a stray dog, he dragged his battered body away and plunged headlong into the dark depths of Sunset Forest.
Run!
If he could just get back to Shrek Academy and find Flender, he could stay alive!
Watching Zhao Wuji smash through more than a dozen trees as he fled, Xue Tianyu made no move to chase him.
He even casually dispersed the Frost Sword Qi in his hand.
Ice Empress drifted down from a treetop to his side, her stunning face full of amusement.
"Tsk, tsk. I thought that big dumb bear had bones of steel."
"Once he realized he couldn't win, he lopped off an arm and burned his blood to escape. He runs faster than a rabbit."
Ice Empress lifted a slender jade finger and twirled the long, emerald-green hair falling across her chest.
"Tian Yu, you're really letting him get away? That's not like your usual style of leaving no grass to grow."
Xue Tianyu looked toward the blood trail Zhao Wuji had left through the forest and chuckled.
"Get away?"
"After taking my Red Lotus Extreme Abyss, that icy chill has already locked onto his heart."
"He isn't burning Soul Power now. He's speeding up the cold's attack on his heart."
Xue Tianyu started walking, unhurriedly following the bloodstains on the ground.
"This Sunset Forest is deserted. It's the perfect place to bury him."
"In a cat-and-mouse game, you have to let the mouse see a glimmer of hope it mistakes for its own, then crush it with your own hands. That's what makes it fun."
In the dense forest, Zhao Wuji charged blindly ahead like a maddened bull.
Thorns slashed his face, and branches tore at the remnants of his clothes.
But he didn't even dare stop to catch his breath.
Terrifying!
That boy called Xue Tianyu wasn't human. He was a god of slaughter who had crawled out of an icy hell!
As he raced on, Zhao Wuji desperately circulated his Soul Power to suppress his injuries.
But he discovered in despair that the dark-red chill was like a parasite clinging to his bones, creeping along his meridians toward his heart.
Every breath felt like swallowing countless ice knives, slicing painfully at his chest.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
Zhao Wuji cursed frantically to himself.
If he'd known that kid was a monster with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, he'd never have accepted the assassination mission, even if they beat him to death.
This wasn't going to kill someone. He'd practically come running to hand over his own head!
Just as he thought he'd put some safe distance between them,
a cool voice drifted through the forest like a ghost.
"Teacher Zhao, is this the law of survival taught at Shrek Academy?"
"When you can't win, you turn and run without even leaving a few tough words behind."
"Where'd all that bravado about snuffing me out in the cradle go?"
Xue Tianyu's voice wasn't loud, yet it pierced the howling wind with crystal clarity and reached Zhao Wuji's ears.
Zhao Wuji's scalp tingled, and he stumbled, nearly pitching headfirst into the mud.
He looked back in terror.
Deep in the pitch-black forest, a speck of icy-blue light was approaching at a terrifying speed.
Xue Tianyu's wings spread behind him as he flew low over the ground.
Everywhere he passed, the towering trees and the undergrowth were instantly frozen into glittering ice sculptures.
He was like an emperor strolling through his own garden, inspecting his prey.
"Kid, don't push me too far!"
Zhao Wuji's eyes bulged with rage as he ran and screamed hysterically.
"I'm the vice dean of Shrek Academy!"
"If you dare kill me today, Flender will never let you off!"
"Our Shrek Academy has a Titled Douluo backing us!"
At this life-or-death moment, Zhao Wuji could only drag out every powerful backer he had, hoping to make Xue Tianyu hesitate.
Hearing this utterly unoriginal threat, the mockery in Xue Tianyu's eyes deepened.
He gave his wings a fierce beat, and his speed surged once more.
His figure became a streak of light as he swept right over Zhao Wuji's head, landing firmly on a huge boulder dozens of meters ahead.
Ice Empress landed beside him, too, her gaze fixed on the charging Zhao Wuji as if he were already dead.
His way forward was blocked.
Zhao Wuji skidded to a halt. His massive momentum carved two deep furrows into the ground.
He panted heavily, his chest heaving, one hand clamped over his severed right shoulder.
Xue Tianyu held the newly re-formed Frost Sword Qi in one hand, pointing its tip at the surface of the boulder.
"A Titled Douluo backing you?"
"Are you talking about Tang San's deadbeat old man, Tang Hao, who spends all day hiding his face?"
Xue Tianyu's voice dripped with scorn.
"People from Shrek Academy are always the same."
"When you bully others with your strength, all you talk about is survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle."
"But the moment you hit a wall and find yourself the weaker one, you start calling in favors and citing your connections, hoping to use someone else's name to save your worthless hide."
Xue Tianyu walked slowly down from the boulder. With each step, the temperature around him dropped another degree.
"Too bad. That won't work on me."
"Even if Tang Hao stood right here today, you'd still die."
As Zhao Wuji watched Xue Tianyu steadily close in, the fear in his eyes finally reached its peak.
The chill inside his body had already erupted. His legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead; even moving one step was beyond his reach.
His blood stopped flowing, and his heartbeat slowed to a crawl.
"No... You can't kill me..."
Zhao Wuji fell to his knees with a thud, his once ferocious face now filled with pleading.
"I admit defeat! I'll kowtow and apologize!"
"Just spare my life, and I swear Shrek Academy will never bother you again!"
"I'll be your ox or horse, I'll..."
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