The Qilin Subdued the Cold Wyrm, a Fierce Battle with Ling in His Arms, and the Warmth of Family

Bang! Bang!

Blades of light rained down on the Frost Abyss Cold Wyrm's wounds, splashing up two spurts of blood. Through their actions, the two Ling elders showed what it meant for elderly Soul Kings to burn their lives away, defy a ten-thousand-year Flood Dragon, and cleave open heaven's gates for their family's holy maiden.

Don't underestimate the bond between old folks and youngsters, you bastard!

"Roar!"

Ambushed, the Frost Abyss Cold Wyrm spat out even the flesh it had already taken into its mouth. It flew into a rage. These hateful humans were actually trying to thwart the precious love of Soul Beasts!

A mouthful of ten-thousand-year-old phlegm blasted out amid gray-blue freezing mist, spreading into a cone—the innate breath attack possessed by dragonkind.

The two Ling elders dared not let even a trace touch them and hurriedly retreated. Run, old folks, run!

"Ice Staff, protective ice armor."

Ling Luochen released her ice-element Martial Soul. Her first Soul Skill formed a staff, immediately followed by her second. Four rays split off from the staff, shielding her, her teammates, and their guide.

"I get one too? Thanks."

Ice crystals assembled into a pale-blue suit of armor over his body. Yu Tianjun stretched a little and thanked Ling Luochen.

It wasn't really necessary, but he appreciated the thought.

"Get going. I won't be able to look after you once this starts."

Ling Luochen delivered those words with crisp confidence, then pushed off with her toes. Her figure shot forward like a weightless snowflake, rapidly approaching the battlefield.

Her fourth Soul Ring flashed. Dense freezing mist poured from her ice staff, concealing her and her teammates within it before unfurling to both sides at astonishing speed. It formed a vast arc, bearing down on the Frost Abyss Cold Wyrm.

"You're blocking my view of the fight. If I can't see anything, how am I supposed to save you when you're in danger?"

White mist filled his vision. Yu Tianjun frowned slightly, and without his noticing, his eyes turned into vertical pupils swirling with five colors. His sight rapidly cleared, revealing the three members of the Ling family battling the cold wyrm.

With the Five-Element Qilin active, all five elements were united within him. Pure elemental abilities could not obscure Yu Tianjun's vision—a small hidden perk.

Ice was a variant of water, so he could see through it with a little effort too.

A supreme Martial Soul naturally possessed its own uniquely powerful qualities.

Boom! Boom! Pfft! Pfft!

The battle grew fierce, both sides continually trading wounds. The two Ling elders, both of the power attack system, swung their ice blades with furious force, while Ling Luochen, of the control system, maintained her second, third, and fourth Soul Skills from a distance almost without pause.

Her second Soul Skill replenished their defensive armor, her third deployed Prison Cage to restrict the cold wyrm's movements, and her fourth provided wide-area attacks and control. Their chain of moves struck like a tiger, and together, the three could rival a Soul Emperor.

Shrek gathered the finest talents beneath heaven. This generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters really was formidable.

But...

"It's tougher than I expected. Dragonkind enjoys heaven's favor."

The two Ling elders' attacks lacked power, their wounds not lethal enough. In Yu Tianjun's eyes, the outcome of this battle remained uncertain.

Come to think of it, this was also Yu Tianjun's first time observing a battle involving a Soul Beast in the lowest ten-thousand-year bracket.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

The three members of the Ling family fought in perfect coordination, but the Frost Abyss Cold Wyrm had not earned its reputation for nothing. Its mighty vitality kept its condition from deteriorating rapidly. Breath attacks poured from its mouth, its scales absorbed cold to form a protective layer of ice crystals, and now and then it charged with a forward or backward somersault.

The wyrm's tail grazed Ling Da. Half his armor shattered, blood sprayed from his mouth, and his body went flying.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

Ling Er shouted. Soul Power surged like flames as he unleashed his mightiest slash yet. The blade flashed snow-bright, forcing the pained wyrm to turn back and defend itself. A gash over a meter long split its tail, and blood rained down.

"Second Brother!" "Uncle!"

Ling Luochen and her uncle roared. Neither rejoiced at the slash's success; their eyes filled with grief. Ling Er had ignited his Soul Power.

