Tang San glanced at Hu Liena as she walked over and said indifferently, "So what? Don't tell me you're planning to compete with her to see who is the true queen of the City of Slaughter?"
"I'm not that foolish."
Hu Liena sat down beside Tang San, her gaze fixed on the scene in the arena as she said solemnly, "From the information we have so far, not only are her level and physical qualities above ours, but she also possesses at least two top-tier ten-thousand-year Spirit Bones. Her brother really dotes on her—he even gave her that Wisdom Skull Spirit Bone."
As she said this, a rare trace of jealousy appeared in Hu Liena's eyes. Her relationship with Xie Yue was already very close—they had depended on each other since childhood.
But even so, Xie Yue might not be willing to give her a ten-thousand-year Spirit Bone he had obtained.
Especially that head Spirit Bone, which had originally been prepared for her—that made her even more jealous.
"Hmph! Is that all you see? No wonder your so-called Golden Generation couldn't even last a single exchange against her brother when working together."
Hearing this, Tang San snorted coldly and said with disdain, "Spirit Bones are certainly powerful, but in my opinion, what's more worth being wary of are her self-created Spirit Skills. So far, she has only used one move—Spinning Ice Rain—but who knows whether her brother has taught her his signature technique."
What Tang San referred to was, of course, the Ice Slash that had left a deep impression on him. Although he had already mastered the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique, against a burst-type move like Ice Slash, being countered was inevitable.
Back when he fought Shui Wuhen, he had tried to stack his hammer technique, but it had been easily interrupted each time.
In a daze, Tang San recalled a past conversation with his father, Tang Hao.
"Xiao San, your biggest weakness right now is your lack of burst power. Although you've already added a Spirit Ring to your Clear Sky Hammer, its power is far inferior to the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique. So next, you need to strengthen your training in that technique."
By a waterfall, Tang Hao stood with his back to Tang San as he spoke.
Tang San nodded. After the experience of the Elite Tournament, he had also realized this shortcoming.
Blue Silver Grass combined with the martial arts from his previous life provided more than enough control, but insufficient damage, while the Clear Sky Hammer had great power but required time to build up.
Suddenly, Tang San thought of something and asked, "Father, how does the fully mastered Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique compare to Feng Xiaotian's Gale Demon Wolf Thirty-Six Consecutive Slashes, and Shui Wuhen's Ice Slash: Instant Twelve Strikes?"
"…"
At these words, Tang Hao fell silent for a moment before slowly replying, "In terms of pure power, when the Clear Sky Hammer's eighty-one strikes merge into one, its might surpasses both of their self-created Spirit Skills. However, in actual combat, the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique would be countered by them. So Xiao San, when you face those two in the future, you must be especially careful of their self-created Spirit Skills!"
"Is it because the Clear Sky Hammer requires charging up?"
Tang San asked curiously.
Tang Hao nodded. "That's right. Your understanding is quite deep. Whether it's the Gale Demon Wolf Thirty-Six Consecutive Slashes or Ice Slash: Instant Twelve Strikes, both are instant burst techniques. Against them, the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique simply cannot accumulate power.
"Especially Shui Wuhen's Ice Slash: Instant Twelve Strikes. Although the number seems lower than Feng Xiaotian's, that's only because his technique is more condensed and concise. Not only is the startup time shorter, but the power is also greater.
"I even suspect that Feng Xiaotian's technique was inspired by Shui Wuhen, because I can see the shadow of Ice Slash within it.
"I have to admit, this Shui Wuhen is truly a genius. Even if I had faced such an opponent back then, I would have felt pressure."
Hearing Tang Hao's words, Tang San couldn't help but clench his fists.
At that moment, Tang Hao patted his shoulder. "No need to belittle yourself. The Clear Sky Sect's inheritance is vast, and there is also a secret technique far superior to their self-created Spirit Skills—hundreds of times stronger. It's just that your level is still too low for me to teach you now.
"As long as you follow my training plan diligently, with your twin martial spirits, surpassing them will not be difficult."
"I understand, Father. I'll train hard."
