Shui Bing'er was the first to return. Pale wisps of cold mist curled around her, and even her hair was dusted with white frost, but she was carrying something in her hands.
It was enormous, its entire body covered in a shell like deep-blue ice crystals. Its limbs and head were tucked inside, and it trembled with fear... A giant turtle?
"I found one—a Mystic Ice Rock-Armor Turtle, around thirteen hundred years old."
With a loud thud, Shui Bing'er set the ice-blue giant turtle, which was even bigger than she was, on the ground in front of Ning Xiaochun. Her icy blue eyes turned to him, carrying a hint of cool satisfaction at having completed her task.
"This turtle's defense is second to none among thousand-year Soul Beasts. Its innate abilities, Mystic Ice Armor and Earth Pulse, can greatly strengthen its defense and create a small area of sluggish ground. Its Soul Ring has a high chance of granting you powerful defense-reducing or group-slowing abilities, perfectly suited to Foot-Stalling Bane's role."
The Mystic Ice Rock-Armor Turtle seemed thoroughly frozen, but it was still alive. Shui Bing'er's Ultimate Ice had merely suppressed its movements for the moment. Its tiny, beadlike eyes stared in terror at the humans before it.
Shui Bing'er had barely finished speaking when a purple shadow flashed through the trees on the other side. Dugu Yan had returned, too.
She was dragging a giant python as thick as a barrel. Its body was covered in black scales, and a small bump rose from its head. It was barely clinging to life.
Several tiny wounds marked the python's body, oozing purple-black venom that gave off a sweet, fishy odor.
"Mine's not bad either—a Shadow-Ghost Black Python, eleven hundred years old."
Dugu Yan tossed the heavy black python down in front of Ning Xiaochun, then dusted off her hands despite there being no dust on them. Her green eyes turned to Shui Bing'er, full of challenge.
"This snake is incredibly fast, appearing and disappearing like the wind. It excels at stealth and ambush. Its innate abilities, Shadow-Ghost Assault and Serpent Venom Paralysis, both pack a powerful burst of speed and neurotoxic effects. Absorb its Soul Ring, and it'll be great for you."
The turtle and python lay side by side in front of Ning Xiaochun, one icy blue and one pitch-black, one built for defense and the other for speed. Both were near death, but their Soul Power had reached the thousand-year level.
Shui Bing'er and Dugu Yan stood beside the Soul Beasts they had brought, gazing eagerly at Ning Xiaochun. In unison, they said:
"Xiaochun, pick one!"
Ning Xiaochun looked at the chilling Mystic Ice Rock-Armor Turtle on his left, then the venomous Shadow-Ghost Black Python on his right, then at the two older sisters' blazing gazes that seemed to say, "Pick me! Pick me!" His head spun, and his scalp prickled.
H-how was he supposed to choose? If he picked Shui Bing'er's, Dugu Yan would definitely be unhappy. Besides, that turtle looked so tough. Wouldn't its Soul Skill be too focused on defense?
If he picked Dugu Yan's, then Shui Bing'er... Uh, her eyes seemed even colder now. And that snake looked poisonous. Would absorbing its Soul Ring be dangerous?
"Um... Big Sisters, how about... we look around some more? I think there might be something more suitable..." Ning Xiaochun tried to wriggle out of it with an endearing smile.
"No! Pick one of these two!" The women answered in unison again, their determination unwavering.
Just as Ning Xiaochun was caught between the two, feeling as if their stares were about to roast him alive, a sudden change erupted!
"Roar—!"
A beast's roar, filled with terror and fury, rang out from the woods nearby. A huge figure wreathed in blazing flames came hurtling out like a cannonball!
It was a Flame Lion, a thousand-year Soul Beast more than four meters long, with a mane dancing like fire and bared fangs!
The Flame Lion seemed to be fleeing for its life. In its panic, it charged straight toward Ning Xiaochun and the others!
But as its scarlet eyes swept past the two dying Soul Beasts on the ground—the Mystic Ice Rock-Armor Turtle and the Shadow-Ghost Black Python—they seemed to gleam faintly. It instinctively coveted the Soul Power of those Soul Beasts at its level.
Yet after only a glance, its face twisted with even more humanlike fear. It whipped around, dug its claws into the earth, and tried to bolt in the other direction!
As if to prove its terror justified, a massive fireball more than a meter in diameter shot from the woods the Flame Lion had burst out of, trailing a piercing whistle as it tore through the air.
The fireball had been aimed at the fleeing Flame Lion, but the lion had suddenly changed direction. The powerful shot flew straight toward where it had been headed—
Toward Ning Xiaochun, Shui Bing'er, Dugu Yan, and the two Soul Beasts on the ground!
