Hiss!
The instant the knife-hand chopped down, a layer of ice crystals bloomed over the Qipao Weird without warning.
Transparent and dazzling, the ice crystals refracted rainbow light beneath the streetlamp's white glow.
They appeared out of thin air, instantly encasing the Qipao Weird's entire body and turning her into a translucent ice sculpture.
Tomeko's knife-hand struck the ice sculpture hard, ringing out with the crisp clang of metal on metal.
The ice did not budge. Not even a crack appeared.
Tomeko frowned slightly, looking down at her palm before looking back at the ice sculpture that had blocked her Killing Blow.
She had put her full strength into that strike, enough to cleave any fifth-tier being in two, yet a thin layer of ice had stopped it.
The ice vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
In just a second or two, the crystalline shell broke into countless tiny flakes, shedding from the Qipao Weird's body and dissolving into the night wind.
The instant the Qipao Weird emerged from the ice, her body swayed instinctively. Only by bracing her left hand against the ground did she keep herself from falling.
She raised her head, looking past Tomeko toward the ice-blue figure at the other end of the street.
Han Xiangdong stood at the corner of a house, his right hand still raised, a few lingering wisps of cold clinging to his fingertips.
He said nothing, merely nodding slightly, his icy face as expressionless as ever.
The Qipao Weird said nothing either.
In their current situation, any pleasantries would have been a waste of time.
But a question was racing through her mind.
Her time rule already had one foot in control level, yet against Tomeko, it sank without a trace, unable to stir even the slightest ripple.
Han Xiangdong's