The Ice Empress's mental gaze swept over them, assessing.
'Such power… unexpected.' Her focus lingered on Bibi Dong. 'One who stands at the precipice… a near-god? Frightening.'
Her attention shifted to Qian Renxue. 'One who wields the fire of the heavens...'
Then, her gaze fell upon Song Cai'er, and a flicker of surprise entered her mental tone. 'The scent of fortune? The Auspicious Beast walks among humans? How… curious.'
Finally, her multifaceted eyes locked onto Song Qing, who now stood directly facing her. A wave of palpable pressure washed over her, not of raw soul power like Bibi Dong's, but something deeper, more fundamental. A pressure emanating from his very spirit, his bloodline.
'And you…' The Empress's mental voice held a note of disbelief, even fear. 'What are you? Your spirit… it… it commands submission? My bloodline… yields?'
She felt an instinctive urge to lower her tail, a primal response she hadn't felt in millennia. It was deeply unsettling.
Song Qing met her mental probe unflinchingly. His own voice, calm and resonant, projected back.
"We are travelers passing through," he replied mentally, his tone level. "We only defended ourselves. Those of your kin who attacked us fell. Those who fled, we let go. Our goal is not extermination, but passage to a specific location within this domain."
The Ice Jade Scorpion Empress might have scoffed at such words from any other human. But the sheer presence emanating from Song Qing, the undeniable pressure of his spirit, lent his words an unexpected weight. She couldn't sense deception, only calm resolve.
'He speaks plainly… and his aura… it does not lie,' the Empress conceded internally, though her anger remained.
"You claim self-defense," her mental voice retorted, sharper now, "yet one of yours," she indicated Qian Renxue with a subtle shift of her massive pincer, "was actively slaughtering my kin when I arrived."
Song Qing didn't deny it. "She was clearing a path obstructed by your attacking forces. But regardless," his tone hardened slightly, "you attacked her without warning. A direct assault on one of my companions."
His emerald eyes flashed with abyssal light. "For that transgression, Empress, I cannot be polite. Today, I will claim your life, your Soul Ring, and your Spirit Bone."
The sheer audacity of his declaration stunned the Ice Jade Scorpion Empress. This human, whose cultivation level felt significantly lower than hers, dared to declare his intention to kill her?
'You?!' Her mental voice dripped with icy fury and disbelief. 'You alone challenge me, human? Or does your entire nest swarm me?'
A faint smile touched Song Qing's lips. "Don't worry, Empress. Your challenge is with me, and me alone."
As the words left his lips, his aura exploded outwards.
"Seventh Soul Ring: Abyssal Dragon God Transformation!"
Boom!
An immense pressure slammed down across the ice field. Black and purple light erupted from Song Qing. His form dissolved, replaced by a colossal dragon avatar forged from pure abyssal shadow, wreathed in swirling dark flames and temporal distortions. Piercing purple eyes, filled with ancient power and predatory intent, fixed onto the Ice Jade Scorpion Empress. The Chronos Temporal energy infused within the avatar made the air around it shimmer and warp unpredictably.
The sheer draconic pressure, amplified by the avatar and his Emperor of the Beasts passive, washed over the Empress, forcing her to instinctively take a step back, her icy carapace creaking under the strain. Her bloodline screamed at her to flee.
'Impossible! Such pressure! Even the Titan Snow Devil barely matches this!' the Empress reeled mentally. She estimated her own cultivation at around 390,000 years, a true powerhouse nearing the peak of hundred-thousand-year beasts, yet this human avatar felt fundamentally superior.
But she was an Empress, a ruler of the Extreme North for countless millennia. Fear quickly turned to rage.
'Insolent whelp! You dare?! Domain of Perpetual Ice!'
With a furious screech, the Empress slammed her massive tail onto the glacier. A wave of absolute zero energy radiated outwards from her, instantly transforming the vast area around them. The very air solidified, the ice beneath their feet became impossibly slick and hard, and razor-sharp ice crystals formed spontaneously in the air, creating a lethal, freezing domain. The temperature plummeted to depths that could freeze soul power itself.
This was her Permafrost Domain, her absolute territory.
Song Qing, within his colossal dragon avatar, remained unaffected by the temperature drop. He countered instantly.
