"Roar!"
Hearing the icy voice behind it, the Dark Devilgod Tiger let out a low growl, its speed increasing once again.
Its blood-patterned wings flapped violently, whipping up a rising black gale—one of its wind-element attributes activating.
"Why is the Ice Emperor appearing in a place like this?! And helping humans of all things!"
The Dark Devilgod Tiger's heart was filled with panic and confusion, its thoughts in chaos. Though its bloodline was noble, it had absolutely no intention of testing itself against the Ice Emperor.
Because "testing" might mean instant death…
Boom!
A sharp sonic boom erupted. The Ice Emperor's figure transformed into a streak of emerald light. With no wasted movement at all, she shot directly toward the Dark Devilgod Tiger. Frost trailed behind her, and the massive trees on both sides toppled as she passed.
"Weren't you arrogant just now? Why run now?!"
"Domain of Eternal Freezing—unfold!"
In an instant, a brilliant frost-blue radiance blossomed from the Ice Emperor's body. Endless icy power surged forward like a tidal wave, engulfing the Dark Devilgod Tiger before it could escape.
In mere moments, everything around the Ice Emperor had transformed into a world of ice.
Having absorbed the Ice Spring's energy, the Ice Emperor could now fully unleash her peak strength from before her death—even without relying on Jiang Jue's Soul-Refining Banner.
"Can't escape now!"
Seeing the frost rapidly spreading over its limbs and the thick wall of ice forming ahead, a trace of regret flashed through the Dark Devilgod Tiger's blood-red eyes.
If it hadn't come here… would it have avoided this desperate situation?
But the regret vanished instantly, replaced by poison and brutality.
Since it couldn't run—then it could only fight!
Besides… it still had its trump card.
With that trump card, even the Ice Emperor might not defeat it.
"Roar!!"
The tiger roared, turning its massive body around. Bulging muscles tightened, and the scorpion-like stinger on its back radiated a purple glow.
The Ice Emperor stopped as well, emerald light withdrawing as she reverted to her petite form—barely 1.6 meters tall. But the terrifying aura she released still made the Dark Devilgod Tiger's heart tremble.
"Second Brother… isn't that the girl who knocked us out before?"
Yu Tao murmured to Lang Ya as he looked at the distant Ice Emperor, recalling the incident.
"Focus! Protect the Young Master and stop babbling."
Lang Ya reprimanded him, though his eyes were full of shock.
"The Young Master called her Ice Emperor… Is that the Ice Emperor I'm thinking of? And the attributes match… could it be that Young Master's Ultimate Ice…?"
It felt like he had just learned something he shouldn't have. Lang Ya immediately stopped thinking—sometimes knowing too much was dangerous.
At that moment, the Ice Emperor struck.
"Ice Emperor's Sting!"
A terrifyingly sharp phantom of a scorpion flashed behind her. Crystalline ice spread across her delicate hand, glimmering like precious gems as she struck toward the Dark Devilgod Tiger's head.
"Roar!!"
The Dark Devilgod Tiger's pupils shrank.
She opened with her ultimate move—zero-frame startup—aimed right at its life.
Panicking, the Dark Devilgod Tiger hurriedly activated its bloodline. Black mist surged around it, carrying a cold, sinister evil aura. The energy converged upward, forming a gray phantom in the sky.
The phantom wore long gray robes that hid its entire body. Gray hair draped to its waist. Its emotionless gray eyes radiated unfathomable indifference. Terrifying evil power leaked from it—something seemingly not of this world.
"Is that… the Evil God's phantom?"
Jiang Jue frowned as he looked at the figure above the tiger. The mark of the God King of Destruction on his right hand faintly burned.
"So the rumors were true… the Dark Devilgod Tiger really does have Evil God blood."
But Jiang Jue wasn't worried. The tiger could only summon a phantom without a soul—far from the real deity.
"A strong bloodline is a good thing. The soul skill from this should be top-tier."
A glint flashed in Jiang Jue's eyes as he lightly rubbed the spatial ring on his left hand.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
The Dark Devilgod Tiger's eyes went wild. The "王" marking on its forehead twisted, turning from black to blood-red. As it roared, the Evil God phantom slowly lifted Its immaculate hand.
"God? Illusion."
The Ice Emperor only showed mild surprise before snorting coldly. Beings of the Extreme North believed only in the Ice God—why fear a mere phantom?
Her crystalline hand didn't pause for even a breath. Carrying the might of 400,000 years of cultivation, she clashed directly with the phantom's hand.
BOOOOOM!!
A deafening explosion echoed. A powerful destructive force rippled outward from the clash. Space trembled chaotically as frost-blue ice energy and dark evil energy intertwined, competing and spreading across the forest.
"Hmph!"
Yu Tao instinctively stepped forward, shielding Jiang Jue. His thick right arm swung down, erecting a bronze-colored soul power wall that blocked the incoming energy waves.
Crack… crack…
Clear shattering sounds rang out in the center of the storm.
The phantom's flawless hand fractured like glass, splintering from points into lines, and then across the entire projection.
"Shatter for me!"
A cold light flared in the Ice Emperor's emerald eyes. She exerted force, pushing and pulling simultaneously, and a new surge of icy power erupted from her body.
"ROAR!!!"
The Dark Devilgod Tiger howled unwillingly as the phantom shattered entirely. Its huge body swayed—summoning the phantom had burdened it heavily too.
"Not bad. Just enough to warm me up."
The Ice Emperor smiled coldly as she dove toward the tiger.
The Dark Devilgod Tiger swung its tail, releasing multiple purple-blue spheres crackling with lightning. They exploded rapidly in midair.
This was the Dark Demon Evil Thunder—a fusion of evil, wind, and lightning attributes.
Yet it didn't slow the Ice Emperor at all.
"Still losing due to cultivation level…"
The Dark Devilgod Tiger gritted its teeth. If the Ice Emperor were the same age—90,000 years—it would definitely defeat her. But this world did not deal in "what ifs."
Seeing the Ice Emperor closing in, a fierce resolve flashed through its eyes. Its blood-red pupils suddenly turned ghostly blue. Spreading its wings, it charged straight at her.
"Oh? It dares come toward me instead of dodging?"
The Ice Emperor narrowed her eyes, tightening her fists.
But the moment the Dark Devilgod Tiger came close, its scorpion tail lashed.
A single point of black light flickered between them—and then—
A massive three-meter-wide black vortex exploded into existence.
The moment the black hole formed, a violent suction force erupted, pulling toward the Ice Emperor with terrifying might.
The Ice Emperor frowned slightly—there was rule force within this suction, a compulsory pull.
Her body was dragged uncontrollably toward the black hole.
(End of Chapter)