The wind of the Extreme Cold Icefield cut into their faces like sharp blades of ice. Heavy snow drifted through the lead-gray sky. Once the snowflakes settled, the black-red evil power seeping from the ground quickly stained them dark purple, and they crunched sharply underfoot-every inch of ice and snow here had been corrupted by the Evil Bone Altar's power.
Loran and his companions wore "sacred wool cloaks" specially made by the Bronzebeard dwarves. Embroidered with pale golden runes, the cloaks could withstand the bitter cold of minus fifty degrees. The Elf Clan elder—Liya's grandmother, Aila—was mixing pale green "Soul-Warming Potions" from the core sap of the Tree of Life and handing them out. "This potion will protect your heart meridians and keep the evil chill from entering your bodies. Deep in the icefield, the evil power has already merged with the cold. Once you suffer frostbite, the evil power will enter your meridians through the wound, making it ten times harder to treat than ordinary frostbite."
Loran accepted a Soul-Warming Potion. It tasted faintly of grass and wood, and warmth slipped down his throat into his dantian, instantly dispelling the chill inside him. He looked at Lei Lin beside him. Lei Lin's fiery wings had mostly recovered, and golden-red flames danced along their edges, not only keeping Lei Lin warm but also providing a small pocket of warmth for those nearby. Snow Spirit Qilin formed a thin ice barrier around the party with luminous white mist, blocking some of the cold wind. The light power infused into the mist also purified the traces of evil power in the air.
The Icefield Wolf ran at the head of the party, its golden eyes especially bright amid the wind and snow. Suddenly, it stopped and growled toward the front, its furry tail stiffening straight-the snowstorm ahead had abruptly grown unusually violent, and a huge dark shape could faintly be seen moving behind the curtain of snow.
"An Icefield Evil Beast!" Elder Aila's expression shifted slightly. She gave her staff a gentle shake, sending a pale green ray of probing light ahead. "It's an Ice Soul Giant Bear, a magic beast at the peak of the fifth rank. It harbors an evil soul and is extremely aggressive!"
No sooner had she spoken than a five-meter-tall giant bear charged out of the snow. Thick ice crystals covered its fur, its eyes were a murky black-red, and black-purple evil ice coated its claws. Every step it took froze a thin layer of ice over the ground. The giant bear opened its mouth and spat a blast of black-purple icy breath straight at the dwarven warriors at the front.
"Sacred Warhammer: Break!" Chief Tongchui reacted first, raising his warhammer and smashing it into the ground. Pale golden light spread along the surface and collided with the icy breath. Boom! The light shattered the icy breath into a shower of fragments, but some shards of evil ice landed on a dwarven warrior's arm. The warrior immediately cried out in pain—his arm froze purple in an instant, and black-purple evil power was burrowing through his skin into his body.
"Quick, use the Soul-Warming Potion!" Liya immediately rushed over and poured the potion onto the warrior's arm while wrapping the wound in nature power. Pale green light battled the black-purple evil power. The purple marks on the warrior's arm gradually faded, but his face remained pale.
Seeing that its attack had failed, the Ice Soul Giant Bear roared and charged again, swiping at Lei Lin. Lei Lin leaped up, golden-red flames gathering on his claws as they collided with the giant bear's evil-ice claws. "Light Fire Claw!" The flames hissed against the evil ice, burning white smoke from the bear's claws. It stepped back in pain, the vicious gleam in its eyes growing stronger.
"Snow Spirit Qilin, use the Ice Prison Formation to bind its limbs!" Loran shouted. Snow Spirit Qilin immediately breathed out luminous white mist, which condensed into ice-crystal chains around the giant bear's limbs and temporarily trapped it. Seizing the opening, Loran circulated the Power of the Three-Element Source. His knight's sword shone with gold, silver, and pale golden light as he leaped up. "Three-Element Evil-Breaking Slash!"
The blade struck the giant bear's back, and pale golden light instantly pierced its ice-crystal-covered fur, purifying the evil soul inside. The bear let out a piercing scream and struggled violently, snapping the ice-crystal chains before turning to flee.
"Don't let it escape! If its evil soul spreads, it will contaminate more areas!" Elder Aila swept her staff, and countless green vines burst from beneath the snow to coil around the giant bear's hind legs. Chief Tongchui seized the chance to rush forward and smash his warhammer into its skull. "Get down!"
