Winter's Shadow, Ice Toad Devours Spirit!

Its body transformed into a pale-blue streak of light, so fast it nearly surpassed the eye's ability to track it. Yi Hongchen only felt a blast of freezing wind brush past him.

The Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast had already swept dozens of zhang behind him, landing once more upon the unbroken ice. It remained elegant and aloof, as though that charge had merely been a casual stroll!

What speed! Yi Hongchen's heart tightened. If that had struck him head-on, he might not have been injured, but he would certainly have been forced onto the defensive!

"It's too fast. We have to restrict its range of movement!" Jing Hongchen said gravely. His hands formed seals, and the Metal-Binding Barrier abruptly expanded.

The light that had already spread in every direction now directly enclosed both them and the soul beast within it, guarding against any eventuality!

However, the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast moved again. Rather than charging, it drew upon the boundless chill of the Extreme North!

In an instant, a terrifying storm of ice crystals erupted around it!

Countless ice crystals, fine as sand and sharp as blades, spun wildly, forming a snowy tornado hundreds of zhang tall!

Not only did it block their vision, but even stranger, the soul tools on Liu Yueming's body fell silent!

Within the snowy tornado, the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's presence vanished. It had perfectly blended into the wind and snow!

"It's hidden itself. Watch for a sneak attack!" Liu Yueming shouted sharply. Her spiritual power, together with her snowflake-patterned eyes, operated at full force as she tried to see through the icy mist.

Yet even with Liu Yueming's spiritual power, she could only catch fleeting, blurry afterimages and could not determine its position!

"Front left! Thirty zhang!" Yan Hongchen's voice suddenly rang out!

During this time, Yan Hongchen had been traveling through the Extreme North using his Heart martial soul. Now, he had switched to his Phantom Water Spirit Toad martial soul. His observations became even faster, and his Glazed Rainbow Eyes displayed a different effect.

Liu Yueming's snow eyes granted her control over the snow attribute and an increase in spiritual power; his rainbow eyes granted him control over the illusion attribute and an increase in spiritual power. But now, it seemed they possessed another ability—the power to pierce falsehood.

Without hesitation, Jing Hongchen detonated the spheres he had scattered earlier. He happened to have set some up in that exact spot, and a golden pillar of light exploded upward!

Boom!

Ice crystals exploded as a pale-blue figure was forced to drift backward. A flicker of surprise crossed the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's silver-white snow eyes!

Jing Hongchen did not stop there. He controlled every nearby sphere and sent them hurtling toward the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast!

"Good lad!" Yi Hongchen laughed loudly, seizing this rare opportunity. The fifth soul ring on his body lit up, and gravity controlled the space around the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast. Unable to evade in time, it was blasted by the explosions of numerous spheres, suffering multiple injuries.

Yi Hongchen's figure flashed again. This time, it was no longer a feint. His entire body transformed into liquid metal, after which his fourth and sixth soul rings shone. Both fists shot out, slamming toward the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's flank!

Bang—!

Ice shards flew everywhere! Yi Hongchen's fists struck solidly against the layer of crystalline fur on the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's side!

The violent force blasted the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast sideways several zhang. Ice fragments scattered, and a clear fist mark was stamped onto its body!

The Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast let out a muffled grunt but did not fall. Its ice heart pounded fiercely as an extreme chill surged madly toward the wounded area, instantly freezing and sealing away the impact and injury!

Deep wariness emerged in its silver-white snow eyes! Looking at the four people before it, so unlike any enemies it had encountered before, it slowly took a step back. The ice wheels beneath its four hooves began gathering an even more dazzling light.

Liu Yueming keenly caught certain details and sensed the fleeting resolve in its eyes!

Not good! Alarm bells rang in Liu Yueming's heart. It's considering self-destruction. We have to stop it from making that decision!

"Dad! Yi! Create an opportunity for me! Just make it feel... that it still has a chance to win! We can't let it fall into despair!" Determination flashed in her eyes.

Jing Hongchen moved, and the Metal-Binding Barrier suddenly contracted. Instead of trapping it, he deliberately left behind what appeared to be an opening through which it could break out!

"Yi'er! Suppress it from the front, but make it feel that it can strike back!"

Understanding at once, Yi Hongchen roared and charged head-on toward the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast!

This time, his offensive looked fierce, but there were obvious openings between his punches!

A trace of contemplation flickered through the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's silver-white snow eyes. It saw that opening. It saw Yi Hongchen's "violent" yet somewhat disordered assault—this was an opportunity!

Its four hooves suddenly exerted force, the ice wheels spun rapidly, and it transformed into a streak of light, charging directly toward the gap Jing Hongchen had "inadvertently" left open!

Jing Hongchen's "expression changed," and his hands waved frantically as golden rays rushed toward the gap, seemingly trying to mend it!

But it was already too late!

The Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast was simply too fast!

Just before the gap closed, it forcibly burst through!

Neigh—!

The moment it broke out of the encirclement, it let out a clear, ringing cry. In that sound was a trace of... relief at having survived?

It turned back to look at the three of them, and coldness and pride returned to its silver-white snow eyes.

It had won. It had successfully broken through their encirclement and no longer needed to use its final trump card!

However, at the very instant it relaxed its guard!

A figure silently appeared before it!

Liu Yueming!

At the moment Jing Hongchen "made a mistake," Yi Hongchen "launched a fierce attack," and the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast "successfully broke through," she used the lingering snowy tornado and the dual cover of the soul skill Blizzard Lost Trail, then employed Ice Refraction to silently circle around in front of it!

When the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast turned around, its silver-white snow eyes reflected Liu Yueming's snowflake-patterned eyes, as well as the one releasing behind her...

Her sixth soul ring! Black—black as deep and boundless as an abyss!

"Sixth soul skill, Ice Toad Devours Spirit!"

The phantom Snow Jade Ice Toad before Liu Yueming opened its enormous crystalline maw. Rather than devouring flesh and blood, it savagely bit down on the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's chest!

The Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast let out a heaven-shaking wail! It struggled wildly, the icy wheels beneath its four hooves spinning frantically as it tried to break free!

But Liu Yueming held it down without mercy. The power of her sixth soul skill seemed to transform into countless crystalline chains, wrapping around its ice heart and gradually devouring and sealing away that Extreme Ice Essence condensed from fifty thousand years of ice and snow.

No! It couldn't end like this! If its ice heart was devoured and sealed, it would lose even the chance to self-destruct! It would even lose its final dignity—the right to perish together with its enemy!

A final burst of madness erupted from the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's silver-white snowy eyes. It no longer struggled to escape. Instead, it poured all its will, all its soul power, all its life force, madly into its already crumbling ice heart!

At the very instant its ice heart was devoured, it wanted to detonate all the ultimate cold within it! Even if it was doomed to die, it would drag this woman trying to devour it into the grave with it!

The ice heart began trembling violently. Countless cracks appeared across its surface, and terrifying cold started pouring madly from them!

"Not good!" Jing Hongchen's expression changed drastically. "Yueming! Retreat!"

"Boom—!"

A surge of cold capable of freezing the soul exploded from Liu Yueming's body. A thick layer of ice crystals instantly formed over her, sealing her within a massive block of blue mystic ice!

Liu Yueming's life aura completely vanished at that moment!