The Ice Empress Strikes! A Thousand Miles of Ice! Emperor of the Far North! Dugu Bo Was Stunned!

"Plop!"

Dugu Yan's legs went weak. She stood on the damp shore, unable to utter another word.

Dugu Bo, transformed into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, felt his enormous serpentine body twitch involuntarily beneath the pressure of that aura.

"Martial Soul... suppression..."

His lantern-sized snake eyes fixed on the figure shrouded in Primordial Shark Shadow as he forced out a few words.

"What... are you, exactly?"

"Ten... a hundred-thousand-year..."

Dugu Bo's voice was filled with utter shock and disbelief.

An eighteen-year-old Soul Sage.

A Soul Sage whose Seventh Soul Ring was a hundred-thousand-year ring.

Dugu Yan, crumpled on the ground, had already lost her wits.

Pride? Revenge?

In that moment, they had become the most laughable jokes in the world.

The family she had been so proud of, the grandfather she had relied on, both seemed insignificant before the figure shrouded in Primordial Shark Shadow.

Scorpion Girl showed no trace of fear. Instead, her purple eyes shone brilliantly, brimming with fervent admiration.

"I knew it!"

"I knew my master was the best!"

She clenched her fists, whispering excitedly.

By the lakeside.

Dugu Bo's "Time Stasis" still enveloped the space.

Yet within the enormous Azure Shark Shadow, Lan stood tall, seemingly untouched.

He simply watched the horrified Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor in calm silence.

Then he raised a hand.

Boom!

The deafening crash did not come from the world around them. It was as if the ocean floor of another dimension had suddenly erupted!

All of the frozen time and space shattered like a mirror struck by immense force.

The endless phantom shadows around Lan transformed into a true abyssal sea. A solid blue shark, larger than the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, roared as it burst through the "surface"!

Time began to flow again.

The restraint vanished in an instant.

"Seventh Soul Skill, Abyssal Shark Hunt."

Lan's voice rang out, calm yet bearing the weight of judgment from the abyss.

The blue shark soared skyward and circled once. Its enormous body suddenly broke apart, becoming nine even denser and faster Shark Spirits!

The nine spirits were a deep blue, as if made from the purest water element and vengeful souls. They moved without a sound, yet radiated an aura that devoured all things as they lunged toward Dugu Bo's enormous serpentine body!

"You!"

Dugu Bo came back to his senses. His jaws gaped as his fifth and sixth Soul Rings blazed at once!

"Jade Phosphorous Divine Light!"

"Serpent Python Celestial Shield!"

A massive shield blending deadly poison and Soul Power instantly formed before him. It was thick and heavy, radiating a terrifying corrosive aura.

This was his strongest defensive Soul Skill combination!

Yet in the next instant, Dugu Bo's lantern-sized snake eyes shrank to pinpoints.

The nine deep-blue Shark Spirits showed no regard for the poisonous shield he took such pride in. They passed straight through without slowing down in the slightest!

It was as if the impenetrable shield of Soul Power were nothing but an illusion.

"What?!"

Dugu Bo's mind went blank.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft...

All nine Shark Spirits plunged into the enormous Avatar of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor.

"Ignored... my defense?"

Dugu Bo struggled to lift his head, his face full of disbelief as he stared fixedly at the young man standing calmly before him.

"What kind of bizarre thing is this... It's like a ghost..."

"Are you even human, brat?"

Pain exploded inside him. The nine Shark Spirits were like nine frigid abysses, rampaging within his Martial Soul Avatar and devouring his Soul Power.

"Brat!"

"You forced me to do this!"

Dugu Bo abruptly lifted his massive snake head, his lantern-like eyes blood-red.

His ninth and final Soul Ring erupted with unprecedented brilliance!

A destructive aura instantly enveloped the entire lakeside.

Even Scorpion Girl and Dugu Yan, watching from a distance, felt a shudder that seemed to rise from their very souls.

"Ninth Soul Skill, Jade Phosphorous Divine Light!"

Dugu Bo opened his gaping jaws.

A beam of inky green light, not particularly thick but concentrated to the utmost, as if capable of corroding all things, tore through the air and shot straight at Lan!

The space along its path groaned with an unbearable sizzling sound.

This was his most powerful single-target attack.

Lan's expression remained calm.

He could sense the terrifying power contained in the beam, but did not believe it could threaten his life.

Just as he raised his hand, preparing to shatter it with even greater force—

Crack!

A crisp, thunderous sound rang out.

A wall of crystal-clear ice, radiating bone-deep cold, surged from the earth without warning, blocking Lan from the beam.

The inky green Jade Phosphorous Divine Light slammed into the ice wall!

There was no explosion.

Only the shrill sounds of corrosion and freezing, intertwined.

A huge hole was eaten through the wall before their eyes, but more and more frigid air surged in from every direction, repairing and thickening it even faster.

The Jade Phosphorous Divine Light was forcibly stopped.

At that moment, a clear, melodious girl's voice, touched with a hint of impish mischief, rang across the silent lakeside.

"You old geezer, all you know how to do is bully the weak."

The voice paused, sounding almost disgusted.

"Pah!"

A petite figure had appeared atop the ice wall.

She wore a spotless, jade-green dress. Her delicately sculpted face bore an arrogance and disdain quite at odds with her apparent age.

A moment later, she leapt lightly, drifting down beside Lan like a weightless feather.

The girl turned around.

An adorable and utterly familiar face came into view.

At last, a ripple crossed Lan's calm face: a smile mixed with surprise and warmth.

"Aunt Bing!"

It was none other than the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, the Ice Empress!

The Ice Empress tipped up her little face. The moment she saw Lan, the arrogance on her face melted into tenderness. Rising onto her toes, she reached out and patted his arm.

"Lan'er, don't be afraid. Aunt Bing is here!"

Then, as if remembering something, she turned toward Dugu Bo and shook her small, fair fist at him.

"Just watch me beat him into submission!"

With that, the Ice Empress turned back to face the enormous Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor.

In that instant, her expression changed.

If she had looked like a child, with all her sweet innocence and arrogance, now she was an emperor ruling over all beneath heaven!

An indescribable zero-degree cold, born from the ancient primordial age, erupted around her!

Crack—

Crack, crack, crack—

The earth beneath her feet instantly froze into permafrost that would never thaw.

The lake nearby thundered deafeningly.

Starting at the surface, its vast waters froze at an unthinkable speed, all the way down to the lakebed!