Bright yellow light burst forth from Xuan Zi's body. His palms instantly came together, and a powerful will erupted from him.
He thrust his hands forward. The nine soul rings around Xuan Zi flared up as if ignited, radiating dazzling flames of light. Immediately after, a mass of yellow radiance condensed in his hands, transforming into a bizarre weapon.
The weapon was thick at the top and narrow at the bottom. Xuan Zi gripped it with both hands and swung it downward toward Lin Xiao from top to bottom.
The surrounding airflow uncontrollably parted to both sides. Although the weapon clearly wasn't sharp, it seemed capable of cleaving space itself apart.
The blinding bright yellow light illuminated the entire night sky like the sun, turning it as bright as day. The boundless radiance completely engulfed Lin Xiao.
Yet Xuan Zi did not sense his opponent melting away under the weapon. Instead, a bone-piercing chill erupted outward, drilling straight into his body along the weapon in his hands.
Within the brilliant, bright yellow light, a streak of ice-blue suddenly appeared. The radiant great sun seemed to be frozen by ice that had endured tens of thousands of years, no longer able to emit the slightest heat.
Xuan Zi's expression changed dramatically. His eyes widened as he looked toward the light ahead. There was no sign of Lin Xiao inside, only a graceful figure emerged, holding an ice-blue longsword that completely blocked his strike.
"You—"
"This is impossible!"
Xuan Zi couldn't help exclaiming in shock. That extreme cold aura, he could think of only one being who possessed it: the Snow Emperor, head of the three great heavenly kings of the extreme north, a seven-hundred-thousand-year soul beast.
But how could the Snow Emperor appear here and help an evil soul master from the Holy Spirit Cult?
Across from him, the Snow Emperor herself seemed somewhat astonished. She lowered her head slightly to look at her own body. It was no longer a half-transparent soul state but had truly gained a physical form.
Turning back, she saw that Lin Xiao had already broken free of Xuan Zi's control. His ninth soul ring was radiating dazzling light, with blood-red and gray glows intertwining and illuminating the surroundings.
Ninth soul skill: Past Life.
Even Lin Xiao himself did not know where this soul skill truly came from, because the Snow Emperor fundamentally did not possess such an ability.
Back when he absorbed the soul ring, Electrolux had said that his ninth soul ring did not come solely from the Snow Emperor. Because the Snow Emperor's own power had fused with the undead plane, it also contained the power of the undead plane.
And his ninth soul skill might have originated from the Snow Emperor, or from the undead plane, or perhaps simply from himself.
It might have been because the Snow Emperor chose to take human form, smoothly becoming a human embryo and gaining new life.
Or perhaps the undead plane was originally a place Electrolux used to summon the undead.
Or maybe Lin Xiao truly had the experience of living a past life. Whether the Snow Emperor, Electrolux, or Lin Xiao himself, all of them were "people" who had once lingered on the edge between life and death.
And the effect of this soul skill was precisely the unwillingness of the dead toward death, the ultimate extreme of death reaching its end and giving rise to new power. From extreme negativity comes positivity; from death comes life; awakening the past life to manifest once more in the world.
The red and gray lights fell upon the Snow Emperor's soul, and her body gradually gained substance.
No longer was she merely a soul driven by Lin Xiao. She could now not only influence the opponent's soul and mind but also truly possess the power she had in life.
Large swathes of soul power surged out from within Lin Xiao's body, as if intent on draining dry that vast plane within his dantian.
To manifest the Snow Emperor's cultivation from her lifetime naturally came at no small cost. If not for Lin Xiao possessing a unique "soul core," merely having the Snow Emperor appear for a moment would likely have completely drained all the soul power in his body.
The snow-white dress fluttered slightly. The Snow Emperor stepped forward, and strands of snowflakes gently drifted down through the air. The bone-chilling cold made Xuan Zi's joints stiffen all over.
There was no doubt that the soul beast before him was indeed the Snow Emperor. He did not know why she had appeared here, but clearly she was an enemy, not a friend.
He could sense that something had happened to the Snow Emperor at this moment; her strength was not at its peak. Yet with the strangely powerful Lin Xiao beside her, if the two joined forces, even he might not come out ahead.
Originally, he had only intended to take this chance to weaken the Holy Spirit Cult's strength. Who could have imagined that making a move would stir up such a chain of events?
Yet while he hesitated, Lin Xiao and the Snow Emperor showed no intention of pausing. Lin Xiao likewise took a step forward.
The aura emanating from him was unstable, no longer the pure death from before, but carrying a different presence, like tender sprouts still gestating beneath the cold, frozen earth of winter.
And it was precisely this different presence that caused the Snow Emperor's momentum to grow even stronger.
The longsword formed of solid ice swung in her hand, flashing with cold light. A thin layer of frost had already condensed over Xuan Zi's body.
At that moment, piercing alarm sounds rang out within Ming City. The people of Ming City had finally detected several powerful auras appearing in the western suburbs. Lights from flying soul tools rose one after another from within the city.
Xuan Zi's expression changed. He let out a long sigh and lowered his head slightly to glance at the wooden wine gourd tucked at his waist.
Lin Xiao's gaze followed his movement, and he also noticed the oddly shaped wine gourd. Its surface was irregular, almost like rough tree bark, pitted and uneven.
No!
Lin Xiao reacted in an instant. It wasn't an ordinary wine gourd at all. The Snow Emperor, linked to his mind, thrust her sword toward Xuan Zi's waist. But Xuan Zi had already raised his hand and pressed it against the wine gourd.
In an instant, golden-yellow light burst forth from the "wine gourd," completely enveloping him.
The scale-like patterns on Xuan Zi's body wriggled continuously, actually transforming into real dragon scales.
"Roar—"
No longer a bovine bellow, but a true dragon's roar.
Lin Xiao dared not slack off in the slightest. Just as he gathered soul power into his right leg, preparing to unleash a soul bone skill, Xuan Zi showed no intention of lingering. With a flash of golden light, he flew downward.
Whether due to the lingering effects of the earlier Chaotic Soul Melody or not, he did not continue to tangle with Lin Xiao. Instead, he wanted to hurry and take the others away from Shrek Academy before the people from Ming City arrived.
"Elder Xuan!"
Seeing Xuan Zi descend from high in the sky, the first to notice was Huo Yuhao, who had been constantly releasing his spiritual detection. Before Xuan Zi could draw near, he excitedly released his spiritual power.
"Prepare to come with me."
Xuan Zi's voice seemed much deeper and more resonant than usual, but Huo Yuhao had no time to ponder it. He simply shook his head slightly.
"Elder Xuan, I won't be in danger. Staying here will let me gather more information about the Holy Spirit Cult. Please help rescue Senior Brother and Wang Dong, they're right over…"
As Huo Yuhao spoke, a scene already entered Xuan Zi's sea of consciousness.
"You…"
Xuan Zi was about to speak further, but seeing the determination in Huo Yuhao's eyes and sensing several increasingly approaching auras, he finally turned and flew off in another direction.
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