Burning Soul Power could produce tremendous offensive strength, but once ignited, it was difficult to stop before it burned out and brought death.

Even if it could be stopped, his cultivation would suffer grievously.

"Forget about me! Cut it down!"

The cold wyrm swatted Ling Er away with a claw. He flew backward dozens of meters and slammed into the ground, coughing up several mouthfuls of blood.

Through her tears, Ling Luochen released her third Soul Skill to pin the wyrm down. Ling Da gathered power into his blade and struck in fury, while Ling Er, his Soul Power already burning, charged back into battle. Wounds rapidly multiplied across the wyrm's body.

"Roar! Roar!"

The cold wyrm cried mournfully. The hexagonal ice crystal on its forehead suddenly lit up, and an ice-blue glow spread outward from its body, forming a pale-blue, translucent ring fifteen meters across. The faint apparition of a gigantic frost dragon could be seen coiled above its head.

The instant that ring appeared, the surrounding temperature plummeted. Even Yu Tianjun, who had begun approaching the battlefield, felt pressure weighing on his chest. All five elements were suppressed, fire most of all, and his Soul Power began circulating sluggishly.

"Qilin, take your place."

The radiant silhouette of the Five-Element Qilin appeared behind him. Yu Tianjun instantly broke through the ice wyrm's suppression, throwing a bloodline elbow at the ancient Soul Beast.

He shot forward, using the Five-Element Escape Technique to rush toward the battlefield.

"Extreme Cold Dragon Crown? It can still use that?"

Shock and despair filled Ling Luochen's poignantly beautiful face. The cold wyrm had already used this innate ability while trading blows with the Demon Ape. It was extraordinarily domineering, awakening its Ice Dragon bloodline and suppressing its opponents in every respect.

At the same time, its body underwent Dragon Transformation, as though an Ancient Ice Dragon had returned. Its combat strength soared, and every attack that followed would unleash devastating destructive power.

Because it activated the bloodline, this innate ability required three days of rest between uses. That was why Ling Luochen had dared to take this gamble.

Never had she imagined that this cold wyrm's bloodline was so unusually pure that it could burn its bloodline for one more use.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

Once the Extreme Cold Dragon Crown appeared, less than thirty percent of Ling Luochen's Soul Power remained usable. Her staff turned illusory, and her Soul Power circulated sluggishly. Ling Da's Martial Soul was forcibly dispersed; he wanted to ignite his Soul Power but could not. Bloody tears streamed from Ling Er's eyes...

The cold wyrm's face showed the satisfaction of imminent victory. Dragon breath erupted from its throat again, a blizzard surging toward the three hateful humans!

In their panic, Ling Da and Ling Er desperately ran toward Ling Luochen. Those few hundred meters seemed impossibly far now, and the running speed she had honed through years of grueling training at Shrek seemed impossibly slow...

Was this the end?

With the dragon breath almost upon her, Ling Luochen closed her eyes in despair.

At that very instant, a strong hand wrapped around her waist. Her body tipped sideways, falling into a firm, powerful chest.

"Lava Burst."

A cool, clear voice sounded beside her ear. Ling Luochen lifted her eyes and stared in astonishment. The person holding her was none other than Yu Tianjun, who should have retreated long ago!

An incongruous mask covered the youth's face, faintly outlining its perfect contours. His multicolored vertical pupils matched his Martial Soul, making him seem like the sovereign of the five elements. Wisps of five-colored light flowed around his body.

Ling Luochen admitted that Yu Tianjun looked incredibly handsome at that moment, but she knew even better that this was no time to be moved. She said urgently:

"Run! We're no match for it!"

"Why don't you look at my feet?"

Yu Tianjun spoke softly. Almost without thinking, Ling Luochen obediently looked down. Her beautiful eyes widened. She clearly saw one dazzling yellow ring and two purple ones. The third Soul Ring's color was deep, deeper even than her own fourth Soul Ring.

At that moment, the first Soul Ring beneath the youth's feet shone brilliantly. The Five-Element Qilin stood imposing and proud, gathering fire elements of extraordinarily compressed density in its mouth. It fired a spiraling, dark-purple column of scorching lava energy straight into the cold wyrm's breath!

