Booms echoed as the ice storm raged. The region was frozen over in seconds.
Academies suffered as even their strong struggled to defend.
Luckily, the attack was scattered, so only a few were frozen—fate unknown.
"A Soul Douluo-level skill from afar—could this be the core of the contamination spot?" Bai Baoshan shielded with his Sky Star Furnace, looking grave.
Such power from a distance meant the attacker was at least a Soul Douluo.
"That must be it—let's move quickly!" Meng Shenji decided, dark energy rising from his martial soul: Black Demon, a control martial soul.
But these mindless monsters couldn't be controlled, so he could only rely on raw power.
The three Royal Academy deans led the charge; the rest followed.
So far, none of the three Titled Douluo had acted, but with them present, everyone felt secure.
When Lu Jingming and the others reached the core, they found Meng Shenji and the others staring in shock.
They followed their gaze—and gasped.
The broad valley floor was filled with black-armored soldiers wielding soul tools, thousands at least, red eyes glowing in the gloom.
Even Dugu Bo frowned—if these were living people, he could slaughter them alone. But as negative-energy constructs, his poison was useless.
"Aunt?!" Shui Bing'er and the others soon spotted Shui Ming'er, encased in a black ice statue.
Her long blue hair had turned black; her eyes, once sapphire, were now voids.
Seven rings shone as she unleashed her martial soul avatar, transforming into a massive, black Phoenix.
Huo Lin and Feng Ying, restrained by emotion, were hard pressed against the merciless, blackened Shui Ming'er.
"Old monster, not joining in?" Tang San called, vines binding monsters.
"Fine, let's end this. Yan-yan, wait here—Grandpa's off to deal with the core monster, maybe grab a good drop."
Dugu Bo shot into the sky, his green aura clashing against a white-haired, twin-tailed girl—Black Jinhsi.
She radiated both holy gold and black mist, her six rings—two purple, three black, one red—shocking all.
"A hundred-thousand-year ring?!"
Even among the Titled Douluo present, none had such a ring.
"Die!" Furious, Dugu Bo unleashed his Titled Douluo power, the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor manifesting and blasting green light at Black Jinhsi.
She responded with the power of time—her attack instantly reached its peak. Follow current novᴇls on nοvelfire.net
Gold and green light clashed, turning the sky gold and green.
"They're evenly matched!" Ning Fengzhi and the others were shocked.
Dugu Bo, not a strong attacker among Titled Douluo, had recently broken through, but still—fighting a Soul Emperor to a standstill?
Lu Jingming alone understood—it was Jinhsi's time manipulation and ultimate light that made this possible.
Dugu Bo's poison was useless, and his attack power was weak. This outcome was expected.
Others, ignorant of "ultimate attributes," only saw a Soul Emperor fighting a Titled Douluo evenly.
Thus, they looked at Black Jinhsi with awe and fear, and at Dugu Bo oddly.
The energy clash cleared the black mist, sunlight revealing everything—including a black throne with a white-haired, handsome youth sitting atop.
He lounged with eyes closed, face on hand, utterly at ease and arrogant, undisturbed by all the commotion.
Below the throne stood several figures, each radiating power equal to Black Jinhsi.
"Brother Lu!" Xue Qinghe's pupils contracted, then he looked at Lu Jingming in shock.
"Eh!" Xue Ke exclaimed, eyes darting between Lu Jingming and the throne—apart from the facial cracks, they were identical!
"Interesting, isn't it?" Lu Jingming smiled.
"It seems this contamination spot's core is modeled after you!" Ning Fengzhi quickly regained his composure.
It was rare, but not impossible—after all, even a Sword Douluo-based monster had appeared before.
Still, Ning Fengzhi looked at Lu Jingming with deep suspicion.
If the monsters were modeled after him, just how strong was the real Lu Jingming?
Lu Jingming himself was curious—if the black version had all his abilities, he'd be a perfect final boss.
He could attack, defend, heal, and control—a true all-rounder.
Even Sword Douluo could hardly kill him for good, especially with allies like Black March 7th, Black Jinhsi, Black Firefly, and especially Black Robin.
He doubted this impromptu team could pass the dungeon.
Others noticed too, glancing nervously at Lu Jingming—the mysterious youth always with the prince and sect leader.
But there was no time to ponder.
Black March 7th, with the same six-ring configuration, condensed a chilling ice arrow and fired at Bai Baoshan.
The air froze, a blue light flashed, then the delayed sonic boom.
Bai Baoshan reacted instantly, shielding with the Sky Star Furnace.
But it was like an asteroid hit—the impact hurled him into a cliff, and icy cold swept over, freezing him solid.
Meng Shenji and Zhi Lin, feeling the chill, turned and saw Bai Baoshan encased in a mountain of ice.
Everyone swallowed hard in fear.
Some instinctively shielded their teammates; some even turned to flee—they'd only come for loot, not to die.
"Sect leader Ning, please help!" Meng Shenji called in panic.
"Teacher!" Xue Qinghe's face darkened—he couldn't afford to lose his top aides.
Just then, a silver-haired girl, wrapped in black-red flames, appeared in midair.
She was encased in a fiery mecha, six rings shining.
"Bone Uncle!" Ning Fengzhi paled—if another dean died, relations with the empire would suffer.
With a thunderous roar, Bone Douluo intercepted, bone shield clashing with flaming fist, a shockwave surging out.
Bone Douluo was left with a burn on his hand—a trivial injury, but telling.
Even Ning Fengzhi gasped.
He knew how tough Bone Douluo was; their sect's prestige was built on Sword and Bone Douluo's power.
But now, even he was injured by a Soul Emperor—had that punch hit Meng Shenji, he'd be dust.
"Thank you for saving me!" Meng Shenji breathed a sigh of relief. He doubted his trump card could have saved him from that attack.