Bang! The blow caved in the giant bear's skull. Its black-red evil soul crawled out through the wound and tried to escape, only for Liya to trap it in a nature barrier. Loran immediately followed with another sword strike, and the three-element light completely purified the evil soul. The giant bear's enormous body crashed to the ground, becoming nothing more than an ordinary bear carcass as the ice crystals covering it melted away.
"Good thing we dealt with it in time and didn't let the evil soul escape." Chief Tongchui wiped the sweat from his forehead. Despite his sacred wool cloak, beads of sweat had still formed there—fighting an evil beast at the peak of the fifth rank had taken a tremendous toll.
Loran stared at the giant bear's corpse, his brow tightly furrowed. "There are more evil beasts on the icefield than we imagined, and they've all been corrupted by evil power. The farther we go and the closer we get to the Evil Bone Altar, the stronger they're bound to be. We have to move faster and get there before the pope completes his ritual."
The party pressed on. Along the way, they encountered several more waves of evil beasts-Ice Feather Eagles with evil ice covering their wings, and Evil Ice Worms hiding beneath the snow. Every battle took a considerable toll on them. As the sun sank in the west, they finally saw the outline of the Evil Bone Altar.
The altar stood atop an enormous iceberg deep in the icefield. Black-red evil power shrouded the iceberg, and twisted Evil Bone runes covered its surface. Built from black stone, the altar stood about ten meters tall, with three crystals placed on top—the fully condensed Soul Crystal radiated black-red light, while the pope's Evil Core floated beside it, the evil power at its damaged section rapidly repairing itself. In the central recess, a fist-sized black-red crystal pulsed slowly. It was the Bone Heart, on the verge of awakening.
The pope stood atop the altar, wearing a cloak woven from evil bones and holding a new bone staff. An evil crystal of the same origin as the Bone Heart was set into its head. At the sight of Loran and his companions, a cold smile curled his lips. "I didn't expect you to actually make it through the icefield's hordes of evil beasts. It seems I underestimated your perseverance."
"Pope, your scheme ends here!" Loran raised his knight's sword, its three-element light dazzling amid the snowstorm. "The Soul Crystal, the Evil Core, and the Bone Heart—you want to use those three things to become the Lord of Evil Bones and open a permanent Evil Bone Passage. I will never let you succeed!"
"Hahaha! It's too late to stop me now!" The pope swung his bone staff sharply. The Evil Bone runes around the altar instantly lit up, and black-red evil power surged from their grooves, forming an enormous barrier around the altar. "The Bone Heart will fully awaken in two hours. Once I absorb its power, I'll break through to deity level! Trapped outside this barrier, all you can do is watch me become the sovereign of the continent!"
Elder Aila immediately swung her staff. Nature power and light power intertwined into a pale green spear of light that shot toward the evil-power barrier. "Nature and Light: Evil-Breaking!" The spear struck the barrier but left only a shallow white mark, which the evil power quickly repaired.
"Useless! This barrier is sustained by the Bone Heart's power. Unless you can destroy the Bone Heart, you'll never break through!" The pope's voice carried crazed laughter. He reached out and grasped the Soul Crystal, channeling its power into the Evil Core-the damaged section healed instantly, and its black-red radiance grew stronger than before. The pope's aura also began climbing rapidly, breaking through from early saint level to middle saint level and continuing to rise.
"We can't let him absorb the Soul Crystal's power!" Chief Tongchui roared and led the dwarven warriors in a charge at the barrier. Sacred warhammers pounded against it, pale golden light colliding with evil power in deafening crashes, yet the barrier remained utterly unmoved.
Watching the pope grow stronger and stronger, Loran was frantic. He looked at Snow Spirit Qilin and suddenly remembered the "Fusion of Ice and Fire Essences" he had comprehended at the Holy Spring. "Snow Spirit Qilin, Lei Lin, let's try combining Twin Qilin Resonance with the three-element power and see if we can find the barrier's weakness!"
The two qilin immediately nodded. Golden-red flames and luminous white mist intertwined around Loran, forming a two-colored cocoon of light. Loran infused the Power of the Three-Element Source into the cocoon, which instantly turned gold, silver, and white. Its light spread across the barrier's surface, searching for weak points in the runes.
"Found it!" Snow Spirit Qilin suddenly shouted. "The evil power flows more weakly through the third rune on the altar's west side than through the others! That's the barrier's energy node!"
