Ling Luochеn gritted her teeth, her white skirt fluttering even without wind. With a clear shout, the Ice Staff in her hand burst forth with dazzling blue light, and a giant ice prison suddenly condensed in the dome, with countless ice shards falling like meteors.
However, the temperature of the entire Soul Fighting Arena plummeted to freezing point the next moment, and the chill emanating from Huo Yuhao instantly froze Ling Luochеn's ice prison.
With each step he took forward, ice flowers exploded on the ground, and ice spikes burst forth to form steps. The surrounding ice elements obeyed his command at that moment. Huo Yuhao was all too familiar with controlling ice attributes.
Ling Luochеn, who was always aloof, turned deathly pale in an instant, and his Soul Power seemed to freeze.
She never imagined that, despite both being ice-attribute Martial Soul, the chill emanating from the young man before her could completely suppress her ice element—the chilling aura surrounding Huo Yuhao carried the unique pressure of the Water Dragon King's origin, an Ultimate Ice surpassing even the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North.
It was crushing her Martial Soul with absolute power.
"Ice? Showing off your ice tricks in front of me is nothing but courting death." A blue light flashed in Huo Yuhao's eyes.
The ice crystals on the Soul Fighting spread wildly as if they were alive, crawling up Ling Luochеn's skirt and onto the ground, condensing into a ferocious array of ice spikes at her feet.
Just as Huo Yuhao's fingertips were about to touch her brow, Ling Luochеn suddenly closed her eyes, her long eyelashes casting trembling shadows on her eyelids—she could clearly feel the chill that could freeze her soul wandering along the panel, but the moment it touched her skin, it suddenly became as gentle as melting snow in spring.
(If he could, he wouldn't want to fight these people at all. But it seemed like he wanted to show off, so he just fought casually. Now, using the Ultimate Ice could be considered as unintentionally giving Ling Luochеn some pointers.)
"I... I give up..."
Her voice trembled with a broken quality, but the last note was choked by a sudden surge of warmth. Huo Yuhao's fingertips did not feel the expected piercing pain; instead, a wisp of gentle Soul Power flowed along her brow and into her meridians, like a pair of hands gently wiping away the tremors deep within her Martial Soul.
The ice elements that had been rampaging through his body suddenly became tamed, and the once chilling and dazzling array of ice crystals was now melting into trickling streams at a visible speed, forming a shimmering puddle on the Soul Fighting Arena.
Ling Luochеn suddenly opened her eyes, meeting Huo Yuhao's slightly apologetic gaze. The icy blue light at the boy's fingertips had transformed into a soft halo, like the morning light after a winter snowfall. "Senior's ice-attribute Martial Soul is very strong, but in the face of Ultimate Ice..." He paused, "In that case, please step down, Senior."
The moment the chill subsided, Ling Luochеn suddenly realized how ridiculous her fear had been.
Those overwhelming ice crystals never truly condensed into a killing move; all the oppressive feeling stopped precisely at the boundary of "deterrence"—just like the wisp of Soul Power Entanglement around her wrist at this moment, seemingly domineering but secretly containing a protective intent.
She suddenly remembered a realm. "The highest level of Martial Soul control is complete control." The young man before her was already able to use this realm in actual combat and deterrence.
A faint blush rose to the tips of her ears.
As a well-known "ice queen" in Shrek Inner Court, this was the first time she had been touched so closely by a man, and she never expected it to end with her "giving up".
The lingering warmth at her fingertips intertwined with the tremors deep within her Martial Soul, causing the usually aloof girl to suddenly feel flustered. However, when she looked up, she met Huo Yuhao's calm gaze—a gaze devoid of any smugness, only composed.
Chen Zifeng and Xi Xi looked at the icy blue aura surrounding Huo Yuhao on the Soul Fighting Stage, exchanged a glance, and then simultaneously dimmed the light of their Soul Ring.
The terrifying strength that had just crushed the Soul King made them realize the vast difference in strength in this contest. They silently retreated to the sidelines, leaving the final battle to Dai Yueheng and Huo Yuhao —after all, from beginning to end, this struggle stemmed from the intractable grudges and entanglements between the two.
Dai Yueheng slowly ascended the stage, stepping on the shattered ice. Looking down at Huo Yuhao, a hint of surprise flashed in his hawk-like eyes. "As a Soul Elder, to be able to defeat three Soul King, your strength is quite impressive, Huo Yuhao."