As he spoke, Tang San muttered inwardly, "Shui Wuhen, Feng Xiaotian, and Qian Renxue—just wait. I will prove to the world that I, Tang San, am the greatest genius in this world."
Having lived two lives and possessing the complete inheritance of the Tang Sect, he had full confidence in himself.
These memories flashed through Tang San's mind in an instant as his gaze returned to the battle in the arena.
In the Slaughter Arena, nine different figures surrounded a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl at the center, their eyes filled with vigilance and faint fear.
The girl in the center wore a white dress, her entire body emitting a cold aura that kept others at a distance. She seemed completely out of place with the surrounding atmosphere.
This girl was Shui Bing'er. After parting from her brother Shui Wuhen following that incident of betrayal, in pursuit of greater power, she had resolutely entered the City of Slaughter—a place considered a dead end—after obtaining her sixth Spirit Ring.
In just half a year, she had achieved eighty-nine consecutive victories in the Slaughter Arena, to the point that the rate at which fallen ones were replenished in the city could not keep up.
At this moment, Shui Bing'er looked coldly at the fallen ones around her. She felt not the slightest pity for them. All she wanted now was to quickly achieve one hundred consecutive victories and then challenge the Hell Road.
"Kill her! Kill her! If we don't kill her, none of us will get out alive!"
Unable to bear the atmosphere any longer, one of the fallen ones shouted, and the other eight immediately launched their attacks, charging toward Shui Bing'er simultaneously.
Faced with this, Shui Bing'er remained completely calm. Her right arm lit up with an ice-blue glow, and with a casual swing, countless streams of cold energy instantly froze the fallen ones on her right into ice sculptures.
At the same time, dozens of spinning ice spikes appeared on her left side, shooting out rapidly and piercing through the remaining enemies in an instant.
Instant kill—an absolute instant kill!
Without sparing them another glance, Shui Bing'er turned and walked out of the Slaughter Arena.
As she exited, a voice behind her announced her victory.
In the City of Slaughter, Spirit Ring abilities are suppressed—none can be used. However, Spirit Bone skills and self-created Spirit Skills are not affected.
With three top-tier ten-thousand-year Spirit Bones (including an external one), along with the self-created Spirit Skills she had learned from Shui Wuhen, facing these fallen ones who couldn't even use Spirit Skills was essentially a dimensional suppression. That was why she could achieve ninety consecutive victories in such a short time.
Even so, when she first arrived, Shui Bing'er had suffered quite a bit. The moral standards of the fallen ones were far lower than she had ever imagined. Once, because she showed pity toward a miserable little girl, she was nearly killed by these same fallen ones.
After that incident, Shui Bing'er lost all goodwill toward the people of the City of Slaughter. Anyone who dared to block her path would be killed without mercy.
"Brother… are you still alive?"
Looking at the blood-red sky, Shui Bing'er thought silently.
......
Boom—
Accompanied by a mournful cry that echoed across the sea, a hundred-meter-long ice dragon plummeted from the thick storm clouds, crashing onto the frozen ocean surface.
Its massive size and weight instantly smashed a huge crater into the ice, sending shards flying in all directions, even causing cracks to spread across the thick ice layer.
In the next moment, from the cloud-covered sky, an ice-blue pillar of light spanning heaven and earth descended. Within the light, a stunning ice bird appeared, its red eyes looking down upon all beings. The hundred-meter ice dragon on the surface seemed no more than a slightly larger ant in its eyes.
Standing atop the ice bird's head was a young man with his hands behind his back. The cold wind whipped his blue robe, making it flutter loudly—he looked like a god descending upon the world.
This man and bird were Shui Wuhen and Articuno. After a fierce battle, even a ferocious beast-level ice dragon had fallen to them.
The ice dragon had been unable to inflict any real damage—only slightly dirtying their clothes—before being killed.
Articuno carried Shui Wuhen down onto the dragon's corpse.
Looking at the blood-red Spirit Ring with golden patterns hovering above the body, Shui Wuhen smiled faintly. "As expected of a ferocious beast. An ordinary hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast couldn't have lasted this long against us in our Martial Spirit True Body state."
