Song Ping's eyes had turned completely red, having completely lost himself to his inner demon. He held the ice spear formed from spirit qi in his hands, while a massive Frost Dragon coiled around him. Tightening his hold on the spirit qi ice spear, he bellowed, "You'll pay for this with your life!" The force of his strikes had grown tremendously, but his descent into madness left his attacks wild and uncoordinated. Lu Chen had laid layer upon layer of traps on the ground, yet Song Ping ignored them entirely, charging forward without the slightest hesitation. At the edge of the arena, the cultivators of the Godslaying Squad kept a close watch on his frenzied state, ready to step in at a moment's notice. With the Hunyuan Greatsword in hand, Lu Chen turned to shout at Jun Wudi, "Uncle Jun, I'm going in." The battle had reached its climax. The cultivators below watched every movement with bated breath, afraid even the slightest disturbance might affect the two fighters. Song Ping lunged forward with uneven steps, quickly closing the distance between them. "Lu Chen, prepare to die!" he roared, thrusting his ice spear at Lu Chen. Lu Chen responded calmly, "Green Sovereign Divine Tree." The spirit qi within him surged to its limits. A spatial portal opened in the air, and hundreds of vines shot out from behind him, lashing toward Song Ping. The vines coiled tightly around Song Ping's calves and crept upward. Spirit qi flared violently from Song Ping, and he released a wave of freezing cold that turned any vine touching his skin into brittle ice. He swept his spear in a wide arc, breaking free of the vines, and sent the Frost Dragon diving at Lu Chen from overhead as he pressed in from the front. Lu Chen cast a glance at the Frost Dragon swooping down, then entirely focused on the Green Sovereign Divine Tree. A phantom image of the tree appeared behind him, unleashing countless more vines that swarmed Song Ping in an instant. Jun Wudi, unable to see the phantom tree, stared at the endless vines in disbelief. "How can there be so many? Is this really Little Lu's divine ability?" Nantian Wan'er explained calmly, "Yes. This is Lu-gege's divine ability, but it can only sustain its full power for a little over ten minutes." The spectators in the arena rose to their feet at the sight of the sea of vines, their voices ringing with excitement as they shouted Lu Chen's name again and again. "Now! Wind Dragon! Go for the Frost Dragon! Seizing the moment while Song Ping was entangled, Lu Chen unleashed the Nantian Dragon-Slaying Sword toward the Frost Dragon above. "Understood! Make sure you add some fire-element." Wind Dragon's body turned translucent as he merged with the dragon-shaped sword qi. A phantom crimson dragon tore through the air, spiraling straight toward the Frost Dragon. Once he had launched his strike at the Frost Dragon, Lu Chen sent another burst of sword qi toward Song Ping. "And now, take this!" The dragon-shaped sword qi smashed into Song Ping, triggering a series of explosions. The ice spear was blasted from his grip, and the vines of the Green Sovereign Divine Tree dissolved in an instant. Wind Dragon destroyed the Frost Dragon above and returned to Lu Chen. Lu Chen stared at the ice spear on the ground and asked, "Is it done?" Wind Dragon kept his gaze fixed on the lingering smoke. "Doesn't seem like it... that spear... it was the real Frost Dragon all along." As the smoke cleared, Song Ping realized the ice spear was gone. He roared, "Argh! I'll kill you!" He formed a flurry of hand seals. In the next instant, dozens of Frost Dragons surged forth, attacking from every direction. Since Song Ping wasn't truly an enemy, Lu Chen and Wind Dragon held back from using fatal techniques. Because of that, they soon found themselves at a disadvantage. Keeping his eyes fixed on Song Ping, Wind Dragon murmured, "It's just like in the stories, turning evil makes you stronger. His spirit qi's gone out of control; his strikes will only get fiercer." Lu Chen looked at the swarm of Frost Dragons, then tossed the Hunyuan Greatsword to Wind Dragon. "The Frost Dragons are yours. I'm going after Song Ping." Wind Dragon conjured a massive dragon phantom and swung the sword to block the incoming dragons. "I can hold them for a while. Seal the ice spear with the Spirit Light Chain!" Wind Dragon roared and weaved across the arena, fending off the Frost Dragons to give Lu Chen the opening he needed to seal the ice spear. Meanwhile, Lu Chen raised the Green Sovereign Divine Tree to form layered vine walls. "Uncle Jun, now! I'm nearly at my limit!" Jun Wudi responded, "Got it." He quickly shaped a net of spirit qi and hurled it at Song Ping, binding him in place and sweeping away the Frost Dragons overhead. With Song Ping restrained, Jun Wudi called out, "Little Lu, I've got him. Keep an eye on the ice spear while we prepare the formation." The Godslaying Squad immediately began setting things up. Lu Chen dashed to the ice spear. "Understood, Uncle Jun. Leave it to me." Jun Wudi nodded. "Be careful. Don't get hurt." At the same time, he guided his spirit qi in the air, carving a blue, translucent formation. The cultivators below cleared space for him. The Hunyuan Greatsword returned to Lu Chen's hands. He shouted, "Dao Technique, Spirit Light Chain." Lu Chen unleashed a Spirit Light Chain at the spear, trying to seal it. The spear reacted to the pressure. It suddenly turned into a three-meter-long Frost Dragon that lurched back toward