Queen of Ice

Heh, heh, heh—

The Evil Soul Emperor let out a shrill, eerie cackle, and a pair of hideous blood-red wings suddenly unfurled from his back.

With a violent flap of those blood wings, he transformed into a scarlet afterimage, his speed so immense that it tore through the air with a piercing, screeching wail.

His target was none other than Wang Dong, whose aura of light was the purest and most dazzling in the chamber, and whose cultivation was the weakest.

To a vile creature like him, that essence of pure light was lethal.

"Watch out!"

Lin Feng's pupils constricted. Even with his Spiritual Detection pushed to its limit, he could barely capture a trace of the blood-red trajectory.

Brilliant Bright Phoenix Fire erupted from within his body, forming a solid protective barrier around Wang Dong.

Wang Dong also poured her full strength into channeling her power of light toward Lin Feng.

"This is too passive!"

Several successive blood-red claw strikes tore fiercely into the protective barrier.

Lin Feng let out a muffled grunt as the ground beneath his feet cracked; he was forced back half a step by the sheer, overwhelming force.

With every collision, the cold, corrosive energy contained within the blood-red light made his blood boil and his arms go numb.

Chen Zifeng hurried over, his Soul-Chasing Sword carving out several intersecting webs of blood-red sword light, though they unfortunately sliced through empty air.

"His speed... it's too fast!" Xixi's voice came from the side, heavy with concern.

Even with the extreme speed of her Lightning Leopard martial soul, she could barely keep up with the Evil Soul Emperor's ghostly movements, forced to circle the perimeter and hunt for fleeting openings.

Evil Soul Masters were already notoriously difficult to deal with due to their bizarre techniques, and this one was a Battle Soul Emperor of the agility-attack type, whose specialty was speed.

"Apologies, I am a step late."

A cold, clear voice rang out suddenly. Ling Luochen stepped into the fray, holding her Ice Crystal Staff, her body wreathed in visible, bone-chilling white frost.

With her arrival, the temperature in the cave plummeted.

"Senior, be careful. He forcibly elevated himself to the Soul Emperor realm by devouring his own younger brother's soul," Lin Feng warned.

"It matters not. Vile spirit, reveal yourself!"

Ling Luochen gave a sharp cry and slammed her ice staff against the ground. A terrifying wave of extreme cold soul power erupted from her and surged outward.

"Crack, cr-cr-crack—!"

A dense series of teeth-grinding freezing sounds echoed through the chamber.

The cave walls, the floor, and even the rock ceiling above them were instantly coated in a thick, smooth layer of deep blue ice.

Almost the moment the ice mirror was completed, Lin Feng understood. The Bright Phoenix Fire he had been using for defense flared up, its intensity increasing several times over.

Wang Dong understood as well, unleashing her power of light to its fullest extent.

The light was reflected and amplified between the countless smooth ice surfaces, flooding every corner of the cave.

The entire cavern became as bright as day in an instant, leaving no shadows for the enemy to hide in.

"Ugh, aaaah—!"

A shrill, agonizing howl erupted from a corner of the cave.

Under the glare of the light that left no blind spots, the Evil Soul Emperor was exposed.

Not only that, but the power of light acted as a bane to him; it hissed as it burned his skin, sending wisps of black smoke rising into the air. His speed dropped drastically, and he was forced to manifest, writhing in unbearable pain.

"Die!"

Burned by the light and with his sanity on the verge of collapse, the Evil Soul Emperor locked his bloodshot eyes onto Lin Feng, the source of the light, and erupted with frantic killing intent.

He endured the searing agony, flapped his blood wings with all his might, and pushed his speed to the limit, transforming into a blood-red meteor.

Ignoring the interception attempts by Chen Zifeng and Xixi, he allowed several more wounds to be carved into his body as he lunged straight for Lin Feng.

"Don't even think about it!"

Ling Luochen's gaze was icy. She raised her ice staff once more.

This time, her third and fifth Soul Rings bloomed with light in succession, and she poured out her soul power without reservation.

"Ice Prison! Ice Radiance Ring! Lin Feng, follow up!"

With five heavy, dull thuds, five massive ice cages, each as thick and heavy as a mountain, crashed down from the cave ceiling, sealing off the Evil Soul Emperor's path of charge.

One after another, they stacked up, forming a desperate barrier of ice.

