The Ice Phoenix was a magnificent sight, its body crystal clear, yet it radiated a terrifying chill that seemed to freeze the very soul. Every one of its feathers looked like the sharpest of ice blades. It looked down upon the tiny members of Shrek below, its cold eyes holding no emotion, only the pure, indifferent will of nature itself. This was Tianshui Academy's ultimate skill, the Martial Soul Fusion Skill: Ice and Snow Fluttering Ice Phoenix.
"Oh no!" Dai Mubai's expression changed drastically. He activated his White Tiger Vajra Transformation at full power, but his golden fur was instantly covered with a thick layer of frost, and his movements became stiff and slow. Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Flame was compressed to less than an inch from his body, flickering erratically under the suppression of the terrifying cold. His chubby face was already turning blue. The speed advantage of Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing was completely nullified by the omnipresent, extreme cold and the hindering ice and snow. The entire Shrek team was instantly forced into a desperate situation.
Gasps of surprise filled the audience.
"A Martial Soul Fusion Skill! It's really a Martial Soul Fusion Skill!"
"It's over! Shrek is truly finished this time!"
"A fusion skill from two Spirit Ancestors could probably challenge a Spirit Emperor! Ye Yin is only a Spirit King, and a support-type at that!"
"That Ice Phoenix is too terrifying! Even through the protective barrier, I feel like my blood is about to freeze!"
In the VIP section, Emperor Xue Ye, Ning Fengzhi, and the others also had solemn expressions. The power of a Martial Soul Fusion Skill was far from a simple one-plus-one equation. A hint of pleasure flashed in Salas's eyes, as if he could already see Shrek's imminent defeat.
"Jiang Zhu, Healing Scepter, full power! Hurry!" Ye Yin shouted. At the same time, his second soul ring flashed, and a buff landed on her. The range of her healing decreased, but its intensity increased dramatically.
A voice, distant and powerful, came from within the Ice Phoenix. "If you can't hold on, just surrender, and we will stop." This was the first time Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu had used this hidden skill in the tournament. They hadn't needed it against the other academies, but they absolutely refused to lose to Shrek.
The Ice Phoenix let out a clear, cold cry and flapped its wings fiercely. Countless massive ice cones, each as thick as an arm and shimmering with an eerie blue light, rained down from the sky like a torrential downpour, covering the entire Shrek formation. Each cone contained terrifying penetrating power and freezing energy.
"White Tiger Vajra Transformation!" Dai Mubai roared, blocking at the front. His golden protective shield vibrated violently as the ice cones crashed into it, exploding into plumes of ice shards. Ma Hongjun desperately spewed flames to melt the incoming projectiles, but he couldn't keep up. Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing relied on their agile movements to dodge precariously through the deadly rain. The situation was critical.
The massive Ice Phoenix swooped down, carrying a destructive cold current with it. The air froze, snowflakes whirled, and the entire Douhun Stage seemed to instantly transform into an arctic hell.
High above, merged within the phoenix, Shui Bing'er felt the match was already decided. She had considered many ways to deal with Ye Yin's infamous curses. A direct attack? Blazing Academy had already tried that, and two of their members were still lying in bed. Blocking his abilities with water screens or ice walls? That was unreliable. If it failed, her team would be the next to be publicly humiliated.
In the end, she had settled on the Martial Soul Fusion Skill. After watching so many of Shrek's matches, she had analyzed Ye Yin's abilities. His spirit rings were special, each seeming to have two different effects: a positive blessing and a negative curse. His first ability was chaotic, his second affected other spirit abilities, his third targeted body parts, and his fourth seemed to affect the mind, leading to bizarre behavior like singing or wrestling. His fifth ability was simple replication. But all of his curses had one key requirement: they needed a human target. As long as she and Xue Wu were merged into the Ice Phoenix, they were no longer individual targets. He would be completely restrained. With this one move, she would seal Shrek in ice and decide the outcome of the match.
Just as a massive amount of ice-attribute energy was about to pour down, Ye Yin, who had seemed completely helpless, began to act.
His fourth spirit ring flashed, and a white light landed on Ma Hongjun. It was a Mental Blessing, the positive effect of his fourth ability, which he was using for the first time in a match. The effect was simple: whenever the target felt cold, their body would begin to recover stamina, health, and spirit power.
Ma Hongjun instantly felt a strange sensation of being both cold and warm at the same time. The cold was from the Ice Phoenix, but the warmth was from the rapid recovery spreading through his body.
Immediately after, Ye Yin's fifth spirit ring flashed. He used Blessing Replication. The white light split into six and landed on the rest of the team. Instantly, everyone's stats began to constantly recover. Combined with Jiang Zhu's enhanced healing, the continuous damage caused by the Ice Phoenix was now even slower than their recovery rate. The phoenix's greatest strength—its continuous, oppressive power—was completely countered by slow, continuous healing. Shui Bing'er's carefully thought-out plan had been easily resolved.
But that wasn't all.
Ye Yin's second spirit ring suddenly lit up. Unlike the previous white light of a blessing, what shone now was a deep, eerie black light.
Second Spirit Ability: Soul Skill Curse!
The target was the Martial Soul Fusion Skill—the Ice and Snow Fluttering Ice Phoenix itself. The effect was to expand the attack's range by five hundred percent. But it came with a side effect: since the attack range was now so large, its attack power was no longer needed.
----------------
You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion