Chapter 253: Slaying Three in Succession
Chapter 253: Slaying Three in Succession
While the Ice Finger Mountains' vertical height didn't rival that of the Red River Giant Peak, its five tallest peaks soared above 10,000 meters. Within its expanse of over a thousand kilometers, there were also dozens of peaks exceeding 5,000 meters, their terrain extremely steep and complex.
Between the myriad of mountains lay countless ravines, cliffs, and glaciers, making progress exceedingly difficult.
Bai Mang, leading the group of five, had no choice but to abandon their mounts and travel on foot. Nonetheless, their pace remained swift.
Ji Xinghuo followed closely, keeping them in sight.
In the highlands, with limited visibility and ample cover, he would occasionally draw closer, entering the range of electromagnetic sensing.
Soon, he discovered that two members of the group could fly.
One was a winged person.
Judging from their weapons and equipment, this winged person was a ranger, carrying a bow and arrows, and a longsword at their waist. They frequently took to the skies to scout the surroundings, ever vigilant.
If not for Ji Xinghuo's superior eyesight and quicker reflexes, he would have been spotted by the winged person several times.
The other who could fly was a legendary spiritual stringer!
"It should be a kinetic stringer," Ji Xinghuo deduced, concealed in a small frost-covered grove, his gaze piercing through the gaps as he observed the distant figure floating half a meter above the ground, following the group. Based on previous electromagnetic sensing, he estimated this Dan practitioner to be at the legendary first stage.
Spiritual stringers were typically a cut above their peers in terms of strength.
Moreover, this Dan practitioner wasn't merely a kinetic stringer. Like most who had mastered spiritual abilities, he used his powers as a supplement.
His body was encased in a faint, translucent ice armor.
Ji Xinghuo guessed that the other party was likely an "Ice Master," an advanced template that combined Ice Spike and kinetic stringer professions.
Ice Masters were exceptionally formidable in terms of damage, control, and defense, far surpassing ordinary legends.
This could also be discerned from the attitudes of the others—the Ice Master was the undisputed leader of the group, with even the other legend, a Steel Warrior, obeying his every command. The remaining two, a Dan practitioner Evil Spirit and a Highland Blood Priest, also followed the Ice Master's lead.
"He's no ordinary character."
"Most likely, he's also from the True Dragon Dynasty."
Ji Xinghuo noted the long robe the Ice Master wore, designed in the style of the True Dragon people, embroidered with light blue dragon patterns. It didn't appear thick, yet it warded off the chill wind.
"What are they looking for?"
Bai Mang was leading them in a direction far from where the Gust Beast had appeared, indicating that they weren't searching for it.
However, it was also possible that Bai Mang was intentionally misleading them.
For three consecutive days, Bai Mang guided the group of five through the treacherous terrain of the Ice Finger Mountains. Along the way, they hunted down several weak monsters, dispatching them easily without the need for the Ice Master to intervene.
Throughout this journey, Bai Mang endured constant threats and torture.
As they still hadn't found their target, the Ice Master and his companions grew increasingly impatient. They frequently punished Bai Mang, ensuring he remained in pain but did not lose his mobility.
Ji Xinghuo watched coldly from the shadows.
On the fourth day,
A battered and bruised Bai Mang led the group up a steep ice cliff. After crossing the mountain ridge, the terrain ahead leveled out, revealing a small lake nestled between the peaks. It wasn't very large, with a length and width of less than 2,000 meters each. The lake's surface was completely frozen, resembling a mirror of ice.
The surrounding peaks were not particularly high, and none of them belonged to the five tallest mountains. There were numerous such small lakes nestled among the mountains in the Ice Finger range, at least several dozen.
Ji Xinghuo observed the icy lake from a distance, his vantage point giving him a bird's-eye view. Suddenly, his expression changed slightly.
This was likely the place the Ice Master had been searching for.
Indeed,
The group's expressions turned excited. The winged person said something to Bai Mang, who paled with fear and turned to flee, his figure immediately disappearing from view.
However, in the next second, Bai Mang was exposed in mid-air.
His feet were frozen to the ice, and two trails of frost crept up his calves, immobilizing him completely. He looked at the Ice Master in despair, helpless to resist or escape.
Before a legendary Ice Master, he was utterly powerless.
The Ice Master sneered and waved his hand.
He didn't intend to act himself; instead, he ordered someone else to kill Bai Mang.
The winged person drew his longsword and approached the frozen Bai Mang, cruelty flashing in his eyes. Bai Mang watched, wide-eyed, as the sword pierced his heart. He wanted to scream, but even his mouth was frozen shut, unable to make a sound.
As Bai Mang resigned himself to his fate, his gaze suddenly shifted past the winged person, a look of shock on his face.
The others noticed his reaction and turned to look as well.
The winged person turned as well.
However, before he could fully turn his head, a black shadow flashed at lightning speed, appearing right before them from a great distance.
The Ice Master was the first to sense the impending attack. He bellowed, and invisible kinetic energy swept forth, wrapping around the assailant, causing it to slow down slightly. It was now visible that the attacker was a steel spear, frost forming on its tip, yet the force it carried was too strong. It only slowed down a little and couldn't be stopped.
In fact, the Ice Master didn't have time to divert the spear's trajectory.
The winged person was utterly unresponsive.
Pu!
The spear struck the winged person's head with pinpoint accuracy, causing it to explode like a watermelon. The spear continued its path, aiming straight for the Highland Blood Priest behind him.
Only at this moment did the Ice Master manage to exert enough kinetic energy to divert the spear's path.
Bang!
The spear embedded itself in the ice, sending shards flying. Only a small portion of it remained visible above the surface.