Song Ping. Lu Chen narrowed his eyes, condensing his spirit qi once more. "No more room for mistakes. Again." Still bound by Jun Wudi's net, Song Ping saw the Frost Dragon charging toward him. His eyes glinted, and his aura surged even more violently. "Frost... Dragon." "Where do you think you're going? Spirit Light Chains, Bind!" Lu Chen's shout made five Spirit Light Chains appear behind him, which he sent streaking toward the Frost Dragon. Sensing the chains closing in, the dragon let out a deafening roar and tried to speed away. Just as it neared Song Ping, the chains caught it. Lu Chen let out a sigh of relief. "Finally." Follow current novels on N()velFire.net He curled his fingers, and the five chains instantly wrapped around the Frost Dragon's four claws and head, yanking it back. Fei Zhu kept his eyes on the chains and drew in a sharp breath. "Impressive... With that kind of talent, it's no wonder Brother Lu decided he wouldn't focus on body cultivation." The Frost Dragon gave a pitiful cry as it struggled, trying to reach Song Ping. At that moment, Song Ping's eyes blazed. His spirit qi burst forth, and with a single, forceful step, he shattered Jun Wudi's restraint and charged straight at the dragon. Jun Laoye called urgently, "Second Uncle! Song Ping has broken free!" However, Jun Wudi was too busy carving the formation and couldn't intervene. Song Ping, however, didn't strike at Lu Chen. Instead, he pressed against the Frost Dragon, tearing at the Spirit Light Chains to relieve its burden. Seeing that, Lu Chen's chest tightened with guilt. He turned to Wind Dragon. "Wind Dragon... are we going too far?" Seeing Lu Chen's uneasy expression, Wind Dragon spoke gently. "Little Lu, don't overthink it. This is a necessary step." "Yeah... but they look like they're in so much pain. When will this end?" Lu Chen glanced down from the arena and saw Jun Wudi still weaving seals. The Godslayer Squad's cultivators sat beside him, steadily channeling spirit qi into the formation. Clearly, reforging the Ice Soul Spear was no simple task.[1] He turned to Nantian Wan'er and the others, nodding slightly to show he was fine, before shifting his attention back to Song Ping and the Frost Dragon. Song Ping's hands were covered in blood, yet he continued tearing at the Spirit Light Chains without pause. Lu Chen sighed. "They really look like they're in pain... maybe we should go a bit easier on them. The chains only need to touch the body to work. Loosening them a little shouldn't be an issue." Wind Dragon warned, "No! Don't let the chains leave its core!" The warning came too late. Lu Chen had already loosened the Spirit Light Chains from the Frost Dragon's core, and the Frost Dragon immediately seized the chance. Its body dissolved into spirit qi and rushed back into Song Ping. The Spirit Light Chains clattered onto the arena floor. Lu Chen scrambled to regain control of the chains, but it was too late. "No! How did it break free?" Song Ping summoned his ice spear once more, the blood on his hands seeping into it, staining the translucent blue with streaks of red. "I will kill you." His crimson eyes blazed as he let out a beast-like roar and lunged. Watching Song Ping's feral transformation, the cultivators tensed. The two were a whole realm apart. Even with Lu Chen's talent and powerful techniques, he could only go so far in suppressing Song Ping, especially with him having lost control and acting out of rage. Lu Chen was mindful of Song Ping's well-being, while Song Ping attacked without concern for his safety. As told in many tales, turning evil brought power, while redemption stripped it away. Lu Chen carefully dodged the incoming attacks as he questioned Wind Dragon, "What's going on? The green-robed Daoist's Spirit Light Chain worked perfectly on me before." Wind Dragon watched Song Ping's onslaught and explained, "Such advanced techniques require corresponding laws to function. Without control over the laws, the Spirit Light Chain cannot unleash its full power once separated from the core." Lu Chen rubbed his head. "Sigh... I underestimated it." "Little Lu, it's not entirely your fault. That green-robed Daoist stands at the pinnacle of cultivation; every move he makes aligns naturally with the laws. You, on the other hand, are still a rookie, so it's only natural you haven't grasped how to control them yet." "Sigh... even top-tier techniques are a burden. I need to study harder." Seeing Song Ping rush in again, Lu Chen poured the last of his spirit qi into the Heavenly Pool. "I've only got enough for one last Dao Art. Let's see if it works." "Dao Technique, Stone Wall Formation!" Eight massive stone walls descended one after another from midair, blocking Song Ping's path. However, he seemed to have anticipated their fall, slipping past each of them with ease. Lu Chen had no choice but to summon the Green Sovereign Divine Tree, covering the battlefield with walls of vines to slow him down. Meanwhile, Nantian Wan'er swallowed pill after pill, desperately funneling more spirit qi into Lu Chen. "Please work... the formation's almost complete." 1. The section that was moved to the was originally between this and the following sentence. It really felt out of place considering both the previous and following ones point out how Lu Chen is worried about Song Ping's well-being. We still wanted to remind you that the protagonist loves showing off, so we've moved it to a more appropriate location instead of removing it altogether. ☜