As Mu Yudie and Di Yalan arrived, they first greeted Bei Mingce, and then their attention was immediately seized by the crystal mass suspended in the center of the deep pit.
The two goddesses, their spirits soaring, gazed at the crystal with palpable excitement, clearly sensing the mysterious energy emanating from it.
Any martial artist could recognize the extraordinary nature of this crystal.
Mu Yudie and Di Yalan, having navigated countless dangers and waged battles of wits and courage against the masters of the Dark Nether—enduring interceptions by the Fire Flame Stone Men, Yin Sha, and Mud Dragons—had finally reached this place, their sole objective being this immense opportunity.
As for Shi Yan, they merely glanced at him before dismissing him from their focus.
Bei Mingce smirked with cool derision, not even activating his Teleportation Martial Spirit, and began walking toward Shi Yan, step by deliberate step.
Shi Yan rooted his feet to the spot, remaining utterly motionless, as if waiting for Bei Mingce to make the first move.
He had already secretly activated the petrification martial spirit of the Shi Family, his body now the color of dark umber.
Without a sound, Shi Yan mixed the Yin power and vital essence within his body, subtly constructing three Magnetic Repulsion Field domains around him.
Controlling these domains with his focus, he slowly allowed the three fields to spread apart.
He had witnessed Bei Mingce’s Teleportation Martial Spirit before, and he had learned of its terrifying prowess from Han Zhong; those three Magnetic Repulsion Field domains were specifically designed to counter Bei Mingce’s teleportation ability.
“You walk to your own demise; you have no one to blame but yourself.” Bei Mingce stopped ten meters from Shi Yan and slowly raised his left hand with chilling indifference.
A ball of deep blue Extreme Cold Ice Flame slowly materialized in his palm… With a flick of his wrist, that cluster of deep blue flame transformed into a cold bird, flapping its wings and soaring gracefully through the air, leaving a beautiful streak of blue fire in its wake.
The cold bird was astonishingly lifelike; even the fine filaments of hair on the slender head of the palm-sized creature were distinctly visible, with tendrils of blue ice flame puffing from the little bird's beak, glittering coldly, exuding an air of biting frost.
A faint chill settled on Bei Mingce’s face, tinged with a hint of disdain, as if he felt deploying the Extreme Cold Ice Flame Martial Spirit against Shi Yan was an excessive measure.
Just as the cold bird swooped in like a predator, a sharp, fierce light flashed in Shi Yan’s pupils.
A massive azure sphere, carrying a dense concentration of Yin energy, abruptly shot out from Shi Yan’s chest.
Electric arcs coiled around the azure sphere, with tendrils of Yin power overflowing.
“Boom!” The azure sphere violently slammed into the cold bird, resulting in a loud explosion.
Brilliant blue light and azure light burst forth like fireworks; the azure sphere and the cold bird shattered simultaneously, disintegrating entirely into points of blue and azure light.
“Hmm?” Bei Mingce’s brow furrowed slightly, displaying surprise.
He gazed deeply at Shi Yan and slowly nodded, “Not bad.
It explains how you managed to eliminate Mo Zhan; you do possess some minor tricks.” The moment these words fell, Bei Mingce’s expression abruptly darkened.
More Extreme Cold Ice Flames surged violently from his body.
Bei Mingce seemed to become a mass of frigid, fiery flames, as continuous wisps of deep blue fire erupted from his form, transforming into tens of thousands of cold beams that rushed toward Shi Yan from all directions, like myriad birds returning to their nests.
An intense, bone-piercing cold preceded the arrival of those cold beams.
Standing rooted to the spot, Shi Yan felt a chill deep in his heart, experiencing the illusion that space itself had frozen.
The circulation rate of the vital essence within his body began to slow under the chilling air; the cold seeped into his very marrow, stiffening his sinews and bones.
At that critical moment— A wondrous, warm current flowed from within his flesh and bones.
Under the assault of the cold, his physical body initiated its own defense.
Undying Martial Spirit! Shi Yan’s eyes lit up, an irrepressible joy rising within him.
The warm current flashed through his body like lightning, instantly sweeping away the pervasive cold.
