"You little brat, you dare kill my men and destroy the ley lines of my Ice Hell! Today I'll freeze you into an ice sculpture!" The Ice Blade Ghost King's voice was like ice colliding with ice, cold and hard. Tian Yueqing didn't waste words with it. She tossed the bronze furnace aside, and the flames at the furnace mouth transformed into a fire dragon, rushing straight at the Ice Blade. The fire dragon collided with the blade's wind, and with a "hiss," white steam and Mars rose together. The Ice Blade Ghost King's blade paused. Tian Yueqing seized the opportunity to rush forward, her right fist forming a fist, and slammed it into the Ice Blade's belly with the sealing force of her armor.
With a "bang," the Ice Blade Ghost King staggered back two steps, a crack appearing in the ice armor on its stomach. It was stunned, clearly not expecting her fist to be so hard. Tian Yueqing pressed her advantage, reaching into her robes with her left hand to pull out talismans. Just as she pulled out two, she suddenly heard a whoosh of wind behind her—the Ghost King with the ice hammer had secretly circled around behind her and was about to smash the hammer into the back of her head.
She reacted quickly, bending over and rolling to the side. The hammer slammed into the ground, collapsing a section of the sealing array, and the ice demon beasts inside the circle seized the opportunity to surge out. Tian Yueqing cursed and was about to repair the seal when another demon king sprang out from the left, its ice chains wrapping around her neck. She jumped up, the ice chains grazing her ankles and getting caught on a nearby ice pillar. At this moment, the demon king with ice claws also moved, its claws, radiating coldness, clawing at her chest, the tips of its claws covered in ice spikes.
Surrounded by four ghost kings in an instant, anyone else would have panicked, but Tian Yueqing remained quite calm. She patted the gem on her chest, and the gem suddenly shone brightly. The runes on her armor came alive, forming a semi-transparent light shield around her. The ice claws gripped the light shield, and with a "crack," half of them shattered. The ghost king holding the ice claws hissed in pain and withdrew his hand. Tian Yueqing seized the opportunity to retreat, reaching the center of the sealing array, and quickly Hand Seals: "Seal - Crimson Flame Array!"
With a wave of her hand, a crimson fire array collided and exploded in mid-air with the ice, transforming into a rain of fire that fell upon the four ghost kings. The fire rain slammed onto the ice surface outside the light barrier, causing the surging ice demon beasts to howl in pain and forcing the four ghost kings back two steps. The ghost king holding the ice chain suddenly sneered, blew on the chain, and the chain suddenly lengthened, bypassing the fire rain and wrapping around her light barrier. The ice shards on the chain froze the light barrier, causing it to sizzle and shrink.
"Little girl, your lousy shield won't last long," the ghost king with the ice chains said menacingly. "If you know what's good for you, hand over your sealing talisman armor, and we'll seal you in ice. We might even leave you with a whole corpse."
"You're kidding me." Tian Yueqing rolled her eyes and stuffed another fire crystal into the bronze furnace. This time, instead of flames, a plume of crimson smoke rose from the furnace opening. The smoke drifted onto the light shield, causing it to suddenly expand and deflect the ice chains. She took the opportunity to look to the side and saw the fifth ghost king—the one who hadn't made a move yet, holding an ice staff—standing in the distance with his eyes closed. He slammed his ice staff into the ground, and the surrounding ice surged towards her, as if trying to trap her in the middle.
"So you're the real leader." Tian Yueqing understood. Of the five ghost kings, the one with the ice staff was the boss, secretly manipulating the ice. She suddenly smiled at the ghost king with the ice staff, reached into her spatial ring with her right hand, and pulled out a dark object—a sealing talisman made by Tsubasa, called the " Sealing Explosive Flame Talisman," which explodes upon contact with fire. She held the Sealing Explosive Flame Talisman close to the mouth of the copper furnace, and the talisman instantly ignited. She then threw it towards the ghost king with the ice staff.
The Ghost King with the ice staff was still manipulating the ice with his eyes closed, unaware of the flying stone. It wasn't until the stone exploded at his feet with a loud "boom," cracking a piece of his ice armor, that he opened his eyes in surprise and dodged to the side. In that instant, the ice he controlled paused, and Tian Yueqing seized the opportunity to rush towards the Ghost King with the ice blade—he was the weakest of the five, so she'd pick on the weakest first.
The Ice Blade Demon King, caught off guard by her sudden attack, swung its blade. Tian Yueqing didn't dodge, instead ramming the blade with her shoulder. The Earth Spirit Armor struck the ice blade with a clang, and the blade snapped in two. She then raised her hand, slamming the bronze furnace into its face, the flames instantly covering it. The Ice Blade Demon King screamed and retreated, but Tian Yueqing chased after it, her hands Hand Seals on its chest. " Adamantine Sealing - Soul Lock!"
The talisman emerged from her palm and burrowed into the Ice Blade Ghost King's body. It trembled, its movements slowing further and further until finally, with a "thud," it knelt on the ground, its body beginning to freeze. In no time, it was frozen into an ice sculpture, just like the ghosts in the surrounding ice—except that the ice sculpture on its body was inlaid with talismans, and it would never be able to escape again.
