Chapter Thirty-Five: The Battle to End the World

No one knew how many lives would be lost in this apocalyptic battle, but regardless of the brutality of the conflict, both humans and mutant beasts had to fight with all their might, each for their own race, until the bitter end.

Ye Bai joined the fray right after Liu Xin and his companions plunged into battle. Before him surged a mass of mutant beasts; a flash of blue light shone in Ye Bai’s eyes as he pressed his hands to the ground. Water appeared in abundance, rushing toward the beasts. In the blink of an eye, the mutant beasts around Ye Bai were frozen solid.

With a cry of exertion, he gathered his strength. Earth energy enveloped his fists as he slammed them into the ground, sending ripples through the snow. The shockwave shattered the frozen beasts into fragments.

The counter on Ye Bai’s arm flickered wildly, but he barely glanced at it before rushing toward the next battlefield.

To Ye Bai’s left, in a corner, a man in a nightrobe moved freely among the mutant beasts, completely unimpeded, as if a fish swimming through the sea. He weaved through the creatures, golden rings on his fingers glinting, the tips infused with green wood energy. Rapidly, he tapped the bodies of the beasts, gliding through them like a fish—where he passed, the beasts died, yet no wound could be seen.

Mutant beasts were launching crazed assaults on the protective shields before the four cities to the east, south, north, and west. The humans methodically cleared the beasts near the shields, and blood pooled around the perimeter of Snow City, forming a red moat outside its walls.

Though the human battle formations were tightly organized, the sheer number of beasts was overwhelming—no matter how many were slain, more surged forward. Some slipped through, hurling themselves at the shields. As soon as they approached, hands rose from the blood river, grabbing them and smashing them against the shield, sizzling sounds erupting from all directions.

At the highest point above Snow City, a crystal radiated energy, continuously protecting the city. Yet as the battle wore on, its energy visibly dwindled.

North Dragon and South Phoenix: as the beast horde fell, the bodies of these two king beasts grew ever more immense, their surrounding power becoming denser. The Frost Dragon’s wing crystals, once small, now grew to fist-size; each beat of its wings killed a warrior or two. The white tail feathers of the Ice Phoenix gleamed with five colors, reminiscent of a peacock, its talons gripping a flying stone statue beast.

The phoenix let out a piercing cry, its wings spread wide as it tore the statue beast in half.

At that moment, deep within the palace, the king suddenly opened his eyes.

"Wretched beast, how dare you!"

He seized the jade-handled sword leaning against his throne and, in a flash, vanished from the palace, his voice lingering in the air, unable to catch up to his swift departure.

Outside the southern city, the space shimmered, and before the Phoenix appeared a figure clad in white Kirin armor, holding a jade-handled longsword.

The belated voice from the palace finally echoed through every corner of Snow City.

The slain statue beast gazed at the figure in the sky, its crimson eyes brightening, a human-like smile curving its lips. The light in its eyes faded completely, turning as grey and lifeless as it had been throughout a thousand years of waiting.

The jade sword was enveloped in white sword-light. With a swing, it slashed at the Phoenix’s neck.

The Phoenix’s white pupils bulged, unable to dodge, struck by the jade sword. Its massive body lost all weight, crashing straight down.

Snowflakes and bloody flesh exploded skyward, splattering the surrounding warriors.

"King! King! King!"

The warriors clad in white lion armor, seeing their king slay the arrogant Phoenix with a single blow, were instantly invigorated. Their exhausted bodies seemed renewed with strength.

The Phoenix, falling into the swarm of beasts, opened its white eyes once more, its gaze ferocious and murderous, gone was the playful look from before.

In truth, the king’s sword had done little harm to the Phoenix, not even breaking its outermost skin. Too many mutant beasts had perished, fueling the growth of the king beasts to unfathomable proportions.

But what is a phoenix? The king of birds, an auspicious creature by nature, with a proud, unyielding spirit flowing in its blood.

The Phoenix, newly awakened, stared at the swordsman in white who pointed his blade at it, eyes brimming with murderous intent.

With a long cry, it soared upward, knocking both humans and beasts to the ground.

The swordsman stood in midair, stepping forward. At the instant his right foot touched down, the world seemed sealed.

The jade sword began a circular motion, spanning over ten miles in radius. As his foot landed, the octagonal killing array seemed to activate.

The white Phoenix flew to a certain point in the sky. The swordsman’s lips curled slightly. “Due east—ignite the fire.”

The jade sword instantly pierced from another direction, its white blade tinged with red fire. The swordsman stood in the west, at the water position, white energy surging around him and flowing into the ground beneath his feet.

From another direction, red fire arose, scorching the Phoenix. The jade sword, now ablaze, pierced through the Phoenix’s abdomen, the fire burning and corroding the wound.

The Phoenix crashed to earth again, the fire at its chest preventing its ice elements from healing the body, its tail feathers tattered and broken, and in mere minutes the proud Phoenix had become a fallen rooster.

Then the blood on the shield began to flow back and coalesce, forming a stream that poured into the Phoenix’s mouth, healing its chest wound.

Once with vigor, then weakened, finally exhausted; this time the Phoenix’s ferocity was gone. It drifted in the sky, tentatively probing with ice pillars formed from the elements in its mouth.

The king’s lips curled, and he called out, “Warriors of foreign lands, whoever wields water energy, come aid me. This strike shall end the beast for good.”

Amid the slaughtering beast horde, Xing Qingning lashed her whip, driving back the mammoth beast before her. She broke from battle, followed only by a cold, black-clad man.

Among the six, two entry-level star core warriors wielded water energy—a rarity.

The king turned and gazed at the Phoenix, muttering calculations and pacing.

He stopped not far from the Phoenix. “Water position—ignite the fire.”

Instantly, a formation appeared beneath the Phoenix, a fire array manifesting in midair, while beneath the king’s feet was a water array.

“Hurry, channel your energy!”

Within three seconds, the king’s face grew deathly pale—the blood river had greatly strengthened the Phoenix. The two below did not hesitate, channeling their energy into the water array beneath the king’s feet.

The flying sword in the sky blazed red, its sword-light thickening by several feet.

Trapped in the array, the Phoenix could not move, staring helplessly as the giant sword shot toward it. In its snowy-white eyes at last appeared a trace of fear.

With a flash of red light, the Phoenix was cleaved from head to tail, just as it had torn the statue beast earlier.

The first king beast had been slain. Xing Qingning’s counter instantly increased by ten points; the cold man raised his arm, seeing it show eight points.

At the moment the Phoenix died, elsewhere in the Alya dimension, three people watched a video of Xing Qingning and the others fighting the Phoenix.

One tall woman covered her mouth, smiling—clearly pleased with the woman’s performance in the video.

“This must be the sixth Ice Age Exam, right? The five-element array we designed is finally bearing fruit.”

A man in yellow robes replied, “Yes, the people in this city have no innate elemental power, yet through comprehension alone they’ve reached such heights—remarkable.”

The tall woman grew solemn. “In this darkness, each of us carries a source of elemental power. Water, wood, and earth are slowly appearing in this world. If not for that…fire would have spread widely as well.”

The green-robed man squinted at her, his tone sharp. “Starsea, do not speak of that again.”

Having said this, he turned his gaze back to the video. “I thought with elemental power, the five-element array would flourish, but who knew that single elements or asymmetric attributes would fail utterly.”

Watching the joy on the faces of those who had just slain the Phoenix, the green-robed man thought to himself: this is just the beginning—the real challenge lies ahead. None of you will leave the exam alive.