In the next instant, the chill within Shi Yan’s body was completely purged, and he was no longer affected by the frigid energy.
All this occurred in a flash.
By the time Shi Yan stabilized, the thousands of cold beams were already upon him.
“Yin Wall!” An azure light shield abruptly materialized beside him.
Born from Yin power, the azure shield shimmered with an eerie, spectral light.
The Yin Wall settled over him like an inverted sea bowl, securely enveloping Shi Yan.
It was thin and translucent with a faint glow, allowing Shi Yan, positioned at the center, a clear view of Bei Mingce ten meters away.
Although the Profound Yin Art was merely a Mortal-grade martial skill, it allowed the absorption of heaven and earth Yin energy to form Yin Vortices and Yin Pearls.
The Profound Yin Art was a technique centered on Yin energy manipulation.
By deploying the Yin Vortices or Yin Pearls, Shi Yan could instantly conjure various offensive and defensive maneuvers using Yin power.
As long as the Yin Pearls remained intact, Yin energy could continuously erupt from his body, sufficient to counter numerous attacks.
This Yin Wall was condensed from Yin power, operating on the same principle as using vital essence to activate the Dark Light Shield.
Having mastered the Profound Yin Art, Shi Yan found, simply by experimenting, that he could create special offensive and defensive forces of varying degrees.
It seemed the Profound Yin Art held endless surprises for those willing to explore it.
“Pop, pop, pop, bo… Bo…” Streams of cold beams shot forth, impacting the shimmering azure Yin Wall, only to be neutralized by the Yin power residing within the barrier.
Bei Mingce’s Extreme Cold Ice Flame Martial Spirit could not instantly freeze the Yin Wall and subsequently harm Shi Yan beneath it.
Shi Yan had not yet mobilized his negative energies.
Yet, the Yin Wall formed by the Yin power from his internal Yin Pearls seemed capable of restraining the Extreme Cold Ice Flame Martial Spirit.
However, he clearly perceived the Yin power light spots within the Yin Vortex rapidly diminishing.
The Yin power generated by the Profound Yin Art could not be replenished by drawing upon ambient heaven and earth essence; it could only be reinforced by gathering Yin power.
For every unit of Yin power expended, one unit was lost.
Without finding a special location rich in Yin energy, the Yin Pearls’ power would not increase.
Nevertheless, this time, Shi Yan had swept clean the heaven and earth Yin energy that had blanketed the Desolate Yin Plains for millennia, resulting in six Yin Pearls containing terrifying reserves of Yin power, enough for him to leisurely withstand the slow corrosive assault of Bei Mingce’s Extreme Cold Ice Flame Martial Spirit.
Rays of cold light struck the azure Yin Wall, but the cold currents that permeated the barrier were swiftly dissolved by the Yin power surging outward from within the wall.
Thus, the battle between Bei Mingce and Shi Yan immediately devolved into a stalemate.
Bei Mingce refused to believe that the azure barrier constructed by Shi Yan could withstand the icy erosion of the Extreme Cold Ice Flame.
In his view, Shi Yan, only at the first layer of the Human Position realm, could hold out for mere seconds at best.
—He was unaware that Shi Yan had advanced another step, reaching the second layer of the Human Position realm.
Consequently, he continued to summon more Extreme Cold Ice Flames, transforming them into a greater volume of cold beams to bombard Shi Yan’s azure barrier.
Shi Yan had absorbed vast quantities of heaven and earth Yin energy, forming six Yin Pearls brimming with immense Yin power.
In a pure war of attrition, he held no fear of Bei Mingce, who was in the Hundred Calamities realm.
Moreover, he still had yet to unleash the negative energies within his body.
Shi Yan was unconcerned, even preferring to let the contest with Bei Mingce drag on like this.
Mu Yudie and Di Yalan watched the duel between Bei Mingce and Shi Yan, their pretty faces etched with curiosity.
These two women were well aware of Bei Mingce’s true strength.
With his cultivation in the Hundred Calamities realm, and practicing the profound and esoteric martial arts of the Bei Ming family for both his martial spirits, Bei Mingce was truly a favored son of heaven.
