Ling Luochen's face became increasingly grim.
She could clearly feel that those four cold, evil, and decaying auras of spirit power had completely locked onto her, like four venomous snakes poised to bite, sealing off all her escape routes from every direction.
This was a meticulously planned ambush, and she was the prey that had fallen into the trap.
On the other side, the remaining Evil Soul Masters, led by the Evil Soul Master Magic Scorpion, sneered at Ling Luochen before summoning their respective Spirits.
"Hehehe... Little girl from the Shrek Supervisory Group, today is your death day!" Magic Scorpion's hoarse voice echoed through the forest, filled with resentment and glee.
His figure shook, and a massive, ink-green scorpion phantom appeared behind him, its tail hook raised high and flashing with a deadly, eerie light.
Five spirit rings—two yellow and three purple—pulsed around him, radiating the powerful pressure of a Spirit King.
Beside him, two other Spirit Kings simultaneously completed their Martial Soul Possession.
One was thin and long like a bamboo pole, with a sickly flush on his face; his Spirit was a pitch-black venomous snake, its snake eyes cold, its tongue hissing as if it could corrode the very air.
The other was a short, stout man with a pair of massive, strangely patterned fleshy wings unfurled on his back; his Spirit was actually a poison bat, and as his spirit power surged, it emitted silent sound waves that were maddening, causing spirit power to stagnate.
These three five-ring Spirit Kings, plus the leader Magic Scorpion, formed a lineup that would make any opponent of the same Rank feel despair.
However, what truly made Ling Luochen's heart sink to the bottom was the fourth person.
That person had been standing at the very back, his figure shrouded in shadows, only stepping out slowly at this moment.
He looked younger than the other three, but his aura was the most profound and terrifying.
As he completed his Martial Soul Possession, a massive and ferocious purple poison spider phantom flickered behind him; its eight hairy long legs were like sharp spears, and its abdomen was swollen, as if it contained deadly poison.
And the most heart-stopping thing was the six spirit rings rising from his body—two yellow, three purple, and one black!
A genuine Six-Ring Soul Emperor! And an Evil Soul Master Six-Ring Soul Emperor at that!
Seeing them sneer and step forward, they launched a collective attack on Ling Luochen from four directions.
"Do it! Let her taste the methods of our Holy Spirit Cult!" Magic Scorpion roared, taking the lead.
"Fifth Spirit Ability, Emerald Phosphorus Poison Cloud!"
He opened his mouth and sprayed a massive cloud of ink-green poison mist, which rapidly expanded in the air; wherever it passed, grass and trees withered and turned black instantly, emitting a nauseating, foul stench.
"Fourth Spirit Ability, Poison Python Devours Heart!" The snake Evil Soul Master transformed his hands into snake heads, spraying two solid streams of black venom that turned into two poison pythons in mid-air, opening their bloody maws to strike directly at Ling Luochen's heart.
"Third Spirit Ability, Bat Wing Poison Blade!" The bat Evil Soul Master flapped his wings, and countless energy blades quenched in deadly poison shot out like a rainstorm, covering all the space where Ling Luochen could dodge.
Ling Luochen was at an absolute disadvantage in numbers, not to mention the presence of a Spirit Emperor-level existence watching like a tiger.
Facing this overwhelming, deadly attack, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and defend.
"Second Spirit Ability, Ice Armor!"
With a clear shout, a layer of crystal-clear ice armor flashing with ice-blue runes instantly covered Ling Luochen's body, completely wrapping her slender figure.
Immediately after, the light from the ice staff in her hand burst forth, summoning that ice staff symbolizing the Ultimate Ice Element once again.
However, the combined attack of the three Spirit Kings was too swift.
Just after she armored herself, the poison cloud from Magic Scorpion, the poison pythons from the snake, and the poison blades from the bat struck from three directions simultaneously.
The corrosive venom and energy blades emitted a harsh "hissing" sound, crazily eroding her ice armor, causing the light on the surface of the armor to dim rapidly.
Ling Luochen knew well that pure defense was just waiting for death. She had to find a Breakthrough to counterattack while blocking this wave of attacks.
"Fifth Spirit Ability, Ring of Ice Jade!"
In an instant, an even more powerful Ultimate cold air erupted from her as the center!
Several massive and thick ice mirrors appeared out of thin air, surrounding her body and forming an absolute defensive circle of a polyhedron. Each ice mirror was as smooth as jade, containing terrifying ice power.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The venom, poison pythons, and poison blades all slammed into the Ring of Ice Jade, emitting dull, loud noises.
The green poison mist was frozen into ice crystals, the black poison pythons were shattered into pieces the moment they touched the ice surface, and the poison blades filling the sky were all blocked by the solid ice.
However, Ling Luochen, who had blocked this wave of attacks, felt the ominous premonition in her heart increase rather than decrease.
Because at this moment, she discovered with horror that the Six-Ring Soul Emperor with the poison spider Spirit had disappeared!
From the beginning of the battle until now, other than releasing his Spirit, he hadn't made a move, and now he had vanished as if he had evaporated from the world, his aura completely concealed.
She nervously searched all around, her mental force highly concentrated, yet she couldn't find his location.
He was like a top-tier assassin, hiding in the dark, waiting for the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.
Then, in the next second, a piercing, bone-chilling pain suddenly came from her lower leg!
"Ugh, ah!"
Ling Luochen groaned in pain, looked down, and her pupils suddenly contracted.
Only then did she realize that the Six-Ring Soul Emperor with the poison spider Spirit had burrowed underground at some point!
At this moment, he was manipulating his Spirit Ability, summoning thumb-sized poison spiders with eerie purple light, which surged from the ground like a tide, silently crawling up her lower legs and crazily gnawing at her flesh and spirit power with their sharp mouthparts!
These poison spiders were extremely bizarre; they could actually partially ignore the defense of the ice armor and penetrate directly!
"Get away!"
Ling Luochen was both shocked and angry, immediately manipulating the Ultimate Ice Element to spread down her lower legs, instantly freezing all the climbing poison spiders into ice sculptures, which fell to the ground and shattered into a pile of ice crystals.
But by now, the poison had already taken effect.
A strong sense of numbness mixed with nauseating dizziness crashed through her willpower like a breached dam.
Ling Luochen felt a wave of nausea and dizziness, an unspeakable weakness spreading through her limbs and bones, and everything before her eyes began to spin, as if the whole world was shaking.
"Bang..."
She could no longer support herself, the ice staff in her hand slipped from her grasp, her body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground on the spot. The ice armor and the Ring of Ice Jade also instantly dissipated due to the interruption of her spirit power.
"Hahahaha! It's done!"
"As expected of Boss Spider Emperor, the Sixth Soul Skill 'Underground Spider Swarm' is indeed impossible to defend against!"
Magic Scorpion and the other two Evil Soul Masters saw this and burst into triumphant laughter.
The Spirit Emperor known as "Spider Emperor" also rose slowly from the ground not far away, with a cruel smile on his face, looking at the fallen Ling Luochen as if admiring a perfect work of art.
"This spider poison is what I am most proud of; even a Seven-Ring Spirit Saint would lose all combat ability within ten seconds once bitten by my spider swarm." Spider Emperor said condescendingly, "A Genius of Shrek? Just so-so."
Magic Scorpion licked his dry lips, bloodthirsty light flickering in his eyes, and walked toward Ling Luochen step by step: "Now, whether to kill or torture is not up to you. Little girl, remember in your next life, don't be a busybody!"
...