None of these monsters who had once ruled an era and stood at the Peak of the world were easy to deal with!

Previously, in the Abyss of Mist, he had slain a Human Emperor of the Old Era.

At that time, he had relied on Great Sage Li Er's Golden Body of Karma, and the main force was the will of heaven descending world-destroying thunder; he was, at most, just going with the flow and taking advantage of the situation to strike a finishing blow.

But now, in this isolated stomach of the Alligator Snapping Turtle where the Laws of the Heavenly Dao could hardly penetrate, he was truly facing a Peak SSS-Rank Expert at her prime alone!

The opponent even had one foot already through the threshold of a Transcendent!

“Why have you stopped talking?” The Extreme Ice Empress floated in mid-air, her cold sapphire eyes staring down at him. “Where is that arrogant bluster you had just now?”

“Old hag, why so much nonsense for a fight!” Zhou Huai spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. “You think freezing one of my arms means you've won for sure?”

“Stubborn even in the face of death.”

The Extreme Ice Empress did not get angry at Zhou Huai's provocation; she didn't even bother to give him a second look, instead turning her gaze toward the red ocean below.

There, over five million mutated Armored Beetles were crawling on the Alligator Snapping Turtle's damaged stomach walls, greedily chewing and devouring its flesh.

“These filthy, ugly bugs...” A look of extreme disgust flashed across the Empress's beautiful face. “They actually dare to squirm within my sight and even presume to devour my pet?”

“Your pet?” Zhou Huai laughed out loud, trying to use his voice to mask his inner unease. “It’s about to be picked clean into an empty shell by me!!”

“Devouring everything? Truly a laughable frog in a well.”

The Extreme Ice Empress slightly raised her chin. Without even mobilizing any mana, she simply lifted the deep blue spear in her hand, the tip tracing an elegant semi-circle through the void.

“Extreme Cold Era—Breath of Winter.”

As her voice fell, there was no earth-shattering energy explosion, nor any violent snowstorm.

There was merely a gentle breeze passing through.

That wind was as soft as a lover's sigh.

But as this 'breeze' swept past the millions of mutated Armored Beetles below that were frantically devouring flesh, a scene that made Zhou Huai's scalp tingle occurred.

“Buzz—”

Those Armored Beetles, which had already evolved Mystic Ice resistance and could even directly devour the Origin of ice, all fell into a bizarre state of absolute stillness the moment they touched this breeze!

No struggling, no screeching, and certainly no resistance.

Five million insects were as if an invisible giant hand had pressed the pause button on time.

Immediately following—

“Crack... crack, crack, crack...”

A dense sound of shattering rang out as one.

Countless pale cracks appeared out of thin air on the surfaces of those five million Armored Beetles. In the next second, like a wind blowing away a sand sculpture, all the Armored Beetles, along with the flesh they were chewing, disintegrated into the finest ice dust at the same moment!

“Crash—”

Ice crystal powder filled the air and fell, completely dissipating into that sea of blood.

“Old hag! Don't think you're the only one who can pull off an instant kill!”

Zhou Huai let out a thunderous shout, and a violent purple lightning instantly lit up in his right eye. The power of the SS-Rank Thunder Sword Sovereign Yasuo was mobilized to its limit without reservation!

“Thunder God Armor! Open!”

“Lightning Phantom Body!”

“Boom—!”

Countless thick streaks of purple-gold lightning exploded around Zhou Huai, their violent destructive power forcefully pushing back the surrounding extreme cold air by three feet. He transformed into a dazzling bolt of lightning, moving so fast that he directly tore a pitch-black spatial rift within the Alligator Snapping Turtle's stomach!

“Die!”

Zhou Huai instantly closed in, his sword carrying the weight of ten thousand thunderbolts and a terrifying power capable of splitting mountains, as he slashed fiercely toward the Extreme Ice Empress’s long, snow-white neck!

At such a close distance, not even a god could possibly dodge this strike!

Lightning flashed, and with a'swish,' the longsword passed through the Empress's body without any resistance.

“I got her!”

Zhou Huai felt a surge of joy.

However, the expected scene of blood spraying did not appear. The sensation of the sword passing through was light and airy, as if he had smashed a piece of fragile colored glass.

“Crack—”

The 'decapitated' Extreme Ice Empress in front of him suddenly shattered inch by inch, turning into a sky full of translucent ice crystals!

“What?!” Zhou Huai frowned. “An illusion?!”

This wasn't an afterimage or a Clone, but an ice crystal illusion constructed from the pure Law of Extreme Cold! The opponent had perfectly deceived his senses!

By the time Zhou Huai reacted, an emotionless voice had already come from above his head.

“Too slow.”

“Your lightning is all surface. You have speed, but you lack the foundation to sever rules.”

Zhou Huai looked up sharply to see the Extreme Ice Empress floating less than five meters above him at some unknown point.

She looked down at Zhou Huai from her high vantage point, her eyes filled with undisguised mockery. The deep blue spear in her hand had already erupted with an Origin of extreme cold ten times more terrifying than before!

“Ice Soul Divine Spear!”

The spear left her hand, transforming into a deep blue aurora that could pierce through all things, thrusting straight toward the crown of Zhou Huai's head!

The speed didn't seem fast, but this ice spear directly locked down all spatial dimensions and the flow of time around Zhou Huai!

Hou Yi's Phasing and Great Sage Li Er's Shrinking the Ground into an Inch all failed at this moment!

“Damn it! There's no way to dodge!”

Zhou Huai's eyes were bloodshot as he roared at the sky, frantically mobilizing all the mana in his body to instantly max out Gandalf's S-Rank defensive divine skill!

“Arcane Barrier! Hold on for me!!!”

“Buzz—!”

A thick magic shield flashing with profound purple runes was propped up around him in an instant! This was an absolute defense capable of absorbing ten times his own maximum mana in damage!

However—

The moment that deep blue ice spear struck the shield, the violent collision Zhou Huai had expected did not happen.

“Sizzle—”

The power of the Law of Extreme Cold was like a sharp blade meeting thin paper.

Vast patterns of frost instantly spread across the purple magic shield. Those runes composed of pure magic were forcibly frozen and stalled, letting out an overburdened wail.

“Break.”

With a single, casual word from the Extreme Ice Empress.

“Boom—!!!”

Even though Zhou Huai had timely raised his strongest Arcane Barrier shield, it still collapsed and shattered in an instant before the Empress's ice spear, which stood above the rules!

Amidst the sky full of purple ice crystal fragments, that deep blue ice spear pierced into Zhou Huai's chest without any hindrance!

“Puchi!”

No blood flowed out.

Because at the moment the spear tip entered his body, a terrifying cold current of absolute zero poured directly into Zhou Huai's heart vessels!

“Ugh, ahhh—”

Zhou Huai only had time to let out a short scream before his voice came to an abrupt halt.

Cold.

A {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} coldness that could not be described in words!

He felt his blood stop flowing, his heart stop beating, and even the consciousness deep within his Soul was completely frozen under this extreme low temperature.

“Crack, crack, crack, crack...”

Starting from his chest, deep blue Mystic Ice rapidly spread across his entire body.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Huai's Physical Body—which had fused over a dozen top-tier Clones and was as tough as the Indestructible Demon God—was completely locked down.

His entire being was transformed into a lifelike, translucent ice sculpture!