The cold was so intense that even the air froze and cracked.
Huai Li had been waiting for this very moment.
She did not dodge. She had never intended to.
One last gleam suddenly burst from her cloudy old eyes-the final pride of the Longbo Tribe's High Priest. She had wagered her life on the brief moment when the Ice Chi's movements were hindered as it breathed out.
"Go!"
She thrust her staff upward, and a long-gathered bolt of lightning shot from its tip.
The bolt was as slender as a child's arm, yet so bright that no one could keep their eyes open.
She had poured every last remnant of her essence, qi, and spirit into this strike. She sought neither grandeur nor overwhelming force, only speed and precision. The lightning surged upstream along the column of dark-mystery true qi and, before the freezing breath could reach the ground, struck squarely inside the Ice Chi's gaping maw.
It was a direct hit.
The Ice Chi let out a piercing, agonized shriek. Its enormous draconic body thrashed violently in the air, smashing several banks of dark clouds apart. Thick black smoke billowed from its mouth, and its stream of dark-mystery true qi abruptly ceased. The profound-ice scales covering half its head shattered beneath the strike, exposing dark blue flesh underneath, where lingering sparks of lightning still crackled.
The battlefield below fell abruptly silent.
Every Ice Yi warrior looked up at once, staring in disbelief at the Ice Chi writhing and roaring in the sky.
The Longbo Tribe's warriors seized that instant of faltering resistance. Qi Zhong drove Fang Kui back with a swing of his axe and roared skyward, "The High Priest has wounded the Ice Chi-kill them! Kill! Kill!"
The Longbo Tribe's morale soared. Thunderous cheers erupted from the