196: Han Li's shock

Before Lin Feng finished speaking, a bone-chilling pressure suddenly descended.

The air seemed to solidify, and even the swirling snow around them froze in that instant.

Beside Leng Senior Apprentice, the space subtly warped, and a figure dressed in a moon-white Daoist robe quietly appeared, as if he had been standing there all along.

The newcomer was an old man with white hair and beard, a gaunt face, and half-closed eyes. He exuded no fluctuations of Magic Power, yet he gave off the illusion of being as stable as a mountain, one with the Universe.

He simply stood there, and the wind and snow of the entire ice plain seemed to bow before him.

"Master!"

When Leng Senior Apprentice saw the old man, her eyes instantly lit up with wild joy. She clutched the old man's arm and began to cry out in distress.

"Master! You must do justice for your disciple!"

"That Bai Yaoyi colluded with outsiders, not only humiliating your disciple in public but also striking me! Look at my face!"

She raised her swollen face, the five-finger print on it shockingly clear.

This white-robed old man was precisely the Grand Elder of Xiao Ji Palace, Han Li Supreme Matriarch.

She had been in seclusion in her Immortal Cave, diligently seeking to Breakthrough her Soul Transformation Stage Bottleneck, when she suddenly sensed that the protective token she had given her beloved disciple had been activated.

She thought her disciple was facing a life-and-death crisis, and so, not hesitating to expend Origin Qi, she tore through space to arrive.

Han Li Supreme Matriarch lowered her gaze, her eyes lingering for a moment on the slap mark on her disciple's face, then slowly raised them, looking towards Xiao Senior Apprentice.

Her gaze was calm and unruffled, yet it carried an undeniable authority.

"Xiao family boy, were these slaps dealt by those two?"

Xiao Senior Apprentice had intended to report the full story, but when he met Han Li Supreme Matriarch's unmoving eyes, his heart suddenly thumped.

A chill originating from the depths of his Soul made him swallow all explanations.

He swallowed with difficulty and bowed, replying, "Reporting to Elder, it is so."

Upon confirmation, Han Li Supreme Matriarch's gaze finally fell upon Bai Yaoyi, her eyes instantly turning icy cold.

As for Lin Feng, who stood behind Bai Yaoyi, she merely glanced at him casually before completely ignoring him.

In her Divine Thought, that was merely a Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator with a restrained Aura, not even worthy of a second glance.

"Bai Yaoyi."

Han Li Supreme Matriarch's voice was not loud, but it was like the deepest ice, chilling to the bone.

"Having left the sect for decades, you showed no ambition, and upon your return, you immediately stirred up trouble and harmed a fellow disciple."

"It seems you should spend several decades in the ice prison to clear your head!"

Before she finished speaking, she gave Bai Yaoyi no chance to explain, casually raising her withered right hand and grasping towards Bai Yaoyi in the air.

Buzz!

A giant ice palm, condensed from pure Magic Power, instantly formed in the air, covering the sky and sun, descending upon Bai Yaoyi with an Aura that could suppress everything.

With this strike, she did not intend to kill, but merely to capture Bai Yaoyi alive.

"Master is mighty!"

Leng Senior Apprentice watched the giant palm descending from the sky, her eyes filled with malicious glee and resentment, as if she could already see Bai Yaoyi being suppressed to the ground, kneeling and begging for mercy in a miserable state.

However, in the next moment.

A scene that made everyone present's scalp tingle occurred.

Just as the giant ice palm was about to touch the hem of Bai Yaoyi's clothes, a silver light flashed and disappeared without warning.

It was so fast it seemed like an illusion.

"Pfft."

A soft, muffled sound.

The giant ice palm, which had covered the sky, disintegrated in the air, turning into a shower of ice shards.

And the arm that Han Li Supreme Matriarch had extended was severed at the wrist, along a smooth, mirror-like cut!

The severed arm arced through the air, and with a "thud," it fell onto the hard profound ice, making a grating, crisp sound.

Blood gushed out.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

Leng Senior Apprentice's smile froze.

Xiao Senior Apprentice's mouth hung open in shock, his eyes almost popping out.

Han Li Supreme Matriarch herself turned pale, her body swayed slightly, and her eyes were filled with disbelief.

She slowly lowered her head, looked at her empty right arm, then at the severed hand on the ground, completely stunned.

She hadn't even felt pain until now, when the excruciating pain washed over her like a tide.

"Ah!"

A suppressed groan of pain escaped her throat.

She suddenly raised her head, her eyes no longer holding any trace of contempt, and stared intently at the black-robed man she had been ignoring.

Only now did she realize with horror that the other party was not some minor Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator.

Although the man's Aura was still restrained, his deep eyes held a hint of amusement and mockery.

In his hand, a simple, ancient-looking longsword had appeared at some point.

This was a great Cultivator whose cultivation was definitely not beneath her own!

