Chapter 212: Restoring Soul Power, Forest Ambience
Each of the ice spikes was slender but incredibly long.
Shhhh—!
The dark-red armor that the Vajra Fire Ant prided itself on—hard as metal—shattered like brittle glass under the piercing pressure of the ultimate ice.
Seven or eight spikes plunged precisely into the thinner abdomen plates and the gaps between its joints.
The chill exploded outward, freezing everything within a breath.
The enormous ant was nailed mid-air, its limbs twitching weakly. Its molten armor was instantly covered in blue cracks of frost, sealed tight beneath a frozen crust.
The scorching heat it emitted vanished. In its place, icy mist spread thick through the clearing.
Its boiling blood froze upon bursting from the wounds, forming glittering shards that hung off its broken shell like crystal.
Even its mighty mandibles froze mid-motion, trapped under solid ice. The beast's dim yellow eyes extinguished into deathly gray.
From charge to death—less than one second.
The fiercest defensive-type soul beast within its rank was impaled and frozen before even brushing Ye Chen's clothing.
"Ah… so strong…"
Ning Tian's breath caught as she stared.
She had always known Ye Chen was powerful, but witnessing this firsthand left her reeling. The sheer force of his freezing aura made even her toes feel cold.
"Alright, finish it off before it collapses completely," Ye Chen said gently, patting her shoulder. His calm tone pulled her back from shock. With a flick of his hand, he shaped a slender ice spike and handed it to her.
"Mm!"
Ning Tian nodded quickly, grasping it tightly. It was coated in Ye Chen's soul energy—a hyper-thin insulating layer to block the biting cold.
Even so, she could still feel the chill seeping through.
Taking a deep breath, she rushed forward.
When she was within five meters, Ning Tian leapt high into the air, her skirt fluttering gracefully in the cold breeze before she descended.
Her strike landed square on target.
Thud!
The spike pierced cleanly through the creature's head, icy power bursting outward to obliterate its brain.
The last pulse of life vanished instantly.
A deep-purple ring rose silently from the corpse.
"Wait," Ye Chen said quickly as she was about to sit down and absorb it. "Your soul power's depleted. Restore it first."
Absorbing a soul ring with drained energy was dangerous; without soul power to buffer, the wild energy within the ring could easily cause injury.
And even though Ning Tian's body had been strengthened by the immortal herb, she was more fragile now than usual.
When Ye Chen grasped her wrist to stop her, her face warmed instantly. She remembered his teasing earlier: 'It's okay, three seconds is already amazing.'
Right now her energy center was completely empty—nothing left to draw upon.
"Humph!"
She pouted. "You knew I'd run out… and you still told me to boost you!" she said accusingly, her eyes glimmering with frustration.
She suspected he'd done it on purpose—but she had no proof.
After all, Ye Chen hardly needed her help to beat an eight-thousand-year-old beast. Yet he had insisted, and her power had drained in seconds.
The enhancements—strength and speed—barely helped him anyway.
All just to waste her energy!
"I really didn't think you'd last only three seconds…" Ye Chen said awkwardly, scratching his nose.
He'd simply wanted to include her in the process, not wear her out.
"Alright, alright~"
Seeing her puffed cheeks, Ye Chen laughed softly and ruffled her hair. "The soul ring will fade in an hour—let's get your energy back quickly."
"I can't recover fully in an hour," she mumbled.
"Who said you can't? I'll help you using a secret technique."
His tone carried a teasing warmth.
The "secret method" was simply a way to accelerate the absorption of ambient energy—essentially restoring strength by quickening the flow of spirit power within the body.
"I knew it! You did it on purpose!" she huffed, realizing this was another of his tricks.
"Not at all. Come on, don't waste time."
Ye Chen guided her toward a flat, dry boulder nearby.
"Sit here."
The stone was cool beneath them. Ye Chen slipped his arm around her waist, gently pulling her closer.
"You're such a scoundrel…" she muttered under her breath, yet obediently encircled his waist with her arms, resting against him.
"Close your eyes—and focus your breathing," he whispered by her ear, his voice calm and steady.
His hands moved to support her from behind as she began to circulate her energy.
Ning Tian obediently shut her eyes, her heartbeat aligning with his rhythm. The faint hum of their breathing seemed to merge into one.
Suddenly, a wave of invisible energy rippled outward from Ye Chen.
With the resonance activated, their soul energies intertwined, accelerating dozens of times over.
A powerful suction formed between them, pulling spirit energy from the air like a spinning vortex.
The world seemed to hum around them.
A boundless stream of pure energy poured into Ning Tian's body, filling her emptiness with a flood of warmth and light.
"Mmm…"
The rush of power made her body tremble softly, a sound slipping past her lips before she could hold it back.
(END CHAPTER)
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