Cold!
As the gray light penetrated his body, a bone-deep chill swept through every inch of Lin Lei. It felt as though his entire body had gone numb from freezing. That streak of gray light shot straight toward his mind the moment it entered his body, heading directly for the seat of his soul.
The vast ocean of his soul undulated gently. The seven-colored crystal of his soul hovered above the ocean, a faint green glow rippling along the edges of the soul sea, and a thin halo of green light shimmered on the surface of the crystal.
But the gray light descended without hesitation, spreading out to form a gray haze that blanketed the boundless soul ocean. The once-undulating soul sea froze in an instant, and even the green halo that protected his soul offered not the slightest resistance.
The entire soul ocean and the seven-colored crystal were shrouded beneath a layer of gray haze.
The soul ceased its fluctuations.
The light vanished from Lin Lei's eyes, leaving them dull and mechanical. With his soul's activity halted, his brain naturally stopped thinking.
His soul — frozen!
"Hiss, hisss~~" Thick ice erupted across Lin Lei's body at a terrifying rate. In the blink of an eye, he was completely encased in several meters of solid ice, forming a massive block. As for Olivia… she had likewise been turned into a block of ice.
Deslly, Faen, and the others stood there, dumbstruck.
The Evil Eye Sovereign's voice still carried a trace of amusement as it swept its gaze over the distant Deslly, Faen, and their group. "I know that among you, someone surely possesses the Life Origin Pearl. A pity — the Life Origin Pearl is useless against me. I'll freeze them in ice for now and deal with them at my leisure. Mm, four more to go."
The Evil Eye Sovereign's tone was gentle, yet Deslly and the others felt their hearts tremble with dread.
They all knew Lin Lei was incredibly powerful. But Lin Lei had been utterly helpless against this 'Evil Eye Sovereign.' The truth was, when the Divine Tomb had originally been constructed, those banished to the seventh and eighth floors were, without exception, the most terrifying life forms in the Saint Realm across countless planes.
Different life forms possessed different strengths.
The Evil Eye, for instance, excelled above all else in attacking the soul.
"Hm?" The Evil Eye Sovereign's golden single eye suddenly turned toward Olivia, who was already frozen solid in ice.
"Boom!" Countless chunks of ice exploded in every direction.
Her black-and-white streaked hair whipping in the wind, Olivia burst from the ice's prison with her Mystic Ice Sword in hand. The Evil Eye Sovereign regarded her with surprise. "How extraordinary — your soul. Why is it so… aggressive?"
This was his greatest secret! It was the reason his strength had surged so dramatically after his battle with Hadesen! It was why he could simultaneously wield both the Laws of Light and the Laws of Darkness!
Olivia said nothing. She transformed into a streak of light and rocketed toward the frozen Lin Lei.
Before her,
The Evil Eye Sovereign's attention was entirely fixed on Olivia. It didn't lift a finger to stop the black streak of light that was Bei Bei racing toward Lin Lei. Bei Bei's mind was consumed with panic. "Boss! Boss, wake up! Wake up!"
Bei Bei's voice was transmitted directly into Lin Lei's soul ocean.
Bei Bei and Lin Lei were linked soul to soul — their communication was, in essence, a dialogue between souls.
Lin Lei's frozen soul ocean trembled ever so slightly, but the gray haze flared brightly, and the soul ocean fell silent once more, utterly still, without the faintest ripple.
"Crack!" Bei Bei's claw shattered the ice, and a terrifying tearing force ground the block into fragments. "Boss! Boss, wake up! Please, wake up!!!" Bei Bei frantically sent soul messages to Lin Lei, desperately trying to rouse him.
A frozen soul was completely severed from the outside world. Whatever happened beyond it — even if his body were cut to pieces — Lin Lei would feel nothing.
Only the soul communication established through a contract could pierce through that isolation.
Lin Lei's soul ocean rippled again, and the gray haze covering it blazed once more — but the haze was clearly growing thinner and thinner. Resisting the soul ocean's rebellion was clearly draining that energy.
"Keep sending messages to Lin Lei through your soul connection," Olivia told Bei Bei. "A few more times should wake him. Go!"
Bei Bei cradled Lin Lei's body and transformed into a streak of light, fleeing at maximum speed while continuously reaching out to Lin Lei's soul. Finally, deep within his mind, the soul ocean surged once more — and the gray haze, now stretched to the point of breaking, shattered apart.
"Huh… what happened?" Lin Lei was fully awake now.
He realized with surprise that he was being carried at high speed by Bei Bei, whose body had grown larger.
"Boss, you're awake! You're finally awake!" Bei Bei kept exclaiming, tears brimming in his eyes.
"Bei Bei," Lin Lei replied through their soul link and took to the air on his own.
Bei Bei froze, and his small eyes lit up with pure joy.
"What happened?" Lin Lei was still bewildered. The last thing he remembered was being struck by a gray light, then a bone-deep cold, and then nothing. When he came to, Bei Bei was carrying him away at breakneck speed.
"Boom!" A deafening explosion rang out in the distance.
Huge chunks of ice came screaming through the air like meteors. Lin Lei and Bei Bei dodged them easily and turned to look back. It wasn't just them — Deslly, Faen, the three six-eyed Golden Lions, and every other powerhouse who had fled early on all turned to look as well.
What they saw brought a look of surprise and delight to every face.
The Evil Eye Sovereign's massive ice body had exploded — and it was clear that Olivia's sword had cleaved it apart. She now stood in midair, sword in hand, eyes closed.
"Good," Lin Lei murmured in admiration.
"Olivia, be careful!" one of the six-eyed Golden Lions shouted. "The Evil Eye Sovereign's true body is that single golden eye! The ice form is just condensed energy!"
"Ha ha ha…"
The vertical golden eye hovered in the air, and a strange voice echoed from it. "That's right — the magical beast speaks the truth. The ice body is merely something I casually condense. Ha ha, I've spent so long in this Divine Tomb and slain no few powerhouses, but I've never encountered a soul as peculiar as yours. Interesting. Very interesting."