At this moment, Shui Wuhen finally had a rough estimate of his current strength. Considering that a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast was comparable to a level 95 Title Douluo, then in his Martial Spirit True Body state, his combat power was at least at the level of a standard level 97 Title Douluo—perhaps even higher.
After all, killing this ferocious beast had only required some effort. Once he activated his Martial Spirit True Body, the battle became completely one-sided. Even though this was "only" a two-hundred-thousand-year ferocious beast, it was still a ferocious beast—far beyond ordinary hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts.
Afterward, Shui Wuhen and Articuno began dissecting the dragon's corpse. Even if it was of mixed blood, it was still a dragon—materials from dragon-type Spirit Beasts were highly valuable.
Even if he sold them for money, he wouldn't lose out. Although Gold Soul Coins weren't particularly useful to him, they could still be exchanged for many good items on the market, such as better storage soul tools.
The first thing Shui Wuhen took was naturally the Spirit Bone. This ice dragon had produced a right arm Spirit Bone. Its glow was not dazzling, but extremely restrained.
He wasn't surprised. After killing a Spirit Beast above one hundred thousand years, the Spirit Bone that dropped would always be one he lacked. Currently, he only had a head Spirit Bone, so any of the remaining five pieces were possible.
As for external Spirit Bones, those were even rarer than hundred-thousand-year ones. Shui Wuhen desired them, but such things depended on fate.
On this continent, there were not few Spirit Masters who had collected all standard Spirit Bones but still lacked an external one.
After extracting what he deemed valuable, Shui Wuhen looked at the massive dragon corpse and sighed. "What a pity… my storage soul tools simply don't have enough capacity to carry all of this."
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was only about one meter in diameter and six to seven meters long, so it could be stored by splitting it among several storage tools.
But this two-hundred-thousand-year ice dragon exceeded a hundred meters in length. The required capacity was over a hundred times greater, so he could only take selected parts.
At that moment, a spark of inspiration flashed through Shui Wuhen's mind.
"Wait… if I could refine the Ice Silkworm's corpse into pills, then couldn't I do the same with this ice dragon?"
His eyes lit up. While he couldn't carry such a massive body, turning it into medicinal pills might be possible.
Although the ice dragon's body was enormous, its energy couldn't surpass that of the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm. It wouldn't take long to extract all its energy.
Without hesitation, Shui Wuhen released his spiritual power and, just like when refining the Ice Essence Pills, began extracting energy from the corpse.
Perhaps because he was still in his Martial Spirit True Body state, the extraction speed was much faster than expected. In just one minute, a pill slightly different from the Ice Essence Pill was formed.
As he continued extracting energy, Shui Wuhen asked Articuno, "What do you think of this two-hundred-thousand-year ice dragon's Spirit Ring? It's a ferocious beast, and it's ice attribute—perfect for me. If this doesn't work, who knows how long we'll have to search."
"It's acceptable. You saw that purple light it used earlier, right? That was likely some kind of locking skill. Otherwise, defeating it would have been even easier."
Articuno thought for a moment before answering.
Although it wasn't exactly what she had expected, it was still acceptable.
The ocean was vast, but hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts were limited. There was no guarantee they would find a better one. This ice dragon was already an excellent choice.
After all, they couldn't possibly settle for a Spirit Beast below one hundred thousand years just for something like Mind's Eye.
With Shui Wuhen's talent, even if he didn't obtain it this time, he might eventually create a similar skill himself.
"However, if you plan to absorb this Spirit Ring, you'd better hurry. The duration of our Martial Spirit True Body is limited," Articuno reminded him.
In truth, their Martial Spirit True Body could last quite a long time—up to a day or two if they wished. However, the longer they maintained it, the greater the cost.
Before reaching the Title Douluo level, it remained a burst-type ultimate move and should not be used unnecessarily.
After becoming a Title Douluo, however, it could be activated and deactivated freely, as long as one's soul power could sustain it.
"Don't worry. At this rate, it won't take long."
And indeed, as Shui Wuhen said, after a little over an hour, all the energy from the ice dragon's corpse had been fully extracted. However, compared to the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, the quantity was much smaller—just over a hundred pills—and the quality was also inferior.