A monstrous wave surged in Han Li Supreme Matriarch's heart, and a chill shot from the soles of her feet straight to her head.

She had actually ignored such an existence, and even tried to capture his female companion right in front of him?

An endless bitterness welled up in Han Li Supreme Matriarch's heart.

To prepare for her Breakthrough to Soul Transformation, she had been in seclusion for a hundred years, her state of mind already as calm as an ancient well. Yet today, because of this good-for-nothing disciple, not only was she publicly severed an arm, but more importantly, her vital essence was damaged, and she didn't know how many years it would take to recover.

This was big trouble now.

She looked at the mocking gaze of the other party, then glanced at the terrified Xiao boy and her disciple beside her, and for a moment, she didn't know how to resolve the situation.

Should she just stop?

She, the dignified Grand Elder of Xiao Ji Palace, had her arm severed by a sword in front of two juniors. If she were to swallow her pride like this, what face would she have left? How could she maintain her standing in the palace in the future?

But if she didn't stop...

The unfathomable strength of the other party left her with no confidence of victory.

Thinking of this, Han Li Supreme Matriarch's eyes changed several times, and finally, a hint of mad ruthlessness surged into her eyes.

She could not retreat!

"Ah--"

Han Li Supreme Matriarch let out a roar of anger, and the flesh at her severed wrist wriggled. Under the urging of Magic Power, a new arm visibly regenerated at a rapid pace.

At the same time, her intact left hand quickly formed an arcane hand seal.

"Buzz!"

A fist-sized ball of flame, emitting a faint blue light, rose from her palm.

As soon as this flame appeared, the surrounding temperature plummeted to a terrifying freezing point, and even space itself seemed to freeze.

The flame grew with the wind, instantly transforming into a several-zhang-long blue fire snake, coiling above Han Li Supreme Matriarch's head. Its forked tongue flickered, exuding a destructive Aura.

Xiao Ji Palace's unique secret technique—Qianlan Ice Flame!

"Qing!"

When Bai Yaoyi saw the blue fire snake, her pretty face instantly lost all color. Her heart was filled with anxiety, and she quickly sent a Divine Thought message to Lin Feng.

"This is our palace's secret technique, the Qianlan Ice Flame, it burns everything and freezes everything! Once a Cultivator's Physical Body is touched by it, they will immediately be frozen into an ice sculpture, and even their Nascent Soul won't be able to escape! You must be extremely careful!"

Lin Feng, however, seemed not to have heard her warning.

He turned his head and gave Bai Yaoyi a comforting smile, then casually put away the longsword.

This action instantly plunged Bai Yaoyi's heart to rock bottom.

To face the Qianlan Ice Flame bare-handed?

Was he mad?

"Go!"

Seeing Lin Feng put away his Magic Treasure, a hint of joy flashed in Han Li Supreme Matriarch's eyes. She pointed a finger without hesitation.

The blue fire snake let out a silent hiss, transforming into a blue stream of light, tearing through the Void Realm, carrying a terrifying chill capable of freezing everything, and biting towards Lin Feng.

Facing this world-destroying strike, Lin Feng merely raised his hand, seemingly mimicking Han Li Supreme Matriarch's earlier gesture, and slowly formed a hand seal.

The next moment, a peculiar flame, only the size of a fingernail, interwoven with black, blue, and gold, leisurely bloomed on his index fingertip.

He flicked his finger.

The small three-colored flame floated lightly, meeting the menacing blue fire snake.

"Courting death!"

Han Li Supreme Matriarch was overjoyed at the sight.

She simply thought Lin Feng had never seen the power of the Qianlan Ice Flame, and foolishly attempted to block it with such a ridiculous, tiny, strange flame.

However, in the next instant.

The wild joy on her face completely froze.

When the small three-colored flame collided with the head of the blue fire snake, there was no earth-shattering explosion.

The small flame was like a drop of ink falling into clear water.

It easily merged into the head of the Qianlan Ice Flame's snake, and then...

The entire blue fire snake, composed of the Qianlan Ice Flame, suddenly trembled.

Han Li Supreme Matriarch discovered with horror that her Divine Thought connection with the Qianlan Ice Flame was, in that instant, forcibly severed by an incredibly overbearing power!

"No!"

She cried out in alarm.

After devouring the snake's head, the eerie three-colored flame seemed to have gained a great supplement, and its flames surged violently.

It spread, devoured, and fused along the fire snake's body with an unstoppable momentum!

The originally pure blue fire snake began to develop black and gold patterns on its body, which spread rapidly.

In just the blink of an eye, the several-zhang-long blue fire snake had completely vanished.

In its place was a ball of fiercely burning, black, blue, and gold three-colored flame, suspended in mid-air, several times larger than before!

This fire was precisely the Asura Holy Fire that Lin Feng had refined for decades in his Inner Universe.