"Demonic Dragon Domain!"
A wave of abyssal darkness, laced with temporal ripples, exploded outwards from his avatar, colliding violently with the Empress's Permafrost Domain.
Darkness met absolute zero. Abyssal energy clashed with glacial power.
For a moment, the two domains fought for supremacy, creating a chaotic spectacle of swirling shadow, crackling ice, and distorted space-time.
But the inherent superiority of Song Qing's spirit, augmented by the Dark Soul Emperor's Crown and the Chronos Temporal Tyrant Dragon's influence, quickly asserted itself. The abyssal darkness surged forward, consuming the Permafrost Domain.
The Empress gasped mentally as her connection to her own domain weakened, suppressed, almost snuffed out by the overwhelming power of the draconic abyss. The chilling cold lessened significantly within the expanding Demonic Dragon Domain, replaced by a heavy, oppressive pressure and the disorienting feeling of time flowing erratically.
'My domain… suppressed?! Completely?! How?!' The Empress was genuinely shocked now.
Song Qing didn't give her time to recover.
"Third Soul Ring: Abyssal Draconic Claw!"
A colossal claw, wreathed in shadow, flame, and spatial distortions from the added power of Space Rend, materialized and slashed downwards towards the Empress.
The Empress reacted instinctively, raising her massive jade pincers to block.
"Ice Empress' Armor!"
Layers of incredibly dense, iridescent ice instantly reinforced her carapace and pincers, glowing with defensive energy.
CLANG! SCREEECH!
The abyssal claw struck the reinforced pincer. Sparks flew – shadow, ice, and temporal energy erupting at the impact point. The Empress was pushed back slightly, deep gouges appearing on her pincer despite the armor, abyssal energy corroding the ice. The spatial rend component caused miniature, unstable rifts to flicker around the impact zone.
'Such power! It bypasses defenses!'
Before the claw dissipated, Song Qing unleashed another attack.
"Fourth Soul Ring: Abyssal Flame Dragon Breath!"
From the avatar's draconic maw, a torrent of black fire, infused with temporal corrosion, blasted towards the Empress's face.
The Empress countered swiftly. She swung her other massive pincer in a wide arc.
"Ice Empress' Pincer!"
This wasn't just a block; the pincer radiated immense cold, attempting to freeze the incoming flames.
HISS! SIZZLE!
Black fire met glacial cold. Steam exploded outwards, obscuring vision momentarily. The abyssal flames, however, fueled by potent soul power and temporal energy, burned through the freezing aura, scorching the Empress's jade carapace near her eyes, causing her to screech in pain and anger. The corrosive temporal effect made the burn feel like it lingered, eating away at her energy.
'You will PAY, human!'
Enraged, the Empress retaliated with her most potent close-range attack. Her tail, glowing with terrifying power, lashed out with blinding speed.
"Ice Empress' Wrath!"
The stinger aimed directly at the core of Song Qing's dragon avatar, carrying the concentrated freezing power that had damaged Renxue's avatar.
Song Qing anticipated the strike, his Chronal Reflexes enhanced within the avatar.
"Fifth Soul Ring: Abyssal Shadow Barrier!"
A massive shield of solidified shadow, rippling with temporal energy, materialized instantly in front of the avatar.
THWACK! CRACKLE!
The stinger slammed into the barrier. The impact was immense, sending cracks spider-webbing across the shadow shield. The sheer cold energy radiating from the stinger caused frost to instantly coat the barrier. But the shield held, absorbing the brunt of the attack. A pulse of shadowy energy lashed back from the barrier, absorbed from the impact, striking the Empress's tail and causing her to recoil slightly.
'His defenses are as formidable as his attacks!' the Empress realized, growing increasingly frustrated.
Song Qing pressed his advantage.
"Sixth Soul Ring: Abyssal Gravity Lance!"
A spear forged from condensed abyssal energy and intense gravitational force materialized in the avatar's claw, enhanced by the Chronos Temporal power. He hurled it directly at the Empress's main body.
The Empress saw the danger. The lance radiated immense power. She couldn't dodge in time within his suppressing domain.
"Ice Explosion!"
