A sudden surge of cold erupted around Jiang Che. Pale blue light poured wildly from within him, transforming in an instant into the phantom of an ice dragon coiling between heaven and earth. Its head reared high, whiskers streaming, and its icy gaze met the Ice Empress's yellow-diamond eyes from afar without giving an inch.
Accompanied by the low hum of Soul Rings, nine rings slowly rose from beneath his feet.
Black, black, black, black, black, black, black, red, red. Jiang Che saw a flicker of surprise in the Ice Empress's eyes when the Eighth Soul Ring appeared. By the time the Ninth Soul Ring emerged, deep wariness had already surfaced in her gaze.
Clearly, she had recognized Jiang Che's five-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring. That was a Soul Beast two levels above even her.
The phantom ice dragon around Jiang Che roared, its cry shaking the heavens. The sound waves carried bone-piercing cold across the entire Far North sky. He stood tall at the heart of the freezing air, nine Soul Rings revolving without end. The first seven, deep black rings, were steady and weighty; the eighth and ninth, vivid red rings, hung beneath his feet like two undying flames, spreading the terrifying pressure of a five-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring to the fullest.
He looked up at the Ice Empress, his ice-blue eyes as cold as primordial ice. His voice carried through the freezing air, low but brimming with unquestionable authority. Each word struck the Ice Empress's heart. "Ice Empress! Are you truly determined to fight me?"
As his words fell, the phantom ice dragon suddenly stretched out its body and planted a massive claw in the air. Fine patterns of ice spread across the entire space. The aura of Ultimate Ice erupted in full, faintly suppressing even the source chill of the Far North.
Seeing that Jiang Che, a mere Titled Douluo, could unleash strength on par with a Super Douluo, the Ice Empress felt a twinge of regret. But the arrow was already on the string; she had no choice but to let it fly. If she backed down, wouldn't she bring shame upon the Three Heavenly Kings of the Far North? How could she rule the Far North after that?
"Human, if you kneel and apologize, this empress may consider forgiving you!" After a pause, the Ice Empress decided to give a little ground. In her eyes, this was already a major concession.
"First Soul Skill, Dragon Might!"
"Second Soul Skill, Dragon Transformation!"
"Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar!"
Seeing that the Ice Empress was set on fighting, Jiang Che said no more. He activated three enhancement Soul Skills in succession, and his aura surged once again, like an ancient snow-capped peak thrusting up from the earth, impossible to look upon.
The phantom ice dragon, once indistinct, suddenly solidified. Its pale blue glow grew so dense it was nearly tangible, and every shimmering scale stood out in crisp detail.
The air shook violently. The gravity around Jiang Che shifted in an instant, and even the Soul Beast horde in the distance trembled and cowered on the ground, not daring to move.
For the first time, the Ice Empress's expression truly darkened.
"Insufferable human!" the Ice Empress shouted angrily. Killing intent boiled in her yellow-diamond eyes. She stopped holding back, and emerald light rippled across the entire sky.
That icy jade-green glow swept across the heavens, forcibly driving back Jiang Che's pale blue chill by a fraction.
The interwoven white and green armor around the Ice Empress suddenly blazed with dazzling light. Its raised hexagonal, diamond-like plates flashed with cold radiance, as if billions of ice crystals had burst apart all at once. The source pressure of the 399,900-year-old Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, a Ferocious Beast, erupted completely. Invisible waves of force spread from her, instantly hardening the surrounding snow into solid ice. Even the wind froze completely, and the natural energy of the Far North Ice Plains bowed beneath her pressure, freezing inch by inch.
That was the absolute power accumulated by a Soul Beast over nearly four hundred thousand years of cultivation, the domineering presence unique to the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North. It crashed hard against the pressure of Jiang Che's Ice Dragon Martial Soul Avatar. The entire ice plain shook violently with the collision. Several icebergs buckled beneath the strain and collapsed with a thunderous roar, sending snow mist billowing into the sky.
The Ice Empress lightly planted her six slender limbs. Countless web-like ice patterns spread across the layer of ice beneath her feet, racing straight toward Jiang Che.
Her pair of Ice Jade pincers, each a meter long, opened and closed slightly, their silver-white tips gleaming with a cold light that could pierce anything. Fury blazed in her yellow-diamond eyes. "Since you insist on courting death, this empress will grant your wish!"
Before her words had even faded, the Ice Empress transformed into a streak of emerald light. She moved so fast that several afterimages hung in the air. The jade-colored chill around her suddenly gathered on her pincers, and with enough force to tear through space, she snapped them viciously toward Jiang Che's chest and abdomen!
This was the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's inborn attack. It had no Soul Skill name, yet contained the purest power of Ultimate Ice. Space itself warped faintly wherever it passed. Jiang Che felt the chill around him surge, and his movements faltered for a moment. The protective cold surrounding his Ice Dragon Martial Soul Avatar was actually eroded away by more than half.
"Fifth Soul Skill, Dragon King Charge!" Facing the Ice Empress's furious strike, Jiang Che remained completely calm and used his Fifth Soul Skill to meet her head-on.
Jiang Che roared. The power of his Fifth Soul Skill instantly flooded his body, and the pressure of his Ice Dragon Martial Soul Avatar climbed again. Layer upon layer of mysterious patterns lit up across his pale blue dragon scales.
He stomped hard, cracking the ice beneath him into pieces, then shot forward as a roaring streak of ice-blue light. Instead of retreating, he charged straight at the Ice Empress's pincers. The muscles in his Dragon-Transformed right arm swelled beneath its thick covering of ice-dragon scales, and he slammed it toward those gleaming pincers with unstoppable force.
"Boom—!"
The instant fist met pincers, a deafening crash tore through the silence of the Far North Ice Plains. A terrifying shock wave exploded outward from the point of impact. The ice within a hundred yards was swept away in an instant, revealing the black frozen earth beneath.
Jiang Che felt an irresistible force surge through his arm, churning his blood and filling his throat with sweetness. His body flew backward against his will, carving a deep furrow dozens of meters long across the ice before he finally managed to steady himself.
The Ice Empress fared no better. Her supposedly indestructible pincers were left tingling from the impact, and a fine crack appeared on their silver-white tips. Her six limbs tapped rapidly against the ice, only just dispersing the domineering force of the blow. A flash of shock crossed her yellow-diamond eyes.
How could this human's strength be so terrifying?
Jiang Che wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The battle spirit in his ice-blue eyes burned brighter. He suddenly raised a hand, and the solidified ice-dragon phantom behind him let out a roar that shook the clouds. Its enormous claw seized at the air, gathering the surrounding cold in an instant and condensing it into a several-yard-long ice-blue spear etched with dragon patterns.
"Your attacks are nothing special!" Jiang Che's voice boomed like thunder. Clutching the ice-dragon spear, he shot forward once more. The spearhead cut through the sky with a shrill whistle, thrusting straight for the Ice Empress's brow!
The Ice Empress laughed in furious disbelief, killing intent glinting in her yellow-diamond eyes. "Arrogant human! Do you really think this empress's nearly four hundred thousand years of cultivation are for show?"
She swept her long tail. The light on its five jade-green segments blazed, and the tail stinger flashed coldly as it swung toward the ice-dragon spear. At the same time, jade-colored chill surged wildly around her, condensing into a thick shield covered in diamond-shaped ice patterns. The power of Ultimate Ice flowed across it, radiating a chilling aura that made the heart tremble.
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