Xue Tianyu smiled faintly, an extremely confident look appearing on his tender little face.
He clasped his hands behind his back, standing tall and straight, his tone calm.
"Sure."
"Come at me. I won't disappoint you."
Just then, Snow Empress also landed gracefully.
Looking at the peerlessly handsome Xue Tianyu before her, with his extraordinary bearing, Snow Empress couldn't help but stare at him in a daze.
This little guy was now so domineering. He didn't look the least bit like the baby he'd been six years ago.
She remembered how, six years ago, she'd held him in her arms while completely naked. She'd even secretly smacked his chubby little bottom on a whim, just to indulge her mischievous side.
At the thought of it, two lovely blushes instantly bloomed on Snow Empress's fair, jade-like face.
Even her crystalline earlobes grew burning hot.
What on earth am I thinking...
Snow Empress hurriedly shook her head, trying to dispel those embarrassing, wicked thoughts from her mind.
She cleared her throat twice to cover up her fluster, then looked at Ice Empress.
"Bing'er, you can test his moves."
"But he's only just awakened, so you must suppress your strength to level ten. Be sure not to hurt him."
Ice Empress confidently patted her ample chest, her twin ponytails bouncing wildly.
"Don't worry, big sister."
"I know what I'm doing."
With that, Ice Empress's delicate body shuddered.
Her vast, ocean-like aura quickly contracted, and in the blink of an eye, it was suppressed to level ten.
Even so, as one of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North, her wealth of battle experience and mastery over ice and snow far surpassed that of an ordinary level-ten Soul Master.
"Little guy, are you ready?"
"This emperor won't go easy on you!"
Ice Empress took up a fighting stance, a confident smile curling her lips as she beckoned Xue Tianyu with one finger.
Xue Tianyu didn't answer. He simply took half a step forward.
He slowly raised his right hand, joined his fingers like a sword, and lightly pointed into the air.
The entire movement flowed as smoothly as running water. Not only was there no hint of awkwardness, it also carried an indescribable, effortless elegance.
Buzz!
The air in front of his fingertip suddenly shook violently.
A dark-blue sword qi, formed from the power of extreme cold, took shape in an instant.
A dense storm of ice crystals swirled around the sword qi, its razor-sharp edge sending a chill through the heart.
"Go."
Xue Tianyu gave a soft shout and flicked his finger.
The Frost Sword Qi shot toward Ice Empress like lightning tearing through the firmament, accompanied by a sharp, piercing whistle.
So fast!
A flicker of surprise flashed through Ice Empress's eyes.
She hadn't expected the attack to be so swift.
Relying on instincts honed through countless battles to the death, Ice Empress quickly crossed her arms in front of herself.
A thick ice-crystal shield instantly formed before her.
Boom!
The sword qi slammed hard into the ice-crystal shield, erupting with a deafening crash.
Countless ice shards sprayed wildly in every direction like Hidden Weapons.
The next moment.
Ice Empress's expression changed abruptly. She felt a force as mighty as a landslide and tsunami surge through the shield.
Her delicate body couldn't withstand the impact. Her feet slid several meters backward across the snow, carving out two deep furrows.
Snow Empress, who had been watching from the side, now had her beautiful eyes wide and her red lips parted, her face full of disbelief.
Ice Empress, at level ten, had actually been knocked backward head-on?
Ice Empress was the bearer of Ultimate Ice, after all, and had such a wealth of combat experience.
And Xue Tianyu had only just awakened!
After a brief moment of shock, Snow Empress's eyes blazed with fervent excitement.
She looked at the handsome little figure standing with his hands behind his back, her admiration practically spilling from her eyes.
As expected of a senior who had reincarnated. His strength was simply heaven-defying.
Ice Empress steadied herself, waves of shock crashing through her heart as well.
She looked down at the hands with which she'd just formed the ice shield.
Its surface was already covered in a web of cracks.
Even more terrifying, an overbearing Frost aura had seeped through the shield and silently eaten its way into her arms.
They were both ice-aligned.
Yet she, the old ancestor of ice, had actually been suppressed by her opponent in their own element.
The cold made her arms throb with pain.
"What incredible cold!"
"Looks like if I don't show him what I can really do, this little guy's going to make a fool of me today!"
Ice Empress gritted her teeth, her fighting spirit soaring.
Before she could regroup,
Xue Tianyu raised his hand again, light flaring brightly at his fingertips.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three even thicker, denser blasts of Frost Sword Qi shot out in succession, forming a triangle that completely sealed off Ice Empress's escape route.
Feeling the terrifying force attached to those three sword qi, Ice Empress didn't dare try to block them head-on this time.
She pushed off hard with her feet, her body transforming into a streak of emerald light as she narrowly dodged through the gaps between the sword qi.
The sword qi struck the glacier behind her and sliced away more than half the mountaintop.
After evading the attack, Ice Empress stopped in midair and called out loudly.
"Little guy, be careful!"
"Now I'm going on the offensive!"
Before her voice had even faded,
Ice Empress suddenly brought her hands together in front of her chest, driving her level-ten Soul Power to its limit.
A ring of green light burst from her body.
Soul Skill: Ice Emperor Pincer!
An incredibly dense power of ice quickly gathered around and reinforced her tender arms.
In the blink of an eye, her hands and forearms became a pair of dazzling, diamond-hard ice pincers.
The pincers were not only like two peerless divine weapons, unbreakable by anything, but also carried tremendous crushing power.
Ice Empress shot forward like an arrow released from its bow, a long string of sonic booms trailing behind her as she plunged straight toward Xue Tianyu.
Her pincers swung, warping even the space around them.
Faced with such a ferocious close-combat killing move, Xue Tianyu remained extraordinarily calm.
His hands stayed clasped behind his back, and his feet seemed rooted to the spot. He neither dodged nor flinched.
"Tian Yu, dodge!"
Seeing this from afar, Snow Empress's heart leaped into her throat, and she cried out.
The Ice Emperor Pincer had immense offensive power. Even with her level suppressed, its destructive force was no joke.
She was afraid the little guy would get hurt because of his overconfidence.
Ice Empress, who had charged close, also realized something was wrong.
Seeing Xue Tianyu standing there completely undefended, she panicked, afraid she'd accidentally smash this precious little treasure to pieces.
Ice Empress hurriedly tried to force herself to pull back some of her strength.
However.
The instant the massive ice pincers came within half a foot of Xue Tianyu's face,
the air around him suddenly solidified, as if frozen by a spell.
First Innate Talent: Nirvana Ice—Activated!
A thick protective shield of ice, shimmering with mysterious blue light, appeared out of nowhere before him.
Ancient frost runes flickered and interwove across the shield's surface, giving it an aura of unbreakable solidity.
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