Chapter 152: Moment of Eternity

She carefully sensed it, her shock gradually transforming into a complex emotion—anger, confusion, even a trace of reverence.

“Itachi actually summoned and fused the primordial power of the Ice Phoenix Feather? Impossible! Only the supreme bloodline of the Phoenix can touch it without suffering backlash!”

Ye Lingxi was unsurprised by Shuang Ning’s astonishment; she calmly stroked the Ice Phoenix Feather at her waist, feeling the same origin but far deeper, more ancient chill emanating from it, and said coolly, “Obtained by chance—what’s it to Itachi?”

“What’s it to me?” Shuang Ning seemed enraged by those words; her surrounding cold energy surged violently, and real snowflakes began drifting from above the arena, the temperature plummeting to a terrifying level.

“The Ice Phoenix Holy Saint was an ancient powerhouse of our Phoenix clan—how dare a human defile her relic! Surrender the Ice Phoenix Feather, and I’ll leave Itachi a whole corpse!”

Ye Lingxi’s gaze turned icy; the Ice Phoenix Feather was not only her source of power but also carried her crucial karmic ties—how could anyone dare covet it? “Want it? Come and take it.”

“Stubborn fool! Then let me show Itachi what true Ice Phoenix power truly is!”

Shuang Ning said no more; her jade hand flicked lightly, and endless cold energy coalesced in her palm, forming a magnificent ice crystal spear, forged entirely from ten-thousand-year-old dark ice.

“Spear of Dark Ice!”

She flicked her wrist—the ice spear became a blue lightning bolt, instantly piercing through space, driving straight for Ye Lingxi’s third eye with a chill that could freeze souls.

Before the spear even reached her, the extreme cold had already solidified the air around Ye Lingxi, slowing her movements to a crawl.

Ye Lingxi did not dare delay; the Ice Phoenix Feather pendant blazed with brilliant blue light, and pure Xuanming cold energy surged through her body, coalescing into a simple yet ancient ice sword radiating an even colder, deadlier aura.

“Xuanming—Ice Soul!”

“CLANG——！！！！!”

Ice sword met ice spear in a violent clash!

There was no metallic clang—only a dull, heavy sound, as if two ten-thousand-year-old ice blocks had collided.

Terrifying ice energy exploded outward in a ring, instantly covering the arena floor beneath them with thick, steel-hard dark ice.

A single strike—perfectly matched.

Both stepped back half a pace, their gazes growing heavier.

“So Itachi do have some skill—no wonder Itachi can wield the Ice Phoenix Feather!”

Shuang Ning snorted, her ice crystal wings snapping open behind her; countless razor-sharp ice feathers shot out like arrows in a storm. “Ice Feather Storm!”

“Xuanming—Ice Wall!” Ye Lingxi swung her sword in a circle, and a thick ice wall inscribed with Xuanming runes instantly rose, blocking every incoming feather; the wall’s surface shattered into a thousand ice shards.

But Shuang Ning’s assault came without pause; her figure moved like a phantom, gliding across the ice with astonishing speed, the ice spear transforming into countless spears from every direction, each one carrying power capable of freezing blood and tearing apart souls!

Ye Lingxi pushed her Xuanming abilities to their limit, the Ice Phoenix Feather supplying her with an endless stream of pure cold energy.

The chilling, deadening aura clashed and intertwined with Shuang Ning’s pure, ultimate freezing power; the entire arena became a battlefield of the Ice Goddess—beautiful beyond words, yet brimming with lethal intent.

“Your cold carries the scent of death… this isn’t pure ice!”

Shuang Ning keenly sensed the uniqueness of the Xuanming energy; a flicker of surprise passed through her azure eyes. “Itachi don’t follow the path of freezing all things—Itachi’re… freezing life itself, returning it to stillness?”

“And if I do?” Ye Lingxi pushed Shuang Ning back with a single strike, her eyes cold and empty.

“A heresy! The Dao of Ice must be pure, eternal, and sovereign—not destruction and death!”

Shuang Ning cried out, clearly rejecting Ye Lingxi’s path; “Let me purify this corrupted power of yours with absolute zero!”

“Ice Phoenix Domain—Absolute Freeze!”

From Shuang Ning’s center, a brilliant blue domain erupted violently! Within it, the temperature dropped instantly to a level capable of freezing thought itself!

All matter’s motion nearly ceased; even the flow of spiritual energy slowed to a crawl.

This was domain power approaching the very origin of the Ice Law!

Ye Lingxi instantly felt as if trapped in mud—no, worse: a hell of ice a thousand times more terrifying than mud.

Her movements became excruciatingly slow; the flow of Xuanming cold energy was heavily suppressed, and even the glow of the Ice Phoenix Feather dimmed slightly.

“Within my domain, your deadening power is meaningless!”

Shuang Ning, holding the ice spear like a sovereign of ice and snow, stepped forward toward the immobilized Ye Lingxi, the spear’s tip aimed directly at her heart. “It’s over!”

Yet just as Shuang Ning believed victory was assured, Ye Lingxi’s face—frozen in slow motion—curved into the faintest, almost mocking smile.

“Absolute Freeze? Freezing all things?” She struggled to raise her hand, gripping the Ice Phoenix Feather at her waist once more. “Do Itachi know… even time can be frozen?”

“Xuanming—Moment of Eternity!”

The Ice Phoenix Feather erupted in an unprecedented brilliant blue light; a force of cosmic law far older, deeper, and closer to the origin of “stillness” than Shuang Ning’s “Absolute Freeze” exploded outward!

This was not mere low temperature—it touched the very layer of time: “stasis.”

Centered on Ye Lingxi, Shuang Ning’s blue “Absolute Freeze” domain was forcibly tainted and assimilated; the “stillness” within it was amplified infinitely—even Shuang Ning’s own movements experienced a fleeting, nearly imperceptible pause.

Though only a moment, for fighters at this level, it was enough.

Ye Lingxi forcibly broke free from the domain’s restraint, her figure appearing as if she had shattered the limits of space and time, instantly materializing before Shuang Ning, whose domain had just developed a flaw.

“Xuanming—Yellow Springs Finger!”

She extended two fingers like a sword; the tips wrapped in ultimate cold and death, as if drawing power from the Nine Heavens’ Yellow Springs, striking straight for Shuang Ning’s third eye!

Shuang Ning’s pupils shrank sharply; in this moment of crisis, the pride and power within her bloodline erupted fully.

“Ice Phoenix True Blood—ignite! Phoenix Wing Defense!”

Her ice crystal wings snapped shut, encasing her entirely; ancient Phoenix runes on the wings ignited, forming an unbreakable absolute defense.

“Puff!”

Ye Lingxi’s fingertip touched the closed wings of the Ice Phoenix.

No thunderous crash—only a faint sound, like ice cracking.

Time seemed to freeze in that instant.

Ye Lingxi remained in her striking pose, fingertip pressed against the ice wings.

Shuang Ning crouched within the protective wings, her azure eyes locked rigidly forward.

The next moment—

“Crack… crackle… crackle…”

Fine cracks spread rapidly from Ye Lingxi’s fingertip across the supposedly unbreakable Ice Phoenix wings!

Simultaneously, a gray, deadening aura crept backward along Ye Lingxi’s arm, coating her entire limb in frost, stiffening her movements.

“Boom!”

The Ice Phoenix wings exploded violently, turning into a storm of ice crystals and powder.