The Deceptive Trap of Ice and Fire

From start to finish, Xia Yi remained entirely untouched by The Bride’s sinister machinations.

Endowed with the Extreme Yang True Flame and purifying power, Xia Yi’s eyes perceived only the unadulterated truth of their surroundings.

His feigned submission, appearing to be under control, was merely a ruse to buy Bing Yingying precious time.

A crisp, shattering sound echoed through the air.

The Bride, who had moments ago been sprawled on the ground in a convincing display of powerlessness, abruptly sprang to her feet, flashing swiftly to the side of her coffin.

Before her eyes, the once pristine wedding coffin was rapidly decaying and weathering, its transformation visible to the naked eye.

The blood and spiritual essence that had been carefully stored within the coffin now seeped away as the wood rotted, its vital energy slowly dissipating into the very fabric of the world.

“No!!!!!!”

A piercing, mournful shriek tore from The Bride’s throat.

This entire coffin’s worth of blood and spiritual essence represented years of arduous effort, painstakingly gathered by her.

Her sole purpose was to one day leverage this accumulated blood and spiritual energy to break through to the Golden Core stage, shattering the bonds of this realm and reclaiming her freedom.

Yet now, all those aspirations had dissolved into mere foam, shattered irrevocably with the destruction of the Blood Refinement into Infant Array.

“I want you to pay with your life……”

Before The Bride could even finish the word ‘life’, thick ice pillars erupted violently from beneath her feet, instantly encasing her within a formidable ice prison.

Muffled thuds echoed from within the ice prison, signifying Bing Yingying’s signature combination attack.

Despite this, The Bride was a specter of the late Golden Core stage, and Bing Yingying, having only recently achieved the Golden Core, could not hope to restrain her for an extended period.

In a mere two breaths, The Bride shattered Bing Yingying’s icy restraints.

Even after enduring the full force of the combo, her wedding dress was merely a little tattered.

“You bully this ghost too much……”

The Bride, having just burst free from the ice prison, had barely begun to speak when a brilliant white greatsword—forged from Vast Righteous Sword Intent, Extreme Yang True Flame, and purifying power—slammed directly down upon her head.

Xia Yi’s full-powered strike was so terrifying that The Bride swallowed her curses whole, exerting every ounce of her being to neutralize his technique, “Heavenly River Draining Dream.”

As a being of sinister Yin, she harbored the deepest dread for anything imbued with supreme Yang energy, which naturally countered her existence.

The fact that Xia Yi also possessed an innate purifying effect only amplified this terror.

Consequently, any attack infused with both the Extreme Yang True Flame and purifying power became an exponentially more potent bane to her.

Even at the late Golden Core stage, she dared not face Xia Yi’s assault head-on.

While Xia Yi launched his assault, Bing Yingying remained far from idle.

Though they had never formally trained together, their profound connection meant an unspoken understanding flowed effortlessly between them.

Observing The Bride’s intent to focus on deflecting Xia Yi’s technique before retreating, Bing Yingying seized the opportune moment.

With a sweep of her scythe, a majestic ice phoenix condensed into being, letting out a resonant cry as it soared directly towards The Bride.

‘Boom!’

While Bing Yingying’s attack was potent, it was not yet powerful enough to inflict significant harm upon her.

The Bride chose to outright ignore Bing Yingying’s assault, pouring every ounce of her strength into deflecting Xia Yi’s ‘Heavenly River Draining Dream’.

Though she managed to successfully parry Xia Yi’s full-powered strike, The Bride was utterly caught off guard, taking Bing Yingying’s subsequent attack defenseless.

Even a cultivator of her late Golden Core stage found the combined assault somewhat overwhelming.

“Human!!!”

Xia Yi, a mere ant in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, dared to reduce her to such a pathetic state.

Not only that, he had also ruined years of her painstaking efforts.

How could her burning hatred ever be appeased if she did not tear Xia Yi limb from limb!?

Xia Yi, however, had no time to engage in verbal sparring.

As a transmigrator, he understood profoundly the grave consequences of uttering threats in the midst of battle.

Having seized the initiative and established a suppressive rhythm, he absolutely could not allow the specter a moment to recover.

As the thought crystallized, the Phoenix Fire Art instantly activated, and a blazing fire phoenix, an exact counterpart to the ice phoenix Bing Yingying had just conjured, surged forth, hurtling directly towards The Bride.