Loran looked in the direction Snow Spirit Qilin indicated. Sure enough, the third rune on the west side glowed a little more dimly than the others. He immediately adjusted his power, condensing the three-colored light into a sharp spike that stabbed straight at the rune. "Three-Element Node-Breaking!"
Clang! The spike of light struck the rune, making it flare, but a thin crack spread from its edge. The pope's expression shifted slightly, and he immediately drew on the Bone Heart's power to repair the rune. "Trying to break my barrier? It won't be that easy!"
Just then, the Icefield Wolf suddenly growled toward the other side of the iceberg. Everyone turned to look and saw dozens of evil beasts approaching from all directions, their eyes flashing with black-red light. Clearly, the pope had summoned them. "These evil beasts will keep you occupied. Once the Bone Heart awakens, you'll meet your deaths!"
The horde soon closed in. At its head was an Evil Ice Dragon Lizard even stronger than the Ice Soul Giant Bear from before. An aura at the peak of the fifth rank erupted from its body, and it spat black-purple icy breath straight at Loran's party.
"Split into two groups!" Loran made an immediate decision. "Elder Aila, Miss Liya, lead the elves and some of the dwarven warriors to hold off the evil beasts. Chief Tongchui, Elder White, come with me and keep attacking the barrier's energy node! Lei Lin, Snow Spirit Qilin, Icefield Wolf, follow me!"
Elder Aila nodded and swung her staff, spreading a nature barrier around the party to block the evil beasts' first wave of attacks. "Don't worry! We'll hold the line! Break through the barrier and stop the pope as quickly as you can!"
With Chief Tongchui and Elder White, Loran charged at the barrier's energy node again. Lei Lin breathed golden-red flames over the barrier's surface, while Snow Spirit Qilin used icy mist to freeze the evil power around the rune. Elder White suppressed its repairs with light power, and Chief Tongchui raised his warhammer and smashed it into the crack in the rune. "Sacred Warhammer: Shatter!"
Crack! The fissure instantly widened, and the rune's light went out completely. A two-meter-wide breach appeared in the barrier, black-red evil power spilling from it.
"Excellent!" A flicker of joy crossed Loran's eyes. He was about to charge through the breach when a ray of evil light from the pope blocked him. Standing atop the altar, the pope pointed his bone staff at Loran. "Want to come in? You'll have to get past me first!"
He leaped down from the altar. The powers of the Evil Core and the Bone Heart intertwined inside him, and black-red evil power formed a pair of enormous bone wings. His bone staff transformed into an Evil Bone longsword, and an aura of late saint level erupted from him, several times stronger than before.
"Loran Kane, today we settle this once and for all!" the pope said coldly, bringing his Evil Bone longsword down at Loran with world-destroying force.
Loran tightened his grip on his knight's sword, the Power of the Three-Element Source circulating furiously inside him. Lei Lin and Snow Spirit Qilin leaped up at the same time, their ice and fire light merging into the blade. "Twin Qilin Three-Element Final Slash!"
Three-colored light collided with black-red evil power, and an enormous energy shock wave spread across the icefield. The wind and snow were instantly blasted away, and the surrounding evil beasts were sent flying. Elder Aila and Liya hurriedly raised barriers to protect the warriors behind them.
At the center of the collision, both Loran and the pope were driven several steps backward. Loran's arm tingled faintly, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth-after absorbing part of the Soul Crystal's power, the pope had grown far stronger than he had expected.
The pope looked at Loran with contempt filling his eyes. "For someone at the peak of the fourth rank (note: Loran had already broken through to the peak of the fourth rank during the battles on the icefield), taking one strike from me was impressive enough. But you won't be so lucky with the next!"
He charged at Loran again, the evil power on his Evil Bone longsword growing denser. Traces of spatial distortion even appeared around the blade. Loran drew a deep breath, and the Power of the Three-Element Source inside him began fusing rapidly. He knew this was his final showdown with the pope, and the last hope of protecting the continent.
Lei Lin and Snow Spirit Qilin stood shoulder to shoulder beside Loran. Golden-red flames and luminous white mist intertwined once more, forming a two-colored shield of light that blocked the pope's attack. Meanwhile, the Icefield Wolf circled behind the pope, waiting for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack.
The snowstorm over the icefield grew violent once more. Atop the Evil Bone Altar, the Bone Heart beat faster and faster, its black-red light illuminating the entire icefield. An ultimate battle that would decide the continent's fate had finally begun in earnest on the Extreme Cold Icefield.