Chapter 254: Killing Needs No Reason
Chapter 254: Killing Needs No Reason
Ji Xinghuo was about to say that the Blue Leaf Tribe had no grudge against him, but then he changed his mind, thinking that it would be pointless to say such things.
So he said, "Killing needs no reason."
The legendary Ice Master let out a cold laugh, not surprised at all. This was the style of the followers of the Red Emperor. He turned to look at the white light still frozen on the ice, noticing the agitated expression on the Antelope Horn man's face as he kept glancing at the Highland man. He guessed the reason for this behavior.
"Are you here for this Pronghorn man?" the Ice Master asked.
Ji Xinghuo drew a steel spear from his back and gripped it tightly, his arm muscles swelling. He took a few steps back and then hurled the spear at the Ice Master with force.
This was his answer.
"Fool!"
The Ice Master's expression remained calm. He had failed to intercept the spear earlier because he had been caught off guard. But now, fully prepared, how could he possibly be hit by a long-range attack? In front of a Kinetic String Master, any form of shooting was futile.
Invisible kinetic energy surrounded the Ice Master, creating a force field with a radius of several dozen meters. As the spear entered this field, its speed dropped drastically, as if sinking into a quagmire, becoming slower and slower. Frost formed on the spear, and it eventually came to a stop about five meters away from the Ice Master.
"Returning it to you," the Ice Master said coldly.
The spear immediately turned back toward Ji Xinghuo.
At the same time, the ice beneath the Ice Master's feet surged upward, forming countless ice spears, swords, and cones. It was like a massive wave sweeping across, overwhelming Ji Xinghuo.
Ji Xinghuo did not want to reveal that he was an Electric Field String Master just yet, so he ran along the edge of the Ice Master's kinetic force field, using a few quick side steps to finally escape the range of the ice tide. But before he could catch his breath, the Ice Master's next attack was already upon him.
Several ice balls, each as big as a fist, shot toward him at incredible speed, sealing off the area within several dozen meters.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ice balls exploded, releasing a torrent of cold air. The temperature in Ji Xinghuo's vicinity dropped sharply, and a chill invaded his body, slowing his movements.
Seeing his tactic succeed, the Ice Master flew toward Ji Xinghuo, closing the distance between them.
While Spirit String Masters excelled at long-range attacks, it did not mean that their close-quarters combat was a weakness. On the contrary, their close-range attacks were even more threatening. Before specializing in spirit energy, the vast majority of Spirit String Masters started as close-quarters combat professionals.
The Ice Master was an advanced Ice Spike and Kinetic String Master, and Ice Spikes had never feared close combat.
He wanted to envelop Ji Xinghuo within his kinetic force field.
The closer, the better.
He preferred to engage Ji Xinghuo in close-quarters combat to fully exploit his advantage.
Ji Xinghuo had intended to retreat further, but when he saw the Ice Master flying toward him, he quickly changed his plan and pretended that he couldn't resist the cold, slowing down as if he was a step too late to retreat. Invisible giants squeezed him from all sides, binding his limbs and torso, further reducing his speed.
The Ice Master, still in mid-air, reached out and grabbed, kinetic energy compressing violently around Ji Xinghuo.
The surrounding air gathered and froze, encasing Ji Xinghuo's feet in ice, connecting him to the ice beneath and completing the Ice Master's control.
At the same time, more cold air invaded Ji Xinghuo's body.
A massive ice blade swiftly formed in front of the Ice Master, resembling a curved sword nearly ten meters long. Holding one end of the blade, the Ice Master swung it downward, infusing it with kinetic energy to accelerate its speed as he slashed at Ji Xinghuo's neck.
The Ice Master's face was icy and ruthless, without a hint of hesitation.
Clang!
The ice blade struck a body, but it wasn't Ji Xinghuo. It was the steel warrior who had suddenly charged forward and blocked Ji Xinghuo's path.
Even the legendary Steel Knight, with his body as hard as steel, was almost split in half at the waist. At the last moment, the Ice Master withdrew some of his infused power, causing the massive ice blade to shatter.
"What are you doing?" the Ice Master roared.
The steel warrior shook his head frantically, unable to utter a word, his expression filled with pain.
The Ice Master realized that Ji Xinghuo was up to something, but he didn't understand the specifics. "Useless thing, get lost!" he shouted, sending a burst of kinetic energy toward the steel warrior, knocking him away. But in mid-air, the steel warrior turned and hurled himself back at the Ice Master.
At that moment, Ji Xinghuo roared and shattered the ice encasing his body.
With a quick side step, he charged forward.
The Ice Master was about to finish off the steel warrior when he suddenly sensed extreme danger. He immediately tried to create distance while unleashing a burst of kinetic energy to restrain Ji Xinghuo once again.
But this time, Ji Xinghuo was too fast.
He performed consecutive side steps, his figure flashing left and right on the ice. With each step, he left a pit in the ice, spraying ice shards in all directions, his movements unpredictable.
The Ice Master's kinetic restraints were always half a step too slow, like trying to catch an eel.
After another side step, Ji Xinghuo was less than ten meters away.
Boom!
The Ice Master released a burst of cold air, unleashing an ice roar.
Countless ice shards formed a violent shockwave that spread out like lightning, even displacing the air and knocking the charging steel warrior away.
But in the instant the ice roar was released, Ji Xinghuo's figure disappeared, his timing impeccable, precise to the millisecond.
Instant Step!
