Chapter 49: Yin Yang Reversal vs. Extreme Ice Rage, The Future is Mine, the Present

Ice Emerald Scorpion, one of the Dominators of the Jibei, the race ruled by the Ten Great Fierce Beasts, the Ice Emerald Emperor Scorpion; its clan members are born with the Ultimate Ice!

Compared to the unbreakable Li Li Qiankun and the Enchanting Fox Nan'gong Yao, the pressure Tang Dong brought was as shocking as a mountain collapsing and the sea devouring; merely a simple martial soul fusion caused a layer of chill to spread endlessly in all directions, instantly making the Ice Arena hard as iron!

Facing the Ultimate Ice that had been renowned across the Limit Douluo Continent ten thousand years ago, Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen gave it the highest level of attention; his figure lowered slightly, his skin dyed with golden-textured flowing light, gathering into a dazzling golden glazed armor that, under the blazing sun, looked like a god born from fire.

True Self, Golden Awakening!

"The second awakening of the Body Martial Soul, finally willing to use it?"

Tang Dong retracted his cynical expression, becoming serious; clearly, Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen made him feel pressure. The second awakening is the foundation for the strength of the Body Martial Soul; for a Body Soul Master, it is a complete evolution of rebirth!

The thousand-year second soul ring lit up; Tang Dong's hands grew hexagonal diamond ice crystals. The Ice Emerald Scorpion's second soul skill, Ice Emerald Claws; the diamond ice crystals possess powerful defensive capabilities, making his palms as indestructible as the ten-thousand-year-old ice of the Jibei.

The two opposing figures moved simultaneously beneath their feet; golden and emerald green beams shot straight at each other. A storm swept across heaven and earth; the Shi Shi Laike Academy students watching nearby unconsciously raised their heads, their clothes flapping loudly, unable to help but retreat again and again!

"Boom—"

A straightforward punch without any tricks opened the slaughter between the new king and the old king. Their fists rose toward the sky, their bodies pushed back by a powerful shockwave; half a second after separating, they collided again. The speed of their fists and palms meeting was too fast for anyone to see clearly; onlookers only heard earth-shattering impacts that nearly tore their eardrums!

The two figures closed in, separated, then closed in again; countless times of direct, hard collisions sent sparks flying wildly through the air.

The color blooming in Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen's eyes was more brilliant than the great sun; dark golden light blades extended from the tips of his ten fingers, and where the blade edges passed, the air cracked open into twisted, winding black scars!

Dark Golden Frightening Claw!

Both the Dark Golden Frightening Claw Bear and the Ice Emerald Scorpion are races among the Ten Great Fierce Beasts, standing at the peak of the soul beast pyramid. Tang Dong, feeling the desire to compete, advanced instead of retreating; the Ice Emerald Claws fiercely met them head-on. The signature soul skills of the two great races collided heavily; the ice crystal pincers clashed with the Dark Golden Frightening Claws, emitting a ringing sound of metal striking metal.

"Hiss—"

Ice mist exploded upon the Ice Emerald Scorpion's pincers; the Ultimate Ice was shattered by the Dark Golden Frightening Claw, and the residual force forced Tang Dong back three steps, cracking deep gullies in the ice arena beneath his feet.

"In terms of strength... I actually lost!?"

Tang Dong's heart sank; the Ice Emerald Scorpion is famous for its Ultimate Ice, and brute strength is also a symbol of the Ice Emerald Scorpion clan, but today, a number monster met an even more outrageous number monster.

The Tai Chi Yang Hand, the Golden Awakening, and two supreme-grade external soul bones fused into one, exploding with a brute force that surpassed the number one on the Youth Genius List!

"Junior, you have angered me."

Shaking his numb arm, Tang Dong's eyes were filled with fierce malice; endless cold air spread, and his momentum rose like a ferocious evil dragon.

Seeing this scene, the Shi Shi Laike Academy students, long suppressed by the tyranny of the Ice Emerald Scorpion, trembled in their hearts and said:

"Tang Dong is angry; that is the Ice Emerald Scorpion! The second martial soul of our ancestor, Spirit Ice Limit Douluo Huo Huo Yuhao, was the Ice Emerald Emperor Scorpion... only the Ultimate Ice can truly demonstrate the Ice Emerald Scorpion's power!"

