Ice Toxin

As Xue Ji spoke, a faintly acrid, icy aura had already begun to spread, radiating from the hotel's epicenter. The subtle stench, carried by the evening breeze, slowly permeated across the entire Battle God Isle...

Du Chen, confident in the protective embrace of his Lotus Internal Force, feared no malevolent entities like the Undead virus. He inhaled a shallow breath. "It's an ice-elemental toxin, not particularly potent. Just instruct the priests to prepare some powerful fire-elemental medicines and..."

Xue Ji vehemently shook her head, cutting him off. "I'll explain later! Quick, we must combine our powers to conjure a fierce gale and disperse this aura. Any delay will render the situation irreversible!"

Du Chen had never seen his fiancée so frantic. He nodded. "A fierce gale, you say? No need to combine forces!" As he spoke, he drew forth the invisible Wind Source from the Fifth Trigram. A torrential gale suddenly materialized, savagely sweeping across Battle God Isle, utterly dispelling the acrid stench.

Yet, at the epicenter of the explosion, many had inadvertently inhaled the aura. Shortly after Du Chen dispersed the gale, near the hotel, people began to fall, "thump, thump," one after another. Faintly, from the sky, Du Chen heard the cries of children: "Grandpa... please, get up!" "Grandma, don't die!"

Looking out across the vista, with the collapsed hotel as the epicenter, people in four to five surrounding city blocks had collapsed. The hotel was situated in the most prosperous city-center of Battle God Isle. Four to five blocks might not sound extensive, but considering the sheer vibrancy and density of these districts... in that brief instant, over ten thousand individuals had fallen!

Such was the devastating power of a Tenth-rank Battle God's desperate ultimate move, and this was after its potency had already been significantly weakened by Du Chen and Xue Ji, two Eleventh-Tier Masters!

Du Chen's brow furrowed tightly, and he rubbed his nose in exasperation. What was happening? He had clearly dispersed the toxin, so why were so many still collapsing?

Xue Ji stomped her foot heavily. "Alas, it's still too late! If only we had known this Ice Toxin would appear, we could have saved them by combining our efforts immediately!" Her face was a mask of sorrow and regret as she gazed pitifully at the fallen civilians below. She abruptly turned to Du Chen. "Whatever you do, do NOT use Lotus Holy Light! Follow my instructions, quickly!"

Du Chen was taken aback once more. Why couldn't he use the Holy Light that had saved countless lives!?

The figure of the elder Zigurd shot into the sky. His hoarse voice seethed with boundless fury. "Damn it! From this moment forth, the entire isle is under martial law! All ice-elemental Masters on the island are to immediately report to the city-center hotel and await my command!" As he spoke, the elder had already flown to Du Chen's side. He urged sharply, "Francis, say nothing, ask nothing. You and Xue Ji are the strongest ice-elemental Masters on the isle. Obey my orders at once..."

Du Chen nodded, perplexed, but Xue Ji had already begun to act. She ascended slowly into the sky, her eyes gently closing. Her hands blossomed forth with layers of ethereal illusions, like the petals of an Imperial Pineapple Flower. For a moment, she danced beneath the moonlight like a thousand-armed celestial maiden, indistinguishable from the luminous moon in the night sky. Suddenly, Xue Ji's myriad hands converged into one, and she pressed softly downwards, uttering softly, "Ice Moon Dance!"

A resounding *crack*! An entire city block was instantly encased in ice and snow. Buildings, market stalls, trees... even the unconscious people! All were covered in a thick layer of frost!

Zigurd cast an approving glance at Xue Ji. "Good. Since you know how to deal with this Ice Toxin, join forces with this old man. Francis, you too. The three of us will freeze the entire city district!" He paused, then added with a complex expression, "Use every last drop of battle qi you have. The more thoroughly frozen, the better. Hold nothing back!"

The situation was critical. Du Chen and Xue Ji, their hearts heavy with concern for the populace, paid no heed to the complex expression on Zigurd's face as he uttered his final words. They certainly didn't grasp the hidden meaning behind it: *'You two strongest Masters should first exhaust your battle qi. That way, no one will be able to pursue Third Brother...'*

Zigurd, Du Chen, and Xue Ji—one Tenth-rank, two Eleventh-Tier, all experts in water and ice-elemental arts. Together, the trio swiftly froze all the districts afflicted by the toxin. The over ten thousand unconscious civilians were all turned into blocks of ice!

Seeing the desolate, icy landscape before him, Zigurd let out a long sigh of relief and slumped weakly to the ground. Immediately, attendants rushed to help him up!

Du Chen gazed at the fantastical ice-scape with confusion. He urgently called out, "Master, you cannot rest yet! No matter who is behind this, the culprit could not possibly escape a thousand li away in such a short time. Please, quickly summon the Tyran Beast Roxane to track them!"

Zigurd froze, then waved his hand feebly. "I too wish to use Roxane to track them, but she... she cannot move right now!"

Du Chen stiffened. He then asked, "What about Roxane's daughter, Shiri? That little one should also possess the ability to track for a hundred li!"

Zigurd gave a wry smile. "Shiri was... gifted to an old friend of mine."

