The Icy Embrace

Yet, the anticipated surge of anger failed to materialize; there was no response, merely an ever-deepening, pervasive chill.

Despite her fervent attempts to shroud her entire being, she found herself unable to ward off the encroaching, bone-chilling cold.

It was evident that the Bright Jade Profound Yin truly lived up to its reputation as a legacy cultivation technique, allowing even a Qi Condensation cultivator to imbue their spiritual energy with such an intense, frigid aura.

Lin Mo approached with unhurried grace, moving slowly towards Zhao Miaozhi.

Even when startled cries suddenly erupted from above the arena, he did not spare them a single glance.

It was truly as if he had transformed into an entirely different person.

Zhao Miaozhi felt a surge of admiration, noting how Lin Mo maintained unwavering focus on her opponent despite the sudden turn of events.

Since her minor tricks proved ineffective, then—

“Come!”

Zhao Miaozhi’s roar was meant to both dispel the encroaching cold and further ignite the fighting spirit within her heart!

She ceased her verbal provocations, her battle intent solidifying like iron.

Her fists became wreathed in earthy-yellow spiritual energy, like protective gauntlets, and her massive body suddenly surged with power!

There was no flashy sprint, but rather a true elephant’s stomp—with each resounding step, the arena’s hard stone slabs groaned in agony.

Spiderweb cracks spread out beneath her feet, sending shattered stone fragments flying!

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

She was running!

Each step accumulated explosive power, transforming her into a battering ram, locking down all of Lin Mo’s escape routes!

A preemptive strike!

Lin Mo swayed like a willow branch in a fierce gale.

Zhao Miaozhi’s powerful, heavy fists, whenever they were about to connect, would always be dodged by him with mere millimeters to spare, or subtly deflected away from vital areas with the slightest shift of his arm.

He did not meet the attacks head-on, but instead moved and rotated ceaselessly, deftly guiding Zhao Miaozhi’s center of gravity.

Every dodge, every parry, was accompanied by his precise observation of Zhao Miaozhi’s breathing rhythm, shifts in her center of gravity, and habitual muscle exertion.

This was an instinctual insight, honed during his decades of paralysis, a period when he could only rely on his eyes and mind to navigate life.

He no longer pursued the hollow victory of a “one-shot kill,” but rather, amidst this furious exchange of offense and defense, sought that fleeting vulnerability that would allow Zhao Miaozhi’s massive physique and ferocious power to rebound and harm herself!

Concurrently, he flicked his index fingers repeatedly.

“Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding…”

The faint pings, like raindrops pattering onto a plate, were masked by Zhao Miaozhi’s heavy footsteps.

Unnoticed by anyone, with every step Lin Mo took, in the area radiating outwards from him on the arena’s earth, the air eerily condensed into water vapor.

These then froze into irregular ice crystals, as thin as cicada wings and as fine as grains of rice!

It was as if an invisible trap of frost had been laid.

Ice shards floated and spread around him, resembling dry ice mist sprayed across a stage.

As he moved, this domain of frost silently expanded.

Zhao Miaozhi surged forward, unleashing her right fist like a heavy cannon!

The powerful gale it generated swirled the ice crystals and dust on the ground, producing a mournful whine.

In her eyes, Lin Mo was practically cornered, with nowhere to dodge!

However, in Lin Mo’s eyes, a cold yet exceptionally bright gleam, like an aurora over an ice plain, flickered into existence!

Yet, instead of retreating, Lin Mo advanced, actively rushing into Zhao Miaozhi’s embrace!

‘Seeking death!’

Zhao Miaozhi sneered inwardly!

‘For Lin Mo, with his frail physique, to charge into her embrace was undoubtedly an act of suicide!’

‘She was a Body Cultivator, after all!’

‘Even at the Qi Condensation stage, she had refined a physical body comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator!’

‘Someone like Lin Mo should have prolonged the fight, avoiding close-quarters combat with her!’

‘Although Lin Mo possessed a miraculous reaction ability, capable of precisely controlling spiritual energy to defend a small area, as long as Zhao Miaozhi’s speed was sufficient, Lin Mo would eventually be unable to react in time!’

‘Being sent flying by her punch just moments ago was the best proof!’

Meanwhile, the spectators in the viewing stands continuously offered their comments.

“How dare she?”

“Actively approaching a Body Cultivator is no different from suicide!”

“She, Lin Wan’er, is not a Body Cultivator either, how dare she clash head-on with Zhao Miaozhi, who possesses a body of steel and iron bones?”

“Screech!” Spiritual energy grazed him, and a small piece of his silk robe on his shoulder ripped in response.

A bloody gash instantly appeared on his shoulder, carved by the force of the punch!

Blood splattered!

‘Hmph!’

‘He dodged it?’

Though slightly surprised, it was still acceptable.

Now, Lin Mo was charging directly into her embrace, and even if she didn’t strike, it wouldn’t matter!

Moreover, she saw Lin Mo’s power-gathering fist, observing the bone-chilling cold air swirling within it.

‘Presumably, Lin Mo intended to exchange injury for a chance, using this punch to catch her off guard!’

‘But, Personal Disciple Lin, you truly underestimate this Body Cultivator!’