"It's just an old-era martial soul from ten thousand years ago; what is there to fear? Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen, kill him!"

Hearing this, Na'er was disdainful; she didn't care how strong the Ultimate Ice was, and unconditionally supported her childhood friend!

Tang Dong let out a low shout; a biting cold wind suddenly howled, and goose-down snow fell from the sky, its coverage so vast that it enveloped the entire Spirit Ice Plaza!

Ice Emerald Scorpion's third soul skill, Extreme Ice Blizzard!

In an instant, heaven and earth became an ocean of ice elements; the blizzard raged, sharp ice shards flew wildly, and the low temperature of the Ultimate Ice covered Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen's golden-sculpted body with a layer of crystal-clear frost.

Within the low-temperature domain of the Extreme Ice Blizzard, golden eyes and emerald green eyes gazed at each other from afar; one was burning battle will, the other was furious rage!

"Kan character, Mysterious Ice."

Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen held his palms up in the air; a deep blue flashed briefly in his eyes. Nine ice-blue light pillars shot straight up, condensing into wild dragon shapes; the ice dragons swallowed extreme cold power to construct their scales, and their dragon eyes flickered with chilling, sinister ice flames!

For whom does the blizzard open!

Dragon roars shook heaven and earth; under Tang Dong's unbelieving, dazed gaze, nine ice dragons formed a formation, drawing down the blizzard ice blades from the sky, all attacking that Ice Emerald Scorpion who doubted life itself!

The ten-thousand-year soul ring shone brightly; hexagonal ice crystal armor appeared on Tang Dong's body, with flowing ice patterns, hardening to resist the Nine Dragons Mysterious Ice!

Ice Emerald Scorpion's fourth soul skill, Frost Body Protection!

The ice armor creaked under the heavy pressure; cracks spread everywhere yet it never shattered, demonstrating the Ice Emerald Scorpion's defense. Tang Dong took the opportunity to break through; an ice-blue plant light shadow appeared on his right shoulder. The first soul ring shone, an ice-blue halo spread outward, and ice elements rushed to this spot at an astonishing speed!

"Mysterious Ice Grass..."

Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen revealed the true identity of the plant in one sentence; the soul spirit Mysterious Ice Grass, the junior version of the Immortal Grade Eight-Corner Mysterious Ice Grass!

Due to the existence of the Sea God Lake and the Spirit Ice Fountain, Shi Shi Laike Academy was already humid; the Mysterious Ice Grass greatly amplified Tang Dong's first soul skill, Ice Source Condensation. Within a hundred meters, ice elements gathered like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, condensing into an ice-blue vortex that poured into his body, causing his momentum to climb step by step!

The Dragon King Legend era had a huge advantage over the previous two eras: soul spirits assisting soul masters in battle. Tang Dong was able to cultivate an extreme martial soul to the five-ring Soul King level at under eighteen years old; the first soul spirit, Mysterious Ice Grass, was equally indispensable!

"Ice, I am the ruler!"

The deep blue light of the Eight Trigrams Qi Men grew even more intense; the Kan position shone. The ice-elemental energy summoned by Tang Dong and the Mysterious Ice Grass paused in mid-air, then suddenly braked, charging toward Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen without looking back!

A scene that made people's jaws drop suddenly occurred on the battlefield: the Body Soul Master and the Ice Emerald Scorpion soul master fought for control of the ice attribute, and the Ultimate Ice, known as the Ice Emperor, actually fell into a disadvantage!

"My ice... why!"

Tang Dong's words were almost squeezed out from between his teeth; the ice-elemental elements he had commanded easily in the past now showed unprecedented resistance, like servants meeting a more authoritative deity, no longer caring about the fake Ice Emerald Scorpion!

High in the sky, Yun Ming and Luo Luo Yali looked at each other, seeing shock and terror in each other's eyes; they could never have predicted that a familiar script would happen again.

After shooting down the Holy Angel in aerial combat, hard-fighting the Li Qiankun Sphere in close combat, and breaking through the Phantom Demon Fox with spiritual power, Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen suppressed the Ice Emerald Scorpion in the ice attribute!

