"Ah…"
Seeing this scene, Articuno couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Was it finally coming to this step after all?
Just as Water Wuhen was about to rush forward with his blade in the next moment, a dense deep-blue flame suddenly erupted around Articuno's body.
"Articuno, you…!"
This sudden change shocked Water Wuhen greatly. He had no idea Articuno even possessed this kind of ability.
After seeing Articuno's transformation, the Ice Empress' golden hexagonal eyes immediately revealed an expression of fury.
"You're burning Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Ice Marrow! No! This is wasting it! I won't allow it!"
Immediately after, the Ice Empress shifted her attack from Water Wuhen to Articuno.
At this moment, a layer of diamond-like particles covered the Ice Empress' twin pincers, which then slammed fiercely toward Articuno.
This strike was extremely ferocious. From the moment she made her move, her intent was to kill Articuno without the slightest hesitation.
After all, the Ice Empress had already regarded the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Ice Marrow energy within Water Wuhen and Articuno as her own possession. As long as Articuno was still alive, it would continue consuming her Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Ice Marrow. Under such circumstances, she naturally could not allow Articuno to live.
However, just before the Ice Empress' attack was about to land, Articuno's eyes suddenly burst with icy-blue light. An extreme coldness filled the air.
Under this extreme cold, time and space lost their meaning. Wind and snow froze still. The attack halted. All surrounding elemental particles stopped moving, as if everything had been completely frozen.
At that moment, the Ice Empress only felt an unprecedented terror rising within her heart. This strike rendered all her methods useless. Even her thoughts began to slow down, about to freeze completely.
But at this critical moment, the deep-blue flame on Articuno's body suddenly vanished, and that extreme coldness also rapidly receded.
Whoosh—
The moment everything thawed, the Ice Empress turned into a streak of green light and retreated at her fastest speed in her life, only stopping thousands of meters away.
Even so, when she looked at Articuno again, her eyes were still filled with lingering fear.
"That was close. If that bird hadn't failed at the last moment, I might already have been dead."
Just now, she truly felt death approaching. That sensation of even her thoughts stopping was the most terrifying experience of her life.
"Wu… wu…"
On the other side, Articuno was gasping for breath, its aura extremely weak.
Seeing Articuno suddenly erupt and force the Ice Empress back, Water Wuhen felt both joy and concern.
"Articuno, can you still hold on?"
Articuno did not respond, instead flapping its wings and flying toward the rear.
Seeing this, the Ice Empress' gaze flickered repeatedly, but in the end she still gave up the idea of pursuing.
Although she could tell that both Articuno and Water Wuhen were weakened, she did not dare to gamble whether Articuno could unleash a second Absolute Zero.
Moreover, even though she had survived just now, her condition was far from good.
The energy within her body was nearly exhausted, and even the hard shell on her body had developed dense cracks.
It could be said that even a slightly stronger ten-thousand-year soul beast could kill her now. This was the weakest state she had been in for tens of thousands of years.
She even did not dare to summon the soul beasts of the Extreme North for pursuit. Although she had the ability to do so, she was too weak now. If the summoned soul beasts were not loyal to her, they might develop greed instead.
After all, in her current state, she was the greatest tonic. Any soul beast that devoured her could greatly increase its cultivation, even breaking through the ten-thousand-year bottleneck.
While the Ice Empress was struggling internally, Articuno had already flown dozens of miles away, before finally unable to hold on and landing.
Looking at the extremely weakened Articuno almost collapsing, Water Wuhen stroked its head and said softly:
"Articuno, you've worked hard. Go back first. Leave the rest to me."
"Wu~~"
Articuno looked at Water Wuhen, then nodded and turned into a streak of light, returning into his body.
After Articuno returned, Water Wuhen suddenly felt a sweetness in his throat, and blood surged upward.
But to avoid revealing his location through the smell of blood, he forcibly swallowed it back down.
His condition was also far from good. Aside from Articuno's Absolute Zero, most of the exhaustion came from his own soul power. After using martial soul fusion, substitute skills, and a series of soul techniques, his soul power had long been depleted. He was completely running on exhaustion.
If not for the remaining Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Ice Marrow energy within his body providing some replenishment, he would have already collapsed.
"I can't stay here. No one knows if that ten-thousand-year soul beast will chase again. Articuno can scare her once, but not forever."
With that thought, Water Wuhen dragged his exhausted body forward. A pair of ice wings appeared behind him as he began to fly.
He did not choose to walk, because footprints on the ground were too obvious and could easily be tracked by soul beasts.
His soul power was now extremely limited. Every bit of it was precious, and he could not afford to waste it dealing with irrelevant soul beasts.
......
"Hmm?"
Outside the Extreme North, on the back of "Articuno," Water Bing'er slowly woke up from unconsciousness.
As if remembering something, she suddenly woke fully and shouted:
"Brother! Don't!"
But when Water Bing'er looked around, she could not see her brother Water Wuhen anywhere, and her heart tightened instantly.
She hurriedly asked the remaining "Articuno" beneath her:
"Articuno, where is my brother?"
However, the remaining "Articuno" did not respond. It simply continued flying on its own.
Only then did Water Bing'er realize something was wrong. The "Articuno" beneath her, although identical in appearance and aura, had hollow eyes, as if it possessed no intelligence at all.
This was definitely not her brother's Articuno!
Water Bing'er came to this conclusion.
At that moment, the "Articuno" beneath her suddenly changed direction, no longer flying forward but descending instead.
Upon landing, the "Articuno" turned into specks of icy-blue light and disappeared.
"Brother!"
Seeing the dissipating "Articuno," although she knew it was not real, Water Bing'er still instinctively reached out to grab it.
But it was all in vain. The substitute's energy had been exhausted, so it naturally disappeared. Even as Water Wuhen's sister, nothing could change that.
Seeing this, Water Bing'er clenched her fists, tears falling down her cheeks, turning into ice before reaching the ground.
She wanted to go back and find Water Wuhen, but her reason told her she could not. With her current strength, going back would not change anything—it would only mean death.
Her brother had finally managed to send her away. She could not die so easily.
"You'd better pray my brother is fine… otherwise, in the future, I will definitely wash the Extreme North clean of blood!!"