Ice Phoenix Parrot, Night Raid Probe
Everyone turned their heads sharply, their eyes scanning behind them warily.
The firelight illuminated a gray rock, on which perched Parrot the size of a palm.
Its body was a mixture of gray and white, its feathers were fluffy, and its eyes, the size of mung beans, were staring intently at them.
"Who! Who's speaking!" Shui Yue'er's voice was still trembling.
"I," the Parrot shook its wings, its tone tinged with displeasure, "Look closely, a living bird, not a ghost."
Shui Yue'er was stunned for a moment, then her cheeks flushed red.
She was terrified, but it turned out to be a Parrot talking?
She instinctively reached out to shoo it away, her fingertips barely touching the tip of the Parrot's wing—
"Ouch!"
The icy coldness crept up her fingertips in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, her palms were frozen into ice cubes.
Shui Yue'er gasped and frantically shook her hands, but the ice didn't budge, making her grimace from the cold.
"Yue'er!" Shui Bing'er quickly got up, grabbed her sister's wrist, and tried to melt the ice.
But as soon as her Soul Power touched it, the ice block not only didn't melt, but instead thickened even more.
"Don't move," the Parrot said lazily. "This is the ice of the Ice Phoenix Bloodline; you can't break it."
"Don't worry, it won't freeze you to death; it'll thaw on its own in about fifteen minutes."
Shui Yue'er was dumbfounded, "Ice... Ice Phoenix Bloodline?!"
"Oh, you don't believe me?" The Parrot's tone carried an air of offended arrogance.
"Although by my generation, the bloodline is a bit diluted, and it's not noticeable in my appearance."
"But bloodline is something ingrained in your bones, don't you understand?"
As it spoke, it suddenly spread its wings.
A pale blue halo suddenly appeared among the gray and white feathers, revealing its aura.
It's actually a 60,000-year-old Soul Beast!
"This strength," the Parrot folded its wings back to its sides, "Is it enough to shut you up?"
Silence fell around the campfire.
Oscar swallowed hard, awkwardly withdrawing his hand that had been about to help. "Um... we didn't mean to, we were just startled."
"Hmph, that's just how humans are." The Parrot preened its downy feathers with its beak. "It thought I was an ordinary bird and tried to shoo me away."
"Now that you know my cultivation level, you immediately become very polite."
"You humans change your tune faster than the weather in the Extreme North."
Oscar remained silent, embarrassed.
"So, humans are terrifying; they're opportunistic and change their tune depending on the situation."
"Not a trace of innocence!"
Veya, listening nearby, couldn't help but say, "It's as if all humans are bad people."
"We are afraid of Soul Beast because you are too close to us. If you launch a sneak attack, we won't even have time to react."
"Hmm, I see," the Parrot scoffed. "When you humans hunt Soul Beast and take their Soul Ring, why don't you ever ask if we're scared?"
Veya was speechless and unable to refute.
The Parrot paced on the rock, muttering, "Survival of the fittest, an age-old truth."
"The weak deserve to live in fear; that's the rule of the world."
Oscar quickly tried to smooth things over, "No, no, no, we're not here to argue!"
"Teacher Ye has created the Soul Spirit System and has already begun promoting it."
"In the future, humans and Soul Beast might truly be able to avoid fighting each other with swords and spears."
The Parrot didn't retort after he said that.
It tilted its head and remained silent for a moment, its paws lightly scratching at the rock. "I know that, Old Bear mentioned it to me."
"Then why are you—" Oscar started to say, but was stopped by a glare from the Parrot.
"I said humans are terrifying, not that the Soul Spirit System is no good."
The Parrot turned its head to look towards the deep pit, "I trust Auspicious Beast."
"Auspicious Beast?" Oscar blinked. "A type of Soul Beast?"
"This... don't ask! Knowing too much won't do you any good!" The Parrot realized it had let something slip.
At this moment, the ice on Shui Yue'er's hands finally melted.
She shook her numb, frozen fingertips, wanting to speak—
"Roar--!!!"
At the very front of the camp, a deafening bear howl erupted!
The howl was rapid and violent, full of warning!
The resting Far North Icefield Bear sprang up instantly!
Its heavy body thudded and pounded, scattering snow and dust, even the bonfire was blown over by the wind pressure!
"What's wrong?!" Oscar drew his Three-Eyed Icefire Guns, his back tense.
His response was a series of roars echoing from the defensive line.
"Enemy attack!" Snow Tuan heard his companion shout. "Infected Soul Beast are emerging from the pit!"
Before the words were even finished, the Soul Beast corrupted by the Abyss charged straight at them!
Leading the pack was an infected snow wolf, with protruding fangs and a ferocious face.
The Snow Tuan let out a low growl and charged straight at its opponent!
The bear's paw collided with the wolf's head, and the infected snow wolf was forcefully knocked back several feet!
But even more infected Soul Beast surged out of the darkness.
"Shui Bing'er! Behind you!" Oscar hissed as he fired back the snow wolves that were lunging at Veya.
Shui Bing'er immediately turned around, and her Ice Phoenix Martial Soul appeared, freezing the attacker.
"Yue'er, do you still remember how to cooperate?"
"I remember!" Shui Yue'er nodded emphatically.
The sisters held hands, their Soul Power connected.
The icy blue Soul Power converged, swirled, and merged.
Frost spreads, water vapor condenses!
"Snowfall!!!"
The frost transformed into two intersecting, rotating arcs of light, bursting outwards!
The first infected Soul Beast that came into contact with it was frozen into an ice sculpture before it even had a chance to struggle!
Click.
A crisp cracking sound.
The infected Soul Beast was frozen and shattered into dust.
The remaining infected Soul Beast were also slowed down by the frost!
"Great opportunity!" Oscar seized the chance to deliver the final blow.
The gunfire blasted the approaching infected beasts to pieces.
Snow Tuan led the Icefield Bears to surround and encircle the remaining infected beasts, and they were quickly wiped out.
The Parrot also joined the fray, flying high up and fanning up a biting, cold wind.
Any infected Soul Beast that gets blown by the wind is reduced to nothing but a skeleton!
Oscar strode over, and after confirming that his teammates were alright, he crouched down to examine them.
"These..." he frowned, "Look like the group that escaped into the Core Area earlier."
Veya also leaned in, "Are you sure?"
"Confirmed." Oscar stood up, brushing the ice shards off his hands. "Those infected beasts on the Core Area have long been wiped out by the Allied Forces."
"These must be the ones who slipped through the net, clinging to life here."
"But this time, they specifically targeted gaps in the defenses, and they didn't have that crazy, reckless rampage."
Upon hearing this, Shui Bing'er's expression turned serious. "Let's test the waters."
"Yes," Oscar nodded, "They're testing where our weaknesses lie."
"If I'm not mistaken, they might launch a surprise attack on their weak points early tomorrow morning!"
That's when people are most tired and most relaxed!
The campfire was reignited, its orange-red glow reflecting on everyone's faces.
After confirming there was no further threat, the ice bears returned to their positions.
Shui Yue'er rubbed her fingertips together. "So what do we do now?"
Oscar stared at the deep pit, the enormous depression in the night resembling a gaping, blood-red maw.
"Go back and report to Teacher Ye," Oscar said, sheathing his Three-Eyed Icefire Guns. "This message cannot be delayed."
The group hurried towards Ye Hua's tent.
But they didn't see that the Parrot was perched on top of the tent, its beady eyes fixed on them.