"Roar—!"
A low roar rumbled from deep within the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's throat.
Its massive body reared up on its hind legs, its five-meter height casting a shadow that instantly and completely enveloped Caelus.
Solid icy muscles bulged beneath its armor of Deep-Blue Profound Ice, a terrifying sense of power nearly splitting the air.
An aura mixing chill and savage ferocity swept out like a tangible tsunami, causing even the whistling wind and snow to seem frozen and stagnant in that moment.
Faced with a pressure sufficient to strike fear into a Soul King, Caelus seemed unable to feel that bone-chilling killing intent.
He even looked up with interest, sizing up this Vicious Beast that could be called a work of art. Then, under Zhang Lexuan's incredulous gaze, he smilingly raised his hand and gave a relaxed wave toward the hideous crocodile head, as if greeting a neighbor:
"Yo, morning. Had breakfast yet?"
His voice was clear, carrying a hint of a young man's characteristic teasing. It sounded so abrupt—even absurd—in this chillingly desolate valley.
The Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's newly-formed intelligence was clearly unable to comprehend behavior that fell so far outside its scope of cognition.
Its violent thoughts stalled for a moment, the blood-red ferocity in its ice-blue eyes freezing briefly.
"Pfft—"
Hiding above the entrance of the Ice Valley and ready to strike at any moment, Zhang Lexuan ultimately couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.
That laughter was like flowing moonlight, instantly dispelling the gravity between her brows and making her entire being appear bright and vivid.
She had seen many faces—fearful, excited, or greedy—when facing Soul Beasts, but she had never seen one so... so mischievous, yet radiating such inexplicable confidence.
However, to a Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast with its own dignity, that laughter and frivolous greeting were undoubtedly the ultimate provocation and insult.
"Roar—!!!"
After the brief daze came a thoroughly ignited, all-consuming fury.
The Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's eyes instantly turned blood-red, a violent crimson replacing the ice-blue.
It opened its massive maw, filled with jagged ice teeth, and let out a terrifying roar that shook the valley.
This time it was no longer a warning, but a prelude to destruction.
Visible circular sound waves, mixed with a chill that could freeze the Soul, surged toward Caelus like a bursting flood.
Wherever the sound waves passed, the ice on the ground cracked inch by inch, and the air was forcibly pushed aside, creating a vacuum.
The Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's violent roar, carrying ice shards and sound waves, was the horn that signaled the start of the battle.
Facing this impact sufficient to shatter muscles and bones, Caelus's gaze sharpened, and he advanced instead of retreating.
He kicked off the ground forcefully, the airflow beneath his feet exploding. Instead of dodging backward, he performed an extremely tricky diagonal forward dash, cutting in dangerously close to the edge of the sound waves.
The whistling sound waves grazed past his back, plowing a deep trench into the ice behind him.
"So fast."
Watching from a distance, Zhang Lexuan felt a slight chill of surprise in her heart.
Caelus's instantaneous explosive speed was definitely not something an ordinary Spirit Ancestor could possess; it was even comparable to some Soul Kings of the agility-attack system.
Having missed its strike, the ferocity in the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's blood-red eyes intensified.
Its massive claw, covered in Deep-Blue Profound Ice, brought with it a whistle that tore through the air as it slammed down toward Caelus like a falling iceberg.
The power was so great that even before it landed, the surging wind pressure caused the ice beneath Caelus's feet to begin to cave in.
He couldn't take this head-on.
In Caelus's mind, an image of the next second had already surfaced—the trajectory of the giant claw's strike, the angle of the flying ice shards, and the epicenter of the power explosion.
At the exact moment the giant claw was about to hit him, his body seemed to transform into an incorporeal phantom. In a manner that defied the laws of physics, he drifted away lightly like willow catkins caught in the wind, following the very wind pressure created by the claw's strike.
His manipulation of the airflow allowed him to evade this lethal blow.
The giant claw crashed into the ground.
"Boom—!!!"
The entire Ice Valley seemed to tremble.
Centered on the point of impact, spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread out for over a dozen meters, and countless ice shards shot out, thudding like arrows.
Flowing currents of air appeared on the surface of Caelus's body, deflecting the incoming ice shards.
"Roar!"
Seeing its attack thwarted, the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile fell into a complete frenzy.
Its massive body displayed an agility inconsistent with its size. Dropping to all fours like an out-of-control ice-crystal chariot, it charged toward Caelus, every step shaking the earth.
Simultaneously, its crocodile-like maw opened, not to roar, but to unleash a highly condensed Frost Breath.
The breath was not a dispersed chill but a pale beam of light. Wherever it passed, the air froze, leaving behind a trail of ice crystals at an astonishing speed.
In his Future Vision, no matter which direction he dodged, he would be grazed by the edge of the breath and instantly frozen.
Caelus's pupils constricted. Without hesitation, he activated his Martial Soul, his spirit rings shining as the third one glowed with a purple light.
Third Spirit Ability: Empty Dream Shadow Flit.
His figure vanished into thin air, reappearing the next moment behind and to the side of the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's charging path.
That lethal Frost Breath grazed the spot where he had originally stood, directly freezing a distant ice wall into a single, massive block of ice.
Time-attribute Martial Soul Abilities had a massive consumption rate; Caelus couldn't use them multiple times in a row.
Yet his gaze remained sharp. Taking advantage of the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's brief stiffness after its breath attack, he took the initiative to strike.
He held his hands as if gripping something, and the airflow around him converged frantically, compressing into two nearly transparent Super-Pressure Air Blades. With a piercing whistle, they slashed fiercely toward the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's relatively vulnerable joints.
"Clang! Clang!"
Two crisp sounds rang out like metal clashing against iron.
The air blades left two white marks on the Deep-Blue Profound Ice but failed to break through its defense.
However, the powerful impact caused the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's charging momentum to stall slightly.
"It really is ridiculously tough."
Caelus sighed inwardly but wasn't discouraged; he had already expected this when he saw the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's hard ice armor.
This brief stall was exactly the opportunity he needed.
He lunged forward, closing the distance until he was right next to the Vicious Beast.
Vortex Shackles.
His hands danced as invisible currents of air, like flexible tentacles, wound around the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's thick forelimbs. His goal wasn't to bind it, but to interfere with its power delivery, causing a slight lack of coordination in its movements.
The Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile angrily swung its sharp claws, wanting to crush this annoying insect.
But Caelus was like a shadow that couldn't be shaken. Relying on his Future Vision for precise anticipation of attack trajectories and his own formidable physical fitness—which far exceeded that of Soul Masters at his level—he wove through the gaps between claw shadows and ice teeth.
His movements were as smooth as flowing water, sometimes as slippery as a fish and sometimes as agile as a cat, pushing his self-created Airflow Body Technique to their limit.
Fists, feet, elbows, and knees—all wrapped in highly compressed airflow—constantly hammered against the Ice Prison Ape-Crocodile's body and legs. Although unable to cause substantial damage, they greatly provoked and interfered with the Vicious Beast.
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