"Fourth spirit skill: Thunderous Blood Web."
Ignaz reacted at once. The crimson thunder-net coalesced into a ten-meter Blood-Thunder Spear and slammed into the massive ice blade hurtling down at him. The moment ice met blood, opposite forces—one frigid, one violent—erupted outward. The violent shockwave sent other fighters on the arena flying dozens of meters, and some were even thrown completely off the stage and eliminated.
Shui Bing'er picked up traces of blood-red lightning on her body. The blood-thunder energy kept colliding through her meridians and across her flesh, constricting and tearing.
Ignaz wasn't unscathed either. The Extreme Ice aura clung to his skin and formed a layer of blue ice crystals he couldn't dispel for the moment. More chilling qi seeped into his body. If his blood were not so abundant, and if he didn't have the defensive bonus from his first spirit skill (40 percent), he would've been frozen solid from the inside out.
"Bing'er, I didn't expect your fifth spirit skill to be so brutal. You almost beat me." Ignaz called out.
"You're not bad yourself," Shui Bing'er shot back through gritted teeth, "You stopped my fifth with just your fourth. But you really think it's over?"
Shui Bing'er forced herself upright, pain on her face, then smiled at Ignaz. "We haven't even used Skywater Academy's proudest move yet."
"Xuewu."
At Shui Bing'er's cue, Xuewu (Snowdance), who'd been setting things up in the rear and had used Shui Bing'er's ice-seal to block the enemy's sight, revealed a prepared spirit array.
"Brother Iggy, let us show you our strongest fused spirit technique—the Ice-and-Snow Drift."
Shui Bing'er gathered her power and leapt; Xuewu rose with her. Snow and a biting, bone-cold wind quickly blanketed the entire arena sky.
The two of them pressed their palms together. A twelve-meter Frost Phoenix of profound glacier-ice slowly took shape.
"Younger sister, take Lingling and the others to the edge of the arena now. This fusion has reached the strongest strike a Spirit Sage can unleash." Ignaz's words were barely audible over the howling cold, but Dugu Yan, standing not far behind him, still felt the terrifying fluctuation of spirit power.
"Everyone, withdraw to the arena edge." Dugu Yan ordered.
At her command, the other five teammates hurried away from Ignaz, though they stopped at the very rim and didn't jump down. Jumping would mean an automatic forfeit, leaving Ignaz alone—something they refused to do. Skywater Academy had done the same: ever since Shui Bing'er gained her fifth spirit ring and began using fused techniques with Xuewu, they'd known the power of Ice-and-Snow Drift and had already pulled back to the edge before the fusion began.
The Frost Phoenix had now fully formed. It beat its wings and dove straight at Ignaz.
Shui Bing'er hesitated for a moment—because the man below was the one she loved—and called, "Brother Iggy, this fusion is too powerful. Once triggered, even I can't fully control it. Please move to the edge."
"Bing'er, don't forget my strongest spirit skill." Ignaz said calmly. He tilted his head up to the charging Frost Phoenix, took a small step back, and tightened his grip on the Blood-Thunder Spear. He pointed the spear toward the phoenix and intoned, "Wind-and-Rain Night: Thousand-Mile Pierce of Extremity."
The spear's aura swelled violently. Flames of bloody energy licked the shaft. Ignaz hurled the spear with a sudden, explosive throw. As it flew, the spear transformed into a blood dragon—first spectral, then solidifying into a living crimson beast.
Dragon and phoenix collided with a roar. The extreme cold and the violent blood qi shredded at each other until—
"Crack!"
Both energies shattered into fragments. The shock from their clash was so intense it cracked the arena's energy shield. Bitter cold and violent qi swept out in all directions toward every Spirit Master present. Everyone hurriedly used their spirit power as a barrier to protect themselves.
As the entwined energies dissipated, the true situation on the battlefield became clear.
Ignaz stood where he'd been, Blood-Thunder Spear in hand, seemingly unharmed. Shui Bing'er and Xuewu were supporting each other, staggering. Shui Bing'er's face had gone deathly pale; there wasn't a trace of blood in her cheeks. She gasped and wheezed—clearly exhausted of spirit power and nursing internal injuries.
"We, Skywater Academy, concede." Shui Bing'er managed to say.
The host, who'd been stunned into silence by the collision, recovered after a few seconds and announced, "Winner of the winner's bracket final: Heaven Dou Royal Academy."
The moment the victory was declared, Ignaz hurried to Shui Bing'er's side and scooped her into his arms. The other members of Heaven Dou Royal Academy rushed over as well.
"Lingling, can you help?" Ignaz asked.
"I haven't rested properly these past few days, and I've been constantly patching you guys up," Ye Lingling complained, but she still summoned the Everlasting Acacia and began channeling healing spirit skills to give the Skywater team a short period of recovery and restore some spirit power.
On the Pope's platform, Bibi Dong watched the scene with displeasure. She especially focused on the three Spirit Kings led by Ignaz within Heaven Dou Royal and a few other exceptionally gifted Spirit Masters.
Those were potential rivals to Spirit Hall. Compared to someone like Tang San—who had twin martial souls—they might not yet be comparable, but these young geniuses were no joke. Some of them could even steamroll the Golden Generation if left unchecked.
If Bibi Dong couldn't secure them, they'd have to be eliminated. She didn't want extra obstacles to her future plan to dominate the continent. Watching Ignaz hold Shui Bing'er and chat with Dugu Yan and the others irritated her even more.
Her eyes slid over to the man on the left platform, Yu Xiaogang, and a flash of regret and desire crossed her face. If she hadn't been done wrong by that bastard, maybe she and Xiaogang would've spent their lives together.
That thought vanished as quickly as it came. A murderous, hostile light filled her eyes.
"If I can't have what I want, no one else will," she whispered. "Young geniuses, Xiaogang, anyone—I'll destroy everything they hold dear."