Chapter 745 Fierce Clash

None of these monsters, who once ruled an era and stood at the Peak of the world, were pushovers!

Previously, in the Abyss of Mist, he had slain the Human Sovereign of the old era.

At that time, he relied on the golden body of Karma belonging to Great Sage Li Er, as well as the will of heaven acting as the main force to bring down the world-destroying thunder. At best, he was merely going with the flow and kicking a man while he was down.

But now, inside the stomach pouch of the Alligator Snapping Turtle, which was isolated from the world and where the Laws of the Heavenly Dao could hardly penetrate, he was truly and single-handedly facing a Peak SSS-Rank Expert in their prime!

Furthermore, the opponent had already stepped half a foot into the threshold of a Transcendent!

"Why aren't you speaking anymore?" The Extreme Ice Empress floated in mid-air, her temperatureless sapphire eyes gazing at him coldly. "Where is that arrogant and domineering attitude you had just now?"

"Old hag, since when is there so much nonsense when fighting!" Zhou Huai spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. "Do you think freezing one of my arms means you're guaranteed to win against me?"

"You're just a dead duck with a stubborn beak."

The Extreme Ice Empress did not grow angry because of Zhou Huai's provocation; she couldn't even be bothered to spare him another glance, instead casting her gaze toward the red ocean below.

There, more than five million mutated Soldier Beetles were clinging to the ruptured stomach wall of the Alligator Snapping Turtle, greedily chewing and devouring the flesh and blood.

"These filthy, ugly bugs…" A trace of extreme disgust flashed across the Empress's stunning face. "How dare they crawl within my line of sight, and even attempt to devour my pet?"

"Your pet?" Zhou Huai laughed out loud, trying to use his voice to mask his inner unease. "It's about to be chewed into an empty shell by me!!"

"Devouring everything? What a laughable frog at the bottom of a well."

The Extreme Ice Empress slightly raised her chin. Without even mobilizing any magic power, she simply gently lifted the deep blue long spear in her hand, the tip casually tracing an elegant semicircle through the Void Realm.

"Extreme Cold Era — Breath of the Harsh Winter."

As her words fell, there was no earth-shattering energy explosion, nor any violent snowstorm.

There was merely a gentle breeze sweeping past.

That wind was as gentle as a lover's sigh.

Yet when this "gentle breeze" swept across the millions of mutated Soldier Beetles frantically devouring flesh and blood below, a scene that made Zhou Huai's scalp tingle occurred.

"Hum—"

Those groups of Soldier Beetles that had already evolved resistance to profound ice and could even directly devour the Origin of Extreme Cold all plunged into an eerie, absolute stillness the moment they came into contact with this breeze!

There was no struggle, no screeching, and even no resistance.

Five million bugs seemed to have been pressed with a pause button on time by an invisible giant hand.

Immediately following—

"Crack… Crack crack crack…"

Dense cracking sounds merged into one.

On the surface of those five million Soldier Beetles' bodies, countless pale cracks materialized out of thin air. The next second, like a gust of wind blowing away a sand sculpture, all the Soldier Beetles, along with the flesh and blood they were chewing in their mouths, disintegrated into the finest ice dust at the exact same moment!

"Whoosh—"

Ice crystal powder filled the sky as it scattered, completely dissipating into this sea of blood.

"Old hag! Don't think you're the only one who knows how to pull off a one-hit kill!"

Zhou Huai let out a furious roar, violent purple lightning instantly lighting up in his right eye. The power belonging to the SS-Rank Thunder Sword Sovereign Yasuo was driven to its limit by him without any reservation!

"Thunder God Armor! Open!"

"Lightning Phantom Body!"

"Boom—!"

Countless thick purple-gold lightning bolts exploded around Zhou Huai, their violent destructive power forcefully pushing back the surrounding extreme cold Qi by three feet. He transformed into a dazzling streak of lightning, moving so fast that he directly tore open a pitch-black spatial rift within the stomach pouch of the Alligator Snapping Turtle!