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly smiled and raised an eyebrow. "How about considering joining our Duke's Mansion? Someone as powerful as you would be perfect as our guard."
"I can let bygones be bygones regarding Dai Huabin's matter, and I can even recommend you to work under my father. How about that?"
At this moment, Dai Yueheng's interests took precedence. As for his younger brother, he had only himself to blame, but if he could win over Huo Yuhao, it would be a good thing for the Duke's Mansion, his father, and the empire.
Huo Yuhao's icy blue eyes flashed with a cold light. "I have no interest whatsoever in your Duke's Mansion. Who would lower themselves to go to your wretched place?" His voice was like a steel knife tempered with ice, each word piercing Dai Yueheng's ears.
Dai Yueheng's veins bulged, and the blood vessels in his temples throbbed. "Aren't you being a little too arrogant?"
"Arrogant?" Huo Yuhao suddenly approached, his chill surging. "Am I? I've always been this arrogant. I'm only polite to people; I don't want to waste my breath on those I don't even know."
""furious"
" Dai Yueheng hunched over like a tiger poised to pounce, his eyes glowing with a bloodthirsty crimson. His right palm suddenly transformed into a tiger claw over ten feet long, carrying a stench as it aimed straight for Huo Yuhao's throat."
Before the tiger's claws even arrived, the strong wind had already blown Huo Yuhao's sideburns flying backward. Huo Yuhao touched the ground with his toes, his figure retreating swiftly like Gui Mei, his Spirit Eyes glowing with a bright blue light. From his perspective, Dai Yueheng's attack trajectory was broken down into countless slow-motion shots—the arc of taut muscles, the patterns of flowing Soul Power, the frequency of rising and falling breaths, every detail was clearly visible.
After seven close dodges, Huo Yuhao's boots scraped against the surface of the Soul Fighting Arena with a sharp, grating sound. He suddenly switched from defense to offense, his figure blurring as he closed in.
The fist, enveloped in a chilling mist, struck precisely at Dai Yueheng's vital joints. Each block unleashed a thunderous explosion of Soul Power.
Dai Yueheng roared and slammed out his tiger palm, but Huo Yuhao flicked it with his finger, striking the inside of his wrist. The intense pain caused his attack to falter, followed by a barrage of punches and sharp sweeping kicks.
When Huo Yuhao's knee slammed heavily into his ribs, the young master of the Duke's Mansion staggered backward, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
" White Tiger Fierce Light Wave!" Dai Yueheng's body erupted with golden light, and a golden ball of light the size of a soccer ball condensed in his palm. The intense energy fluctuations distorted the air, and the ball of light roared through the sky, leaving a scorched trail in its wake.
Huo Yuhao snorted coldly, and ice-blue Soul Power burst forth from his palm, instantly raising a shield covered in ice shards. The ball of light exploded with a bang, ice crystals and golden light intertwining into dazzling fireworks, and the shockwave crashed into the Soul Power barrier, stirring up thousands of ripples.
Xuan Zi stroked his beard and chuckled, his eyes full of approval. "Truly impressive, our trump card, even without using our Martial Soul, possesses such power..."
Huo Yuhao dusted off the corner of his clothes, a mocking smile curving his lips, "With this little strength, you still dare to participate in the Soul Fighting Tournament? It's so embarrassing. How did your parents raise such stupid people as you and Dai Huabin?" Every word was like a knife, making Dai Yueheng's veins bulge.
"Shut up!" Dai Yueheng roared to the sky, and his three Soul Ring simultaneously shone with dazzling light. The White Tiger Protection Barrier condensed into a golden shield on his body, the White Tiger Vajra Transformation made his body grow three times larger, and the White Tiger Demon God Transformation made White Tiger phantom appear behind him, which could be considered as the White Tiger Possession.
The "king" character pattern on his forehead resembled a burning flame, and the fluctuations in his power caused spiderweb-like cracks to appear on the ground of the Soul Fighting Arena.
"Damn brat, take my final move! White Tiger Destruction Kill!" Dai Yueheng's body erupted with golden light, tracing a strange trajectory in the air, each flash leaving a burning afterimage. When these afterimages finally coalesced into a giant "kill" character, it crushed towards Huo Yuhao.
P. S.: Thank you to Chentang Pass Shuang Hua Hong Third Prince Nezha for the monthly ticket donation, thank you for your support...