It was only then that the Highland Blood Priest reacted, letting out a terrified cry. Had the spear not changed course, he would have met the same fate as the winged person.
"Kill him!"
The Ice Master gave the order in a deep voice.
Despite being of the same race and followers of the Red Emperor, the two Highland men on the ice showed no hesitation, their fighting spirit only rising at the prospect of battling a fellow believer.
The legendary Steel Warrior brandished a huge sword and charged forth first.
The Blood Priest followed closely behind.
The Dan practitioner Evil Spirit's figure quickly turned transparent, merging with the air.
The Ice Master himself remained in place, not daring to fly into the air and become an easy target for the enemy's spears. He hovered a few meters off the ground, his exterior encased in ice armor that grew thicker and harder.
With a wave of his hand, the Ice Master caused the cold wind and moisture within a hundred-meter radius to instantly condense into thick ice spears, each several meters long. In the blink of an eye, there were hundreds of them, as if held by invisible hands, all aimed and fired at the approaching enemy.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The ice spears whistled through the air at incredible speed.
Ji Xinghuo glanced at the incoming ice spears and instantly made a judgment—they were flying beyond the Ice Master's kinetic energy control range, relying solely on inertia, and could no longer change direction.
As he ran, Ji Xinghuo suddenly accelerated.
The fastest ice spears fell short, always a step behind Ji Xinghuo, who left a trail of ice pillars in his wake.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang...
Amid the shattering ice, Ji Xinghuo collided head-on with the Steel Warrior.
A loud blast rang out as the Ice Vein Axe and the Steel Warrior's greatsword clashed without restraint. Ji Xinghuo had secretly activated the spinning magnetic field, and the stargland in his chest released a tremendous amount of starlight, causing his strength to surge. The "Heavy Strike" effect of his battle axe was now active.
This axe strike unleashed a force of over a hundred tons!
Clang!
Amid the clangor, the legendary Steel Warrior's greatsword broke into two pieces. Ji Xinghuo's battle axe cleaved into the warrior's body, sending sparks flying and leaving a deep, bone-exposing wound. The residual force of the axe's swing even cut a several-meter-long gully into the ice.
If it had been anyone else, they would have been sliced in two.
Ignoring his injuries, the Steel Warrior charged at Ji Xinghuo and swung his broken sword at his neck.
Before Ji Xinghuo could recover his axe, he threw a punch with his left hand.
Electric Spiral Force!
He had intentionally hidden his ability to control electricity, and this punch, though it looked ordinary, packed the full force of his blow.
The moment it landed on the Steel Warrior's chest and abdomen, the warrior's expression twisted in pain.
The Steel Warrior was sent flying backward.
Countless electric currents ravaged his body, causing immense pain and paralysis, rendering his metal-like body useless.
Ji Xinghuo was about to pursue his advantage when over a dozen thick ice spears came crashing down on him. He stepped on the ice and sidestepped to the left, instantly covering a distance of nearly ten meters, dodging the ice spears and appearing in front of the Blood Priest, just two or three steps away.
Among the Highland men, the Blood Priest not only possessed healing abilities but also had greater strength.
Every Blood Priest was an exceptional berserker.
He raised his giant axe and swung it down.
However, his movements seemed slow to Ji Xinghuo, almost like a slow-motion replay. Ji Xinghuo's battle axe swung down, beheading the Blood Priest.
At the same time, Ji Xinghuo opened his mouth and roared.
"Roar!"
A dragon's roar shook the hearts of those who heard it, and visible sound waves spread out.
Five ghostly doppelgangers appeared around Ji Xinghuo, semi-transparent and identical to him, closing in on their original.
Evil Spirits possessed "Firm Will," which allowed them to resist the mental intimidation of the dragon's roar.
Even with his ghostly doppelgangers exposed, he remained calm.
Evil Spirits could swap between any of their ghostly doppelgangers, ignore physical strikes, and even possess enemies, controlling their bodies.
Ji Xinghuo looked at one of the ghostly doppelgangers.
This one was the original body!
The Dan practitioner Evil Spirit's heart trembled as he was about to reveal his "Malicious Form" to crush Ji Xinghuo's will, but Ji Xinghuo suddenly appeared before him, dangerously close. His battle axe was already swinging towards him, and he had no time to dodge. The Evil Spirit's thoughts raced, and he swapped positions with one of the doppelgangers beside him.
The swap was instantaneous.
The Evil Spirit's perspective shifted, but to his surprise, Ji Xinghuo was still in front of him.
He thought his "Shift" had failed, but upon closer inspection, he had indeed changed positions, and Ji Xinghuo's battle axe was already upon him.
"Ghostly bodies are immune to physical attacks, even if the weapon is infused with ice," the Evil Spirit thought.
As soon as the thought formed, he felt a sharp pain.
A lightning bolt appeared out of thin air, piercing his ghostly chest and causing the surrounding magnetic field to distort, forcing him to reveal his true form.
"Ah!"
The Evil Spirit's cry was cut short as his body was cleaved in two by the battle axe.
Ji Xinghuo sidestepped once more, dodging the final wave of ice spears that embedded themselves in the ground. He stopped just outside the Ice Master's spiritual energy range, staring at the floating Ice Master, his tongue flicking across his lips as a bloodthirsty light shone in his eyes.
The Ice Master's heart sank, and his expression turned solemn.
He glanced at the Steel Warrior, who still hadn't gotten up from the ice, and wondered what had happened. How could a legendary warrior be felled by a single punch?
Then his gaze returned to Ji Xinghuo, and he said in a low voice, "I don't know you, and I don't recall having any grudges with you."
(End of Chapter)
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