"Die!"

Zhou Huai instantly closed in, delivering a sword strike carrying the weight of ten thousand jun of thunder and a terrifying might sufficient to split mountains, slashing fiercely toward the slender, snow-white neck of the Extreme Ice Empress!

At such a close distance, even a deity would definitely not be able to dodge this strike!

Lightning flashed, and with a "swish" sound, the long sword sliced through the Empress's body without any hindrance.

"Got her!"

A surge of joy welled up in Zhou Huai's heart.

However, the expected scene of blood splattering did not appear. The tactile sensation of the long sword slicing through was light and airy, more like it had shattered a fragile piece of colored glaze.

"Crack—"

The Extreme Ice Empress in front of him who had been "beheaded" suddenly shattered inch by inch, turning into sparkling and translucent ice crystals all over the sky!

"What?!" Zhou Huai frowned. "An illusion?!"

This was not an afterimage, nor was it a Clone; it was an ice crystal illusion constructed from pure Laws of extreme cold! The opponent had actually perfectly deceived his perception!

By the time Zhou Huai reacted, an emotionless voice had already come from directly above his head.

"Too slow."

"Your thunder is all show and no substance. It has speed, but lacks the foundation to sever rules."

Zhou Huai abruptly raised his head, only to see that the Extreme Ice Empress had somehow already floated to a position less than five meters above him.

She looked down condescendingly at Zhou Huai, her eyes filled with undisguised mockery. The deep blue long spear in her hand had erupted with an Origin of Extreme Cold ten times more terrifying than before!

"Ice Soul Divine Spear!"

The long spear left her hand, transforming into a deep blue aurora that pierced through all things, stabbing straight toward Zhou Huai's crown!

The speed seemed unhurried, but this ice spear directly locked down all spatial dimensions and time flow rates around Zhou Huai!

Hou Yi's etherealization and Great Sage Li Er's Shrinking the Earth to an Inch all completely failed at this moment!

"Damn it! There's no escaping this!"

Zhou Huai's eyes were bloodshot as he roared up to the sky, frantically mobilizing all the mana values within his body to instantly max out the S-Rank defense divine skill belonging to Gandalf!

"Arcane Barrier! Hold out for me!!!"

"Hum—!"

An exceptionally thick magical shield flickering with profound purple runes instantly stacked and propped itself up around his body! This was an absolute defense capable of absorbing ten times the damage of his maximum mana value!

However—

The moment that deep blue ice spear pierced the shield, the fierce collision Zhou Huai had anticipated did not occur.

"Sizzle—"

The Law power of extreme cold was like a sharp blade encountering thin paper.

Large patches of frost patterns instantly spread across the purple magic shield. Those runes formed from pure magic power were forcibly frozen and brought to a standstill, emitting groans under unbearable pressure.

"Break."

Following the Extreme Ice Empress's understated single word.

"Boom—!!!"

Even though Zhou Huai had promptly raised the strongest Arcane Barrier shield, in front of the Empress's ice spear that surpassed the rules, it still collapsed and shattered in an instant!

Amidst the purple ice crystal debris filling the sky, that deep blue ice spear pierced into Zhou Huai's chest without any obstruction!

"Splat!"

No blood flowed out.

Because the moment the tip of the spear entered his body, a terrifying cold current of absolute zero directly poured into Zhou Huai's heart meridian!

"Ugh aaaah—"

Zhou Huai only had time to emit a short, miserable scream before the sound abruptly cut off.

Coldness.

A coldness that could not be described in words!

He felt his blood stop flowing, his heart stop beating, and even the consciousness deep within his Soul was completely frozen solid under this extreme low temperature.

"Crack crack crack crack…"

Starting from his chest, the deep blue mysterious ice rapidly spread across his entire body.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Huai's Physical Body—which had undergone the Fusion of over a dozen top-tier Clones and was as formidable as an Undying Demon God—was completely locked down.

His entire person transformed into a lifelike, sparkling, and translucent ice sculpture!