Qing Jianrui thought Mike was dead, but he was wrong. When the dust began to fade, Mike staggered to his feet. His body trembled, blood dripped from his mouth, yet his eyes burned with an unyielding fire. His voice cracked through the silence, sharp and defiant:
Qing Jianrui, listen this fight is not over yet!
With those words, the Ice Python Flame erupted from his flame, coiling into countless serpents of frost and blazing cold. They hissed as they surged forward, their fangs dripping with frozen venom, forcing Qing Jianrui to take a defensive stance.
Suddenly, the ground quaked, Lan Xiuqing darted forward, her fists wrapped in torrents of water essence. Her speed was so great that her movements blurred into afterimages, and her strikes hammered against Mike's guard with the weight of crashing waves. Stone cracked and split beneath their feet.
Their bodies clashed in rapid succession, fists against palms, knee against elbow. The sound of their combat rang like steel upon steel, each impact sending shockwaves across the frozen battlefield. Spectators outside the Arena World leaned forward, their breaths caught.
But then, Mike's eyes turned colder than the abyss because he used Frostgrave Doomsway – Third Stage: Permafrost Desolation.
A suffocating stillness fell. The world drained of color, frost consumed the battlefield, and every breath turned to mist. The land beneath hardened into pale crystal, jagged and merciless. From below Lan Xiuqing's feet, spears of ice erupted, imprisoning her in a cage of frozen death.
The atmosphere shifted into something otherworldly. It was no longer a battlefield, it was a realm of eternal winter.
Lan Xiuqing spun desperately, dodging the first waves of icy spikes. Yet one grazed her thigh, blood trailing across her robes. The cold dug into her bones.
From the viewing stands, Mo Liang's voice trembled. There is no doubt. He is from Ice Valley!
Lan Xiuqing's expression faltered. She summoned torrents of water to dissolve the frost, but Mike advanced mercilessly.
He unleashed the first stage of the technique - Glacial Rain Piercers.
A storm of sharpened icicles streaked through the sky, descending with the force of a thousand arrows. They struck her body again and again, their bone cracking impact echoing like drums of war.
Her arms numbed. Her breath came ragged. Blood stained the crystalline ground. Still, her spirit did not break. Her eyes burned with defiance as cracks spiderwebbed across the frozen land.
But Mike was relentless.
The frost itself came alive. Out of the permafrost crawled Iceman warriors, towering figures forged of living ice, their blades glistening with killing intent. One roared as it charged, slamming its weapon down toward her head. She shattered it in a single desperate strike but more followed.
Mike stood at the center of it all, his Ice Python Flame flaring violently. The icy serpents slithered across the battlefield, coiling around the summoned warriors, tearing them apart in cold bursts of frozen fire.
The battlefield spiraled into chaos. Lan Xiuqing resisted with all her might, but Mike's domain drowned her every effort.
And in the midst of it, Qing Jianrui roared in fury. He was nearly consumed by the pythons, his body bound in frost. Veins bulged along his arms as he gritted his teeth.
I'm fed up with this rank seal!
With a deafening boom, his cultivation surged. The frost shattered, the python chains exploded into shards, and Qing Jianrui's energy blazed outward like a sun tearing free from an eclipse.
He dragged Lan Xiuqing from the frozen domain, saving her from certain death. His eyes burned with unrestrained power as he turned to face Mike.
Now, Qing Jianrui said, voice thunderous, I will fight you with everything I have!
Mike's hand tightened around his hammer. Frost coiled around the weapon, swirling in the air like a blizzard waiting to descend.
The battle was about to transcend beyond anything the spectators had yet seen.
The battlefield was swallowed by silence, only the sound of chains rattling in the demonic abyss. The Infernal Soulbinding Chains coiled tighter around Mike, searing into his limbs, gnawing at his soul as if to rip it from his body. The suffocating heat of molten rivers and the weight of demonic energy pressed down until the world itself felt like a tomb.
But instead of despair, Mike's lips curved into a faint, unsettling smile. His eyes gleamed with frost and fire.
So this is your place of execution? he whispered, his breath cold despite the sweltering heat. Unfortunately… this is where you'll be doomed by me.
Qing Jianrui frowned, shaken by the defiance. Still smiling, even with death gnawing at your soul? Do you think this is bravery, or your farewell?
Mike ignored his taunts. He raised his bound hands, flames flickering from both palms. From one, a spiraling surge of azure fire burst forth, the Sea Python Flame, raging like a violent tsunami, its coils surging toward the heavens. From the other, a colder, sharper blaze unfurled, the Ice Python Flame, cruel and merciless, winding itself around the fiery serpent like frost encasing a storm.
The twin flames rose higher and higher, twisting together in a furious storm. The air thickened, the sky cracked with invisible pressure. Dark clouds twisted above like frightened beasts, thunder roared, and even the ground beneath them trembled.
Jing Xu, watching from outside, clenched his fists. This… this isn't ordinary technique. He's merging two flames!
Qing Jianrui's expression faltered as tremors shook his legs. What… what is this monstrous energy?
Mike's voice thundered through the chaos.
Flame Man!
For a heartbeat, the storm froze in place. Then
CRACK!
The sky ripped open. A jagged rift split reality itself, bleeding light and darkness. From within, a figure emerged humanoid, yet more flame and frost than flesh. Its limbs shimmered with blazing fire and icy frost entwined, each step bending the very fabric of the Arena World.
The spectators gasped in unison.
A flame spirit… no, a battle avatar!
Impossible! A mere Dou Ba cannot summon this!
The figure landed beside Mike, its aura overwhelming, its presence undeniable. Its cultivation - Dou Wang, Eight Stars.
Qing Jianrui's breath caught in his throat. For the first time, fear crept into his eyes. Yet pride and rage smothered it quickly. He roared, his voice shaking the frozen land.
Hah! Eight stars? Do you think this tricks me? Watch carefully, boy!
His body swelled with power. The last remnants of his self imposed seal shattered. His cultivation surged violently, soaring past its limits. From the depths of his core, he used a single drop of demon's blood. His aura exploded.
Dou Wang, Seven Stars.
The ground split beneath his feet, lava and frost tearing against each other as the two powers collided. Qing Jianrui's eyes blazed with hatred.
One star, two stars, what does it matter? Against me, your tricks are nothing!
With a deafening roar, he launched himself at the Flame Man.
The air itself screamed as their fists collided. Each punch ripped apart space, each kick cracked the land beneath. The Flame Man's burning frost fists clashed against Qing Jianrui's demonic strength in a frenzy of speed and violence. For every strike Qing Jianrui delivered, the Flame Man returned two, battering him backward step by step.
Finally, a thunderous kick from the Flame Man sent Qing Jianrui crashing into the shattered ground, dust and molten stone exploding around him.
The spectators erupted. Some cheered wildly, others stood frozen in disbelief.
But in the midst of victory, Mike's body trembled. His lips parted, a sharp spurt of blood spraying into the frozen air. His knees buckled, his aura fluctuating wildly.
The Flame Man faltered, then vanished like smoke in the wind.
Jian Dao's eyes widened in horror. No… his energy… it's unstable!
Mike's body shook violently, strange waves of chaotic energy spilling from his core. His face contorted in pain, but his eyes never left Qing Jianrui, who rose from the rubble with fury burning brighter than ever.