"Look out!"
Shui Bing'er's expression changed drastically. She reacted at lightning speed! Before she could even think, her body had already shifted sideways, putting herself directly in front of Ning Xiaochun!
At the same time, she rapidly formed a seal before her chest, and ice-blue Soul Power surged forth like a tide!
"Ice Wall!"
A half-meter-thick wall of crystal-clear ice, radiating bitter cold, burst from the ground before her!
Boom!!!
The enormous fireball slammed into the ice wall! A deafening explosion rang out, and scarlet flames and a violent shock wave went berserk!
The ice wall shuddered violently, its surface instantly webbed with cracks. But supported by Shui Bing'er's now even purer and more powerful Ultimate Ice Soul Power, it withstood the horrifying explosion without breaking!
Flames and ice crystals flew in every direction, and the searing blast instantly scorched the surrounding vegetation. The ice wall blocked most of the explosion's aftermath, but a portion of the shock wave and stray flames still passed over it and swept toward those behind.
"Ugh!" Shui Bing'er grunted, her delicate body swaying as her face paled, but she didn't retreat an inch.
Ning Xiaochun, shielded behind her, was completely unharmed. The blast only ruffled his hair.
But the Mystic Ice Rock-Armor Turtle and Shadow-Ghost Black Python lying helplessly on the ground weren't so lucky.
They had already been near death. Struck head-on by the explosion's aftershock and flames from a thousand-year Soul Skill, they couldn't even cry out. In an instant, they became two charred heaps, their lives extinguished.
Two brilliant purple Thousand-Year Soul Rings slowly appeared above the burnt corpses.
The Flame Lion seized the chance to let out a piteous howl, then plunged into the depths of the woods without looking back and vanished.
"Bastard!!!"
Two furious shrieks rang out almost simultaneously!
Shui Bing'er abruptly withdrew the ruined Ice Wall. The icy frost that usually filled her blue eyes had become solid killing intent and rage as she stared at the direction from which the fireball had come!
Cold mist surged wildly around her, frost quickly spread across the ground, and the temperature plunged!
Dugu Yan's face was equally grim, fury blazing in her uncanny green eyes!
She had gone to all that trouble to catch the Shadow-Ghost Black Python so Ning Xiaochun could use its Soul Ring, and now it had been destroyed! Worse, that fireball had almost hurt Ning Xiaochun!
"Who's there?! Get out here!" Dugu Yan shouted. The phantom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor was already faintly taking shape behind her.
"Tch, what rotten luck! It got away!"
A young man's voice rang out, tinged with annoyance and arrogance. A tall, powerfully built youth strode out of the woods, his short, fiery-red hair standing on end like flames.
He looked about fourteen or fifteen. His features were rough, and he wore a dark-red fitted outfit. Scorching Soul Power still lingered around him, making it clear that the astonishingly powerful fireball had come from him.
The red-haired youth glanced toward where the Flame Lion had escaped and curled his lip, evidently annoyed that he'd missed.
Only then did he seem to notice Ning Xiaochun and the two women, along with the charred corpses of the two Soul Beasts and the purple Soul Rings floating above them. He frowned, but showed little remorse, merely waving his hand carelessly.
"Oh, I missed by accident and destroyed two trash Soul Beasts. Tough luck for you."
Having said that, he turned to leave, as if he'd merely stepped on two ants.
"Stop!"
Dugu Yan flashed forward, her purple hair flying as she blocked the red-haired youth's path. Her uncanny green eyes glinted with cold light.
"You killed the Soul Beasts we'd worked so hard to prepare, and nearly hurt someone, and you think you can just walk away?! You think I'm a pushover?!"
Shui Bing'er said nothing, but her actions showed an even more extreme fury.
She stepped forward, taking a position that flanked Dugu Yan and blocked the red-haired youth's way out.
The cold around her had grown so intense that the air made sharp cracking sounds. Her ice-blue hair stirred without a breeze, and her frigid eyes locked onto the red-haired youth. Her voice sounded like ten-thousand-year-old ice colliding, each word slow and precise:
"You. Nearly. Hurt. Xiaochun."
Every word carried killing intent that could overturn the heavens. The two syllables in "Xiaochun" seemed especially heavy.
To her, Ning Xiaochun's safety now mattered more than anything else, even those two precious Soul Rings.
"I'll kill you!"
Before the words had faded, Shui Bing'er had already struck! She wasted no time. Her jade-white hand rose and pointed at the red-haired youth.
"First Soul Skill: Ice Seal!"
Before you continue