Boom! Boom! Boom...

Amid the thrilling thunder of collisions, ice and fire consumed one another, and heavy rain fell from the sky.

Snap.

Yu Tianjun snapped his fingers. The Five-Element Qilin charged forward, while his true body held little Ling in his left arm and transformed his right into a Qilin.

His second Soul Ring flashed. Five-Element Space-Splitting Slash! The cold wyrm flew away howling, blood splashing across the snowy mountain.

The cold wyrm was a spent arrow, while the Qilin had waited fresh for its exhausted foe. There was never going to be any doubt about this battle's outcome.

The cold wyrm turned to flee, and the Five-Element Clone appeared. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth—your life was no longer yours to command!

"Problem solved. Remember to pay extra; you can put it on your tab. Remember to swear on your Martial Soul to keep everything you saw today secret. Remember that secrecy means you must not reveal any information about me to anyone from Shrek Academy in any form. Remember that the consequence of leaking it is cultivation deviation and the destruction of both body and soul..."

The five-element qilin dragged the Frost Abyss Cold Wyrm back onto the plain like a dead dog. Holding the utterly bewildered Luochen in his arms, Yu Tianjun leaped down and laid out his reminders one by one.

Little Ling was already dumbstruck, nodding like a chick pecking grain.

For a three-ring Soul Elder to defeat a ten-thousand-year dragon-blooded Soul Beast was an earthshaking feat, even if that Soul Beast had already been gravely wounded.

Having witnessed the battle firsthand, Ling Luochen even overlooked the fact that this was her first time being held by a member of the opposite sex who was not a relative.

Huh? Something seemed wrong. Wasn't I one of the Shrek Seven Devils?

Ling Luochen realized the problem. Was she failing to live up to her title? No—the entire seven of her generation were failing to live up to theirs.

"Ling Da and Ling Er were saved by my clones, but Ling Er burned his Soul Power. He's a little bit dead."

Yu Tianjun softly reminded Luochen, whose head was still popping with exclamation marks, that her relative was about to die.

"Huh? Oh... Uncle!"

Little Ling returned to reality. In an instant, she remembered Ling Er's wretched state as he burned his Soul Power. The agony of losing family surged into her brain, and she sprinted wildly toward Ling Er, whose body was beginning to turn insubstantial.

At that moment, the fruits of her years of running were displayed to the fullest. Yu Tianjun admitted he could not match her.

"Don't cry, don't cry. Luo Chen, knowing you're safe, I can die without regrets..."

Ling Er was nearly burned out, his body turning ethereal. He reached out to stroke Ling Luochen's face, left her a few words, then dissolved into light and departed for heaven.

Yu Tianjun noticed that Ling Er kept glancing at him while delivering his last words. He wondered, What do your last words have to do with me?

So he drifted over and told Ling Luochen in a clear voice, "I can't save someone whose Soul Power is burning. I'm not omnipotent."

"I understand. It's only right to do the work you're paid for. Beyond guiding us, helping is a kindness, not helping is your right. I'm already immensely grateful that you stepped in to save us."

Ling Luochen showed remarkable strength despite having just lost a loved one. Pressing her lips together, she stood and gave Yu Tianjun a wan smile:

"Sorry to trouble you with one more thing. Please ask your family's elders to take us out of the Far North. It might not be safe here."

"Don't worry. I'll repay everything I owe."

Yu Tianjun looked at her and shook his head earnestly:

"Talking about money at a time like this would hurt our friendship. Consider it a gift. I'll include it in the after-sales service."

Ling Luochen froze for a moment. Had he turned over a new leaf?

"I really like this kind of warm family atmosphere, Luochen."

Yu Tianjun activated his Message Soul Tool and looked at Ling Luochen with a smile, tilting his head slightly.

"What? Now that you've seen my Martial Soul, are you afraid I'll look down on you? You won't let me call you my big sister anymore?"

"Everyone in the Heavenly Dragon Sect calls one another brother. Sadly, there aren't any senior or junior sisters in my generation."

Ling Luochen suddenly felt like crying. Shaking her head vigorously, she opened both arms and embraced this kindhearted little brother, who was clearly incredibly powerful yet extraordinarily unassuming.

"From today onward, you're my little brother. My one and only little brother..."