"Break for me!"

The Evil Soul Emperor roared. Without dodging or weaving, he used a brutal, savage force to smash through three of the solid ice cages, any one of which would have been enough to trap a Soul King.

However, with every cage he shattered, the blood-red aura on his body dimmed, his momentum clearly faltering, and he was inevitably forced into a momentary pause to catch his breath.

Now!

The Flame Mantra within Lin Feng's body began to circulate with an unprecedented, violent intensity.

Mystic Ice Spirit Flame, rise!

A bone-chilling, ghostly white flame erupted from his palm, rapidly spreading and seeping along the smooth surface of the Ice Prison.

Wherever it passed, the ice did not melt; instead, it condensed into even denser, deep-blue Mystic Ice Spirit Flame crystals, causing the cold to surge violently.

Suddenly, Lin Feng lost control of the Mystic Ice Spirit Flame.

It was Ling Luochen who had seized control of the flame, perfectly fusing the Mystic Ice Spirit Flame released by Lin Feng with her fifth soul skill, Ice Prison.

"Crackle--!"

Bolstered by Ling Luochen's soul power, the might of the Mystic Ice Spirit Flame skyrocketed, actually freezing the fifth and sixth Soul Rings on the Evil Soul Emperor's body.

In theory, the Mystic Ice Spirit Flame could freeze a soul master's sea of consciousness and soul, but Lin Feng was currently unable to achieve that.

At this moment, Ling Luochen pushed her ultimate ice-control ability to its absolute limit.

The Mystic Ice Spirit Flame directly froze those two soul rings, which had been condensed from souls.

"No--!!!"

The Evil Soul Emperor finally sensed a lethal threat, letting out a roar of sheer terror.

He could clearly feel that he had lost his connection to those two soul rings. The light of the rings dimmed rapidly, and the blood-red patterns on their surfaces cracked and shattered inch by inch.

"Detonate."

Ling Luochen parted her red lips slightly, uttering the cold word.

The two soul rings on the Evil Soul Emperor's body, which had forcibly elevated him to the Soul Emperor realm, exploded with a thunderous boom.

There was no storm of soul power, only a massive amount of filthy soul fragments mixed with blood-red energy dissipating wildly.

"Pfft--!"

The Evil Soul Emperor spat out a mouthful of blood; the backlash from having his forcibly elevated cultivation destroyed left him almost instantly incapacitated.

The opportunity was fleeting, requiring no communication.

Chen Zifeng's Soul-Chasing Sword transformed into a blood-red line of light, condensed to the extreme, and instantly pierced through the Evil Soul Emperor's heart.

Almost simultaneously, Xixi's figure flashed past behind the Evil Soul Emperor.

A faint spark of electricity swept across his neck.

The Evil Soul Emperor's ferocious expression froze on his face as he clutched his spurting neck with both hands.

He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to utter one last curse, but the frantic blood-red in his eyes was rapidly replaced by a deathly, hollow gray.

"Thud--"

The corpse fell heavily to the ground, kicking up a spray of ice dust and blood foam.

Lin Feng stepped forward and unleashed his Bright Phoenix Fire, thoroughly incinerating all the filth on the ground to prevent any possibility of the corpse rising again.

Only then did Ling Luochen gently lower her Ice Staff. Her stunning face bore a faint pallor from overexerting her soul power, and her long lashes drooped slightly, masking the flash of exhaustion in her eyes.

"Just now, it was thanks to your ice flame," Ling Luochen said, turning to Lin Feng with a pleased expression. "Otherwise, relying solely on my ice power, it would have been impossible to freeze those two soul rings condensed from souls and knock him back down to the Soul Ancestor realm."

"You flatter me, Senior Sister Ling," Lin Feng shook his head slightly, his tone sincere. "I admit I couldn't have achieved that level; your ice control was the key. You are truly the Ice Queen of the Inner Court."

"You certainly have a way with words, Junior Brother. This ice flame of yours is quite marvelous; we should have a deeper exchange about it when we have time," Ling Luochen smiled.

"Agreed," Lin Feng nodded in acceptance.

"Mission accomplished. It's getting late, we should head out to obtain a soul ring for Junior Brother Wang Dong," Chen Zifeng interjected.

"Then let's not delay. Let's move," Ling Luochen replied.