[Star Frost Faction Underground Base Ice Cave Tunnel]
"Sis!"
Chen Kong's voice held both surprise and a subconscious trace of fear.
After all, the circumstances of his childhood had instilled a deeply ingrained fear of Chen Xing in him.
But seeing that familiar red figure now, the stone weighing on his heart instantly dropped.
If they were to continue under the current circumstances, let alone saving Isabella, they might all end up being taken out.
However, Chen Xing acted as if she hadn't heard Chen Kong at all, not even sparing him a glance.
Chen Xing walked straight past him. In her wake, the chill in the tunnel quickly receded, replaced by a scorching heat, as if an invisible ball of fire was burning around her.
Before long, the thick ice covering the tunnel walls began to sizzle and melt.
Water droplets slid down the walls, gathering into small streams on the floor.
Seeing Chen Xing's sudden appearance, Jeremiah shed the relaxed demeanor he had used against Chen Kong's group, his eyes becoming serious.
"Chen Xing, it's been a long time. You've certainly grown stronger."
Chen Xing did not respond, simply and slowly drawing the demonic blade hanging on her lower back.
The moment the blade was partially unsheathed, it began to emit an oppressive heat wave.
Under the influence of this heat, not only was the ice mist within the tunnel instantly dispersed, but even the melted ice water on the floor began to evaporate, producing white steam.
Seeing this, Danika, experienced as she was, quickly retreated a few steps, her short legs moving rapidly.
At the same time, she didn't forget to relay Tendo's words to Chen Kong's group.
"Mr. Chen Kong, Mr. Tendo says you should hurry and go save Miss Isabella! Just leave this place to us!"
Hearing this, Chen Kong first glanced at the prison area where Isabella was located, just outside the tunnel.
Then, he looked at the small Danika, who was wearing a little backpack, and said worriedly, "What about you? Won't you be in danger if you stay here?"
Danika's reply was very casual.
"Oh, I'll be fine because I'm very strong!"
As she spoke, Danika raised her little fist.
She meant to indicate that even though she was small, she was actually quite capable in a fight!
However, not only Chen Kong but even the dimensional audience on Site 13 didn't quite believe Danika's words.
Simply because Danika hadn't made a move even once so far.
The only veiled expressions of her strength were receiving the title of the youngest Star Envoy of the Steam City Association when she was in the City of Steam, and some peculiar comments Tendo had made about her.
Other than that, Danika had no actual 'battle records.'
Before Chen Kong could continue speaking, Chen Xing's voice suddenly rang out.
"Don't worry about her. Even if you die here, she won't be harmed."
"Ah?"
Hearing Chen Xing's words, Chen Kong was stunned.
Equally surprised were Liu Ma and Vivian, who had just managed to escape from their predicament.
No matter how they looked at it, Danika seemed like a child who needed protection, yet Chen Xing's words were never baseless.
"Go!"
Liu Ma was the first to react, grabbing Chen Kong's arm.
As the demonic blade on Chen Xing's lower back was continuously drawn out, the heat wave in the tunnel was becoming increasingly thick, pressuring them until they could hardly breathe.
If they didn't leave soon, they might not get the chance to.
Realizing this, the three no longer hesitated and immediately sprinted toward the prison area.
Jeremiah acted as if he didn't even see them, his gaze constantly locked on Chen Xing.
In the face of an absolute powerhouse, irrelevant people didn't even have the qualification to be noticed by him.
Soon, only Chen Xing, Danika, and Jeremiah remained in the empty tunnel.
Danika leaned against the tunnel wall, pulled out a bag of chips from her backpack, and began munching leisurely.
Strangely, both Chen Xing's flames and Jeremiah's cold air mysteriously dissipated upon reaching a certain distance from Danika.
Although the Stars Production Team hadn't explained how she managed this, it undoubtedly corroborated Chen Xing's earlier words.
This seemingly harmless little girl was far more special than many people imagined.
Meanwhile, following the departure of Chen Kong's group, the air between Chen Xing and Jeremiah had become extremely tense, with even the sound of water droplets hitting the floor being unusually clear.
Buzz!
Without any pleasantries or probing, Chen Xing's demonic blade decisively shot out of its sheath.
The red blade light sliced through the air, carrying a scorching heat wave directly toward Jeremiah's face.
Jeremiah's pupils contracted instantly, and a 'Scale Illusion' immediately materialized behind him.
That was his Starlight Source: Arbiter of Sloth.
Crack!
The lights on both ends of the scales flashed, and Chen Xing's unstoppable crimson flame slash was forcefully 'frozen' mid-air, eventually dissipating into nothingness under the influence of the scales' power.
Seeing this scene, a trace of interest flickered in Chen Xing's beautiful crimson eyes.
Although she didn't understand how Jeremiah achieved this, her intuition told her it was definitely related to his Starlight Source.
"Your Starlight Source is quite interesting."
As she spoke, Chen Xing lightly tapped the ground with her foot, instantly appearing behind Jeremiah.
The next second, the demonic blade in her hand whipped up a spiral of flames, twisting the surrounding air, and the blade light aimed straight for Jeremiah's back.
The strike was both fast and vicious, with even the afterimages carrying a scorching temperature.
However, Jeremiah acted as if he had eyes in the back of his head; a thick layer of ice instantly condensed on the ground, attempting to trap Chen Xing's movement.
Yet, the ice layer that could render Liu Ma immobile was instantly incinerated into steam by the 'Blood Flame' surrounding Chen Xing's body the moment it touched her.
Tear!
Accompanied by the sound of ice crystals shattering, Jeremiah's right arm was severed at the shoulder and fell to the ground.
But before the dimensional audience could cry out in shock, Chen Xing inexplicably stopped her attack, frowning as she looked at Jeremiah, her tone slightly bewildered.
