Chapter 3553

Chapter 3553 – Collateral Damage

The silhouettes of a man and a woman stood frozen in place a hundred kilometres above ground from where Yang Kai had undergone his breakthrough somewhere on Cloud Shadow Continent. They looked like sculptures that would last for eternity.

Yang Kai’s Dragon Claw had penetrated Bei Li Mo’s chest and was grabbing her beating Demon Heart. A look of pain appeared on her face, but those beautiful eyes of hers were unfocused, hollow, and chaotic. A faint scent of blood wafted in the air.

The Embodiment quickly returned in a dishevelled state, but when he first took in the scene before him, he was stunned for a moment. Then, he hurried to their side and observed them closely. A troubled and anxious look appeared on his angular face. He did not know what had happened just now, but he could not feel the slightest trace of Yang Kai and Bei Li Mo’s Souls from their bodies. In other words, the Souls of these two people had escaped their mortal shells and were missing.

This left him feeling very troubled. It was undoubtedly the best time for him to kill Bei Li Mo. Her physical body was here but her Soul was gone, so she was powerless to resist regardless of what he did to her. The key point here was, what if killing Bei Li Mo affected Yang Kai in the process?

It was impossible for the Souls of two people to leave their bodies at the same time for no reason. This must have been caused by a powerful Secret Technique; thus, he did not dare to act rashly before learning what that Secret Technique was. He didn’t even dare to move their bodies. In his desperation, he could only borrow the power of the entire continent to isolate and conceal this region so that it would not be discovered by others.

Inside the Soul Battlefield, Young Lady Bing’s voice was bitterly cold and every word she spoke was soul-crushing, “That boy was crazy about you. He thought you would come to save him eventually, but his wish never came true up until the moment he died. Disciple, did you know? That expression of despair on his face as he was dying was truly memorable! Why didn’t you save him at the time? If only you had spoken up, I would have blessed the two of you! You are my most important Disciple after all!”

“Xuan Bing!” Bei Li Mo screamed, her pretty face warped with hatred. Her tender body shook as countless icy lights struck out like a swarm of locusts.

There was a trace of a smirk on Xuan Bing’s face as a light curtain appeared around her body, forming a semi-circular dome that shielded her from harm.

*Xiu xiu xiu…*

The swishing sounds rang out endlessly as the icy lights slammed into the light curtain only to form ripples on the surface, unable to penetrate the layer of defence.

The Ice Principles in the Soul Battlefield were becoming more and more intense, as if they were trying to freeze their very Souls. Both Master and Disciple were Snow Demons, so they were naturally proficient in Ice Principles. Moreover, their attainments in the manipulation of Spiritual Energy had reached an outrageous level. It was only natural that the entire Soul Battlefield would be affected the moment they began fighting.

Yang Kai had long realized that something was wrong when Xuan Bing began speaking so provocatively and hurriedly fled. Bei Li Mo was a Demon Saint, so needless to say, she had the Soul cultivation of a Demon Saint. Since Xuan Bing had dared to attack Bei Li Mo, her strength was probably on a similar plane. He did not dare to join in the battle between them.

What left him feeling speechless was that there was only a limited area to the Soul Battlefield even though it seemed infinitely vast. He immediately fled more than five kilometres away only to be blocked by an invisible barrier. It seemed as though he had arrived at the borders of the Soul Battlefield and couldn’t escape any further.

When a wave of icy force struck, his entire Soul Avatar shivered from the cold. A thin layer of frost formed over the surface of his body, shocking him so much that he hurriedly stimulated his Spiritual Energy to stave off the chill.

[I really am unlucky.] His heart was filled with grief and rage. [Judging from the current situation, I’m going to die in this place before Xuan Bing and Bei Li Mo decide a winner between them. Forget sitting on a mountain top and watching the tigers fight or sitting back and watching everybody die; those are mere delusions.]

The swishing sounds continued without stopping. Although Xuan Bing had the protection of her Spiritual Energy to prevent her Soul Avatar from being harmed by the cold lights, she was being forced to retreat little by little. Judging from this point, her attainments in Spiritual Energy seemed to be somewhat inferior to Bei Li Mo. She had been imprisoned by Bei Li Mo for tens of thousands of years after all, so it was normal for her strength to be inferior, seeing as Bei Li Mo was now a Demon Saint.

Even so, the smile on her face did not falter and the provocative statements coming from her mouth did not stop either, “Are you angry? So many years have passed yet you’re still hung up on him? You truly are my best Disciple! To think you are still thinking about your Honoured Master’s man even now. So, what!? What happened in the end? He died! He died at your hands!”

“Bullshit!” Bei Li Mo, who had remained silent all this time, gritted her teeth and snarled, “You were the one who killed him! What does that have to do with me!?”

Xuan Bing had a cold expression, “Why would I have killed him if it weren’t for you!?”

While they were verbally sparring, Xuan Bing had already retreated a thousand metres, but the corners of her mouth still curled to reveal a smirk, “Disciple, you look like you’re injured. Why is your Spiritual Energy weaker than what I expected?”

Realization suddenly dawned on Yang Kai, who was doing his best to resist the cold. [Right! Bei Li Mo is injured!]

It wasn’t just Bei Li Mo. Most of the Twelve Demon Saints of the Demon Realm were currently injured. Bright Moon had wiped out the Soul Manifestations of ten of the Demon Saints, and it would be impossible for any of them to recover in such a short period of time. The injury to Bei Li Mo’s Soul was what caused her strength on the Soul Battlefield to drop by such a large margin.

