Almost instantly, Shui Wuhen and Articuno rushed in front of Qian Renxue. At the same time, the golden giant sword formed by the angel phantom behind her had already descended.
The next moment, the golden giant sword struck, engulfing Shui Wuhen and Articuno.
In an instant, within the golden-tinged space, a storm of golden energy surged like concentric rings of light, sweeping outward.
The energy fluctuations even spread beyond the domain, causing the spectators outside to wonder just what kind of intense battle was unfolding inside.
"Phew~~"
After a moment, Qian Renxue lowered the longsword in her hand, her breathing slightly hurried.
It was clear that the attack had consumed a great deal of her energy.
Then, she turned her gaze toward the area where Shui Wuhen and Articuno had been. "He should be defeated now, right?"
However, at that very moment, an extremely cold storm suddenly swept toward her face.
Caught completely off guard, Qian Renxue's body was instantly covered in a layer of white frost, and that bone-piercing cold began to rapidly spread into her body.
"Impossible. After taking that strike, even if he didn't lose the ability to fight immediately, he should already be heavily injured. How could he still launch such a powerful counterattack?"
Qian Renxue was shocked inwardly. A mere Soul Emperor had taken her strongest attack and still had the ability to counterattack?
Even so, her combat instincts did not slow down. As her fifth spirit ring lit up, a golden shield formed around her body.
With the golden shield appearing and the continuous blizzard interference gone, golden flames ignited around Qian Renxue, quickly burning away the snow and ice clinging to her body.
Only then did she refocus on the source of the attack. Not far away, Shui Wuhen and Articuno were glowing with an ice-blue radiance, unleashing endless blizzards centered around them.
Seeing this, Qian Renxue's eyes flickered as she said solemnly, "Completely unharmed? Did he use some kind of absolute defense-like method?"
That previous strike was already the strongest attack she could currently unleash. Its power was so great that even many Soul Douluo would be instantly killed, and very few Soul Masters below the Titled Douluo level could withstand it.
No matter how strong Shui Wuhen was, he was still only a Soul Emperor. Even with defensive spirit skills, under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for him to block it without a scratch.
The only explanation was that Shui Wuhen had used some kind of absolute defense-type ability to survive her strongest attack and still counterattack.
"However…" Qian Renxue suddenly changed her tone and smiled faintly. "The limitations of such absolute defense skills are usually severe. Can you still block my next attack?"
Crack—
Right after she said this, a faint crack appeared on her golden shield, causing her smile to freeze.
In the next moment, Qian Renxue activated her external spirit bone skill. The wings behind her shone brilliantly, then forcefully flapped.
Instantly, she transformed into a golden streak of light, rushing toward Shui Wuhen.
"Here it comes?"
Seeing this, Shui Wuhen narrowed his eyes slightly, and a pale-blue shield immediately appeared in front of him, enveloping both him and Articuno.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! ...
Reaching Shui Wuhen, Qian Renxue swung her longsword rapidly, launching a frenzy of attacks.
Because she was in her Spirit Avatar state, her spirit skills had no cooldown. Streaks of golden light bombarded the pale-blue shield, yet not even a ripple appeared on its surface.
In contrast, because she was closer to Shui Wuhen and Articuno, the consumption of her golden shield increased at a terrifying rate. In just a short moment, she had already replaced it twice.
Although Shui Wuhen and Articuno's combined Blizzard attack was not as explosive as Frozen Slash: Twelve Consecutive Strikes in a single burst, it was a continuous skill. Its total damage far exceeded that technique.
Its only drawback was the extremely high spirit power consumption. Shui Wuhen would not use it lightly unless absolutely necessary.
Seeing her attacks ineffective, Qian Renxue immediately stopped her futile assault and retreated to the side, waiting for Shui Wuhen's absolute defense-like skill to end.
"Something's wrong!"
While waiting, Qian Renxue suddenly realized, "Why is my spirit power draining so fast?"
After that round of exchanges, her spirit power was already down to about ten to twenty percent.
Although she had used quite a few spirit skills, her Spirit Avatar should have reduced consumption significantly. It should not have been this severe.
Qian Renxue's changing expression was naturally noticed by Shui Wuhen. Almost instantly, he understood that she had discovered Articuno's second hidden domain effect.
"So she finally noticed? I thought it would take longer."
Shui Wuhen thought inwardly.
He was not surprised that Qian Renxue had detected Articuno's domain effect. This kind of abnormal consumption of spirit power, stamina, and mental energy was something any spirit master could eventually sense.
Qian Renxue was about ten levels higher than him, but under Articuno's passive effect, her actual total spirit power was now almost equal to his.
If she had not activated her Spirit Avatar, she might already have run out of spirit power by now.
At that moment, the protective shield around Shui Wuhen and Articuno disappeared. Seeing the annoying pale-blue barrier vanish, Qian Renxue flapped her six wings and charged again through the blizzard.
Although she had broken another shield during the advance, she no longer cared.
She had to finish Shui Wuhen as quickly as possible, otherwise her spirit power would be completely drained under that unknown effect at any moment.
"I don't believe you can use that skill a third time!"
Qian Renxue thought as she rushed forward.
And she was right—Protect, as an absolute defense, had already entered cooldown after being used once each by Shui Wuhen and Articuno. It would take time before it could be used again.
Seeing Qian Renxue charging fiercely, Shui Wuhen immediately stopped the blizzard.
"Articuno, retreat!"
Given his current condition, there was no need to clash head-on with her. As long as he waited for Protect to come off cooldown, he would have two chances to turn the tide.
"Chii~~~"
Articuno cried out, retreating with Shui Wuhen while simultaneously layering multiple rainbow-colored barriers over itself.
Although Protect could not be used for the moment, that did not mean Articuno lacked other defensive skills.
Light Screen, Reflect, Substitute—she could use all of them, though their proficiency was far inferior to her ice-type techniques.