"You!" Ice Empress was so furious she was at a loss for words, and the cold around her surged. "You say I'm not worthy? I'm one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North..."
"Oh dear, don't get worked up."
Venti waved a hand, cutting Ice Empress off.
His gaze passed over Ice Empress and settled on Bi Ji, who had been standing quietly to the side.
"Bi Ji."
"Since someone wants to spar."
"Why don't you keep this little scorpion company?"
Bi Ji froze for a moment.
She pointed at herself.
"Me?"
"My lord, I'm not good at fighting..."
"That was before."
Venti raised a finger and gently wagged it.
"Wind can be a healing breeze, or a storm that tears everything apart."
"With a Vision, you're no longer just the Emerald Swan who can heal."
"Go on."
"Show our guests the power of Godwind City."
Bi Ji lowered her head and looked at the Vision glowing against her chest.
A fighting spirit unlike anything she had ever felt rose within her.
That was right.
She was different now.
Bi Ji raised her head, her gaze turning resolute.
She slowly walked to the center of the hall and gestured for Ice Empress to come at her.
"Ice Empress."
"My apologies."
Ice Empress looked at Bi Ji and laughed in anger.
"Hah?"
"You're sending a goose who can only heal to fight me?"
"Venti! Are you trying to humiliate me?"
"Fine!"
"Since you want to see it, I'll freeze this goose into an ice sculpture first, then settle things with you!"
The temperature in the hall had already dropped below freezing, and a thin layer of frost had even formed on the floor.
Ice Empress's emerald-green eyes fixed unrelentingly on Bi Ji.
"Bi Ji, don't blame me for showing no mercy."
Ice Empress snorted, her twin tails swishing behind her.
"I don't know what tricks that Venti gave you, but support-type Soul Beasts will always be soft targets!"
Before her voice had even faded,
Ice Empress moved.
Her figure left a blur behind as her true form shot toward Bi Ji like a green cannonball.
It was the purest speed and strength of the Far North Ice Plains.
Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, foreclaws!
Her hands transformed into crystalline diamond pincers. With enough terrifying force to crush mountains, they lunged straight for Bi Ji's shoulders.
She didn't use a Soul Skill.
In her view, her physical strength alone was more than enough to deal with an Emerald Swan.
Bai Chenxiang covered her mouth in fright. If that attack landed cleanly, even a Titled Douluo might have their bones shattered.
However,
facing this Thunderous Might of a strike, Bi Ji simply stood where she was.
She didn't even take a defensive stance.
Only the eyes that had once been filled with gentle green suddenly glimmered with a faint azure radiance.
The Vision on her chest blazed with light.
Whoosh—
There was no earth-shaking explosion.
Only the sound of wind.
The instant Ice Empress's pincers were about to touch the hem of Bi Ji's clothes,
a tightly concentrated stream of air erupted without warning between them.
It wasn't an ordinary gale.
The wind was imbued with an extraordinarily rich aura of life.
"Wind Domain: Emerald Barrier."
Bi Ji's red lips parted, her voice gentle.
Boom!
Ice Empress felt as if her hands had slammed into an invisible wall.
Then the "wall" instantly rebounded, transforming into countless tiny azure wind blades that spiraled up her arms.
Szzzz—
A harsh scraping sound rang out.
The wind blades sliced across Ice Empress's unbreakable carapace, leaving streaks of white!
"What?!"
Ice Empress cried out as the enormous force of the rebound sent her flying.
She flipped through the air several times before barely managing to land, carving two deep icy furrows across the floor.
The hall fell utterly silent.
Snow Empress's usually composed expression froze.
She knew her little sister's defenses better than anyone.
A carapace forged from Ultimate Ice could withstand even a Titled Douluo's ninth Soul Skill.
But just now,
Bi Ji hadn't even moved. She had left marks on Ice Empress with nothing but a gust of wind?
More importantly...
That wind was strange.
It had both the healing gentleness unique to the Emerald Swan and the speed and sharpness of the wind element.
The two forces blended perfectly, balancing hardness with softness.
"What... what's going on?"
Ice Empress looked at her slightly numb arms. All trace of contempt had vanished from her eyes, replaced by deep shock.
"Bi Ji, your power..."
Bi Ji herself looked a little dazed.
She lowered her head and stared at her hands.
In that instant, she hadn't deliberately stirred her Soul Power.
She had merely willed it, and the Vision on her chest had responded to her intent on its own, instantly compressing and shaping the wind elements around her.
The feeling of controlling it as effortlessly as moving her own limbs was almost smoother than moving her hands and feet.
"Do you still want to fight?"
Venti remained seated on the steps, twirling an apple core in his hand as he asked with a cheerful smile.
"If you haven't had enough, I can have Bi Ji go outside with you."
"But if you break the floor, you'll have to pay for it."
Ice Empress gritted her teeth, her little face flushing red.
She was belligerent, but she wasn't stupid.
That last exchange had only been a test, not her full strength. Yet Bi Ji had clearly made it look even easier.
That "Vision" had actually given a purely support-oriented Ferocious Beast the ability to stand up to a Power Attack System Ferocious Beast head-on.
It completely overturned the ironclad laws of the Soul Master World!
"I'm done!"
Ice Empress huffed and lowered her guard, folding her arms across her chest.
"You win!"
"But I'm only giving in because of the Vision, not because I'm afraid of you, goose!"
Though she put up a tough front, her eyes kept drifting toward the azure gem on Bi Ji's chest, full of envy.
Snow Empress stepped forward and gave Venti a slight bow.
"Your methods are beyond measure, my lord. Snow Empress is impressed."
"To have transformed the Emerald Swan to this extent... the Far North submits to such power."
If their alliance had previously been born of self-interest,
now it came from awe of his strength.
Venti casually tossed the apple core into a nearby trash bin and dusted off his hands.
"Now that we're all friends, there's no need to be so formal."
"Little Bi Ji, take our two guests to rest."
"And introduce them to the rules of Godwind City while you're at it."
"For example... where to find good wine, and where the bards sing."
Bi Ji bowed slightly.
"Yes, my lord."
Just then,
the sky outside began to shake again.
That vast and solemn presence instantly enveloped the entire Douluo Continent.
Ice Empress and Snow Empress, who had been about to leave, stopped in their tracks and turned to look outside.
Golden light spilled down.
A new ranking list had appeared.
Heaven Dou Empire, Skywater Academy.
This academy, made up entirely of women, was now in an uproar.
All the students had run out to the sports field and were staring up at the golden words in the sky.