Harboring such thoughts, Zhao Miaozhi immediately puffed out her chest, concentrating all her spiritual energy to defend her sternum!

‘Caution and prudence were always the best strategy! Even if her opponent had fallen into a trap, she would not grow careless!’

‘As for her limbs, there was no need to worry; losing an arm or a leg was hardly a concern.’

Unexpectedly, however, Lin Mo’s palm silently pressed against her!

The movement was gentle, like brushing fallen snow from a friend’s shoulder.

But it was not a brush; it was a freeze!

“Ugh—!”

Zhao Miaozhi felt an irresistible, sinister cold instantly pierce through her dense earthen spiritual energy defense, penetrating straight to her very bones!

Her entire left arm, starting from the inner elbow, felt as if its muscles, tendons, and blood vessels had been frozen and paralyzed by the extreme cold!

Even her entire body momentarily stiffened!

Her earthy-yellow protective qi shield violently vibrated, yet the transmitted cold was far more viscous and torrential than imagined.

It didn’t merely freeze flesh; it was more akin to countless tiny ice needles piercing her meridians, forcibly hindering the flow of spiritual energy!

Her left arm instantly became as stiff as withered wood!

‘The shield was broken!’

She had never imagined that Bright Jade Profound Yin could be so domineering!

‘To think it could penetrate her protective qi shield?’

The intense pain and paralysis made Zhao Miaozhi roar furiously, her beast-like instincts driving her to disregard everything else.

She gathered all her strength into her uninjured right fist, sweeping it towards Lin Mo, who was practically pressed against her.

This punch was a desperate, mutually destructive gamble!

However, Lin Mo had already moved the instant Zhao Miaozhi raised her elbow to gather strength!

The hand that clung to her stiff left arm did not withdraw.

Instead, the ghostly blue cold energy swirling around his loosely clasped fingertips instantly condensed into almost invisible Xuan Yin Ice Threads!

They were incredibly fine, incredibly tough, and incredibly cold!

Lin Mo instantly spun and squatted, pulling Zhao Miaozhi’s stiff left arm to block her own sweeping right arm!

This directly forced Zhao Miaozhi into a situation where her left hand fought her right!

But Zhao Miaozhi was a formidable opponent!

She reacted with quick thinking, immediately severing the ice threads Lin Mo was controlling!

“Break—open!!!”

“Rip—!”

A sharp sound, like silk fabric being torn, echoed!

The thick layer of earthy-yellow protective qi shield on Zhao Miaozhi’s arm was actually pierced by these seemingly fragile ice threads, tearing open a raw gash!

The chilling cold was now unimpeded!

“Hiss…”, Zhao Miaozhi felt a cold energy, many times more potent than before and imbued with a sense of decaying stillness, surge through the torn protective qi shield on her left arm, injecting into her body like icy venom!

In the instant Zhao Miaozhi’s movements faltered by a fraction of a second due to this, Lin Mo showed not the slightest hesitation.

He lightly pushed off with his feet, his body spiraling upwards as effortlessly as a weightless feather!

With a single leap, he soared over Zhao Miaozhi’s head!

The rice-sized ice crystals that had been scattered on the ground, mixed with dust and gravel, now seemed to be drawn by a fatal attraction, whistling as they shot towards Zhao Miaozhi from all directions!

“!”

Zhao Miaozhi’s heart was seized with shock!

She once again urged the spiritual energy within her body to envelop her entire form!

The ice crystals descended upon Zhao Miaozhi like a volley of ten thousand arrows!

Though individually weak in power, yet!

Quantitative change leads to qualitative transformation!

With such an immense number of ice crystals striking her body, their sheer quantity transformed them into the equivalent of colossal boulders plummeting down!

What’s more, her internal spiritual energy was now sluggish due to the cold’s invasion, meaning her protective qi shield wouldn’t hold out for long!

Meanwhile, Lin Mo, suspended in mid-air, was not idle!

Wreathed in cold energy, an eight-zhang long colossal hammer suddenly materialized in Lin Mo’s hand!

The force of Lin Mo’s spin propelled this immense frost hammer, imbued with the earth’s chilling qi and a thousand jun of gravity, to slam down with the most savage, direct, and inescapable power onto Zhao Miaozhi’s left side, which was now stiff and undefended due to paralysis!

This strike contained no frills!

It was a pure amalgamation of power and cold!

An overwhelming suppression of aura!

Bang—CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!!

The ice shield solidly impacted Zhao Miaozhi’s robust body!

At the point of contact, a chilling crunch of cracking bones instantly resounded!

“Pwah—!”

Zhao Miaozhi felt an indescribable colossal force, mingled with bone-deep cold, suddenly explode within her!

Her body was uncontrollably flung sideways, and she violently spewed mouthfuls of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, which solidified into tiny blood crystals in the air!

Boom!

Her massive body slammed heavily into the stone railing at the edge of the arena, shattering even the incredibly sturdy perimeter into flying stone shards!

Where her body impacted, her clothes tore, her skin turned purplish-blue, and a horrifying indentation became visible to the naked eye.

The ice shield also exploded upon impact, transforming into countless ice shards that scattered in all directions, causing the temperature in the arena to plummet instantly!

Victory seemed imminent.