The Battle of Mental Power: Liu Yueming's Will

"Yueming!!" Yi Hongchen stared at the mysterious ice in the distance, his eyes splitting with fury as he charged toward it madly!

"Don't touch her!" Jing Hongchen shouted sharply, a golden barrier instantly stopping Yi Hongchen. "Since Yueming used her sixth soul skill, trust that she'll come through this safely!"

Yi Hongchen looked at the ice-sealed Liu Yueming. Her sixth soul skill was her strongest single-target control technique. By temporarily devouring an opponent, it could control someone far stronger than herself and completely strip them of all combat ability for a period of time—but it placed an immense test on the gap between their spiritual powers!

The battle in the real world had ended.

But another battle had only just begun.

Within the mysterious ice, Liu Yueming opened her eyes.

No, it was no longer as simple as opening her eyes. Her consciousness had been dragged into a boundless world of icy blue.

This was the final lingering obsession condensed from the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's life—a battlefield of souls it had constructed before vanishing completely.

There was no up or down here, no distance or proximity. There was only eternal icy blue and deathly silence. Cold seeped in from every direction, not acting upon the flesh, but directly freezing the very warmth of the soul.

"Human..." An ancient, cold voice rang out from the depths of the icy-blue world. It was the will of the Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast. "You dared devour my Ice Heart... Your greed will lead you into eternal slumber."

From the depths of the icy-blue world, the phantom of that majestic Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast slowly emerged. It was still as elegant and aloof as ever, yet its silver-white, snow-like eyes burned with its final rage and unwillingness.

Its body was dead, but its will remained. This obsession of its soul was far more resilient than Liu Yueming had anticipated.

"Fifty thousand years of cultivation, gone just like that. Of course you're unwilling to accept it." Liu Yueming's voice echoed through the icy-blue world, calm to the point of cruelty.

"But you can't stop me. I have reasons I must live, reasons I must grow stronger."

"You?" The Ice Soul phantom sneered. "Our origins are the same, but you think you deserve to refine my fifty thousand years of cultivation? What a foolish dream!"

Before its words had faded, the icy-blue world abruptly changed. Countless icicles shot toward her from all directions, each carrying a chill capable of freezing the soul!

Liu Yueming had no time to evade. Dozens of icicles pierced through her in an instant. Agonizing pain exploded through her—not in her body, but straight into the depths of her soul!

"Ah—!" She let out a muffled groan. The agony of the soul was far more unbearable than any pain of the flesh.

Yet she did not fall. Her snowflake-patterned eyes remained fixed on the Ice Soul phantom ahead, and the light in them only grew fiercer.

"Is that all?" Liu Yueming's voice trembled faintly from the pain, yet it carried unyielding mockery. "A fifty-thousand-year soul beast, and this is all the strength you have?"

A flicker passed through the Ice Soul phantom's silver-white, snow-like eyes. This human woman's will far surpassed its expectations—but how could it surrender so easily?

The icy-blue world shifted again! This time, countless images surged forth like a tide. They were Liu Yueming's own memories, yet they had been twisted and reshaped into weapons against her!

She saw herself in her youth. Because of a mutation in her martial soul, despite her exceptional talent, her cultivation had progressed slowly, and she had been questioned by her clansmen.

She saw the pain after marrying Yi Hongchen, when bearing children one after another had severely drained her vitality, even causing her soul power to regress.

She saw herself after her three children were born, guarding them through countless nights and teaching them with painstaking care, yet feeling helpless because she would lack the strength to protect them in the future.

"Your weakness, your helplessness, your struggles..." The Ice Soul's voice echoed through every image like a curse.

"You are nothing more than a woman sheltered by her family. Without them, you are nothing! What right do you have to devour me? What right?!"

Those memories twisted into the sharpest blades, stabbing again and again into the depths of Liu Yueming's soul. Every strike seemed to precisely stir the fears she hid most deeply, the vulnerabilities she least wished to face.

Liu Yueming's body trembled violently within the icy-blue world, and cracks began spreading through her soul.

"Do you see it?" The Ice Soul's voice sounded like judgment. "Your helplessness, your insignificance, your..."

"Enough." Liu Yueming's voice suddenly rang out, interrupting the Ice Soul's curse. She raised her head. Tears silently slid down from her snowflake-patterned eyes, yet the light within them shone as brilliantly as stars.

"You think these memories can break me? You think I don't know my own weakness?" Her voice trembled slightly as she choked up, yet it held an unshakable strength.

"Of course I know! I know that my talent and cultivation do not match, that childbirth damaged my foundation and even caused my soul power to regress. I know that in the future, there may be many times when all I can do is watch them fight from behind!"

"But because I know, I understand even more clearly—" She suddenly stepped forward, and the power of her soul erupted with a roar at that moment!

"Why I must stand here!"

"I want to stand beside them and face all the hardships of the future together!"

The icy-blue world shook violently. The light of Liu Yueming's soul suddenly blossomed, warm and blazing like the spring sun, forcing back the eternal chill around her by several yards!

For the first time, true shock appeared in the Ice Soul phantom's silver-white, snow-like eyes. It saw that the light deep within this human woman's soul did not come from strength, but from... something else it had never understood.

"You think I don't know I need to grow stronger?" Liu Yueming continued forward. With every step she took, the icy-blue world shook more violently. Her voice grew louder and the radiance of her soul intensified, countless images appearing within that light...

"You have lived for fifty thousand years, Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast." Liu Yueming finally reached the Ice Soul phantom. Her snowflake-patterned eyes met its silver-white, snow-like eyes at close range. "But you have never experienced what it feels like to willingly burn yourself for another life."

The Ice Soul phantom fell silent. It truly did not understand. It had run, hunted, and slept alone upon this ice field. It had never formed a true bond with any living being. It was alone.

And the woman before it—perhaps her soul power was not as great as its had been in life, but deep within her soul was a flame it could never understand.

Liu Yueming possessed a steadfastness beyond its imagination, causing her soul to blaze like fire. It could no longer affect her!

"Now, give me your power." Liu Yueming stretched out her hand and gently pressed it against the Ice Soul phantom's forehead. The gesture was not plunder, nor conquest, but an honest... acceptance.

The light in the Ice Soul phantom's silver-white, snow-like eyes fluctuated violently. It felt that the flame deep within this human woman's soul was not only warm, but resolute.

She had not devoured it out of greed. What it saw in her memories was her desire to protect those three young lives, to stand before them in the future and shield them from every storm.

The Ice Soul Mystic Hoof Beast's lingering obsession quietly began to loosen at that moment. "Human..." The Ice Soul's voice became weak and ancient. "I do not understand the kind of feeling you speak of... but I can see that your soul... is tougher than mine..."

Its phantom began to slowly disperse, turning into countless icy-blue motes of light that merged into Liu Yueming's soul. This time, those motes were no longer cold, but carried a trace of gentle compliance.

"Live... in my place... in your own way..." Its final voice faded into the depths of the icy-blue world.

The next instant, the entire world shattered with a thunderous crash!