His eyes remained wide open in shock and fury, and the thunder sword in his hand had been frozen into an ice-blue, lifeless object.

The surrounding temperature dropped to the freezing point, and the entire stomach space fell into a deathly silence.

The Empress of Extreme Ice slowly descended from mid-air, her jade-like feet, as perfect as ice crystals, stepped lightly onto the surface of the frozen blood, making a crisp sound.

Holding her spear, she walked with elegant and calm steps toward Zhou Huai, who had turned into an ice sculpture. The Empress tilted her head slightly, examining Zhou Huai's face, which was distorted by pain and shock inside the ice.

"Heh..."

The Empress gave a contemptuous smile, her laughter echoing in the empty space with endless mockery.

"I thought you had some incredible trump card to dare speak so arrogantly before me."

She extended her slender fingers and tapped lightly on the cheek of the ice sculpture, making a dull "thump-thump" sound.

"Forcibly stitching a bunch of low-level Laws together and then dreaming of challenging true ancient imperial power? It’s simply the height of absurdity."

The Empress of Extreme Ice shook her head, the disdain in her eyes reaching an extreme: "With your ant-like strength, you actually dare to oppose Duan?"

"You're truly far from it."

"Duan's thoughts are indeed difficult to fathom. But he could never have sent a piece of trash like you to kill me."

She slowly took half a step back and grasped the shaft of the spear with both hands. Her ice-crystal dress fluttered without wind, and an even more violent power of destruction frantically condensed at the tip of the spear.

"It's over, arrogant clown of the present world."

"Your Soul will become nourishment for the mystic ice."

The Empress of Extreme Ice's gaze turned cold. Without hesitation, she swung the spear, using the shaft like a heavy hammer, smashing it down with the force of ten thousand tons toward Zhou Huai's frozen body!

"Bang—!!!"

An explosion loud enough to shatter the Void Realm!

The spear struck the ice sculpture's chest with unerring precision. Terrifying power, accompanied by the Law of Extreme Cold, instantly exploded inside the sculpture.

There were no miracles, and no reversals.

Under the impact of that unrivaled absolute power, the ice encasing Zhou Huai, along with his own body... shattered completely in an instant!

"Boom!"

The massive ice sculpture split apart, turning into thousands of fine ice crystals and dust!

The ice-blue powder drifted down from the sky. In this claustrophobic space, a snow of bone-chilling dust began to fall.

With one strike, Zhou Huai's body was blasted until not even a scrap remained.

The ice-blue dust filled the stomach space as it fell.

The Empress of Extreme Ice looked at the fluttering dust and raised her chin.

"It's over," she uttered.

This battle had finally come to an end.

That ant of the present world, who had fused a mess of Laws and spoken so arrogantly, had failed to withstand the Origin of Extreme Cold and had become fertilizer to nourish the mystic ice.

"Next..."

The Empress turned around, her eyes piercing through layers of flesh to look outside.

"As long as I deal with that Abyss Ruin Dragon outside and the woman sitting on its back, this place can return to its former peace."

The woman was thinking this.

Suddenly—

"Hooo—"

A long exhale sounded without warning in the darkness.

Followed by a familiar chuckle.

"That was close, really close. Just a little more and I would have been insta-killed by you, old lady."

This sudden voice broke the surrounding silence.

The Empress of Extreme Ice's sapphire-like eyes widened.

She turned her head, the deep blue spear in her hand erupting with bone-chilling cold light.

"Who is it?!"

A dozen meters away from her line of sight.

Above the flesh ruins that should have been empty, a tall figure was re-condensing as spots of golden light converged.

Black hair, black eyes, and a wide grin.

Who could it be but Zhou Huai?!

"You're not dead?!" The Empress of Extreme Ice's voice changed pitch, her face tightening. "How is that possible?!"

"Could it be... that what I just killed was also an illusion?!"

"Impossible!"

"You were clearly right in front of me, pierced by my ice spear and smashed into powder by my own hands!"

"That couldn't possibly have been an illusion!"

The Empress stared at Zhou Huai, gripping her spear tightly. "Then how do you explain your appearance now?!"

Looking at the Empress of Extreme Ice, Zhou Huai patted his chest and took a breath.

"Damn, this old lady's Law priority is way too high," Zhou Huai cursed inwardly.

At that moment just now, cold sweat had broken out on his palms.

The Arcane Barrier was shattered, his Physical Body was completely frozen, and even the Law of time was forcibly paused by the opponent.

Fortunately!

When he realized she was about to use the power of the Origin, he had kept a trick up his sleeve!

He had pre-emptively activated the power of Karma belonging to Great Sage Li Er within his body, silently releasing the divine skill 【External Incarnation】!

In the thousandth of a second before the ice spear pierced his chest.

Zhou Huai's true body had already been swapped through the Incarnation.

And the one who took that absolute zero strike and was smashed to dust by the Empress of Extreme Ice was merely a perfect substitute condensed by spending a massive amount of Karma!

"If I didn't have so many trump cards, I really would have met my end in this giant turtle's belly today."

Zhou Huai pulled back his smile.

He looked at the Empress of Extreme Ice and clenched his fists.

"How to explain?"

Zhou Huai cracked his neck, his bones making a series of pops as the power of the Indestructible Demon God flowed through his body.

"It can only be explained as you, an old antique of the old era, having no idea what it means to be a cheater!"

"Arrogant!"

The Empress of Extreme Ice grit her teeth.

A dignified ancient Dominator had been toyed with by a present-day ant again and again!

"Since you could dodge once, I'll kill you ten times, a hundred times! I want to see just how many lives you have to lose!"

"Bang—!!!"

The ice-crystal dress on the Empress's body danced wildly without wind, and the temperature of the entire stomach space plummeted once more!

The deep blue Origin of Extreme Cold turned into a tangible blizzard, centering on her and frantically sweeping toward Zhou Huai!

"I was careless in the first round. Do you think I'll give you a second chance to insta-kill me?"

Zhou Huai snorted and stomped his feet against the flesh wall.

"Bang!" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

He didn't choose to resist head-on; Hou Yi's 【Starry Sky Vision】 opened, capturing the gaps in the Laws within the extreme cold storm.

"Lightning Phantom Body!"

"Swish, swish, swish—"

Three phantom bodies entwined with purple-gold lightning scattered from the spot, shooting off in three different directions!

"Paltry tricks!"

The Empress shook the spear in her hand, and thousands of ice spikes ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) poured down, turning those three lightning phantoms into pincushions.

However, the real Zhou Huai had already appeared directly above the Empress's head, using Hou Yi's 【Shrinking the Ground into an Inch】 and movement techniques!

Having learned from the previous experience, Zhou Huai acted with extra caution this time!

He wouldn't give the opponent any chance to lock onto his Laws!

"You damn old lady, taste this!"