Du Chen rubbed the tip of his nose fiercely. *'Heavens, both of Battle God Isle's premier trackers are unavailable...'*. "Fifth Brother, since both Tyran Beasts are currently indisposed, search the entire island for me. Should you find anyone suspicious, no matter who they are, immediately engage and hold them!"

Although Dus's tracking abilities couldn't compare to a Tyran Beast's, at this moment, his "thermal vision" ability was far better than nothing!

Zigurd then added, "Francis, I still need to direct the rescue efforts. You and Xue Ji should rest for a bit and check on the two children. Xue Ji understands the Ice Toxin's perils; if you have any questions, ask her!"

Du Chen nodded, and, supporting the weakened Xue Ji, whose battle qi was depleted, he walked towards the hotel to find the two children.

Along the way, Xue Ji explained with a wry smile, "Good thing you didn't rush to use Lotus Holy Light just now. Otherwise... who knows how many more people would have died!"

Du Chen asked, puzzled, "How could my Holy Light harm people? What exactly is this 'Ice Toxin' you speak of?"

Xue Ji glanced at the frozen, desolate landscape ahead, opened her mouth as if to speak, then shook her head, seemingly unsure where to begin. After a long moment, she frowned and asked, "If someone were abandoned in a world of ice and snow, enduring the harsh blizzards... what would happen to them?"

Du Chen was startled. "Without battle qi protection, their Life Energy would naturally wane until they froze to death!"

Xue Ji nodded. "Divine Emperor Prince once said that the energy within nature is conserved; for every decrease, there must be an increase. It's the same for those who freeze to death in the ice and snow. Though Life Energy leaves their body, it doesn't dissipate immediately. What if someone were to use plant-elemental power to absorb that Life Energy?"

Du Chen pursed his lips. "That person would undoubtedly prosper! That's pure Life Force; absorbing even a breath of it would be akin to years of arduous cultivation!" Suddenly, Du Chen realized something. "You mean to say..."

"Precisely! During the Heroic Era, someone leveraged this principle to develop a Secret Technique called 'Wind-Snow Thorns'. To put it simply, it manipulates an opponent's life by using water-elemental properties to alter temperature and plant-elemental powers to transfer Life Energy..."

Du Chen exclaimed in shock, "This Secret Technique is utterly malicious! It's practically absorbing others' lives to augment one's own power!"

Xue Ji shook her head. "Divine Emperor Prince once stated that Secret Techniques possess no inherent good or evil; righteousness and villainy lie solely within the practitioner's heart! 'Wind-Snow Thorns' is no different... Initially, its founder merely used ice and snow to stimulate bodily potential, simultaneously absorbing Life Energy from plants to shield themselves from freezing to death. This allowed cultivators to gain strength in a short period that others might take decades, or even a century, to acquire! However, this method demanded incredibly stringent requirements from its users. It's said that for every thousand who attempted 'Wind-Snow Thorns', only one survived to master the Secret Technique!"

Du Chen secretly clicked his tongue in amazement. Who would cultivate such a Secret Technique? That was sheer madness!

Xue Ji continued, "However, later inheritors of 'Wind-Snow Thorns' found the Secret Technique too perilous, so they simply modified it slightly, transforming it into a malevolent Secret Technique that absorbed others' Life Energy to augment one's own power..."

"That recent Ice Toxin explosion was an application of 'Wind-Snow Thorns'. The victims were ostensibly 'poisoned', but in reality, their Life Energy rapidly vanished due to the ice and snow. In other words, even if they ultimately perished from the Ice Toxin, it would be due to the exhaustion of their Life Energy, thus reaching their natural end! Therefore, your Lotus Holy Light would be entirely ineffective; in fact, it might stimulate the victims' bodies, triggering their remaining energy and causing them to die even faster!"

Du Chen nodded helplessly, finally understanding that Zigurd's and Xue Ji's actions earlier were indeed the correct course—while there was no immediate way to restore the victims' Life Energy, they could be frozen to prevent its further dissipation!

"Alas, 'Wind-Snow Thorns' is actually not that difficult to counteract..." Xue Ji sighed. "If only it had been discovered earlier, merely a wind-elemental Master of corresponding cultivation, or even a military formation of several thousand elite soldiers, could have dispersed the toxin harmlessly. Unfortunately... we discovered it too late!"

Xue Ji spoke remorsefully, "Those civilians at the explosion's core still inhaled some of the toxin. We can only freeze them for now and then try to find a way to rescue them! But 'Wind-Snow Thorns' targets Life Energy. Even His Majesty, the Divine Emperor, cannot defy fate and extend the lifespan of those whose Life Energy has run its course!"

Du Chen consoled her, "No one is to blame for this. We managed to suppress the explosion in time and confine the toxin to just a few core blocks, which is already a commendable feat... What's wrong?"

Xue Ji suddenly gasped, covering her mouth. "Do you remember the strange individual we saw in front of Master's residence that day? I hadn't realized it then, but now that I think about it, that person was a practitioner of 'Wind-Snow Thorns'! However, he couldn't balance the powers of ice and Life Energy, which is why his entire body exuded an oppressive chill, constantly emitting ice and snow!"

Du Chen's expression shifted. "So you're saying, the culprit is..."