Chapter 1034: Glacial Mirage
When Lu Qing'er's voice rang out, Li Lingjing and Qin Yi cast astonished gazes at her.
"Miss Qing, can you really freeze the entire sea of blood?" Qin Yi felt incredulous. The sea of blood was conjured by the True Devil Other, so freezing it would rightfully require the strength of a Duke Stage expert.
Lu Qing'er's frigid wings flapped gently as she replied, "As expected, I cannot do it purely with my own power—I just have to utilize a few of my last ditch measures."
"The cost of using such a heaven-defying technique cannot be small," Qin Yi softly said.
Lu Qing'er kept silent as she watched Li Luo flee for his life in the distance. Voice full of conviction, she affirmed, "I will not allow Li Luo to perish before my eyes."
Qin Yi's gaze shifted slightly as she observed Lu Qing'er's fair countenance. The latter's icy complexion radiated with a crystalline light as though the term "as fair as Snow White" was tailor made for her. Even the ever refined Qin Yi could not help but silently admire Lu Qing'er's poise and beauty at that moment.
"Dragon's Head Li Luo is truly a lucky man to have a friend like you," Qin Yi admitted.
Lu Qing'er shook her head, conflicting emotions apparent through her irises. "I possess no noteworthy strength and cannot help as much as I'd like. If that man's fiancee had been here, even that True Devil other would not be able to force Li Luo into such dire straits.
"She has always protected Li Luo well; her presence here would have guaranteed that he would be unharmed."
This was apparent even back at the Xia Kingdom, when House Luolan was facing a desperate situation with Shen Jinxiao leading the incursion. Jiang Qing'e had chosen to sacrifice her Heart of Light to protect Li Luo from harm.
As she spoke, Lu Qing'er scanned the faces of the other two women.
Both could not help but be slightly intrigued.
Qin Yi's eyes met Lu Qing'er's as she responded with a slight grin, "This isn't the first time that I've heard the rumor that Dragon's Head Li Luo has a fiancee from the outer divine continent. Is it really true? Still, even if that fiancee exists, it shouldn't be a reason for you to belittle yourself, Miss Qing."
From what she had seen thus far, Lu Qing'er was at the top of their generation. It was hard to believe that Li Luo's fiancee could eclipse even the dazzling Lu Qing'er, who could rival any top talent in the inner divine continent.
How could such a person have come from an outer divine continent?
From her perspective, this was just embellishment on Lu Qing'er's part to give Li Luo the face that all men craved.
During the brief moment that Lu Qing'er was talking to Qin Yi, the frost patterns on her skin were starting to shine brighter and brighter, and a terrifyingly cold aura that was gradually being released from her body. It was obvious that she had been preparing for a while.
"You will cross paths in the future, and if you are still at odds with Li Luo then, you'll experience the gap in power first-hand." Lu Qing'er chuckled.
Qin Yi nodded gently and replied. "That gives me something to look forward to."
She understood that Lu Qing'er's words were meant to tease, so she did not mind, though the idea had stirred her competitive spirit a little.
Although she usually looked gentle and reserved, her inner strength was not below anyone else's.
She personally felt that she would not be inferior to any woman.
Power gap? Not necessarily. Li Lingjing had not participated in the conversation between the other two women. Even when Lu Qing'er talked about Li Luo's fiancee, she did not display any emotional reaction. Her slender digits just gripped her staff while icy darkness flowed from the depths of her eyes.
"I beseech both of your help to restrict their movements."
At this moment, Lu Qing'er's jade-like hands formed a seal, and an icy, sapphire color began to spread in her pupils. She was referring to the group of puppets, including Li Wuyuan.
With those words said, she ceased conversation. Her hands danced in a flurry of dazzling sealing spells as a horrifyingly cold aura suddenly erupted from her body. Even the void had been frozen at this moment.
Li Lingjing and Qin Yi hastily retreated.
An ephemeral mist of ice began to emerge from between Lu Qing'er's rouge lips, and her eyelids slowly shut as the frigid energy from within her gradually started to release.
"The power of the Sacred Seed, Glacial Mirage."
A low yet calm voice echoed from the depths of Lu Qing'er's heart.
This was her trump card. After accepting the Sacred Seed's trials, its power had been imprinted into her. It was unfortunate that the power was far too great for her to wield properly; all she was doing currently was releasing a very unrefined version of its strength.
However, it was just as Qin Yi had assumed—such a feat would exact an equal cost.
The power of the Sacred Seed would freeze everything without exception, including her own body. It was impossible to dispel a seal that came from within with regular means, and nobody could predict the aftereffects of such a move. Lu Qing'er had undoubtedly put herself at great risk. But at such a critical juncture, there was no other choice.
As soon as the increasingly frigid aura began to permeate, the icy wings on Lu Qing'er's back moved, sending her swooping directly towards the sea of blood below.
Cold wind whistled behind her as she flew, looking as though she was painting a frozen river in her wake.
Splash!
After a few moments, Lu Qing'er charged straight into the depths of the sea of blood. Countless disembodied voices started to whisper straight into her core from all around with the intention of distracting her, but her heart was already like a polar iceberg, rendering such distractions ineffective. Terrifying amounts of pure ice energy continued to emanate from her.
