Martial Soul Fusion Skill

The Yellow Springs Snake King, manifested by Ming He, coiled its body, its entire form covered in dark purple scales. Its snake eyes glowed with a bloodthirsty, eerie light, and as its highly toxic saliva dripped, it instantly corroded the hard ice surface into deep pits.

The snake tail, carrying the force of a landslide, whipped silently toward Jiang Che's lower back. As his Soul Ring glowed, his eighth soul skill, Yellow Springs Poison Fang, was already fully charged; the fangs were condensed with lethal soul-corroding venom, vowing to pierce through Jiang Che's body in a single strike.

Directly in front, the Soul-Devouring Bone Tiger roared, its pitch-black bone claws wreathed in gray-white soul-burning flames as it slashed fiercely toward Jiang Che's face.

A silver-blue halo swirled in the depths of Jiang Che's eyes, and he acted as if he were blind to the two Evil Soul Master Title Douluos attacking him from front and back.

"Seeking death."

Jiang Che spat out the two words softly, "Seventh soul skill, Ice Dragon True Body! Sixth soul skill, Winter Guardian!"

"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 flashing simultaneously.

Jiang Che's body surged in size amidst the silver-blue radiance, crystalline dragon scales covering his entire frame. A pair of massive ice wings unfurled from his back, spanning three meters; though smaller than the forms of Gu Qianye and Ming He, his aura completely crushed theirs.

At the same moment, his sixth soul skill, "Winter Guardian," did not form a semi-circular thin ice shield as it had before, but instead condensed into a layer of translucent ice crystal armor upon his skin.

With the second soul skill "Dragon Transformation" and third soul skill "Ice Dragon Claw" layered onto his True Body, his arms instantly transformed into ferocious dragon claws.

The brilliance of the four soul rings merged with his True Body, and Jiang Che's aura skyrocketed to a suffocating level.

The pincer attacks arrived almost simultaneously.

The Soul-Devouring Bone Tiger's gray-white bone claws, carrying soul-burning flames, slammed toward Jiang Che's face. These were no ordinary flames, but Evil Fire specifically designed to incinerate the soul; even a standard Soul Douluo would be severely wounded by a mere touch.

The Yellow Springs Snake King's tail whipped silently toward Jiang Che's lower back, the dark purple scales on the tail standing on end, the tip still dripping with the venom that had corroded the ice.

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. Under the state of his Ice Dragon True Body, he did not even look back.

He gently raised his right claw, meeting the Bone Tiger's bone claw head-on.

With a crisp "crack," the two claws collided. There was no explosion, no shockwave, only the sound of freezing.

The moment the gray-white soul-burning flames touched the Ice Dragon Claw, it was as if they had been doused in liquid nitrogen, instantly turning from flickering flames into ice crystals.

The Soul-Devouring Bone Tiger's entire bone claw was encased in a layer of deep blue ice within a second, and that ice continued to spread upward along its arm.

"What!" Gu Qianye was shocked, frantically channeling his soul power in an attempt to shatter the ice. However, his soul-burning fire was an yin-attribute Evil Fire, while Jiang Che's Ice Dragon True Body was Ultimate Ice, forming an absolute suppression in terms of attributes.

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

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

"Ding!"

The Snake King's venomous fangs bit into the scales of the ice wings, sending a few ice shards flying. The Yellow Springs Snake King's pupils constricted, for he discovered that his venom could not penetrate that layer of ice crystals at all.

"Retreat!"

Ming He reacted with lightning speed, his snake body jerking backward, narrowly dodging a retaliatory claw swipe from Jiang Che.

Yet, the tips of his fangs were frozen off, shattering into ice grit that fell to the ground with a faint, crisp sound.

Ming He was terrified. He was a level 92 Title Douluo, and his eighth soul ring had been harvested from a 70,000-year-old poison-attribute soul beast. The toxicity of his Yellow Springs Poison Fang was so fierce that even Title Douluos of the same rank dared not take it head-on.

Yet, this Jiang Che before him had stood still, relying on a single soul skill to render his proudest killing move completely ineffective, failing even to break through the opponent's defense.

"Sixth soul skill, Ten Thousand Snakes Soul Devouring!"