Instead of defending, she detonated a localized burst of freezing energy outwards from her body. It wasn't as focused as her stinger but created a powerful concussive wave of cold meant to disrupt incoming attacks.
The Gravity Lance flew into the explosion. Its trajectory wobbled, its energy partially dispersed by the blast, but it still struck the Empress's side.
CRUNCH!
The lance pierced her reinforced Ice Empress' Armor, creating a deep wound. A miniature black hole flickered into existence at the impact point for a split second, tugging violently at her before dissipating, causing immense internal strain. The Empress roared in pain, stumbling sideways.
From the sidelines, the observers watched in awe and terror.
"Qing is… overwhelming her!" Ning Rongrong breathed, eyes wide behind Bibi Dong's shield.
Zhu Zhuqing nodded silently, her gaze locked onto the avatar's movements. 'His control… speed… power… amplified.'
Song Cai'er felt the raw clash of energies, her own Golden Dragon bloodline resonating faintly with the draconic power radiating from Song Qing's avatar. 'So strong…!'
Qian Renxue watched with fierce pride, though a line of worry creased her brow. 'He's dominating now, but that Empress is ancient and powerful. This isn't over.'
Bibi Dong observed with hawk-like intensity, her hands clenched slightly. 'Pushing hard, Qing'er. Good. But conserve your energy. This beast is resilient.'
Song Qing felt the strain. Maintaining the avatar, clashing domains, unleashing powerful soul skills – it consumed vast amounts of soul power, even for his Rank 79 cultivation. His Abyssal Core Regeneration from the torso bone was working overtime, constantly replenishing his reserves, but the Empress, despite being suppressed and wounded, was far from defeated. Her sheer vitality and soul power reserves, accumulated over nearly 400,000 years, were immense.
He was winning the exchanges, yes. His domain suppressed hers. His bloodline pressured her. His temporal abilities gave him an edge in speed and disruption.
But he was also losing.
Not in the tactical sense, but in the war of attrition. He could feel his soul power draining faster than the Empress's, despite his regeneration. Her Ice Empress' Armor was constantly regenerating minor damage, her raw physical strength was still immense, and her glacial energy attacks, though hampered by his domain, were still potent.
This felt harder than the fight against the Scarlet King. The Empress lacked the Scarlet King's raw destructive rage, but her defenses, specific counters, and sheer icy power were arguably more difficult to overcome directly.
'This isn't sustainable,' Song Qing concluded grimly within the avatar. 'My abyssal power is strong, it suppresses her effectively, but I can't brute-force her down before I run out of steam. Time for a change in tactics.'
He needed longevity. He needed control. He needed… life.
With a final, powerful slash of his Abyssal Draconic Claw forcing the Empress back, Song Qing made his decision.
The colossal Abyssal Demonic Dragon God Emperor avatar flickered. The oppressive Demonic Dragon Domain pulsed.
Then, in a blinding flash of light that momentarily stunned the Ice Jade Scorpion Empress, the energy signature shifted dramatically.
The abyssal darkness receded, replaced by an overwhelming surge of vibrant, emerald-green life force.
The dragon avatar vanished. In its place, towering just as tall, stood the Primordial Life Tree Avatar. Ancient wood glowed with golden sap, vibrant leaves rustled with power, and an aura of boundless life and nature radiated outwards, washing away the lingering chill of the abyss.
Simultaneously, the Demonic Dragon Domain collapsed, but was instantly replaced.
"Primordial Life Domain!"
The ice field transformed. Where moments before there was only shadow-suppressed ice, now vibrant, ancient trees erupted from the frozen ground. Thick, resilient vines snaked across the landscape, flowers bloomed impossibly in the frigid air, and the entire area pulsed with overwhelming life energy. The Empress found herself standing not on ice, but in the heart of a sudden, impossibly vibrant primordial forest.
The Ice Jade Scorpion Empress, caught completely off guard by the instantaneous transformation, reared back, her multifaceted eyes wide with confusion and alarm.
'Life?! Such potent life force… here?! What is this human?! Two spirits?!'
The shift was jarring. The oppressive, time-warping pressure of the abyss was gone, replaced by an equally powerful, but fundamentally different, pressure – the absolute dominance of nature. Her connection to the surrounding ice felt severed, replaced by the overwhelming presence of plant life under the avatar's control.