"Boss!" The remaining four ghost kings panicked and pounced on her even more fiercely. The ghost king with the ice hammer slammed it into the light barrier, causing it to shake and the gem on his chest to dim slightly. Tian Yueqing's heart tightened; she knew her battle armor was running low on energy. She reached into her spatial bag, trying to find something to replenish the energy, and her fingertips touched something hard— the Ice Soul Crystal she had picked up earlier.
On a sudden impulse, she pressed the Ice Soul Crystal against the gem on her chest. The gem suddenly hummed, drawing in the chilling energy from the Ice Soul Crystal. Then, the gem shone even brighter, and the protective aura instantly doubled in size, sending the four ghost kings flying. The ghost king wielding the ice chains crashed into an ice pillar, shattering it in half; the one with the ice hammer fell to the ground, dropping the hammer from his hand.
"This actually works?" Tian Yueqing was stunned, then laughed—it seemed the Ice Soul Crystal could not only enhance Ice Release, but also be used as a "power bank." She gripped the Ice Soul Crystal and charged forward, this time not dodging, but directly crashing into the Ghost King wielding the ice staff. The Ghost King, who had just gotten up, saw her charging and raised the staff to smash it down on her head. Tian Yueqing dodged to the side, the staff hitting the ground, and she seized the opportunity to raise her hand and press the Ice Soul Crystal against its chest.
The chilling aura of the Ice Soul Crystal seeped into its body, causing it to tremble and its eyes to dim. Tian Yueqing added another sealing seal, and just like the Ice Blade Ghost King before it, it was frozen into an ice sculpture. The remaining three ghost kings were terrified, exchanged glances, and turned to try and disappear into the ice crevice. Tian Yueqing didn't give them the chance, stomping three times on the sealing array on the ground. The red light within the array suddenly transformed into a net, enveloping the three ghost kings.
The Ghost King with the ice hammer was the slowest. Caught in the net, he struggled briefly before being dragged to the ground and finally, with a "plop," disappeared into the ice. The one with the ice chains and crampons managed to escape the net and crawl into a crevice. Tian Yueqing chased after him and threw the bronze furnace into the crevice. The flames from the furnace exploded inside, and two screams came from within, followed by silence—they were presumably burned to death inside.
Having dealt with the five great demon kings, the remaining smaller ice demon beasts were much easier to handle. Tian Yueqing manipulated the sealing array, drawing them in circle by circle until they were all sealed beneath the ice. She breathed a sigh of relief, sat down on the ground, and her armor automatically disintegrated into plates, flying back into the box. The gem on her chest was still glowing, but the Ice Soul Crystal had been absorbed, leaving only an empty shell. She casually tossed the shell aside and looked around—during the fight, the ice had cracked even more, exposing many ores hidden within—blue, green, and purple, all gleaming and clearly valuable.
"This is a huge windfall!" She scrambled to her feet, pulled a large bag from her spatial pouch, and ran towards the ore. The blue stuff was " Cold Iron Ore," which could be used to forge Ice Release weapons; the green stuff was " Soul Condensing Crystal," which could be used to make Chakra ornaments; and the purple stuff was " Netherworld Stone," which was said to ward off evil spirits. She stuffed the ore into the bag, filling two large bags to the brim, then remembered the place where she had sealed the Ghost Kings. She dug through the ice to take a look—next to each Ghost King ice sculpture lay a Soul Crystal, larger than the ones she had picked up before, gleaming with white light.
She quickly picked up the Soul Crystal and stuffed them into her bosom. She then circled around, collecting all the small ores and broken Soul Crystal she hadn't had time to gather before, filling her spatial bag to the brim, almost overflowing even the bronze furnace. She patted her spatial ring and smiled contentedly, "That's enough, time to go."
She walked in the direction she had come from, and after a few days, she noticed a large crack in the ice ahead, with light coming from the other side. She peered closer and saw a passage beneath the crack, from which she could faintly hear the sound of wind—presumably the exit. She jumped down; the passage wasn't cold, but rather quite warm. She followed the passage for about half an hour when she saw light ahead. She quickened her pace and rushed out, only to fall onto the grass.
Outside lay a gloomy grassland, the dim light almost blinding, bearing no resemblance to the Frozen Hell it once was. She collapsed onto the grass, catching her breath, touched the spatial bag in her hand, and chuckled. Just as she finished laughing, a familiar voice came from beside her. "You've finally come out! I've been waiting for you for ages!"
Tian Yueqing turned her head and saw Tsubasa's clone sitting under a tree reading a book. She got up, ran over, and handed him her spatial ring. "Look at the treasures I dug up! I've dealt with all five Ghost Kings, and here are so many ores and Soul Crystal..."
Tsubasa closed the book, took the spatial ring, looked at it, and smiled helplessly, "Your Sealing Jutsu are strong; you can return with a full load wherever you go." He patted her head, "You must be exhausted. I brought some food; have a bite first, then we'll go home."
Tian Yueqing nodded, took a piece of pastry from his hand, and ate it while smiling. The sunlight shone on her, and the wind carried the scent of grass. The bitter cold and battles in the Frozen Hell seemed like a thing of the past. She glanced at Tsubasa, then touched her spatial bag—she had gained something; this trip to Hell hadn't been in vain.