Ming He let out a shrill cry, his sixth soul ring erupting. His snake body swelled several times over, and his dark purple scales exploded with ten thousand purple rays of light, like poisonous needles.

Once those purple rays left his body, they transformed into countless illusory poisonous snakes, densely covering half the sky. Each one bared its fangs, swarming toward Jiang Che in an overwhelming tide.

This was Ming He's signature area-of-effect attack; he did not seek a one-hit kill, but rather to exhaust his opponent with poison and soul erosion, creating an opening for Gu Qianye to land a fatal blow.

Meanwhile, Gu Qianye endured the excruciating pain of his frozen right arm. His Soul-Devouring Bone Tiger True Body roared, his pitch-black bones clicking, and the layer of deep blue ice covering his bone claw suddenly shattered.

"Eighth soul skill, Soul Devouring Storm!"

Gu Qianye's eighth soul ring flared with black light. He threw his massive bone tiger maw wide open, and a black storm mixed with gray-white soul-burning flames erupted from his throat. Within the storm, countless twisted, resentful faces flickered in and out of existence, emitting sharp wails. Carrying the terrifying power to devour souls, it lunged straight at Jiang Che.

As the two Title Douluos unleashed their soul skills simultaneously, the temperature in the ice valley turned bizarre. On one side was the biting chill of Ultimate Ice, and on the other, the cold, rotting stench unique to Evil Soul Masters. The two forces collided, kicking up a sky full of ice shards and black mist.

"Interesting."

Jiang Che stood at the center of the storm, his Ice Dragon True Body motionless. His silver-blue dragon eyes watched the overwhelming tide of illusory snakes and the soul-devouring storm with indifference.

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

Behind him, the Ice Empress had already retreated several miles away with Huo Yuhao. Her yellow diamond-like eyes watched the battlefield quietly, without a hint of worry, but rather with a touch of keen interest.

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 spoke in a low voice, his seventh soul ring flashing with red light. This was the second soul skill provided after his seventh soul ring had been upgraded to a 100,000-year level.

The wings of the Ice Dragon True Body snapped shut and then unfurled, and the violent soul power of Ultimate Ice erupted from his body like a surging tide.

Two ice-blue waves of air, carrying the power of Ultimate Ice, swept outward. Wherever they passed, the illusory snakes of Ming He's Ten Thousand Snakes Soul Devouring were like thin paper burned by flames—silently freezing, shattering, and dissipating into a sky full of ice crystal dust.

Gu Qianye's Soul Devouring Storm was torn open, leaving a massive gap. Those wailing, resentful souls were frozen solid, turning into tiny deep-blue ice crystals before they could even let out a scream.

"Is that all?"

Jiang Che sneered, the lingering shockwaves from his dragon wings slamming directly into Gu Qianye and Ming He, forcing the two Title Douluo to retreat several steps before they could barely steady themselves.

Gu Qianye's face turned livid; although his right arm had shattered the ice, the chill of the Ultimate Ice had already invaded his meridians, leaving the entire limb numb and his soul power circulation sluggish.

Ming He was gasping in distress; the Ten Thousand Snakes Soul Devouring he had unleashed at the cost of so much soul power had been effortlessly dismantled by his opponent's casual strike, failing to pose even the slightest threat.

"Big Brother, this brat isn't right!" Ming He transmitted his voice, his tone trembling. "His Ultimate Ice happens to slightly counter us. If we keep fighting like this, we're going to suffer."

How could Gu Qianye not know? Although his Soul-Devouring Bone Tiger martial soul was a beast-type, its attributes leaned toward the sinister and evil, while Jiang Che's Ice Dragon King martial soul not only countered his attributes but also carried the dragon race's pressure, naturally suppressing all beast-type martial souls.

"We cannot retreat!" Gu Qianye gritted his teeth, scarlet soul fire dancing in his eye sockets. "This child's talent is too terrifying. If we don't eliminate him today, he will surely become a great disaster in the future. You and I shall join forces—use that move!"

Ming He was startled upon hearing this, then nodded with a solemn expression.

The two had cultivated side-by-side for decades and were long since in perfect sync; the "move" Gu Qianye spoke of was their trump card Martial Soul Fusion Skill—the Underworld Bone Yellow Springs Domain!