Song Qing, now inhabiting the radiant Life Tree Avatar, felt his soul power begin to recover at an accelerated rate, amplified by the domain and the avatar's innate regeneration.
"Let's try this again, Empress," his voice boomed, resonating with the power of life itself.
He immediately utilized his Life Tree abilities.
"First Soul Ring: Verdant Dominion!"
The healing aura pulsed outwards, not only bolstering his own regeneration but also subtly invigorating the plant life of his domain, making the trees stronger, the vines tougher.
"Sixth Soul Ring: Primordial Binding Forest!"
The already present forest within his domain surged with aggressive intent. Massive roots erupted from the ground, attempting to ensnare the Empress's legs. Thick, thorny vines, imbued with the poison from his Second Soul Ring (Venomous Constriction), lashed out, seeking to bind her massive pincers and tail.
The Empress screeched, slicing through the initial wave of roots and vines with her pincers.
"Ice Empress' Pincer!"
But the plants regenerated almost instantly within the Primordial Life Domain. For every vine she cut, two more seemed to sprout. The thorns scraped against her armor, and she felt a faint draining sensation as the poison attempted to leech her vitality and soul power.
'Annoying! Persistent!'
She tried to unleash her freezing energy again, attempting another Ice Explosion to clear the area.
But Song Qing countered. "Sixth Soul Ring: Life Essence Control!"
He focused his will through the avatar, directly influencing the flow of energy. He didn't block the cold, but hindered its formation, disrupting the Empress's control over her own glacial power within his life-infused domain. The Ice Explosion fizzled, significantly weaker than before.
"Third Soul Ring: Phantom Entrapment!"
While she was distracted, illusionary vines, indistinguishable from the real ones, wrapped around her, inducing psychological pressure, making her feel more constrained than she actually was, affecting her focus.
The Empress thrashed, trying to break free, unleashing bursts of icy energy, but the combined assault of real bindings, draining poison, hindering life force manipulation, and psychological illusions was proving incredibly effective at neutralizing her raw power.
Song Qing wasn't focused solely on defense and control, however.
"Sixth Soul Ring: Thousand Wood Spears!"
From the canopy of the primordial trees surrounding them, thousands upon thousands of razor-sharp spears, formed from solidified, life-infused wood, rained down upon the struggling Empress. They struck her carapace like a meteor shower.
THUD! THUD! CRACK! THUD!
Individually, the spears weren't as powerful as his abyssal attacks. But the sheer volume was overwhelming. They chipped away at her Ice Empress' Armor relentlessly, exploiting the minor damage already inflicted. The life energy imbued within them worked against her icy nature, causing small bursts of conflicting energy on impact.
The Ice Jade Scorpion Empress roared in frustration and pain. She was trapped, hindered, constantly bombarded. Her immense strength felt useless against the endlessly regenerating forest, her freezing powers were being actively suppressed, and the sheer number of attacks was wearing down her formidable defenses.
She swung her tail wildly, the stinger lashing out, trying to hit the towering Life Tree Avatar.
"Seventh Soul Ring Ability: Nature's Blessing!" Song Qing activated one of his avatar's core abilities. A wave of golden-green light washed over the avatar, drastically accelerating its regeneration. Vine shields, thick as tree trunks, rose instantly to intercept the stinger, sacrificing themselves and regenerating immediately.
The Empress felt a dawning horror. The human's abyssal form was terrifyingly powerful, suppressing her domain and bloodline. But this… this life form… it was immortal within its own domain! It controlled everything, regenerated instantly, and whittled her down with endless attacks while hindering her own abilities.
She couldn't land a decisive blow. She couldn't escape the bindings. Her energy was being constantly drained and suppressed.
The battle had shifted from a clash of overwhelming power to a suffocating war of attrition, heavily favoring the master of the life domain.
Song Qing, sensing the Empress's growing desperation and weakening state, prepared to escalate. He gathered the life force of the domain, focusing it.
'She's strong, incredibly resilient. But even an Empress can be worn down by life itself.'
The fight was far from over, but the momentum had irrevocably shifted.