"Swoosh—!"
The sharp sound of breaking air only reached the Ice Empress's ears when the arrow was almost upon her.
It was an arrow formed purely from condensed light elements and Ultimate Ice—Light Feather Douluo's Fourth Soul Skill: High-Explosive Piercing Strike.
The Ice Empress's pupils shrank suddenly, and her delicate body twisted forcefully in mid-air as the phantom of a jade-green scorpion tail flashed behind her.
With a crisp "Clang!", the light arrow grazed her shoulder, drawing a trail of blood before exploding violently hundreds of meters behind her. It kicked up a sky full of ice dust, and the turbulent, violent energy caused her figure to stumble.
"Dammit!"
The Ice Empress cursed inwardly. This beyond-visual-range sniping was too tricky; although it couldn't directly inflict heavy damage on her, it greatly interfered with her speed.
She tried to accelerate, but immediately after, a second and third light arrow shot from different angles, forcing her to constantly dodge and change direction, making it impossible to pick up speed.
As her momentum waned, two even more sinister and powerful auras finally flanked her from the side and rear, one on the left and one on the right, completely sealing off her path.
On the left, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan held the Velvet Sky Reach Chrysanthemum, surrounded by petals, a trace of an eerie smile on his face.
On the right, Ghost Douluo Gui Mei was like a true ghost, his figure flickering between reality and illusion as a thick Nether Qi spread out.
"Ice Empress, why put up a desperate struggle? Hand over the Snow Empress Origin, and the Hall Master might spare your life."
Yue Guan's voice carried an uncomfortable femininity.
The Ice Empress stopped her figure and hovered in mid-air, coldly scanning the two people in front of her. She also sensed the faint but constant aura of Light Feather Douluo locking onto her from the distance.
She suddenly let out a disdainful sneer:
"Hmph, only three came? You people from the Hall of Rebirth look down on me, the Ice Empress, far too much."
She was indeed not good at long-distance travel and was being limited by Light Feather Douluo's long-range attacks, unable to break free.
But that did not mean she feared close-quarters combat, especially here in the Extreme North Land, her home field.
Here, the endless snow and cold air were the sources of her power.
In the outside world, her strength might be comparable to a Rank 97 Super Douluo, but in the Extreme North Land, she was fully capable of Rank 98 combat power.
The reason she could previously contend head-on with the Rank 98 Gold Crocodile Douluo was precisely due to the environmental boost.
Besides her, the Titan Snow Demon King and the Ice Bear King were the same; in the Extreme North Land, they both possessed power beyond their cultivation years.
This was how they could respectively fight against the Rank 97 Azure Luan Douluo and Lion Douluo.
Facing one Rank 96 and two Rank 95s, the Ice Empress had absolute confidence. Even if she couldn't kill them quickly, it would be enough to heavily wound them and then leave leisurely.
"Since you're seeking death, I'll grant it to you."
Killing intent surged in the Ice Empress's eyes, and she wasted no more words.
She knew she had to end the battle quickly; otherwise, the guy firing cold arrows from a distance would always be a huge threat.
"Eternal Frozen Domain!"
She gave a delicate shout, and with her as the center, an ice-blue halo instantly expanded, covering a wider range and carrying a more intense chill than during her previous battle with Gold Crocodile Douluo.
The air made an overburdened "crackling" sound, freezing into light blue ice powder that rustled as it fell. The temperature within the Domain plummeted to near absolute zero.
This not only greatly restricted the opponents' movements but also continuously drained their Soul Power and vitality.
Yue Guan and Gui Mei's expressions tightened simultaneously, not daring to be the least bit careless.
"Seventh Soul Skill: Velvet Sky Reach Chrysanthemum Avatar."
Golden light erupted around Yue Guan as his body merged with a giant Velvet Sky Reach Chrysanthemum. Countless golden petals flew around like sharp blades, emitting an incomparably sharp aura, barely managing to push open an area within the Eternal Frozen Domain.
"Seventh Soul Skill: Ghostly Avatar!"
Gui Mei directly elementalized, his figure becoming blurred and uncertain like a distorted ghost. Physical attacks were almost useless against him, but the Domain power of the Ultimate Ice still caused him Soul-level pain.
"Sixth Soul Skill: Golden Stamens Scattering Flowing Light!"
Yue Guan was the first to attack. Countless golden petals containing sharp Qi shot toward the Ice Empress like a sky full of glowing clouds, performing an indiscriminate carpet strike.
The Ice Empress snorted coldly, neither dodging nor avoiding.
"Ice Empress Body Protection."
A layer of jade-green ice crystals, as brilliant as diamonds, instantly covered her entire body.
The golden petals struck the ice crystal armor, producing dense "clanging" sounds, but they could not advance an inch. Instead, they were frozen and shattered by the extreme cold Qi.
At the same time, Gui Mei's figure appeared behind the Ice Empress like a ghost.
"Eighth Soul Skill: Ghostly Spirits."
He released a large-scale Nether Ghost Domain, attempting to erode the Ice Empress's spirit and Soul Power. Countless ghostly hands reached out from the shadows, grabbing at her ankles.
"Trivial tricks."
The Ice Empress didn't even look back.
She held her fingers like a sword, and an ice-blue sword light, so condensed it seemed capable of freezing time and space, appeared out of thin air. It didn't slash at Gui Mei, but at the Void Realm beneath her feet.
As the Snow Empress's best friend, although the Ice Empress was not skilled in the Way of the Sword, she understood a thing or two.
"Rip—!"
The Nether Ghost Domain was torn apart like a rag, and those reaching ghostly hands turned into ice crystal dust the moment they touched the sword light.
Gui Mei groaned, and his elementalized body fluctuated violently; he had clearly suffered a certain amount of backlash.
"Fourth Soul Skill: Narcissistic Isolation!"
Seeing that long-range attacks were ineffective, Yue Guan immediately changed his strategy. The brilliant golden chrysanthemum wrapped around him, forming an absolute defense while also clearing the cold erosion on his body. He then charged at the Ice Empress with his whole being.
"First Soul Skill: Chrysanthemum Blade!"
A giant Chrysanthemum Blade condensed and slashed directly at the Ice Empress's face.
"Close combat? Just what I wanted."
A cold light flashed in the Ice Empress's eyes.
"Ice Emperors Claw."
Her right hand was instantly covered in a magnificent jade-green pincer, carrying a sharpness that could tear through anything and a coldness that could freeze the Soul, as she boldly met the Chrysanthemum Blade.
"Boom—!!!"
Jade-green and golden lights collided fiercely. The energy shockwave exploded in a ring, shaving another several meters off the surrounding ice layer.
Yue Guan only felt an indescribable massive force and extreme cold travel through the Chrysanthemum Blade. His Narcissistic Isolation defense light flickered violently, and he was sent flying like he'd been hit by a meteorite. He spat out a mouthful of blood in mid-air, which froze into ice beads before even hitting the ground.
The Ice Empress only swayed slightly. On her pincer, jade light flowed, and she was completely unharmed.
"Fifth Soul Skill: Hundred Ghosts Night Walk!"
Gui Mei took the opportunity to attack again. Countless ghost Clones appeared, pouncing on the Ice Empress from all directions to interfere with her perception.
The Ice Empress frowned irritably. These nether-attribute attacks were hard to wound her with, but they were as annoying as flies.
The phantom of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion flashed behind her once more.
"Ice Empress's Wrath."
A highly compressed jade-green light sphere was instantly condensed by her and then violently detonated.
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