Martial Soul Fusion Skill

The Yellow Springs Snake King that Ming He had transformed into slithered across the ground, its body covered in dark purple scales. Bloodthirsty, eerie light gleamed in its snake eyes as venomous saliva dripped from its fangs, instantly corroding the hard ice into deep pits.

Its tail lashed silently toward Jiang Che's lower back with enough force to shatter anything in its path. Its Soul Rings flashed as the Eighth Soul Skill, Yellow Springs Poison Fang, finished charging. Deadly soul-corroding venom gathered on its fangs, ready to pierce straight through Jiang Che's body in a single strike.

The Soul-Devouring Bone Tiger roared from the front. Its black bone claws, wreathed in gray-white flames that burned souls and gnawed at bones, raked toward Jiang Che's face.

Silver-blue light swirled in Jiang Che's eyes. He paid no attention to the two Evil Soul Master Titled Douluo attacking him from either side.

"Know your place."

Jiang Che spoke four words softly. "Seventh Soul Skill, Ice Dragon Avatar! Sixth Soul Skill, Winter's Protection!"

"Second Soul Skill, Dragon Transformation! Third Soul Skill, Ice Dragon Claw!"

Jiang Che unleashed four Soul Skills in one breath. His Second, Third, Sixth, and Seventh Soul Rings flashed simultaneously.

Silver-blue light surged as Jiang Che's body suddenly grew. Crystal-clear ice scales covered him from head to toe, and a pair of massive ice wings unfurled from his back, spanning three meters. He was much smaller than Gu Qianye and Ming He, but his presence utterly eclipsed theirs.

At the same time, the Sixth Soul Skill, "Winter's Protection," did not form a semicircular sheet of thin ice as it had last time. Instead, it condensed into a layer of translucent ice armor over his body.

His Second Soul Skill, "Dragon Transformation," and Third Soul Skill, "Ice Dragon Claw," stacked over his avatar, and his arms instantly became fearsome dragon claws.

The radiance of all four Soul Rings merged with his avatar, and Jiang Che's aura surged to a suffocating intensity.

The attacks from both sides arrived almost simultaneously.

The Soul-Devouring Bone Tiger's gray-white bone claw, wrapped in soul-burning flames, slammed toward Jiang Che's face. Those flames were no ordinary fire but Evil Fire made to scorch the soul. Even a Soul Douluo would suffer grievous injuries from the slightest touch.

The Yellow Springs Snake King's tail silently whipped toward Jiang Che's lower back. The dark purple scales along it stood on end, and venom that had corroded the ice still clung to its tip.

The Eighth Soul Skill, "Yellow Springs Poison Fang," was fully charged. The moment Jiang Che showed the slightest opening, those fangs would sink into his flesh.

Jiang Che did not dodge. In his Ice Dragon Avatar, he did not even turn to look.

He raised his right claw and met the Soul-Devouring Bone Tiger's bone claw head-on.

With a crisp crack, the claws collided. There was no explosion, no shock wave—only the clear sound of freezing over.

The gray-white soul-burning flames turned to ice the instant they touched the Ice Dragon Claw, as if doused with liquid nitrogen.

Within a second, a layer of deep blue ice encased the Soul-Devouring Bone Tiger's entire bone claw, and began creeping up his arm.

"What!" Gu Qianye cried in alarm, desperately driving his Soul Power to shatter the ice. But the flames that burned souls were Evil Fire of a yin nature, while Jiang Che's Ice Dragon Avatar wielded Ultimate Ice. Their attributes placed him at an absolute disadvantage.

At the same time, the Yellow Springs Snake King was less than half a foot from Jiang Che's lower back.

But the ice wings on Jiang Che's back gently folded together.

"Clink!"

The Snake King's fangs struck the scales of his ice wing, sending a few ice chips flying. The Yellow Springs Snake King's pupils shrank as he realized his venom could not penetrate that layer of ice.

"Fall back!"

Ming He reacted instantly, jerking his serpent body backward and narrowly avoiding Jiang Che's returning claw.

But the tips of his fangs had still been frozen off. The fragments fell to the ground as ice chips, landing with a faint, brittle crackle.

Ming He was horrified. He was a Level 92 Titled Douluo, and his Eighth Soul Ring came from a seventy-thousand-year-old poison-type Soul Beast. The venom of Yellow Springs Poison Fang was so potent that even Titled Douluo of the same rank dared not take it head-on.

Yet Jiang Che had simply stood there, relying on a single Soul Skill to render Ming He's proudest killing move completely useless. He had not even managed to break through the other man's defenses.

