C883 Killing the Prodigy!
One after another, figures named Qu Jing shattered like ice crystals under the extreme cold.
Qu Jing, beneath his large black umbrella, felt as though he was at the very depths of the Frozen Hellscape. His limbs, soul, blood flow, and even his thoughts and consciousness were permeated by the ice power.
Above, the Frost Queen, with her scorpion body and human tail, seemed to chuckle softly.
The ground's ice crystals, under her command, soared into the sky.
They followed a specific path, assembling into a nearly hundred-meter-tall ice tombstone, glowing white.
Emblazoned on the ice tombstone were two ancient characters: Qu Jing.
The moment those characters surfaced on the tombstone, Qu Jing, under his umbrella amidst the snowy forest, felt a terrifying unease in his soul.
It was as if his soul was trapped in an icy prison.
The towering ice tombstone, an iceberg wreathed in endless cold light, suddenly plummeted down.
Boom!
The horrifying impact of the tombstone's landing sent a shockwave through the forest, causing the already ice-encased trees to burst apart.
Ice dust filled the sky, falling like hail in a heavy snowstorm.
The strike leveled the forest where Qu Jing had taken refuge.
All the duplicates of Qu Jing, conjured from his vitality and remnant soul through mystique, perished in the aftermath.
His externalized remnant soul and vitality were irretrievable.
Indeed, Qu Jing had been grievously wounded.
In the now frozen, flattened forest, amidst scattered ice crystals, Qu Jing lay exposed and alone.
The elaborate concealments, the crafted illusions, the false stand-ins—all were gone.
Crack!
Yu Yuan's foot came down, shattering the ice beneath him. Clutching his sword sheath, he had already stowed the soul puppet in the Cosmos Ring. "Against absolute power, your Spectral Umbrella's fabricated spectacle is laughable."
Qu Jing's eyes, perpetually half-closed as if caught between sleep and wakefulness, were heavy with gravity.
"Qi Yunhong, that mad dog..."
In that moment, he inwardly cursed Qi Yunhong.
Inside the Illusion Orb, the Soulsear Bolt, refined by the artifact soul, had consumed Qi Yunhong's Solar Spirit shards. It had the potential to restrain the Frost Queen within that peculiar little world.
Every Bane within the Crucible of Evil would be reduced to dust under the might of the Soulsear Bolt.
Yet, he stood a notch above Yu Yuan, armed with the Spectral Umbrella and additional artifacts at his disposal.
He was confident that, without the Crucible of Evil as Yu Yuan's greatest asset, even if Yu Yuan were to find him in the little world, he wouldn't stand a chance against him.
But Qi Yunhong, in his madness, chose to obliterate everything in a self-destructive act.
The Illusion Orb lay in pieces, the Soulsear Bolt spent, and the artifact soul extinguished.
He was without an ally of the Frost Queen's caliber, whose strength rivaled that of a Solar Spirit.
Whoosh!
Qu Jing twisted the handle of the Spectral Umbrella, and swathes of darkness unfurled, swallowing the light in an ominous fashion, expanding the dominion of shadow in this crystalline, frigid realm.
"It started with the Scarlet Dunes, followed by the Midnightshields. You, Qu Jing, have brought this upon yourself."
As the dark energy spread, Yu Yuan speculated, "Your ties with Mo Yan of the Devil Palace are indeed strong. As the chosen of the Ethereal Void Sect, your Spectral Umbrella harbors a current of dark energy."
"However..."
His voice trailed off as he exchanged a knowing glance with the Frost Queen.
Crack!
The massive ice tombstone, bearing the name "Qu Jing," split the earth as it soared hundreds of meters into the sky before thunderously crashing down.
It landed in the region of darkness, created by the dark energy emanating from the Spectral Umbrella.
Boom!
The earth trembled as myriads of icy spikes darted chaotically within the darkened zone.
The colossal ice tombstone shattered into innumerable frigid streams, assaulting the domain of darkness with a force surpassing its rank by leaps and bounds, shattering the shadows with overwhelming power.
In a flash, the darkness dissipated, leaving Qu Jing, clutching his dark umbrella, marred by numerous fine lacerations.
The wounds, permeated by the icy current, bled not a drop.
The Spectral Umbrella, too, was infiltrated by the icy flow, now coated in a delicate layer of frost.
Yu Yuan needed no further investigation to realize that the little world within the Spectral Umbrella had transformed into a harsh, icy landscape, much like the surrounding woods.
"I, ka-ka..."
As Qu Jing began to speak, his teeth clattered against each other, crunching the layer of ice that had formed over his mouth.
His hair and eyebrows were encased in ice as well.
