Chapter 925

That snow-spotted leopard was very alert; as soon as Ao Jing and Shan Shan appeared, it noticed.

Immediately after, it bolted, and within moments it was over a hundred meters away, its figure almost blending into the snow.

"Oh no, it's going to turn invisible again!" Shan Shan called out a warning.

The next second, Shan Shan heard a low roar from ahead, the ground shook violently, snowflakes fluttered, and she watched helplessly as the snow leopard crashed to the ground.

Blood quickly spread across the snow, and after Shan Shan rushed forward a dozen steps, she could see that the snow leopard's right hind leg had been struck by something, suffering Heavy Damage; it tried several times to stand, but to no avail.

After walking another thirty meters or so, Shan Shan finally saw clearly that what had struck the snow leopard's right hind leg was actually a piece of black scale armor.

Shan Shan glanced at Ao Jing in disbelief.

She hadn't seen Ao Jing make a move just now.

Moreover, the last time she encountered a snow leopard, she had also tried shooting but failed each time.

The snow leopard's movements were too swift; to hit it, one had to be fast, precise, and ruthless—strike true in an instant, for even a second's hesitation could mean missing the opportunity.

Something most people couldn't do, Ao Jing accomplished effortlessly, making it hard not to be amazed.

If counted from their hatchling stage, Ao Jing is only a few months older than Shan Shan, yet his Xiūwéi and temperament are nowhere near comparable to hers.

At this moment, Shan Shan even wondered whether this person had started cultivating from the womb.

These thoughts flashed through her mind, but Shan Shan's feet didn't pause; when she saw that the snow leopard was less than twenty meters away, something strange happened.

The black Dragon Scale embedded deep in the snow leopard's flesh suddenly lost its original luster, and the large patch of blood spreading across the snow vanished entirely.

Shan Shan frowned, about to step forward to investigate, but Ao Jing grabbed her and quickly pulled her back a few steps.

Immediately afterward, they saw the snow leopard, which had been injured and unable to stand, slowly lift its hind legs and stand steadily.

It even turned its body, assumed an attacking stance, and its sinister gaze locked firmly on the two of them.

The snow leopard's demeanor had completely changed, and this shift occurred in an instant, just like its wound—its healing speed was astonishing.

At this moment, a faint black qi coiled around the snow leopard's body.

As time passed, this black qi grew denser, and the snow leopard's facial expression became increasingly ferocious.

At some point, Shan Shan found herself protected behind Ao Jing.

With a leopard's roar, the snow leopard bared its fangs, dug its limbs into the ground, and leapt upward.

At such close range, even with Ao Jing protecting her, Shan Shan felt the snow leopard was like a small car plummeting from the sky, about to smash down on them.

Ao Jing shoved hard, and Shan Shan's body flew far away.

The incident happened suddenly; Shan Shan was unprepared and fell flat on her buttocks.

Fortunately, the snow on the ground was thick enough that the fall didn't hurt.

She hurriedly got to her feet, focused her gaze, and saw that Ao Jing had already transformed into his dragon form, engaged in combat with the snow leopard.

At this moment, the snow leopard was enveloped in black qi, while Ao Jing's true form was also a black dragon; Shan Shan could only judge his position by its shape.

But the black qi grew thicker and thicker, until gradually Shan Shan could only hear the sounds of battle.

At that very moment, she suddenly sensed that a pair of cold, bloodthirsty eyes seemed to be fixed on her from her left rear.

She whirled around, and indeed immediately came face to face with another snow leopard.

That snow leopard was slightly smaller, more like the one she had encountered during her previous training.

Yet at this moment its whole body was also shrouded in black qi, its sinister eyes flashing with blood-red light—clearly it was under control.

Who is it?

Shan Shan had thought the snow leopard was the sole living creature in this vast snowy expanse, but she hadn't expected that someone or some special power lay hidden here, controlling the snow leopards.

Right then, Shan Shan inexplicably felt a surge of fear.

If, during her previous encounter with the snow leopard here, she had truly wounded it, the outcome would likely be only one thing… she would be torn apart and devoured by this pack of snow leopards and their hidden master.

She could clearly feel that in this snowy region, the Xiūwéi of these outsiders was suppressed—first, they could not fly into the sky or burrow underground, forced to fight on flat ground, which prevented many techniques from being unleashed.

Moreover, everywhere here is snow.

Besides snow, there is no other advantageous environment to exploit—for example, Ao Jing is a black dragon skilled at controlling water, but here there is no water for him to use…

Likewise, Shan Shan excels at fire attacks, but she has tried: although the flames do injure the opponent when launched, their effect is far weaker than outside, and once the flames are covered by snowflakes they quickly die out.

Previously, Shan Shan couldn't understand why the world inside the Spirit Mirror would present such a situation.

This time, seeing the black qi coiling around the snow leopard, she understood.

Entities like this snowy region, trapped within the Spirit Mirror, have all previously suffered Heavy Damage; obviously, the force that inflicted Heavy Damage on this domain still lingers, constantly controlling the living beings within.

The vast majority are tightly suppressed, unable to break free; a minority are controlled, guarding this territory, just like the snow leopards.

Shan Shan had not yet devised a way to break the situation, nor did she have time to think, for the snow leopard that had fixed its gaze on her had already lunged.

Shan Shan hurriedly gathered her qi and went forward, unleashing various techniques in succession, barely managing to fight to a draw.

But the problem is, her abilities are limited, while the opponent's strength grows as the black qi around it thickens, making it increasingly hard for Shan Shan to cope.

In the blink of an eye they exchanged over a hundred moves; Shan Shan lost her patience, formed a hand seal, pressed her sword finger to her brow, then swept it toward the crown of her head—at that instant, the three phoenix true feathers atop her head appeared at her fingertips.

As Shan Shan flung the phoenix true feathers backward, the three instantly turned into three blazing fireballs, like comets streaking across the sky, slamming hard into the snow leopard.

With a anguished howl, the snow leopard crashed heavily to the ground.

Behind her, almost at the same moment came the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground; Shan Shan turned and saw that Ao Jing had also felled the larger snow leopard, now turning his head to look at her.

Their eyes met, and they shared a knowing smile.

But the next second, their smiles froze on their faces, their gazes shifting simultaneously to whatever lay behind each of them, eyes showing worry.

The ground began to tremble, and steady, heavy footsteps echoed from all directions, converging to surround Ao Jing and Shan Shan in the middle.

Ao Jing gave a rough glance; the snow leopards visible to the naked eye that were closing in numbered eight or nine, and their builds were far larger than before…