The icy tornado whipped up blue-white currents, scattering snow across the sky above the Soul Fighting Plaza.
Shui Bing'er's voice rang like a phoenix's clear cry, harmonizing with the wind above the plaza.
"To be elected captain of a team as a level 37 Support System Soul Master... I'm sorry. I admit that, as the core controlling our team after the opening, I... underestimated you far too much."
If the Purple Sun overhead had not kept blazing down, continually raising the temperature around the Skywater Team's position, their Ice and Snow Drifting would never have taken so long to descend.
As Shui Bing'er spoke, a white gust swept down with her words.
Tuoba She and Huang Su blocked the snowy wind on either side, sending ice crystals flying with a series of clinks.
Both suddenly sensed something and stepped aside.
Xu Zi walked slowly forward. Shattered ice and white wind whistled against him, yet failed to freeze and curl even a corner of his clothing.
He stared at the icy tornado more than twenty meters away and gave a chuckle. "Since you've decided to take me seriously, why are you still hiding the true... power of your Martial Soul Fusion Skill?"
"Fine, since you want to see it..."
Faced with Xu Zi's demand, Shui Bing'er's voice held neither joy nor sorrow. "I'll grant your wish."
The next moment, the enormous pillar of icy light abruptly contracted, shaping itself into an oval egg of blue-white light suspended high above the Soul Fighting Plaza.
An entirely new presence rolled down like waves from an icy sea.
A spiraling wall of wind materialized out of nowhere. Swept up by the gale, the ice blades on the ground flew backward into the air and whirled rapidly around the wind wall, becoming a howling icy tornado that ravaged the position occupied by Xu Zi and his two teammates!
This was a defensive assault before the Ice Phoenix hatched.
All the spectating Soul Masters wondered: the Spirit Hall Second Team had only three members left, and this attack had such overwhelming momentum that it rivaled a top-tier Soul Ancestor's full strength.
What means did they have left to withstand it?
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The next second, the icy tornado swallowed all three. Endless blades of frost poured down like a violent tempest, like a turbine meat grinder, ceaselessly scraping against stone slabs and golden armor.
Tuoba She, who had not spoken all this time, held up the pale rock layer formed by his Soul Skill and turned to ask behind him, "Any way to salvage this?"
"Guaranteed." Xu Zi raised his index finger before his lips. "Shh..."
His eyes grew ever brighter, and a vertical golden fissure suddenly appeared across his pupils.
"Do you know why I didn't take the chance to dodge, and even stayed to chat with you?" Xu Zi suddenly asked from within the icy tornado.
Shui Bing'er stared at the two beams of purple light piercing the snowstorm, not quite following him. "What?"
Xu Zi pointed upward, signaling through the storm for Shui Bing'er to look up as he answered loudly, "I wanted to focus your attention on my position. That includes my last sentence and this one. They're all for that purpose."
His voice sounded a little like a dragon's cry, both clear and sonorous, yet deep.
"Hahaha."
His ringing laughter spread across the snowbound plaza.
Shui Bing'er's features could not be seen clearly within the glowing egg, but her blurred outline still raised its head-
At some unknown point, the slowly advancing Purple Sun had quietly approached the space above the glowing egg under cover of the snowstorm...
Less than three meters away.
Boom!
A star struck an ice sphere. The latter was smashed down onto the plaza floor, while the Purple Sun bounced away.
At the same time, the icy tornado went out of control. Seizing the moment, Xu Zi snatched the objects from the hands of the men on either side.
They were a piece of hard golden armor and a large section of rock.
Boom, boom, rumble!
Golden fragments and shattered stone burst outward. The muscles of Xu Zi's arms bulged within his sleeves as he swung and smashed again and again with all his strength.
Before the two Defense System Soul Masters beside him could react, a string of firecracker-like blasts rang in their ears!
Under this fierce pounding, the vortex of ice blades failed to withstand even three blows before collapsing on the spot, becoming a ring of frost that slowly spread along the ground...
By now, a low, thin ring of ice wall had formed on the ground around Xu Zi and the other two.
Just then, the Purple Sun, which had collided with the blue-white glowing egg and been flung away by the recoil, bounced right back above Xu Zi's head, raising wisps of white steam.
He smiled slightly. It's a tool Martial Soul, after all. Everyone uses them this way. Though the sun isn't a solid sphere, it can't possibly be just a "battlefield decoration," either.
Looking at the blue-white glowing egg that had crashed to the ground ahead, its surface covered in cracks, Tuoba She and Huang Su asked with lingering fear, "Is it over?"
As expected of a top-ten team, they had left the two of them in such a sorry state even from this distance. Had it dragged on another three or five seconds, the icy tornado would probably have turned both of them into ice sculptures.
At the same time, they were stunned by Xu Zi's powerful physique. He had actually smashed the blizzard apart in his normal state, without Martial Soul Possession.
Screee-
A piercing bird cry resounded in every direction, radiating outward as mental pressure!
In the sky, the thin flurries of snow grew heavier with the bird cry. The blue-white glowing egg gradually shattered, dissolving into fragments of icy light...
An enormous ice-blue phoenix, five meters long, raised its wings high against the wind and snow.
"More?" Tuoba She and Huang Su swallowed mouthfuls of cold saliva with difficulty.
A small golden shield and a rock wall were formed and raised once more.
Whoosh!
With a beat of its wings against the wind, the Ice Phoenix slowly rose into the air.
Its phoenix eyes looked down upon the three snowmen below, and Shui Bing'er's clear voice emerged from the Ice Phoenix. "If you hadn't injured A Wu, why would I have needed to wait until now to break out of the shell?"
It raised its head and swept its gaze over the members lying all across the ground, then looked into the distance at the Spirit Hall Second Team's three remaining members and cried clearly, "You're strong, and your strength is enough to make the top ten. Unfortunately, you ran into our generation of Skywater."
Because in this generation, they had a Martial Soul Fusion Skill!
The Ice Phoenix wasted no time. Spreading its wings, it soared upward, then glided down, diving toward the enemy's three remaining members!
"Nimble Ice Cones!"
Eight phoenix tail feathers swept through the cold wind, dragging forth eight chunks of translucent, solid ice. Like eight enormous meteoric crystals, they swung downward through a half-circle and hurtled toward the three as the Ice Phoenix braked sharply.
This strike rivaled that of a Five-Ring Soul King.
In a single exchange, the gold broke and the rock shattered before them. Tuoba She and Huang Su each took four hits, gritted their teeth, spat out half a mouthful of blood, and tumbled backward a great distance...
Their arms were covered in snowflakes as well.
The Ice Phoenix beat against the wind and landed, standing on the ground as it looked down at Xu Zi between its legs.
Shui Bing'er offered a friendly reminder. "You can surrender now, Captain Xu Zi."
Yet Xu Zi made the same gesture again: he raised his index finger and pointed upward.
"Is there something beneath me?" The Ice Phoenix furrowed its snowy brows and was about to lower its head.
But Xu Zi said, "No, I'm just buying time, while getting you to pay attention to what's above your head so you won't attack me."
Those honest words left Shui Bing'er stunned.
But in the blink of an eye, she suddenly realized that the purple sun suspended above Xu Zi-had vanished again!
At that moment, dazzling purple radiance blazed down from her back, casting a phoenix's shadow on the ground.
The Ice Phoenix abruptly raised its head, only to see that the Purple Sun had already swollen to seven or eight meters across, with three "stellar rings" circling the star.
Something immense and imposing churned within the deep Purple Sun-
A pair of purple-gold dragon eyes settled right at the center of the solar disk, meeting the Ice Phoenix's blue-white gaze...