The vast ice elements of Ice Source Condensation betrayed their old master, condensing into a majestic, powerful ice giant dragon. Accompanied by a vigorous dragon roar, the giant dragon dove down, causing the entire ice arena to collapse with a boom, exposing the green stone-paved ground below!

Ice shards scattered in all directions; Tang Dong's figure emerged from the cold dust. He tore apart his frozen, brittle sleeves; the Ice Emerald Scorpion pattern on his arm was lifelike. Immediately, the Frost Body Protection could no longer bear the burden, shattering into sparkling ice crystals, revealing the flesh and blood frozen and injured by the ice.

"Frostbite... hahaha, frostbite!"

Tang Dong turned his head to look at the injury where the cold had penetrated his bones and couldn't help but laugh aloud to the sky; an Ultimate Ice soul master being injured by the ice attribute was simply the biggest joke under heaven!

In the next moment, the green stone ground collapsed; rising cracks sank like a landslide, and the ground was shattered by unimaginable violence. Tang Dong rushed forward like a speeding phantom, his emerald green eyes filled with blood!

Since awakening the Ice Emerald Scorpion martial soul, he had grown up amidst the praise of elders and the flattery of peers. Relying on the attribute of Ultimate Ice, fighting above his level was a common occurrence; Tang Dong had fought his way up, defeating powerful enemies, reaching the top of the Youth Genius List, and was truly the number one youth genius of the continent.

Tang Dong could not accept being defeated by a junior nearly eight years younger despite having a two-level soul power advantage; to him, that was a shame worse than death, and he refused to become a stepping stone for the other's rise to the top!

At the same time, as if a golden sun enveloped him, Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen stood within the brilliant solar wheel like a Vajra descending to the world; his body seemed like transparent crystal, his bones clicked loudly as they locked together, and large amounts of steam gushed out, emitting a buzzing sound similar to a steam whistle!

Third soul skill, Path of the Ultimate!

Body Secret Technique, Battle Bones!

The new king sought to replace the old king on the throne, but the old king was unwilling to give up his seat; this was a war between kings, also a bloody battle between monsters, with neither side showing any will to be cowardly or retreat!

A series of sparks exploded; the Dark Golden Frightening Claw and the Ice Scorpion Claw sliced against each other. In the cracks they trod upon, golden embers and emerald ice marrow continued to fight silently. Quietly, a jade-green emerald scorpion tail protruded from Tang Dong's tailbone; the tail hook's cold light was like a meteor piercing the sky, stabbing fiercely at Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen's back!

Scorpions were originally one of the Five Poisons; the Ice Emerald Scorpion clan pursued the extreme of ice, abandoning the path of cultivating deadly poison, but the scorpion tail contained the bone-piercing chill of the Ultimate Ice. Tang Dong believed that if it struck, allowing the Ultimate Ice to invade Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen's body, even the physique of a Golden-level Body Martial Soul would instantly lose its ability to fight!

"Clang—"

Black and white wings burst from his back, their edges sharp as guillotines. The wings overlapped, crushing the Ice Jade Scorpion's long tail, then flipped mid-air. A flash of cold light, and the tail barb separated from the scorpion's tail, plummeting to the ground with a thud!

Tang Dong suffered a heavy blow, spitting a mouthful of bright red hot blood, his strength drastically reduced. Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen would not miss such an opportunity. Qi Movement Shanhe transformed into a Taiji Diagram, and the Yin and Yang energies blasted him away in one strike!

Almost all Outer Court disciples had arrived at the Spirit Ice Plaza. The plaza was packed tight, eyes unblinking as they stared at the battlefield, fully immersed in watching the fight.

At this moment, the entire arena was silent. The vast majority of spectators stared with wide eyes, countless cold sweats breaking out on their spines. The Number One on the Young Genius List, could it really be changing now!?

Tang Dong, who would turn eighteen in just one month, was pulled from the throne at the last critical moment in the most humiliating posture!

"I have not yet lost!"

Spitting out a glob of scarlet blood, Tang Dong clutched his chest and stood up. His teeth grinding and blood-sucking appearance resembled that of an old lion, a trapped beast still fighting!

