152: Phoenix rises from the ashes, freezing the desolate land!

Inside the coffee shop, frost covered the ground.

Su Wanqing leaned against the ice wall, breathing heavily, every inhale causing intense pain in her left shoulder.

She forcefully suppressed the metallic sweetness in her throat and struggled to stand up.

She had to leave immediately! Reinforcements were two hours away, and those lunatics from the Apocalypse Society could return at any moment.

Dragging her injured leg, she pushed open the ice-sealed door and staggered outside.

Just as she stepped out of the coffee shop, a chill—not from her own ability, but a shudder originating from the depths of her Soul—gripped her!

Ahead, a figure stood silently, having appeared at some unknown time.

The man wore no mask; his face was refined, and he was dressed in a proper trench coat, looking like a scholar who had just left a concert.

He ignored the wreckage behind him, as well as the signal amplifier frozen into a block of ice.

His gaze fell upon the just-emerged Su Wanqing, as if he were admiring a piece of art... that was slightly flawed.

"Dragon Shield Bureau, 'Ice Phoenix' Su Wanqing."

The man spoke, his voice gentle.

"C-rank Peak, Ice Element Controller. Not long ago, you were handling the aftermath of the Secret Realm in Donghu Mountain."

"Yet now you appear here, and conveniently 'damaged' quite a few of our 'valuable' items."

He smiled, as if reminiscing with an old friend.

But Su Wanqing's heart sank to the bottom.

Tianshu!

A B-rank Expert marked as "Extremely Dangerous" in the internal files of the Dragon Shield Bureau!

"How could you..." Su Wanqing's voice was hoarse.

"The live feed cut out, so I had to come and see which step went wrong," Tianshu said unhurriedly, glancing inside. His leather shoes made a light 'crunch' as they stepped on the ice shards.

He looked at the few pools of blood on the ground that had merged with the frost.

"One person killed four C-ranks and destroyed the signal node."

"Tsk."

He shook his head, his tone laced with approval, yet mixed with regret.

"As expected of the Phoenix of the Yanjing Su Family. What a pity, you followed the wrong master."

Before his words finished, Su Wanqing moved!

She did not choose to run.

She knew that turning to flee in front of a B-rank Expert was the most foolish choice.

She squeezed the last bit of energy from her body and slammed her right hand onto the ground!

"Ice Spike Thicket!"

Crackle, crackle, crackle—!

Dozens of ice spikes, taller than a person and sharp as a Sharp Sword, shot out from the ground beneath Tianshu's feet!

Having done all this, Su Wanqing didn't wait for the result; she turned and rushed into the distance!

However, the moment her body moved, a massive force choked her throat!

She was forcefully frozen in place, her limbs hanging limply.

Tianshu's voice came from behind her.

"A decent tactical decision. Unfortunately, in the face of power, it is meaningless."

Su Wanqing struggled to look back.

She saw that all the ice spikes had stopped, less than an inch from Tianshu's body.

Tianshu merely extended a finger and flicked it lightly.

"Pop."

The sky full of ice spikes instantly turned into dust.

"Pfft—!"

Su Wanqing felt a heavy blow, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Her body was violently slammed against the wall by the invisible force before dropping to the ground.

A few more bones seemed to have broken.

"Why bother?"

Tianshu slowly walked up to her, looking down with a face full of confusion.

"Is it for those penned-up sheep? Or for the Dragon Shield Bureau's ridiculous 'order'?"

"Is it worth fighting so desperately?"

Su Wanqing lay prone on the ground, her vision starting to blur, but her gaze remained resolute.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Oh?" Tianshu became interested. He squatted down, meeting Su Wanqing's eyes. "Then I'd like to hear what your conviction is."

Su Wanqing smiled, the blood spilling from the corner of her mouth making her smile appear tragic yet manic.

"My conviction is to send all of you self-righteous lunatics... straight to Hell!"

Boom!

A Phoenix cry sounded from the depths of her Soul!

An aura of extreme cold, several times more violent than before, transformed into countless ice-blue Phoenix feathers, swirling around her!

The wound on her left shoulder was covered by ice crystals, and the blood froze.

In the center of her brow, a blue Phoenix totem came alive, radiating arrogance and majesty!

Ice Phoenix Bloodline!

The smile on Tianshu's face froze, and his eyes narrowed.

"Burning her Bloodline to exchange for instantaneous qualitative change... an interesting woman."

He maintained his composure, raised his hand, and casually made a grasping motion toward the swirling ice feathers.

He naturally assumed that any C-rank energy would be as fragile as a bubble before his Law.

However, those ice-blue Phoenix feathers did not dissipate as he expected!

They actually ignored the "Stripping" Law he had set, bypassed his palm, and covered the arm he had extended!

"Hiss, hiss, hiss—"

A layer of profound ice rapidly spread, freezing his entire right arm!

What was more terrifying was that the chill was not merely low temperature, but a cold of annihilation, frantically eroding his energy and vitality!

"Bastard!"

Tianshu's expression suddenly changed. He never imagined he would be injured by a C-rank ant!

This was a monstrous humiliation for him!

"You have successfully angered me." Tianshu's voice deepened, losing all trace of gentleness.

He shook his right arm, and the vast energy of a B-rank Expert erupted, shattering the profound ice on his arm into powder, but a patch of bluish-purple frostbite remained on the back of his hand.

"As a reward, I'll let you witness the true 'Returning Origin Realm'!"

He no longer just raised his hand; he stepped forward, spreading his five fingers!

"Domain Prototype: Stripping of All Forms!"

Buzz—!

This time, it was no longer the invisible power of Law.

Centered on Tianshu, a three-meter radius sphere unfolded, enveloping Su Wanqing!

Inside the sphere, the swirling Ice Phoenix feathers around Su Wanqing, along with the frigid Qi she had desperately unleashed—

—were forcibly "stripped" and "decomposed," turning into the most primitive particles and vanishing into nothingness.

Pfft—!

Su Wanqing felt a heavy blow, feeling that her connection with the ice elements between heaven and earth had been completely severed.

"It's over."

Tianshu withdrew his hand, the smile long gone from his face.

He raised his foot, preparing to crush this stubborn Phoenix.

Just one second before his foot landed.

He seemed to sense something, his movement paused, and he suddenly looked up toward the towering spire in the central plaza!

Almost simultaneously.

The figure standing atop the spire, wrapped in billions of lightning bolts and regarded as a "sacrifice"—

—opened his eyes.

His left eye held the dark color of the Earth Vein Spiritual Qi.

His right eye held the dazzling golden light of the Heavenly Gang Lightning Source!

[Warning! Warning! Divine Body Collapse countdown... 3... 2... 1...]

[Collapse Aborted!]

[Detection: 'Heavenly Gang Lightning Source' and 'Earth Fiend Spiritual Vein' energies have achieved perfect equilibrium!]

[Divine Body Evolution Interrupted... Initiating Emergency Reconstruction...]

Lin Yuan ignored the frantic, screen-filling notifications from the System in his mind.

His consciousness spanned a thousand meters, locking firmly onto Tianshu outside the coffee shop, the one who was slowly raising his foot.

Found him.

[Rating Judgment in progress...]

[Congratulations Host, he has entered Pseudo B-rank—Half-step Returning Origin Realm!]

[New Ability Unlocked: Thunder God's Descent!]

"You touched my person..."

A low roar, mixed with fury and the rumble of thunder, directly slammed into Tianshu's mind.

"Did you fucking get my permission?!"