Kacha! Kacha!
Wherever the ice energy touched, the churning sea of blood froze solid, turning into crimson ice immediately.
The ice then spread at an astonishing speed. Just a few short breaths later, the surging and roiling sea of blood was transformed into a boundless field of ice.
The blood-red waves that had been in motion and about to crash down ceased all movement, instead transforming into innumerous icebergs.
The temperature on land and sky had plummeted.
The deafening roar of the bloody waves had also come to an end.
High up above, Li Luo had just used his last Phantasmal Spirit Wing Evasion Art to evade a bloody palm strike. Gripping the Onyx-Elephant Blade, he realized that there was no way to escape the next palm without the royal engraving.
Forced into a corner, all he had left was the Kingmark.
Just as Li Luo's fingers grasped the hilt of the sword, the bloody palm suddenly shuddered and then exploded into a bloody rain whistling down harmlessly around him.
Li Luo was soaked in blood and looked even worse for wear. His eyes betrayed his shock that the fatal blow had vanished all of a sudden.
It was at this moment that he sensed the drastic changes happening beneath him.
Lowering his head, he was amazed to find that the sea of blood had transformed into a frozen sea instead.
"What terrifying ice energy! Is it Qing'er?" Li Luo's heart skipped a beat as he sensed that something was not quite right. He swept his gaze across the ice, finally resting it in one spot in the depths. He spotted Lu Qing'er's silhouette.
She was curled up with arctic ice diffusing out from the depths of her body, freezing her completely solid. From afar, it looked as if she was an angelic ice sculpture.
It was apparent that she had utilized some kind of special power to freeze the sea of blood, but she herself seemed to have become part of the ice as a result.
Li Luo's heart welled up with intense concern, but he understood that this was Lu Qing'er's way of buying precious time for him. All he could do was suppress his worries and accelerate the speed at which he activated the bronze lamp.
Concurrently, the Soul Eater True Devil's face had twisted into a furious visage because of the frozen sea of blood. It was beyond its calculations that these four beings that were like ants in its eyes would bring it such huge trouble.
As Lu Qing'er had guessed, the sea of blood was vital to the Soul Eater True Devil. It was only by utilizing the blood sacrifices of those who had passed through the Golden Dew Platform that it had shielded its power from the Spiritual Resonance Cave's suppression, and now that the sea of blood had been frozen, the corrupt energy that emanated from its body was beginning to disperse.
As if on cue, the suppression effect of the Spiritual Resonance Cave began to kick in again. Although the effect was rather weak at the moment, it was nonetheless a bad sign.
Killing intent flourished in the heart of the Soul Eater True Devil. It knew that it could no longer mess around and had to deal with these ants as soon as possible.
It glared at Li Luo in a mysteriously cold manner, its instincts telling it that he had to be eliminated first.
Confirming its decision, it transformed into a deathly shadow and shot out immediately. A vast amount of corrupted energy surged from the sky, as if a natural disaster was on its way.
At the same time, it directed the manipulated blood puppets to deal with Li Lingjing and Qin Yi.
Upon witnessing the Soul Eater True Devil lunging at Li Luo, Li Lingjing's eyes flashed urgently and she shot Qin Yi a question. "Can you handle them?"
Qin Yi looked at the rapidly approaching Qin Ying, Li Wuyuan, and the others before releasing a deep sigh and steeling her resolve. "Since Qing'er has selflessly sacrificed herself for us, I cannot lag behind.
"Leave these guys to me.
"A final word of caution: I will likely have to expend everything to keep them at bay, so I must leave the other fight to you two."
In this life and death situation, Qin Yi naturally understood that if she wanted to keep living, she could not keep any means at her disposal hidden.
She took a single step forward. Water seemed to ripple beneath her feet, and the round moon behind her began to shine brighter. Raising her hand, an azure water pearl radiating mysterious light materialized in her grasp. This was the Boundless Heavy Ocean Pearl.
A few beads of blood dripped from Qin Yi's slender fingertip onto the surface of the Boundless Heavy Ocean Pearl, dyeing it scarlet.
Completing this step, she once again raised her hand. The Boundless Heavy Ocean Pearl floated towards the shining moon behind her, coming to a complete stop in the dead center of it. Suddenly, the Boundless Heavy Ocean Pearl started cracking, and the cracks slowly spread around the entire surface of the artifact before it completely disintegrated into fine dust.
Experiencing the loss of the Boundless Heavy Ocean Pearl, Qin Yi's beautiful countenance had turned pallid. It seemed like deploying her trump card also required a great sacrifice of her own blood essence, and this would even affect her spirit foundation if she was not careful.
Even though she possessed the rejuvenating properties of a lower ninth-grade water resonance, what she was about to do was going to render her almost completely helpless for a while.
"Lunar River Cavern, Nine Arias of Celestial Water."
Qin Yi produced a jade bottle. Tightening her grip, the bottle started to resonate with the shining moon behind her, transforming into a dimensional floodgate. In the next instant, crystal-clear water gushed out from the mouth of the bottle, sweeping throughout the void.
At the same time, the wave also swept in the oncoming Qin Ying, Li Wuyuan, and the rest of the crowd.