“So what?” Bei Li Mo coldly snorted, raising her finger slightly as she gently pointed at Xuan Bing.

With that slight tapping motion, Xuan Bing’s tender body shuddered. Immediately after that, a pure white snowflake appeared on her chest. That snowflake was like a brand that was imprinted on her chest. It was accompanied by the sound of crackling as it rapidly grew larger. The Ice Principles condensed around her with the tendency to completely envelope her. An extreme look of pain appeared on her face, and her entire body became stiff. Nevertheless, she soon burst out laughing again and mockingly said, “I told you, I taught you everything you know! What can you do to me!?”

While she was speaking, the snowflake on her body melted away quickly. At the same time, she took several steps forward and tapped towards Bei Li Mo a few times.

Bei Li Mo’s expression froze as her figure flickered about erratically to avoid the invisible force coming from Xuan Bing’s finger. Several pure white chains lunged at her from all directions before she could steady herself. Those chains were like spirit snakes, darting out of their holes and trying to entangle her. Stretching out her hand, she grabbed at something in the void and a crystal-clear longsword appeared in the palm of her hand. She casually swung the sword, hitting the top of one of the chains with a clanging sound. That chain was sent flying away. Meanwhile, sword waves rained down like a waterfall, transforming into a curtain of light.

The clanging sounds rang out incessantly as a cold light bloomed. The two of them fought hard against each other, both Master and Disciple using their Clan’s unique Techniques and Skills. As a result, their fighting styles were very similar. The only difference was that one had been trapped for a long time and was weaker in strength while the other was injured and fighting in the other party’s territory. For a time, the battle was evenly matched.

Meanwhile, they had both completely ignored Yang Kai!

Xuan Bing was unaware that he had the Great Emperor’s Opportunity in his possession. She was focused on possessing Bei Li Mo’s body and devouring her Disciple’s Soul; therefore, she couldn’t be bothered about Yang Kai’s life or death. On the other hand, even if Bei Li Mo wanted to save Yang Kai, she had no time to be distracted.

Consequently, Yang Kai’s situation was getting worse and worse.

The situation had been bearable before these two women began fighting, but the freezing temperature across the entire Soul Battlefield sank steadily the moment their battle commenced.

Yang Kai desperately drew upon his Spiritual Energy to defend against the cold, but even so, he was unable to protect himself fully. His body was gradually becoming covered by frost despite fleeing to the very edge of the battlefield. The biting cold not only made his Soul shiver but also seemed to make his very thoughts freeze.

Soon, the layer of frost turned into ice. It didn’t take more than an incense stick worth of time before his entire Soul Avatar was completely frozen and his consciousness gradually faded, as if he had fallen into a bottomless black abyss.

[It’s really over for me now… I managed to escape Eternal Sky Continent from right under the nose of the Twelve Demon Saints only to suffer a disastrous defeat in this damned place. Could anything be more vexing than this!?] Just before his entire consciousness plunged completely into the boundless darkness, a refreshing feeling suddenly swept across his Soul Avatar, giving him a start and waking him up abruptly.

When his vision refocused, Yang Kai realized that he was still wrapped in a layer of ice and an unbearable chill had spread out throughout his Soul. Fortunately, it wasn’t as uncomfortable as before anymore under the influence of the refreshing feeling bubbling up from within him.

Soul Warming Lotus!

Yang Kai’s eyes bulged wildly. He couldn’t help feeling a little incredulous. [How is the Soul Warming Lotus still working? My Soul Avatar has been dragged into this Soul Battlefield, but the Soul Warming Lotus wasn’t. Logically speaking, the connection between myself and the Soul Warming Lotus should have been completely cut off…]

However, it now seemed that this connection had not been severed and Yang Kai realized that he could even summon the Soul Warming Lotus. In fact, it was not just the Soul Warming Lotus. He could also access everything in his Knowledge Sea… Upon perceiving this, Yang Kai silently closed his eyes and decided to make like a tortoise hiding in its shell for the time being!

The battle between Xuan Bing and Bei Li Mo was in full swing. Powerful Spiritual Energy overflowed, and the entire Soul Battlefield was in turmoil. It felt as though the Soul Battlefield would collapse at any time. The crystal-clear icebergs scattered around cracked and crumbled to dust, flooding the entire world with ice powder. At the same time, the delicate-looking yet deadly snowflakes floating in the sky became more and more violent.

The two figures were entangled with each other in mid-air, sometimes colliding and sometimes separating as a mixture of pained cries and grunts echoed.

A battle between Souls was not an ordinary battle. Battles like these could only be described as extremely dangerous. The slightest carelessness could result in death. Every time these two collided with each other, both Xuan Bing and Bei Li Mo would have to endure tremendous pain. It was a double edge sword where both sides were injured as a result of clashing.

These two women should have been Master and Disciple, but they were facing each other as though they were irreconcilable enemies. They were acting like they wanted the other party to die the most painful death possible. Now, it was simply a matter of who could hold on longer.

Ever since the fierce battle began, Bei Li Mo had remained relatively calm, while on the other hand, Xuan Bing looked a little frustrated. It was obvious that she had fallen into a disadvantage, but this was not difficult to understand. Even if Bei Li Mo’s Soul had been injured, she was still a Demon Saint. If not for her injury, Xuan Bing would not have been her opponent at all. Xuan Bing might be Bei Li Mo’s Honoured Master, but that was still a matter that occurred tens of thousands of years ago. People were capable of improving in a matter of three days, much less tens of thousands of years.