Bei Mingce, at the first layer of the Hundred Calamities realm, could decisively defeat a martial artist even at the second layer of the Hundred Calamities realm; against a cultivator in the third layer, he still possessed the power to contend and was not guaranteed to lose.
Yet, against this youth from the Shi family, Bei Mingce’s Extreme Cold Ice Flame Martial Spirit was failing to shatter the barrier his opponent had conjured.
This was beyond the comprehension of Mu Yudie and Di Yalan.
Back at the Divine Stone Plaza Martial Arts Tournament, the two women had been deeply impressed by Shi Yan’s might, but at that time, Shi Yan was only at the third layer of the Innate realm.
Only two months had passed since the tournament; even with Shi Yan’s astonishing talent, he could at most have broken through to the first layer of the Human Position realm.
How could a warrior at the first layer of the Human Position realm possibly withstand Bei Mingce? Gazing at Shi Yan, who stood unwavering against Bei Mingce’s Extreme Cold Ice Flame, showing no sign of defeat, the two women were inwardly astonished, their looks toward Shi Yan growing quite strange.
Five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour… After half an hour, the Yin Wall covering Shi Yan remained unbroken.
Shi Yan remained composed and indifferent, showing no impatience, happy to let the stalemate continue.
It was Bei Mingce who began to lose patience.
After a moment of contemplation, Bei Mingce coldly withdrew his Extreme Cold Ice Flame Martial Spirit, halting the icy assault, and stated flatly, “I’m too lazy to waste any more time with you.” He slowly drew forth a strange sword, dual-colored with crimson and ice-blue.
“Sky-Rending Sword!” Mu Yudie and Di Yalan simultaneously gasped, and when they looked back at Shi Yan, a trace of pity and commiseration flashed in their eyes, as if they had already determined Shi Yan’s imminent death.
The Sky-Rending Sword was a Spirit-grade weapon, originally belonging to Bei Mingshang.
He had used the Bei Ming family’s Extreme Cold Ice Flame Martial Spirit to descend into the core of the Ten Thousand Zhang Volcano, tempering it over three years with the volcanic earth fire and the Extreme Cold Ice Flame.
The body of the Sky-Rending Sword was split into two colors—one side entirely red, the other ice-blue—carrying the dual attributes of earth fire and extreme cold ice flame.
Bei Mingshang, relying on the Sky-Rending Sword, had swept through everything in Fallen Sky City without ever meeting an equal.
The Sky-Rending Sword was not only indestructible and razor-sharp but also possessed the dual attributes of earth fire and extreme cold ice flame.
Any martial artist touched by the Sky-Rending Sword would first be completely frozen, only to be melted by the terrifying destructive power of the earth fire—a truly fearsome combination.
Mu Yudie and Di Yalan had witnessed the might of the Sky-Rending Sword and knew well its terror.
Thus, the moment the sword appeared, the two women instinctively assumed Shi Yan was finished.
Teleport! Bei Mingce thought inwardly, and carrying the Sky-Rending Sword, he instantly appeared before Shi Yan, cleaving down with a single strike that sent streaks of crimson and ice-blue light flashing through the void.
“Chiiiss!” The Yin Wall was sliced in two; indeed, it could not withstand the sharpness of the Sky-Rending Sword.
Shi Yan felt a jolt of alarm in his heart.
He unleashed the full force of his physical power and abruptly flashed into the Magnetic Repulsion Field domain behind him.
Simultaneously, the other two Magnetic Repulsion Field domains floated rapidly inward, merging with the domain Shi Yan currently occupied, making three into one.
The space occupied by Shi Yan suddenly twisted in a strange manner, as if the very fabric of reality was being forcibly compressed, resulting in a momentary phenomenon of collapse.
Standing within the invisible Magnetic Repulsion Field domain, which was the size of a small house, Shi Yan felt a measure of security, his gaze growing fierce as he stared coldly at Bei Mingce.
Shi Yan was waiting for Bei Mingce to activate his Teleportation Martial Spirit again, waiting for him to enter the Magnetic Repulsion Field domain.
Bei Mingce did not disappoint him; he did indeed activate his Teleportation Martial Spirit once more.
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