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Chapter 333: Ice and Sword

The members of the Hunting Team instinctively raised their guns and fired at the ice spikes.

Even under the weak moonlight, they achieved an extremely surprising hit rate, shattering many ice spikes with bullets during their ascent, causing crackling explosions. This was as difficult as hitting a tossed coin from a hundred meters!

But there were just too many of them.

It seemed as long as there was a water source, these slender ice spikes would continuously emerge. When the first batch of ice spikes rose to five or six meters, they suddenly attacked everyone in the courtyard, their speed as fast as bullets!

The crackling explosion sounds were incessant—that was the sonic boom caused when ice spikes exceeded the speed of sound.

Not good!

Fu Jiaolu barely managed to raise his hand before being covered by a dense array of ice spikes, the immense impact forcing him to tumble back continuously until he hit an artificial hill.

Pain, cold, and numbness simultaneously emanated from all parts of his body.

The Purifying Heart Technique quickly absorbed surrounding Spiritual Qi to maintain his body’s normal operation. He didn’t need to look down to know where he was injured: a fractured leg, four broken ribs, three penetrating wounds on the abdomen and arm. If he hadn’t been infused with Dragon Blood or learned the Lotus Cloud Sect’s spells, he would likely be dead by now.

The pain was quickly diminishing, proof that the Living Dead was taking effect. Fu Jiaolu continued shooting with his still mobile hand while pulling a Blood Orange from his waist pouch to apply to himself.

Two more rockets were fired, temporarily delaying the enemy’s attack with explosions and shrapnel, but failing to interrupt this spell. A second wave of ice spikes had already accumulated into a dense matrix in the air.

Just as they were about to be launched, countless sword lights suddenly tore through the sky, as if slicing the night into millions of fragments!

The densely packed ice spikes were completely shattered, with not a single complete one remaining.

Fu Jiaolu slightly exhaled in relief, reinforcements had arrived.

"You all fall back," said a white-haired woman wearing a bamboo hat, holding a long sword as she walked into the fray, "I’ll handle these people."

"Thank you, ma’am."

Fu Jiaolu seized the opportunity to drag his injured companion from the edge of the courtyard. Although many Hunting Team members were knocked down by ice spikes, none were killed.

"Hmm?" Someone exclaimed softly, "Did I go too easy?"

"Hard to say, maybe your strength is just that limited?" Liuli adjusted her bamboo hat slightly, looking at the figure sitting above the South Gate—a woman radiating a chilling aura. Her face was exquisitely sculpted like a masterpiece of ice and snow, her skin white as snow, seemingly molded in the cold of winter, exuding a transcendent coolness.

If ice and snow could take human form, this person would be their embodiment.

"Looks good, but a bit too cold," Liuli remarked playfully.

"And who are you?" the woman looked at her, her displeased gaze almost freezing, "You’re not in the intelligence records, are you a newly emerged Wanderer?"

Though she had an Asian face, she used English.

"I’m Liuli, what about you?"

Liuli replied in the same language. She wasn’t in the mood to lie but worried that revealing she wasn’t a Wanderer might weaken the woman’s fighting spirit, she preferred to simply ignore her question.

"You can call me Lin." The woman was momentarily surprised, then frowned as she answered, "If you’re not a Wanderer wanted by the organization, you can still surrender. As a shelter and protection institution for Ability Users, we won’t—"

A sword shadow descended.

The head of another Mechanical Officer squatting at the South Gate flew off, blood from his neck spurting high into the air.

"Oh dear, am I wanted now?" Liuli displayed an apologetic smile, "Or should... one not be enough?"

This insane scene left everyone present gasping in shock.

Lin was furious, the white mist in the air instantly turned into a blizzard, "As expected, you Wanderers are an unforgivable scum! I declare you condemned to die on behalf of the Arbitration Court!"

Liuli responded without hesitation, directly drawing her sword to strike at the South Gate.

The gate crashed down, but Lin flew up with the snowstorm.

At the same time, the courtyard’s temperature plummeted rapidly, Liuli found her clothes instantly frozen like paper, and a layer of delicate ice crystals formed on her skin.

She unleashed the Space Slash again, countless sword lights woven across most of the courtyard like a net.

Her opponent, surprisingly agile, weaved through the sword lights like the wind, not a single blow landing on her.

But the supporting Mechanical Officers of Lin were doomed.

Fine threads brought into reality again severed several Ability Users attacking, the low temperature seemed able to distinguish between friend and foe, not widely hindering their movements, but even the healthy ones struggled to adapt to Liuli’s high-frequency Sword Thousand Threads attack.

However, Liuli’s movements grew increasingly sluggish.

After her first sword swing, she didn’t sheathe her sword, holding it semi-raised—not that she didn’t want to, merely bending her arm was incredibly difficult. She noticed numerous slender ice crystals emerging from her hands, seemingly growing from within her body.

So that’s how it is...

Is she trying to freeze all her blood?

This move is indeed quite impressive.

"I can control the trajectory of the cold current, from creating a storm to invading someone’s body," Lin’s icy voice carried with the wind, "You can’t shut your ears, nostrils, or countless pores on your skin. The cold will transform your bodily fluids into ice crystals, piercing your joints, organs, ultimately bursting you entirely. This process will be quite painful, I hope you appreciate the power of low temperatures."

Liuli didn’t answer, she could no longer move, even her mouth was pierced by ice crystals, tongue stuck to the palate.

Lin waved her hand, several ice spikes rose from the water, thrusting toward the frozen "Wanderer" at the spot.

Her body wasn’t as sharp as a sword.

With a couple of plunks, ice spikes stabbed through her heart and spine from front and back.

The blood didn’t even flow out.

It had long turned into crystalline powder inside.

Lin ceased her ability, taking a deep breath—the move was effective but quite exhausting. Creating a cold area that froze everyone to death, and summoning a winter storm had similar levels of consumption, she hadn’t used this move against a single Ability User for a long while.

The raging snowstorm gradually subsided, she slowly descended to the ground. In less than five minutes, the courtyard seemed to have regressed from early spring to deep winter, the grass covered with thick snow, the walkways and pavilion eaves hung with translucent icicles.

"She’s dead." The assisting officer examined Liuli’s state: she maintained a single-handed sword grip, the other hand lightly holding her bamboo hat, still appearing ready to strike. But her joints were frozen with ice crystals, skin pierced with countless holes... not to mention her heart and spine fatally damaged, standing only because she hadn’t thawed.

"She asked for it," Lin commented in disgust.

This person was insane, taking pleasure in killing.

Although Xiao Canong advised capturing alive if possible, she didn’t want people like her to stay alive.

"Move forward, our target is beyond Cyan Grass Hall—" halfway through speaking, she was suddenly taken aback by horror, the supposedly frozen person smiling at her! Her cracked skin revealed blood-stained lips like a demon from Hell smiling!

How can she... not be dead?

Lin felt her heart stop, as if she was the one truly frozen. She tried her best to open her mouth, wanting to warn the officers beside her, but the next second sword brilliance exploded, Liuli grasped the sword handle with both hands, lunging forward to stab her forehead with the still icy sword!

This time there was no wind-driven dodge.

Her body instinctively retreated, but the sword moved faster, the sharp tip penetrating her forehead, brain, skull... piercing her head through!