Fierce Battle

In its haste, the Icehorn Giant Bear could only lower its head to protect its throat, then twist aside, trying to dodge Lu Xuanqing's attack.

But the Spiritual Energy arrow was far faster than the Icehorn Giant Bear. Even if it managed to keep its vulnerable throat out of the way, it could not evade the attack entirely.

The Spiritual Energy arrow grazed the Icehorn Giant Bear's neck, sending a spray of blood flying and leaving a wound several inches long.

The Icehorn Giant Bear was formidable indeed. The flying droplets had barely left its body before they froze into red ice crystals. A white light flashed across the wound on its neck, and a layer of white crystal formed over it, sealing it firmly.

The Icehorn Giant Bear roared again and again, plainly enraged beyond measure. Its bronze-bell-sized eyes swept the surroundings before fixing on Liu Xing and Lu Xuanqing, who still stood in the distance.

How dare two such tiny creatures hurt me?

The furious Icehorn Giant Bear charged toward Liu Xing and Lu Xuanqing. With its bitterly freezing breath, it would freeze every inch of flesh on those two creatures who dared hurt it into icy shards!

Seeing that the Spiritual Energy arrow could wound the Icehorn Giant Bear greatly bolstered Liu Xing and Lu Xuanqing's confidence. Fierce as the monster looked, it was not invincible.

Liu Xing struck while the iron was hot, picking up another boulder and hurling it at the Icehorn Giant Bear.

This time, the Icehorn Giant Bear did not wait for the boulder to reach its head before retaliating. It raised its head and blasted a thick stream of breath into the air.

The blast was as thick as a bucket and laden with countless shards of ice. Like a white dragon ascending to heaven, it swept skyward. The instant it touched the boulder, the rock, weighing several hundred jin, froze and crumbled into powder-fine ice that drifted down from the sky.

Once again, Lu Xuanqing fired a stream of Spiritual Energy right behind the boulder. Seeing how powerful the Icehorn Giant Bear's breath was, she had no wish to clash with it head-on. With a shift of her divine sense, she guided the Spiritual Energy around its breath and sent it straight toward the bear's chest and belly.

The Icehorn Giant Bear was enormous and clumsy. By the time Lu Xuanqing's Spiritual Energy drew close, it could not dodge completely, and another wound appeared on its body.

Still, striking the Icehorn Giant Bear's vital spots was no easy task for Lu Xuanqing. Even hundreds of such small cuts would not kill it. More importantly, her injuries had yet to heal, and she could not sustain a prolonged fight. Otherwise, she would never have set a three-minute limit.

The situation was clear. Fighting at range was merely scratching an itch through a boot; only close combat could truly decide the victor!

With a long, ringing cry, Liu Xing ran straight toward the charging Icehorn Giant Bear, while Lu Xuanqing rode the air close behind him.

Liu Xing's cry rang like a dragon's call, reverberating between heaven and earth and stirring peals of thunder. Far mightier than the Icehorn Giant Bear's roars, it made the blood surge and fighting spirit soar in anyone who heard it.

Unwilling to show weakness, the Icehorn Giant Bear roared louder. Unfortunately, beside Liu Xing's ringing cry, it was still a lesser witch confronting a greater one.

The Icehorn Giant Bear simply stopped roaring and charged headlong toward Liu Xing, aching to smash the creature that had robbed it of its imposing presence into pieces.

The closer Liu Xing came to the Icehorn Giant Bear, the more the cold pierced his bones. After all, the air shield Lu Xuanqing had cast merely formed a layer of vacuum around him. As the temperature drew ever closer to absolute zero, even a vacuum could not keep that terrible cold at bay.

Flying above him, Lu Xuanqing also sensed something was wrong. No longer daring to conserve her Spiritual Energy, she immediately raised a Spiritual Energy barrier and shouted to Liu Xing, "Fall back! It's radiating absolute zero! The air shield can't protect you!"

But Liu Xing turned a deaf ear and kept charging, shouting, "I can't stand retreating like this without putting my life on the line! Beauty, look after yourself. If I can give you an opening, seize it and hit this thing hard!"

Watching Liu Xing charge ahead, Lu Xuanqing knew his mind was made up and no amount of persuasion would bring him back. She gritted her teeth and flew close behind him.

In the blink of an eye, less than five meters separated Liu Xing and the Icehorn Giant Bear. Even with the air shield protecting him, Liu Xing felt as though a thin layer of ice had formed over his body. At the very least, his short animal-hide jacket had frozen into stiff slabs.

Suddenly, the Icehorn Giant Bear opened its jaws and blasted another thick stream of breath straight at Liu Xing.

Liu Xing ducked, intending to dodge the attack and strike at the Icehorn Giant Bear's legs in the same motion. Instead, he discovered that his limbs had grown stiff, and his movements were nowhere near as nimble as usual. Now, never mind attacking the bear-he was not even sure he could evade its breath.

Liu Xing groaned inwardly. Was one careless mistake going to get me killed here?

Earlier, a boulder weighing several hundred jin had turned to powder the instant the Icehorn Giant Bear's breath struck it. Liu Xing did not think his body could withstand the cold any better than that rock.

Just then, a yellow light suddenly emerged from Liu Xing's body. In a flash, the yellow phantom of the Spirit-Devouring Beast appeared in front of him.

The Spirit-Devouring Beast opened its tiny, three-lobed mouth, and the Icehorn Giant Bear's terrifying blast of breath was instantly sucked inside.

Powerful though the Icehorn Giant Bear's breath was, it owed that might to Spiritual Energy. How could it escape being swallowed by the Spirit-Devouring Beast?

With its dim-witted brain, the Icehorn Giant Bear could not understand this sudden turn of events at all. For a moment, it stood rooted to the spot in a daze.

The Spirit-Devouring Beast wriggled happily, as though it had tasted some delicacy, then swiftly disappeared back into Liu Xing's body.

This was already the second time the Spirit-Devouring Beast had helped Liu Xing. Overjoyed, he seized the opportunity, lunged to the Icehorn Giant Bear's feet, and wrapped his arms around one of its paws, hauling it up with all his strength.

The instant he touched the Icehorn Giant Bear, a cold beyond anything he had imagined struck him, millions of times colder than touching a block of ice!

Liu Xing gritted his teeth and flung upward with every ounce of strength, finally hurling the Icehorn Giant Bear's enormous body into the air.

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