The Ice Master reacted swiftly, soaring into the sky like a rocket as he released the ice roar.
Even as he retreated, he didn't forget to counter-attack.
A giant ice cone, over a dozen meters long, instantly formed and plunged downward, piercing the ice.
As Ji Xinghuo appeared where the Ice Master had been standing, the massive ice cone bore down on him like a mountain. But he did not retreat. With a horizontal swing of his double-bladed battle axe, the ice cone shattered, smashing a large hole in the ice and causing the surrounding ice within a hundred meters to collapse.
He had already activated his overclocked thinking.
Each step seemed dangerous, but in his eyes, they appeared in slow motion, and he executed them with ease.
"Legendary Spirit String Master, there are indeed no weaklings among them."
Ji Xinghuo even had the leisure to sigh inwardly, thinking that his previous surprise attack should have succeeded, yet his opponent had dodged it.
In the sky, the Ice Master's expression turned solemn.
He had sensed something amiss; this Highland man was clearly not a legend, yet he possessed strength greater than that of a legendary Steel Knight. Moreover, his reactions were unbelievably quick, easily dodging his attacks even within his kinetic force field.
Each time he tried to control his kinetic energy to bind his opponent, before he could apply greater restraint, the Highland man would already have evaded it.
It was as if he could clearly perceive the state of his kinetic energy.
On the surface, it seemed like he had the upper hand, but in reality, he had no effective means of dealing with this enemy.
A String Master who was helpless against an opponent within his own force field.
"He's definitely not a Berserker."
Despite having more powerful tricks up his sleeve, the Ice Master felt a growing urge to retreat.
"I must leave now." The Ice Master glanced at the legendary Steel Knight lying on the ice, unconscious and between life and death. Without hesitation, he turned and flew upward, accelerating with all his might.
"He's trying to escape!"
Ji Xinghuo immediately realized his intention and felt helpless. This guy was too vigilant.
He drew out a steel spear, and a light circle appeared in his right eye. While sprinting to dodge the flood of ice swords chasing him, he locked his gaze onto the Ice Master in the sky.
Boom!
A thunderous bolt of lightning split the clear sky.
High in the sky, a massive lightning bolt suddenly appeared and struck down, appearing just a few meters away from the Ice Master, leaving him with no time to dodge.
The lightning struck the Ice Master, revealing two layers of protection.
The outer layer was a hard ice armor, which was instantly pierced by the lightning; the inner layer was a transparent barrier that clung tightly to the Ice Master's body, emitting a chilling aura. It appeared frail and light, yet it ultimately withstood the lightning strike.
The Ice Master broke out in a cold sweat.
If not for the "Fluid Form Barrier", that lightning bolt would have at least inflicted severe injuries on him.
However, before the Ice Master could catch his breath, a spear radiating electricity flew up from below, arriving less than half a second after the lightning bolt.
The Fluid Form Barrier could protect his body from all directions; no matter the angle of attack, it would automatically activate, consuming spiritual energy.
But the Fluid Form Barrier was not perfect.
When it gathered energy to defend against an attack from one direction, if it was also attacked from another direction, it would need time to react.
Moreover, this spear was even more formidable than the previous two.
It possessed greater strength.
It moved with incredible speed.
And it was imbued with powerful electricity!
Boom!
The Ice Master's Fluid Form Barrier was pierced by the spear, and although he quickly condensed an ice armor on his skin, it was to no avail. The spear pierced through his waist, passing through without resistance, and continued to fly towards the higher sky, leaving a gaping hole in his body.
"Ah..." The Ice Master cried out in pain.
A section of his spine had disappeared, and most of his internal organs had burst open. Unable to maintain his flight, he fell downward.
Teetering between life and death, the Ice Master gritted his teeth and endured the excruciating pain, freezing his wounds to stop the bleeding.
Then, he frantically unleashed his spiritual energy, pushing himself to continue flying.
Boom!
Another bolt of lightning struck.
This time, the Ice Master clearly saw the process of the lightning's formation; he was all too familiar with this type of attack—it was spiritual lightning.
"Electric Field String Master!"
The Ice Master's heart filled with disbelief, followed by intense anger.
A despicable Electric Field String Master had disguised himself as a Berserker and fought him with an axe! If he had known his opponent was an Electric Field String Master, he would never have been so careless.
The Fluid Form Barrier withstood the lightning strike, but the Ice Master's body fell uncontrollably. Thunder rumbled in the sky as bolts of lightning rained down on him, causing the barrier to flicker and ice shards to fly in all directions, rapidly depleting his spiritual energy.
The steel spear that had flown upwards now changed course.
The spear accelerated as it fell, emitting electricity, and precisely pierced the Ice Master's chest. This time, it did not penetrate but dragged the Ice Master down with it.
Bang!
The Ice Master fell face-up, impaled on the ice by the spear.
His body was almost completely shattered, blood flowing from his seven orifices, yet his powerful life force kept him from dying instantly. His spiritual energy continued to act, creating an ice wall around him for protection.
Ji Xinghuo crashed through the ice wall and appeared beside the Ice Master.
Terror filled the Ice Master's face.
He wanted to plead for his life, but Ji Xinghuo had no intention of listening. With a swing of his battle axe, the invisible kinetic energy fell upon the enemy's neck, beheading him.
The countless ice swords, ice spears, and cold air that filled the sky all fell to the ground and gradually dissipated.
(End of Chapter)
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