Ice Crystal Brake Bow!

"All right, I won't waste any more words on you." Lu Nian grinned viciously. "You're all going to die anyway, so hurry up and let him go. I might still give you a quick death!"

"If the new element succeeds, your names can be engraved on the Merit Monument, and the world will remember your contribution!"

At this point, Lu Nian had run out of patience.

Lan Yu slowly lowered the dagger. Seeing this, Lu Nian continued, "The previous test subjects couldn't withstand the experiment, so they lost their minds. Of course, once the drug wore off, they died immediately. Not a single one has survived to this day!"

Lu Zhenghe walked toward Lu Nian, trembling with fear. At this distance, he was terrified that Lan Yu might suddenly attack and kill him, and that his big brother Lu Nian wouldn't be able to save him.

"You're treating human lives like weeds!" Mu Nujiao cried furiously.

"Heh, think whatever you want. The inspiration for this new element came from a mutated parasitic organism..."

Lu Nian continued speaking. At this point, he couldn't care less whether any of this was humane.

Even though the Five Continents Magic Association had explicitly forbidden research into this new element, they wouldn't give up.

They were getting closer and closer to success. Once the demon was born, the world would be under his, Lu Nian's, control!

"A parasitic organism... Are you planning to have it infect living people?" Mo Fan's heart shuddered. Lu Nian's words couldn't help reminding him of the Scale-Skin Mother Demon.

"You don't need to know the details. Just go in peace!"

Lu Zhenghe had already reached the area Lu Nian could protect, so Lu Nian had no reason to waste any more words.

At his order to kill, the mages behind Lu Nian began drawing their Star Maps.

"Ice Crystal Brake Bow!"

Just then, an intensely bitter chill suddenly surged up behind Lan Yu and the others.

Mu Ningxue transformed into an ice queen in an instant. In her left hand appeared a magical bow that seemed capable of turning the whole world into a frozen wasteland!

Snow swirled, ice spread, and the earth froze wildly. Even the low-hanging thunderclouds turned into banks of icy clouds.

Her icy eyes flashed with anger. Mu Ningxue felt the magic energy in her body being drained away, as though the Ice Crystal Brake Bow were even stealing her life force.

Even knowing it would harm her and cost her life, she still used it, because she had to take the gamble!

"A domain... a Soul Grade Ice Seed! Impossible, absolutely impossible!!"

Lu Nian's eyes nearly split with rage. He had never imagined that an ordinary Intermediate Mage could unleash an attack no weaker than high-level magic.

The ice crystal arrow had finished forming, its power immense. Even before it was released, it had already stirred up a breathtaking storm of ice crystals!

At the very heart of the storm, Mu Ningxue drew the bowstring to its limit.

Whoosh—

As her fingertips let go, the ice crystal arrow shot forth, like a killing melody ringing through a world of ice and snow.

The arrow flew parallel to the ground, freezing everything in its path solid!

Lu Nian reacted with lightning speed, dodging to the side at once.

The ice crystal arrow pierced Lu Zhenghe squarely in the back, then exploded in an instant.

Thousands of brilliant Ice Flowers burst into bloom, unleashing a visually stunning wave of crystalline frost that froze everything in that area solid!

The Military Mages at the front were all frozen into lifelike ice statues, while those farther back managed to avoid the same fate with their defensive magic equipment.

But the bone-deep cold that invaded their bodies still left them shivering, and greatly hampered both their thoughts and their ability to channel magic energy.

They could never have imagined that an Intermediate Mage could summon an ice bow magic weapon with such tremendous power.

Mu Ningxue's windblown silver hair settled into stillness. Her face was deathly pale, and she looked utterly weak.

With a faint crack, the Ice Crystal Brake Bow in her hand shattered into icy fragments and slipped from her grasp.

Mu Ningxue stumbled. Mo Fan hurriedly caught her.

"Run!"

Shen Mingxiao and Luo Song were the fastest to flee. One rode the wind, the other drove an Earth Wave, and in the blink of an eye they had darted over a hundred meters away.

Mu Nujiao and the others were still reeling from the shock of that arrow. They only snapped out of it when Shen Mingxiao, Luo Song, and the others ran off.

Looking at Mu Ningxue's deathly pale face, they didn't know how to thank her.

"Wait. Take Mu Ningxue with you. They're after me." Mo Fan glanced at Mu Ningxue's pale face, and a thousand words became a single plea. "Old Lan, no matter what, don't let her die."

Lan Yu nodded, then quickly led everyone away.

Mo Fan didn't hesitate either. He turned and ran toward the perilous Jinlin Desolate City.

Mu Ningxue's arrow hadn't been enough to kill them outright. It could only buy everyone a little time to escape.

Not long after the group scattered, Lu Nian and the Military Mages who hadn't been turned into ice statues had fully recovered.

Looking at the terror and despair on Lu Zhenghe's face, Lu Nian's expression turned ice-cold.

"You few, go capture those people!" Lu Nian ordered several mages.

"Yes!" They were no weaklings. After a brief rest, they immediately chased after Lan Yu and the others.

"The rest of you, come with me. We absolutely cannot let that perfect test subject escape!"

"Commander, what about them...?"

"If they can't break free, then they'll never break free again!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

All eight ice statues were destroyed. That meant Mu Ningxue's arrow had instantly killed eight Intermediate Mages.

The urgent matter now wasn't whether they could silence the witnesses. They first had to capture that boy with Innate Dual Element.

Once the new element was complete, it would become his, Lu Nian's, trump card for ruling everything!

Elsewhere, Lan Yu suddenly stopped while leading the others in flight.

"Holy crap, Old Lan, why'd you suddenly stop? They're about to catch up!" Zhao Manyan was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

"Why run? Let's take them out!"

Lan Yu summoned the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. This food had come right to their door; they might as well not let it go to waste.

"Take them out? With just us?" Zhao Manyan thought Lan Yu was joking. "Bro, this is no time for jokes!"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Lan Yu glanced at Zhao Manyan, then added, "They're here."

Looking up, they saw ten snow-white Sky Eagles gradually closing in through the air, the aura of Intermediate Magic gathering around them.

"Attack!"

Roar—

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger let out an excited roar, its tiger's howl instantly intimidating the ten Sky Eagles.

It spread its wings and soared, excitement gleaming in its blood-red eyes.

It had eaten plenty of Soul Beasts and Soul Masters before, and now it had also eaten the Demon Cores and hearts of some Demon Beasts. He wondered what these human mages would taste like.

In the blink of an eye, one Sky Eagle Mage was devoured by the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, while the Sky Eagle beneath him had its head swiped off by one of the tiger's claws.

"A Great War General!"