Even his Mindscape had succumbed to the frost.
"At the late period of the Lunar Spirit Realm, it's unsurprising to encounter a Bane with the strength of a Solar Spirit and the aura of the Frozen Hellscape."
Yu Yuan, reflecting briefly, grasped his sword sheath and thrust it towards Qu Jing's forehead.
"Spiritrend!"
A burst of crimson sword light, infused with Yu Yuan's spiritual energy, vitality, and remnant soul, along with the force of the Shadow Moon Essence, shot instantly into Qu Jing's mind.
As the sword light seeped in, Yu Yuan thought he could hear the soul's agonized wailing.
In a mere moment, Qu Jing's head burst open like a watermelon hitting the ground, his blood spraying out only to be frozen into red crystals by the ice power.
With the Spiritrend, Qu Jing was undoubtedly dead; his Lunar Spirit, Dominant Soul, and Lifesoul were completely eradicated.
"Huh!"
Yu Yuan could almost sense the dispersing remnant soul of Qu Jing, which began to dissolve immediately.
It transformed into invisible wisps of smoke that seeped into the earth.
"Does it all converge towards the Root of the Lunar Meridian deep underground, then flow into the source of the Lunar Meridian in the Land of Terror through some arcane and mysterious pathways?" Yu Yuan had an epiphany. "Is it because my Lunar Spirit underwent a transformation in the Land of Terror that I have this peculiar perception?"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
With Qu Jing's demise, the icy blue cold fog converged towards the Frost Queen, who hovered in midair.
As the fog ascended and dissipated, the forest, once frozen solid by the ice power, gradually warmed to its original temperature.
Yet, it could never revert to its former shape.
The trees lay shattered, the insects were eradicated, and the earth was marred with deep gashes as if carved by a formidable sword...
Shortly thereafter, the Frost Queen collected the released cold energy and gracefully bowed to Yu Yuan from above.
"Thank you for your efforts." Yu Yuan acknowledged with a smile and a nod.
The Frost Queen offered no verbal reply, but a beam of blue light flickered in her icy gaze before she retreated back into the little world within the cauldron.
Scattered among the wood chips and broken branches on the ground, there lay Qu Jing's decapitated body and the frost-covered Spectral Umbrella. Only the Frost Queen knew the full extent of the umbrella's power, and she hadn't unleashed it all.
The lingering frost indicated that, even after its owner's death, the formidable black umbrella was still suffering from the residual effects of the Frost Queen's ice power. Yu Yuan could almost see the young man shivering amidst the icy landscape within the umbrella.
"Spectral Umbrella..." he murmured, grasping the handle and with a mere thought, he stowed it away in the Cosmos Ring.
As he was about to examine Qu Jing's remains, Qi Yunhong swooped in, landing abruptly on the ground.
"He's... he's dead?" Qi Yunhong's eyes widened as he first glanced at Qu Jing's headless body before turning to Yu Yuan with a piercing gaze. "Master, you killed Qu Jing? Do you realize that he was the heir apparent to the leadership of the Ethereal Void Sect?"
"Yes," Yu Yuan simply nodded.
"Master, this is quite..." Qi Yunhong's voice strained, "This is quite reckless! By killing Qu Jing, the Ethereal Void Sect won't just stand by. Even I, who have long coveted the Spectral Umbrella, wouldn't dare to provoke them. I never imagined it would be you..."
His concern for Yu Yuan was evident. Knowing that Qin Yun had the situation under control with the Midnightshields, he had hurried over at Qin Yun's behest, only to arrive at the scene of Qu Jing's demise.
"This umbrella is of no use to me." Yu Yuan retrieved the Spectral Umbrella from the Cosmos Ring and tossed it nonchalantly to Qi Yunhong, adding, "Qu Jing likely had many possessions that belong to you. Go ahead, take a look and claim what's yours."
"For me?" Qi Yunhong was taken aback.
Both the Spectral Umbrella and the Illusion Orb were heavenly-grade artifacts. Qi Yunhong was well-versed in their refinement. With the lessons from his past experience, he knew that if he were to refine the Spectral Umbrella again, he would impose numerous dark restrictions on the artifact soul, ensuring the young man's form within it could never betray him.
Yu Yuan was correct; after his misfortune, most of the treasures he had accumulated over the years had indeed ended up in Qu Jing's hands.
Now, Yu Yuan had not only given him the opportunity to return the items to their rightful owner, but he also presented the possibility of a significant additional reward!
"They are all yours now," Yu Yuan reiterated.
After a moment of silence, Qi Yunhong bowed deeply to Yu Yuan and expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, Master!"