"Sixth Soul Skill, Ten Thousand Snakes Soul Devouring!"

Ming He let out a shrill cry as his Sixth Soul Ring erupted. His serpentine body swelled several times over, and thousands of purple beams, like poisonous needles, shot from the dark purple scales covering him.

Once they left his body, the beams transformed into countless illusory venomous snakes. They blanketed half the sky, each one baring its fangs as they swept toward Jiang Che in a crushing wave.

This was Ming He's signature area attack. He did not expect to kill his opponent in one blow; he only needed to wear him down with poison and soul corrosion, then give Gu Qianye the chance to land a fatal strike.

At the same time, Gu Qianye endured the agony of his frozen right arm. The Soul-Devouring Bone Tiger Avatar roared, its black bones crackling as the deep blue ice encasing its claw suddenly shattered.

"Eighth Soul Skill, Soul Devouring Storm!"

Gu Qianye's Eighth Soul Ring blazed with black light. He threw open the Bone Tiger's jaws, unleashing a black storm shot through with gray-white soul flames. Countless twisted faces of vengeful spirits appeared and vanished within it, wailing sharply as it surged toward Jiang Che with terrifying power that devoured souls.

The two Titled Douluo unleashed their Soul Skills together. The temperature inside Ice Valley turned abruptly bizarre: on one side was the piercing chill of Ultimate Ice, and on the other was the cold, rancid aura unique to Evil Soul Masters. The two forces collided, stirring up a skyful of ice chips and black mist.

"Not bad."

Jiang Che stood motionless at the heart of the storm, his Ice Dragon Avatar utterly still. His silver-blue dragon eyes watched the countless venomous snake phantoms and the Soul Devouring Storm rushing toward him with cool indifference.

He did not retreat a single step, nor did he show any intention of dodging.

Ice Empress had already taken Huo Yuhao several miles away. Her yellow-diamond eyes calmly watched the battle, without the slightest trace of worry—instead, they held a keen interest, like a hunter who had spotted worthy prey.

She had made a bet with Jiang Che, wagering on how far this human could go. Now it seemed her judgment was as sharp as ever.

"Seventh Soul Skill, Ice Hurricane!"

Jiang Che gave a low shout. His Seventh Soul Ring glimmered red. This was the second Soul Skill granted by his Seventh Soul Ring after it had advanced to a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.

The Ice Dragon Avatar's wings swept together, then spread wide. A raging surge of Ultimate Ice Soul Power burst from within him like crashing waves.

Two blue-white torrents imbued with the power of Ultimate Ice swept outward. Wherever they passed, Ming He's Ten Thousand Snakes Soul Devouring phantoms froze soundlessly, like thin paper consumed by flames, then shattered and scattered as a shower of ice crystals.

Gu Qianye's Soul Devouring Storm was torn open by a massive gap. The vengeful spirits wailed as they were sealed in ice, turning into tiny blue crystals before they could even scream.

"That's it?"

Jiang Che sneered. The force of the wind swept from his dragon wings had not yet faded; it slammed straight into Gu Qianye and Ming He, forcing the two Titled Douluo to retreat several steps before they could barely regain their footing.

Gu Qianye's face turned ashen. Though he had shattered the ice on his right arm, the frigid energy of Ultimate Ice had already seeped into his meridians. His entire arm was numb, and his Soul Power flowed sluggishly.

Ming He was in even more pain over his losses. He had spent so much Soul Power unleashing Ten Thousand Snakes Soul Devouring, only for his opponent to nullify it with a casual strike without posing the slightest threat.

"Big brother, there's something wrong with this kid!" Ming He sent him a trembling voice transmission. "His Ultimate Ice happens to counter us. If we keep fighting, we'll be the ones who suffer."

How could Gu Qianye not know? Though the Soul-Devouring Bone Tiger was a Beast Martial Soul, its attributes leaned toward the yin and sinister. Jiang Che's Ice Dragon King Martial Soul not only countered him by nature but also carried the pressure of a dragon, naturally suppressing all Beast Martial Souls.

"We can't retreat!" Gu Qianye gritted his teeth, the crimson soul fire flickering in his eye sockets. "His talent is terrifying. If we don't kill him today, he'll become a grave threat in the future. We'll join forces and use that move!"

Ming He paused, then nodded gravely.

The two had cultivated side by side for decades and had long since become of one mind. The "move" Gu Qianye spoke of was their trump-card Martial Soul Fusion Skill—Underworld Bone Yellow Springs Domain!