Ultimate Ice Dragon Phoenix

The doors to the training ground were pushed open. Morning sunlight streamed down through the open dome, spreading a pale golden glow across the ground. Several rows of training dummies still stood in the center, while the surrounding walls were somewhat thinner than those at last night's location. Bing Yekong looked at the walls and silently offered them an apology.

"Let's begin."

Shui Bing'er nodded, stepped before him, and held out both hands. Bing Yekong did the same. Their four palms met once more, just as they had throughout countless training sessions last night, and their soul power naturally began to circulate.

But this time, Bing Yekong drew upon the power of the Ice Dragon King martial soul.

The Ice Dragon King's power was like a slumbering beast awakened, letting out a deep roar within Bing Yekong's body. That overwhelmingly tyrannical Dragon King pressure spilled out uncontrollably, plunging the entire training ground's temperature by dozens of degrees. Fine ice crystals even condensed in the air.

Shui Bing'er's body trembled slightly. She could sense the terrifying strength of the pressure within Bing Yekong. It was more than ten times as domineering as the aura brought by the Heavenly Frost Sword. It was the majesty of the king of all beasts, bloodline power possessed only by the most supreme existence among ice-attributed soul beasts.

Yet not only did her Ice Phoenix martial soul refuse to retreat, it instead raised its head and let out a clear cry, as though answering the Ice Dragon King's summons.

Two streams of Ultimate Ice soul power violently merged in the air.

Bing Yekong felt his consciousness being pulled into an icy blue space in an instant. The origin power of the Ice Dragon King martial soul erupted from within him like a volcano, intertwining with the Ice Phoenix's soul power, spinning, winding together, and ascending.

Immediately afterward, the Shui Family's second training ground also lit up.

An icy blue pillar of light shot skyward once again, thicker and more brilliant than the one from last night. Within it, the phantom of an entirely icy blue giant dragon and the phantom of an Ice Phoenix soaring with spread wings circled one another. Dragon roars and phoenix cries intertwined, resounding above the entire Shui Family estate.

Early risers throughout Element City raised their heads toward the Shui Family. Some wondered why dragon roars and phoenix cries could be heard so early in the morning, while those who recognized the Shui Family's location began whispering among themselves.

The pillar of light abruptly contracted.

The blue-haired immortal lord appeared in the center of the training ground once more.

His appearance was identical to last night's. He still looked like an ethereal immortal lord of ice and snow, but the Heavenly Frost Sword was no longer in his hand. He merely stood there with his hands behind his back, his long hair and robes gently drifting amid the chill, like an ancient iceberg that would never melt.

A dragon and phoenix slowly circled around him.

The ice dragon was crystal-clear from head to tail, faint blue light flowing across its scales. Its eyes gleamed like two stars, radiating heart-palpitating Dragon King pressure.

The Ice Phoenix circled at the ice dragon's side, its tail feathers trailing long icy blue streams of light. Its form intertwined with that of the ice dragon, creating a perfect formation of dragon and phoenix revolving together.

That sense of majesty was far stronger than last night's. If last night's "Ice Phoenix Strike" had been an immortal lord drawing his sword to slay an enemy, then the immortal lord at this moment was himself a deity not to be offended.

Bing Yekong and Shui Bing'er's wills merged into one within that body. They could clearly feel each other's every heartbeat, every breath, and the thought that rose in both their minds at the same time.

The immortal lord slowly raised his right hand, brought his slender fingers together, and pointed from afar at the row of training dummies ahead.

The dragon and phoenix moved at the same time.

The ice dragon unleashed an earth-shaking roar, while the Ice Phoenix gave a clear cry that soared into the clouds. Wrapped in an energy storm condensed from Ultimate Ice, the dragon and phoenix turned into an icy blue streak of light and flew forward.

The dragon was ahead, the phoenix behind. As they flew, the two figures gradually drew together and fused, finally becoming an icy blue sphere of light that smashed fiercely into the training dummies.

"Ultimate Ice Dragon Phoenix!"

Bing Yekong and Shui Bing'er's voices echoed through the training ground at once. One was clear and impassioned, the other soft and crystalline. Overlapping, they sounded like heavenly music.

The instant the sphere struck the dummies, the whole world seemed to fall silent for a moment.

Then came the eruption.

An icy blue torrent of energy surged in all directions from the impact point. Everything in its path froze, shattered, and collapsed.

Chunks several feet thick were violently ripped from the granite floor. The walls forged from refined steel were torn apart as easily as paper. Ice crystals dozens of meters tall burst from the ground, blasting the entire dome off the training ground.

Ice shards and rubble scattered in every direction like a blizzard. The shockwave made the entire Shui Family residence shake violently several times. From distant courtyards came the faint, crisp sounds of porcelain shattering; clearly, bottles and jars set on shelves had been knocked down by the tremors.

When the smoke and dust finally dispersed, an even larger crater was all that remained where the training ground had stood. Its walls were smooth as mirrors and coated in thick ice, glittering with a faint blue chill beneath the morning sun. The row of training dummies had long since vanished, leaving behind barely any fragments.

Two figures separated from the light.

This time, Bing Yekong did not stagger. He merely felt that nearly half the soul power in his body had been drained, leaving a slight tightness in his chest. He turned to look at Shui Bing'er and found her cheeks flushed, her breathing slightly hurried, yet her condition was unexpectedly good.

"The dragon consumes more than the sword." Shui Bing'er steadied her breathing and looked at the ruins before them, excitement in her voice. "But it's also more powerful."

Bing Yekong nodded, unable to suppress the smile at the corner of his lips. "At least twice as powerful."

As the two spoke, familiar footsteps sounded from afar again. Shui Qingrou arrived even faster than she had last night. She had set out almost the instant the ice crystals exploded, pushing her Soul Douluo-level speed to its limit and reaching the ruins in only a few dozen breaths.

She looked at the devastation, even more thorough than last night's, and could not say a word for a long while.

Shui Qingrou's gaze moved from the crater to the ice shards, from the collapsed walls to the cracked ground, before finally settling on the two young people standing side by side. Her expression was incomparably complicated, filled with helplessness and heartache, as well as a trace of gratification and pride she could not hide.

"You two..." She took a deep breath, trying to keep her tone calm. "Couldn't you let Auntie sleep a little longer this early in the morning?"

Bing Yekong scratched his head somewhat awkwardly. "Aunt Shui, we just wanted to strike while the iron was hot and try out the new soul skill... We didn't control the power very well."

"Didn't control it very well?" Shui Qingrou looked at the crater, the corner of her mouth twitching. "You call this not controlling it well? This training ground was only built last year."

Shui Bing'er lowered her head with rare guilt and said quietly, "Mom, how about... you deduct it from my allowance?"