I'll Make a Move

"What? That little Soul Elder brat is still alive?!"

The leading Class 9 soul engineer saw someone interrupt his attack. Turning around, he discovered that the one who had acted was the three-ring ant he had struck head-on with a soul cannon shell earlier, and he cried out in shock.

Even the Ice Empress wore an incredulous expression when she saw that Yao Shi was still standing there unharmed—and had even used one of the Snow Empress's techniques.

She knew that Yao Shi's third soul skill, Pure Land World, was filled with powerful laws of life. But he had taken a shell head-on outside, with half his body blown away. She had personally seen that he had not reacted in time to release his soul skill. Could it be that his third soul skill could automatically heal his injuries?

But before the Ice Empress could think any further, the Class 9 soul engineer had already begun firing more shells.

"Hmph, I don't care how you survived, brat. At worst, I'll just blow you up again."

As he spoke, he raised one of the small soul cannons and aimed it at Yao Shi. Then another Class 6 soul cannon shell shot out. He believed that a Class 6 shell was more than enough to deal with a Soul Elder.

Watching the soul cannon shell speed toward him, Yao Shi looked utterly disdainful. "Old bastard, you only hit me last time because I was careless and didn't dodge."

With that, he slowly raised both hands, and biting cold erupted from around him.

Just as the shell was about to strike Yao Shi, his raised hand lightly tapped it. The shell instantly stopped, and a layer of frost rapidly spread over its surface. Yao Shi then casually slapped it back.

The entire soul engineer squad was stunned by the sight.

Although the power of a Class 6 soul cannon shell was not especially great to them, it could still inflict considerable damage on soul masters below the Soul Emperor rank. Yet now, it had been effortlessly blocked by a mere three-ring brat. How could they not be shocked?

"What kind of monster is this brat? He didn't dodge or take it head-on—he actually froze a soul cannon shell directly."

A Soul Douluo in the soul engineer squad muttered under his breath.

Because the Snow Empress had been thrown by Yao Shi into the Abundance Glazed Pure Land, he could temporarily obtain and use her abilities. Although his strength could not reach the level of her peak, dealing with ordinary Titled Douluo was not a problem.

"Forget that brat for now. The priority is to deal with the Ice Empress first. The energy barrier can probably withstand five more of her attacks. If we don't take her out soon, we'll all die here."

While they were distracted by Yao Shi's actions, the Ice Empress launched another attack at them. The Class 9 soul engineer's expression immediately twisted as he spoke to the soul masters behind him who were supplying him with soul power.

Hearing this, they immediately came to their senses and increased their soul power output to bolster him.

In an instant, countless soul cannon shells of Class 7 and above swept toward the Ice Empress.

"Ice Empress, I'll help you!"

Seeing the Ice Empress in danger, Yao Shi shouted and leaped toward the soul engineer squad.

"Idiot, are you trying to get yourself killed? Is this a battle you can interfere in? Get your ass back there and stay put!"

Seeing that Yao Shi, who only had three rings, actually dared to join a battle at the Titled Douluo level, the Ice Empress immediately roared at him.

In the Ice Empress's eyes, Yao Shi being alive and able to use the Snow Empress's techniques meant that he must have used some sort of trump card. But such trump cards could not be numerous, so she believed this was not a battle Yao Shi could take part in and tried to drive him away.

Yao Shi, rushing toward them, smiled faintly. "Don't worry, Ice Empress. I'm terrifyingly strong right now." Then he unleashed a soul skill at the soul engineer squad.

"Emperor Sword: Peerless Ice Edge!"

As his words fell, an ice crystal longsword—the same one that had blocked the shells for the Ice Empress before—condensed behind Yao Shi once more and slashed straight at their energy barrier.

This longsword, formed from the pure origin of snow, possessed sharpness that reached the level of laws themselves.

The moment it touched the barrier, it sliced through it instantly. At the same time, it killed four Soul Sages and five Soul Douluo who had been supplying soul power from the rear.

When the Emperor Sword dissipated, a spatial rift remained at the point it had struck.

"How is that possible?!" Seeing the barrier, which should have been able to withstand five more powerful attacks, collapse instantly, the Class 9 soul engineer's mind went blank.

Impossible! Impossible! Impossible!

Why could a Soul Elder unleash a soul skill that surpassed a Titled Douluo?

Fake. This is fake. This makes no sense!

The energy barrier did not recover, and Yao Shi's Emperor Sword had reduced their number to only six Titled Douluo.

The offensive and defensive positions had shifted, and the situation reversed in an instant. With the barrier gone, the Ice Empress seized the chance and swept them with Ice Jade Light. Aside from the Class 9 soul engineer, the flesh, blood, and soul power of the other five Titled Douluo were all frozen.

She immediately activated the Ice Blast Art, detonating the ice seeds within the five ice sculptures.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Five thunderous explosions rang out as all their bodies blew apart. The blast waves also left the Class 9 soul engineer covered in mangled flesh before he fell from the sky.

"Cough... cough... cough..."

The Class 9 soul engineer had not died. After plunging into the snow, he coughed violently several times.

The Ice Blast triggered by five Titled Douluo had failed to kill him outright. It seemed he must have been carrying a high-grade defensive soul tool.

Seeing that he was still alive, the Ice Empress immediately flew to his side and looked down at him.

"Y-you can't kill me. I'm a human Class 9 soul engineer, I—"

What did a human Class 9 soul engineer have to do with a soul beast like her? Before he could finish speaking, the Ice Empress drove the scorpion tail behind her straight through his heart.

She did not even spare the corpse a glance, merely saying coldly,

"You should not have set foot in the Far North. And you should never have laid a hand on Xue'er."

With that, she walked toward Yao Shi.

"So, Ice Empress, how was my—"

Seeing the Ice Empress walking toward him, Yao Shi felt somewhat pleased with what he had just done. But before he could finish, the Ice Empress cut him off.

"Why did you rush in just now?"

The Ice Empress questioned him in an icy tone.

Yao Shi had just opened his mouth when the Ice Empress interrupted him again.

"Are you sick of living, brat? Do you know how dangerous that battle was? If the aftermath of my attacks or any of their attacks had hit you, you would have died on the spot! What the hell was a tiny three-ring soul master like you joining in for?" Her questioning tone was cold, yet it carried a hint of concern. "Didn't you come here to seek my cooperation so I could protect you? If you're so afraid of death, why did you dare to join this battle for me and the Snow Empress?"

The Ice Empress had not known Yao Shi for long. Aside from the strange space created by his third soul skill, she did not know that Yao Shi also possessed powerful healing and self-recovery abilities.