The scorching, supremely Yang fire phoenix closed the distance in the blink of an eye, appearing before The Bride just as her defiant words faded.

Even with her late Golden Core cultivation, at such close range, she had no choice but to absorb Xia Yi’s strike directly.

“Ahhh!!!!!”

Engulfed by the Extreme Yang True Flame, which pulsed with purifying power, The Bride emitted a bloodcurdling shriek.

From the scorched areas of her body, tendrils of Yin energy continuously erupted, only to swiftly dissipate.

The damage from a single strike alone rendered The Bride’s existence a living hell.

Not only was this boy’s true fire exceptionally potent, but it also carried a terrifying purifying effect.

All the Yin energy she had painstakingly cultivated was being purged, and in just a brief moment, she had lost months of accumulated power.

The Bride realized she could not endure such an assault any longer; another few hits from that boy’s flames and she feared her cultivation might plummet to the mid-Golden Core stage.

With a swift, decisive motion, The Bride redirected her assault towards Bing Yingying.

‘If you are shielded by true fire,’ she mused, ‘then I shall simply target your companion first.

That would resolve everything, wouldn’t it?’

Securing a hostage would immediately grant her the upper hand.

The Bride’s plan was sound, yet Xia Yi would never grant her such an opportunity.

The instant he noticed The Bride redirecting her assault, Xia Yi immediately grasped her underlying intention.

Instead of rushing to intervene, Xia Yi calmly closed his eyes, activating the Phoenix Fire Art.

Pale flames coalesced, forming a majestic fire phoenix that began to slowly encircle him.

Bing Yingying, sharing an unspoken connection with Xia Yi, mirrored his actions, initiating the Ice Lotus Heavenly Phoenix Art.

Petals of ice lotuses converged, forming a shimmering ice phoenix that slowly revolved around Bing Yingying.

In moments, the fire phoenix and the ice phoenix resonated with each other, creating a profound synchronicity.

Around Xia Yi, delicate ice lotuses bloomed, while Bing Yingying’s form became wreathed in the ferocious Extreme Yang True Flame.

The Bride, who had transformed into a black mist to assault Bing Yingying, was abruptly taken aback!

The white flames flickering around the female cultivator were shockingly identical to those emanating from the boy!

Furthermore, due to Bing Yingying’s superior cultivation, the power of the Extreme Yang True Flame she wielded subtly surpassed Xia Yi’s own.

The Bride instantly halted her momentum, abandoning her charge towards Bing Yingying.

She instinctively sought to evade its formidable edge.

Bing Yingying, however, would grant no such opportunity.

The ice phoenix soared behind her, unfurling its wings with a resounding cry.

Having absorbed all the Extreme Yang True Flame from Bing Yingying, it transformed into a magnificent ice-fire phoenix, unleashing a torrent of countless shimmering feathers.

Each individual feather, moreover, simultaneously pulsed with the might of both ice and true fire, presenting an undeniably fatal assault to The Bride.

It was akin to a rain of molten lava from the heavens, and given the extremely close proximity, she had no chance to evade, forced instead to endure the onslaught head-on.

Nevertheless, The Bride proved herself worthy of her Golden Core cultivation.

Despite being countered by a multitude of factors, she managed to deflect the combined assault of Xia Yi and Bing Yingying, relying entirely on her wedding dress.

Once the ice-fire phoenix vanished, Bing Yingying, adhering to Xia Yi’s silent command, refrained from checking on her utterly drained companion.

Instead, she dramatically feigned exhaustion, half-kneeling on the ground and gasping for air.

Xia Yi, meanwhile, valiantly endured his own weakened state, forcibly conjuring a meager flicker of Extreme Yang True Flame as he demonstratively advanced towards The Bride.

Stripped of her wedding dress, The Bride’s true form was laid bare: a decaying, corpse-like body.

Severely wounded herself, she acted without hesitation, lunging towards Bing Yingying with the clear intent of seizing her as a hostage.

Little did she know, this impulsive move played directly into Xia Yi’s hands.

A flash of chilling light erupted.

The Bride gazed in utter disbelief as her entire arm was instantly frozen solid and then shattered into countless fragments.

The female cultivator before her now bore no resemblance to the weakened figure she had just appeared to be.