The final ten-thousand-year fifth Soul Ring bloomed. Tang Dong's eyes, dimmed by his severe injuries, reignited with fire. His blood grew hot and boiling once more. His entire body was dyed a dazzling emerald green, and a cold, jade-like light point condensed on his chest!

Ice Jade Scorpion's Fifth Soul Skill, Extreme Ice Rage!

Extreme Ice Rage, the Ice Jade Scorpion's most powerful long-range attack Soul Skill. Ancient texts recorded that the Ice Emperor's Rage, the evolution of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, was sufficient to freeze a thousand li!

"Not enough, I need to be stronger!"

Tang Dong let out a beast-like roar. In the center of his chest, a patch of shimmering emerald armor was outlined. A biting howl echoed, and intense cold air seemed to freeze heaven and earth!

Single-Character Character Character Doukai, Chest Armor!

After breaking through to the three-ring Soul Venerable realm, the cultivation speed of an Extreme Martial Soul was incredibly slow. Even with the assistance of the Profound Ice Grass, Tang Dong found it difficult to spare the energy to craft Character Character Doukai, so he possessed only one piece of Character Character Doukai.

This Single-Character Character Character Doukai would accompany Tang Dong for a long time. Choosing the chest was to consider amplifying the Ice Jade Scorpion's Fifth Soul Skill; Extreme Ice Rage is the strongest strike fired from the chest!

With the Character Character Doukai's support, a column of emerald light violently erupted. The surrounding air instantly showed signs of solidifying. As the green light flashed, under the effect of the Extreme Ice's coldness, a white ice pillar materialized in the void, forming a frigid path of Extreme Ice!

Yin-Yang Reversal covered Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen's entire body. At the instant Extreme Ice Rage struck the black-and-white vortex, the light pillar spun continuously along the airflow. Tang Dong roared with a distorted face, furiously injecting his entire soul power into his chest. The emerald light pillar of Extreme Ice Rage expanded, and expanded again!

This strike had already reached the upper limit of what Yin-Yang Reversal could withstand; the black-and-white vortex cracked with spiderweb-like fissures. Yet Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen's face remained expressionless. A figure of innocent charm stepped out; the Spirit Auspicious Capybara appeared and, under countless gazes, dove straight into the black-and-white vortex!

Soul Spirit enters the Skill, the absolute fusion of Soul Spirit and Soul Skill, endowing the Soul Skill with a soul!

The fusion of the Spirit Auspicious Capybara repaired the cracks in Yin-Yang Reversal. When the emerald light pillar touched the vortex, it was like a mud ox entering the sea. Afterwards, Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen raised both hands to the sky, and Extreme Ice Rage violently reversed!

"Things change, stars shift; ten thousand rivers return to one!"

Soul power exhausted, the light on Tang Dong's chest extinguished. He stared blankly at that masterpiece surpassing his limits hurtling through the sky, having no power left to resist.

One second before Extreme Ice Rage reached Tang Dong, Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen closed his five fingers, directing the emerald light pillar toward the heavens. The green light shot up, freezing the sky; clouds turned into a curtain of ice crystals, refracting a seven-colored aurora, while countless ice prisms fell from the sky.

Tang Dong stood alone in place, looking up at the ice-sealed sky, his eyes a mixture of defeat and self-mockery.

On this arena surface where no referee offered protection, if Yin-Yang Reversal had not reversed the direction, the honorable Ice Jade Scorpion Soul King would have been completely swallowed by the power of Extreme Ice.

The one who voluntarily abandoned the Character Character Doukai before the battle started was him; the one forced to wear the Character Character Doukai when pushed to the brink was him; the one who spoke arrogantly was him; and the one who now suffered a crushing defeat was also him.

Tang Dong knew he had lost not only the top position on the Young Genius List, but also shattered that arrogant heart.

The light of the setting sun slowly faded. The massive sun disk sank its last light, burning the ice clouds in the sky to the color of fire. In the crowd, the clear cheers of a silver-haired girl rang out, along with the sounds of awe and admiration from the Shi Shi Laike Academy disciples.

Under the orange-red sunset, the two brushed past each other. A voice, extremely faint yet incredibly resounding, drifted in the evening breeze.

"The future is mine, and so is the present."

Taiji Zhao Zhao Xuanzhen ascends to the top of the Young Genius List!

(End of this chapter)