Yang Kai's expression shifted slightly. Not daring to meet the attack head-on, he withdrew his Domain.
If a Domain were forcefully shattered, the backlash would cause significant harm, and repairing it would be an enormous hassle.
"The power of a formation?" Yang Kai quickly figured out what had changed about Ran Yunting.
She had clearly drawn upon the formations on Ice Extinction Island, which was the only reason she could achieve such power.
It wasn't surprising when he thought about it. Ran Yunting held a high position in Ice Heart Valley, ranked only below the Supreme Elder and the Valley Master, so being able to command the formation's power was only natural.
"Hahaha! Ice Heart Valley's Ice Extinction Great Array is ranked first on all of Chi Lan Star! Boy, you can die beneath it with no regrets!" Ran Yunting laughed heartily, sweeping the command token through the air as a streak of light trailed in its wake. Her entire figure seemed to merge into the surrounding cold, becoming ethereal and vanishing without a trace!
Yet from all around, blade-like attacks of ice suddenly materialized, sweeping toward Yang Kai like a plague of locusts, blotting out the sky and earth.
This was the might of the Ice Extinction Great Array! Even a Void King Realm powerhouse caught within would find it nearly impossible to escape unharmed.
The instant Ran Yunting activated the great array's power against Yang Kai, every powerful figure on Ice Extinction Island sensed it.
On the inner island, within the Valley Master's ice palace, Bing Long's expression shifted. She looked up toward the void. "Who is activating the great array's power? Is it the Grand Elder?"
Her divine sense spread outward in a flash, and she quickly saw the battle raging at the outer island's Ice Peak. Unable to suppress a cry of alarm, she hastily left her ice palace and flew toward the scene at full speed.
More than a dozen Elders on the inner island sensed it too, all rushing toward the disturbance.
Meanwhile, at a secret location deep within the inner island, a woman with a head full of silver hair sat cross-legged beside a frigid pool. She appeared quite young, no older than sixteen, but her aura was countless times more powerful than both Bing Long and Ran Yunting.
A Void King Realm powerhouse!
Ice Heart Valley's Supreme Elder—Luo Li!
The silver hair and her girlish face formed a striking visual contrast, lending her an almost startling beauty.
At this moment, she appeared to be harnessing the frigid energy of the cold pool for some purpose, her delicate lips slightly parted. Between each breath, wisps of white frost energy were drawn from the pool and channeled into her body.
Luo Li's complexion bore a faint, barely noticeable pallor—the lingering aftereffects of a cultivation mishap from before.
The moment the Ice Extinction Great Array was activated, Luo Li had sensed it too, but she merely glanced indifferently in that direction before paying it no further mind.
For someone of her caliber, the goings-on outside were no longer her concern—nothing but the younger generation's childish antics. Bing Long could handle it.
Just as Luo Li was about to resume her healing, her expression suddenly changed. She turned to look in a different direction as though she had sensed something, her face graver than ever before. In a low voice, she murmured, "Chi Huo, so you really couldn't hold back after all? You dare trespass on my Ice Extinction Island... Hmm? This is... No wonder. No wonder you had the audacity to come!"
After sensing the presence of yet another person, Luo Li's expression grew even more solemn. After a long moment, she sighed. "I wonder if Ice Extinction Island can weather this storm. I do hope you won't go too far."
As she spoke, she slowly rose to her feet. Her figure flickered, and she vanished from the spot without a sound, leaving behind only a clearly discernible afterimage.
……
"Foolish! If you could unleash the full power of the Frost Extinction Grand Formation, you might be able to slay me. But with your meager strength, how much of the formation's power can you even borrow?" Yang Kai roared fiercely, a five-colored radiance suddenly erupting from his body. The shimmering waves of multicolored light were blinding to behold, and an unprecedented, piercingly sharp aura exploded outward from Yang Kai's frame.
Yang Kai clenched his fist in the void, and a golden glow suddenly separated from his body. It gathered in his hand, condensing into a magnificent longsword blazing with golden light.
The Indestructible Five Elements Sword Energy — the Sword of Metal, sovereign of slaughter!
With the sword in hand, Yang Kai's killing intent surged like a tide. That dense, almost tangible bloodlust made Ran Yunting's eyes tremble violently. She screamed and frantically channeled her Sacred Yuan into the token in her hand, desperately trying to use the formation's power to crush Yang Kai.
Countless ice blades, ice spikes, and ice arrows materialized in the void, once again shooting toward Yang Kai at blinding speed.
"Bring it on!" Yang Kai bellowed, and the golden sword in his hand began to dance.
The dazzling golden light seemed as though it would cleave through the void itself. The brilliant trails of molten gold outshone the entire Frost Extinction Island, rendering it pale by comparison, as wave after wave of incomparably razor-sharp sword energy lanced outward.
The ice blades, ice spikes, and ice arrows were like snowflakes beneath a blazing sun — each one slashed apart and dissolved into nothing.
Within a ten-zhang radius of Yang Kai, none could draw near!
His bearing was wild and unrestrained, his black hair whipping through the air. He looked like a war god descended from the primordial age, his every movement exuding boundless, heroic grandeur.
The countless women of the Ice Heart Valley stood stunned, feeling an uncontrollable surge welling up from the depths of their hearts. This feeling set them trembling, drawing every last shred of their attention onto Yang Kai. In that moment, the world around them ceased to exist — there was only that solitary figure standing resolute in midair.
On the inner island, Su Yan's ice chamber suddenly burst open. She rushed out, and the very first thing she saw was that familiar figure, wreathed in golden light, over a hundred li away.
"Junior Brother!" Su Yan called out in a soft murmur.
Though her voice was faint, it seemed to transcend the hundred-li distance. Yang Kai, mid-swing with his golden sword, actually turned his head and glanced in her direction, breaking into a wide grin.
Su Yan smiled back in return, then streaked toward him at full speed.
In that moment, the Master's orders and the Sect's rules no longer held any power over her. In her heart, in her eyes, there was only that man who had thrown the Frost Extinction Island into chaos for her sake!
If she could just see him up close one more time, just feel his embrace once more, she would have no regrets even in death!
"Where do you think you're going!"