Beyond the Nine Heavens, the center of the battlefield.
The first true collision gradually subsided.
The energy storm, spanning a million miles in diameter, slowly dispersed, revealing the two figures still facing off behind it.
On Empress Ling Shuang's ice-blue palace dress, a few strands of hair were grazed by the stray Chaos Sword Qi, silently turning into nothingness.
In her pupils, besides Battle Intent, there was an added touch of disbelief.
In that strike just now, she had used seventy percent of her strength, coupled with that Heaven Rank Medium Grade Ice Soul Bead; its power was infinite.
But the opponent actually hadn't even used a Magic Treasure just now?
She had originally thought Gu Han might have cultivated some kind of secret technique, such that she couldn't see through her cultivation.
But looking at it now, the opponent's strength was clearly above her own, perhaps already reaching the Mid-stage Ascension Realm!
At this thought, her expression became increasingly unsightly.
Gu Han, at this moment, did not know the thoughts in her heart.
Her moon-white palace dress remained spotless, and not even a strand of hair was out of place.
Only in the depths of those calm eyes did a flicker of surprise pass through.
This Empress Ling Shuang's strength was even a bit stronger than she had expected.
Especially her comprehension and application of the Law of Ice had already reached the pinnacle.
Had she not cultivated the Chaos Scripture, she might have truly suffered a loss.
Just as the two were sizing each other up.
Empress Ling Shuang's gaze was involuntarily drawn to the concentric bangle on Gu Han's wrist.
She had fought with Empress Qing Xuan for tens of thousands of years; naturally, she recognized Empress Qing Xuan's belongings.
Now, the bangle had appeared on Gu Han's hand.
Had Qing Xuan already fought her and lost?
Otherwise, how could the presence of the bangle on her hand be explained?
If she could defeat her, wouldn't that be equivalent to defeating that wretched woman Qing Xuan?
At this thought, a sickly smile appeared on Empress Ling Shuang's face,
"Good! Very good!"
As her voice fell, her right hand made a grasping motion in the air.
"Zheng—!"
A clear and resonant sword cry, as if capable of severing the galaxy, echoed through the starry sky!
A long sword, translucent as jade and appearing to have countless ice crystal stars flowing within its blade, slowly emerged from her palm.
The sword was four feet three inches long, the hilt-guard in the shape of a spreading-winged ice phoenix, with complex frost dao patterns naturally engraved upon the blade.
As soon as this sword appeared, the temperature of the surrounding starry sky instantly plummeted again!
Even those distant stars, which had been swaying from the previous aftershocks, began to have thick layers of ice rapidly condense on their surfaces!
The moment that sword appeared, Gu Han could clearly feel it.
Empress Ling Shuang's aura surged again, remarkably reaching the Mid-stage Ascension Realm.
"It's actually the Mid-stage Ascension Realm, and that sword..."
Seeing her sudden outburst, a hint of solemnity flashed in Gu Han's eyes.
She had seen Heaven Rank top grade Flying Swords before; her own Vice Palace Master and Grand Elder used Heaven Rank top grade ones.
But she could feel that the grade of the one in Empress Ling Shuang's hand seemed even higher!
Moreover, Empress Ling Shuang's current Realm was not as the System had stated, the Early Stage Immortal Ascension.
Had she been hiding her strength all along?
"System, what's going on with her? And that sword, what grade is it exactly?"
Gu Han immediately communicated with the System to inquire.
[Ding! Scanning and analyzing...]
[Target: Empress Ling Shuang]
[True Realm: Early Stage Immortal Ascension Perfection]
[Current Realm: Mid-stage Ascension Realm (Temporarily boosted via 'Soul Burning Art'. Cost: Requires the depletion of a thousand years of Lifespan)]
[Target Weapon: 'frost heaven sword']
[Grade Assessment: Heaven Rank top grade (Integrated with 'Eternal Ice Crystal' and'Star Tear', resulting in a mutation; power is close to a quasi-immortal artifact)]
[Characteristics: Ultimate Freezing, Law Amplification.]
The System's hurried electronic voice rang in Gu Han's mind, carrying a rare touch of solemnity.
[Host! This woman seems to have been provoked by something, which is why she used a forbidden technique!]
[And that sword is also very strange; although it isn't a quasi-immortal artifact yet, it has already touched the threshold!]
"Provoked? Using a forbidden technique? A sword close to a quasi-immortal artifact?"
A light flashed in Gu Han's eyes.
No wonder Qing Xuan said this woman was troublesome; she really is a battle maniac, willing to risk even her Lifespan for a fight!
"Gu Han!"
Empress Ling Shuang held the frost heaven sword, her voice piercing through the starry sky:
"You are the first one capable of forcing this Empress to use the 'Soul Burning Art'!"
"Today, this Empress would like to see if you can still remain so calm."
Before her voice had even faded, she moved!
A sword strike slashed out!
No fancy Moves, no grand momentum.
Only a blue sword light, pure and cold to the extreme, erupted from the tip of the frost heaven sword!
The sword light was initially just a line, but the moment it left the blade, it suddenly expanded!
Transforming into an ice-blue torrent that spanned across the galaxy!
Wherever the torrent passed, everything froze!
Stars stopped rotating, space solidified like iron, and even the flow of time became sluggish!
This sword strike was already Empress Ling Shuang's strongest attack in her current state!
"It seems I can't keep a low profile anymore."
Facing Empress Ling Shuang, whose Battle Intent was boiling to the extreme.
Gu Han knew that relying solely on the wonders of the Chaos Law and her own cultivation was no longer enough to handle this easily.
Her thoughts shifted slightly.
"Dang..."
A sound, as if from the very beginning of creation and containing a Supreme dao rhyme that suppressed all eternity, quietly rippled out beside her.
A small bell, dark gold throughout and ancient and heavy in design.
Slowly emerged from her sleeve, floating three feet above her head.
Donghuang Bell (Imitation)!
quasi-immortal artifact!
Although it was only preliminary refined and was just an imitation.
But when it truly appeared in this starry sky—
"Weng—!!!"
A terrifying dao rhyme—ancient, vast, Supreme, and noble, as if transcending all things in the heavens—erupted with a bang!
Empress Ling Shuang's sword strike, capable of freezing the galaxy, actually stagnated and slowed down at a visible rate the moment this bell appeared!
As if it had crashed into a formless, substanceless, yet unimaginably heavy and viscous space-time!
"This is...?!"
Empress Ling Shuang's pupils suddenly constricted as she stared fixedly at the slowly rotating dark gold small bell above Gu Han's head.
For the first time, an expression of nearly horrified shock, which was difficult to conceal, appeared on her face!
What grade of Magic Treasure is this?!
Heaven Rank top grade? No!
The frost heaven sword was already an anomaly among Heaven Rank top grade items, its power close to a quasi-immortal artifact!
But in front of this bell, the humming spontaneously emitted by the frost heaven sword actually carried a hint of... a submissive tremble?!
"Could it be a quasi-immortal artifact?!"
But she had never heard of when another such powerful quasi-immortal artifact had appeared on the native Canglan Continent?!
"Gu Han! You—!"
Empress Ling Shuang was both shocked and furious; that Battle Intent and confidence in her heart, which had climbed to the peak due to the 'Soul Burning Art' and the frost heaven sword.
At this moment, it actually developed a crack!
She did not hesitate to burn a thousand years of Lifespan, use a forbidden technique, and sacrifice the frost heaven sword—which was close to a quasi-immortal artifact—just to defeat her.
The opponent's cultivation was already above her own, and now she actually brought out a quasi-immortal artifact?!
No wonder even that woman Qing Xuan would lose!
Gu Han naturally didn't know she had already imagined so much, otherwise she would certainly be quite speechless.
She looked at the other's fluctuating expression and spoke slowly,
"Fellow Daoist Ling Shuang."
"This bell is named 'Eastern Emperor'; it is a Dao-protecting artifact, and I did not wish to use it lightly."
"But as Fellow Daoist's Battle Intent is high and you did not hesitate to burn your soul, This Gu... should also go all out."
The moment her voice fell—
The vast and pure spiritual power within Gu Han's body, like a bursting galaxy, surged into the Donghuang Bell above her head!
"Dong—!!!"
The Donghuang Bell was fully activated by Gu Han for the first time, emitting its first true chime!
The chime was not piercing; instead, it carried a thickness and vastness that suppressed all eternity!
The substantial dark gold sound waves swept out in all directions in a spherical shape!
Wherever the sound waves passed—
That The torrent of sword light that was slowed down,First and foremost!
As if hit frontally by a billion-ton heavy hammer, it couldn't even last for a breath before it shattered and collapsed with a bang!
Empress Ling Shuang's face changed, and her figure violently retreated several steps.
And those dark gold sound waves, after breaking the sword light, actually had undiminished momentum and continued to sweep towards her!
Wherever they passed, the starry sky "solidified" and the Laws "bowed," as if they were going to suppress and seal her as well!
"Frost Heaven! Protect!"
Empress Ling Shuang shouted sharply, and the radiance of the frost heaven sword in her hand surged, transforming into a light screen that enveloped her!
Simultaneously, her figure retreated rapidly, attempting to avoid the direct impact of the sound waves.
However—
"Weng..."
The Donghuang Bell vibrated slightly again.
A second sound wave caught up from behind, intertwining and overlapping with the first!
Its power instantly surged several times over!
"Kacha!"
The light screen only lasted for half a breath before it was covered in cracks and shattered with a bang!
Empress Ling Shuang's face turned deathly pale, a hint of horror and... unwillingness flashing in her eyes!
She had exhausted all her means and even resorted to a secret technique, yet she was actually forced to this point by a bell sacrificed by the opponent.
Was she going to perish here today?
Or be heavily injured and lose all face?
No! She was the Master of the Northern Region!
How could she admit defeat just like this?!
A more resolute and crazed thought ignited in her eyes!
She was prepared to make one last stand!
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