"Strange. Logically, I should continue to pursue you right now."
"But my intuition tells me that getting closer to you now would bring considerable trouble."
Hearing this, Jeremiah looked at his 'severed arm' on the ground, a bitter smile appearing on his face.
"As expected of the demonic blade that the Professor mentioned could dominate a battlefield purely by instinct. Your intuition... is quite unreasonable."
As his words fell, the severed arm of Jeremiah on the ground burst into an ice mist.
Simultaneously, his right arm began to re-condense at a visible speed amid the successive layering of pale blue ice crystals, quickly recovering into a complete arm, with even the sleeve perfectly intact.
Seeing this, Chen Xing raised an eyebrow, a rare look of approval appearing in her crimson eyes.
"So that's it. You've already managed to achieve preliminary Elementalization?"
Jeremiah nodded, without a hint of pride in his voice.
"I just managed it recently."
Hearing this, Chen Xing smiled.
But for Jeremiah, that smile was not necessarily a good thing.
"Jeremiah, you really are interesting, but this is for the better."
"Because if that's the case... I don't have to hold back too much."
As her voice faded, her figure vanished again.
This time, the red blade light rained down like a storm, the scorching heat wave dyeing the entire tunnel red, a stark contrast to Jeremiah's extreme coldness.
The collision of ice and fire exploded within the tunnel, with every exchange causing the ground to shake violently.
Jeremiah, who had previously completely overwhelmed Chen Kong's group, was now utterly helpless against Chen Xing.
The value of the Stars Ranking was verified once again at this moment; the hierarchy was truly rigid.
Chapter 290: The 'Ice Prison' that Balances Good and Evil
[Star Frost Faction Underground Base Ice Cave Passage]
Chen Xing's scarlet blade light poured down on Jeremiah like a rainstorm, each strike wrapped in scorching blood flames, making the air in the passage twist.
Jeremiah's figure dodged frantically amidst the blade light, his permed hair damp with melting ice water, and even the hem of his gray hoodie was scorched black by the flames.
The ice layer that once covered the passage was long gone, leaving only wet traces of water.
And these water stains, under the evaporation of Chen Xing's blood flames, instantly turned into a dense white mist.
The entire underground passage was enveloped in a strange heat, like a scorching sauna.
Starlight Technique: Ice Prism Hell!
Within the white mist, Jeremiah suddenly raised his hand, and over a dozen ice prisms as thick as arms condensed in mid-air.
These ice prisms glowed with a faint blue cold light, clearly having condensed more Starlight energy than the ice techniques he had used against Chen Kong before.
But when these ice prisms approached the three-meter radius around Chen Xing, she expressionlessly gripped her demon blade and gently flicked her wrist.
The next second, scarlet flames instantly swirled into a vortex, like the gaping maw of a giant beast, swallowing all the ice prisms in one gulp.
There was no jarring collision sound, nor any trace of ice shattering. The seemingly sharp ice prisms couldn't even last half a second in the flame vortex before being completely evaporated into water vapor, leaving not a single shard of ice crystal behind.
"Jeremiah, is that... all you've got?"
Chen Xing's voice came from within the flame vortex. Her beautiful, cold face showed no emotion, only a hint of clear disappointment in her eyes.
Initially, when she saw that Jeremiah had mastered partial elementalization, she thought he could provide her with some 'fun.'
But the reality was she had thought too much.
Because Jeremiah's elementalization was temporarily limited only to his limbs, unable to achieve complete form transformation. This meant his body still had 'vulnerable points,' preventing him from fighting without any reservations.
Such an opponent was simply unworthy of her giving her all.
Meanwhile, Jeremiah leaned against the passage wall, panting heavily, a trace of helplessness on his face.
If it were any other Star Envoy of the same rank, he wouldn't find it so tricky.
His 'Star Core: Frost Giant: Elementalization' allowed him to be immune to most physical attacks.
His 'Star Source: Arbiter of Sloth: Asset Freeze' could even weaken his opponent's power, achieving a balance of gain and loss.
But against Chen Xing, these abilities felt like punching cotton—completely ineffective.
Leaving aside the 'Extreme Cold' being countered by 'Blood Flames,'
Just considering 'Asset Freeze,' he knew clearly that although Chen Xing had stained her hands with a lot of blood, she hadn't accumulated much 'sin.'
Therefore, while his 'Asset Freeze' could certainly weaken a portion of Chen Xing's power, it couldn't pose any substantial threat to her.
Troublesome... this isn't a battle between equals; it's a one-sided crushing.
Just as Jeremiah's attention drifted, Chen Xing suddenly vanished from her spot.
The next moment, her figure abruptly appeared on Jeremiah's left, the demon blade slashing horizontally, the scarlet flame blade energy tearing through the air like lightning, aiming straight for his waist and abdomen.
The unconcealed 'ultimate killing intent' emanating from the demon blade even split the surrounding mist, carving out a clear vacuum.
Jeremiah's pupils constricted. The Starlight energy in his body spun wildly.
He tried to activate the 'Balance' of the 'Arbiter of Sloth' to 'balance' Chen Xing's attack, rendering the strike harmless.
But the Balance, having just formed a vague outline, was instantly shattered by the scorching power within Chen Xing's blade energy, dissipating into the air like foam.
Puff!
Blood splashed onto the melted ice water, creating a dazzling red circle.
Jeremiah lowered his head and saw a deep wound on his left ribs, cut open by Chen Xing, so deep that his internal organs were vaguely visible.
He stumbled back several steps, raising his hand to press the wound, and pale blue ice crystals quickly spread from his palm, trying to seal the wound and stop the bleeding.
But as soon as the ice crystals touched the edge of the wound, they were instantly melted into water by the residual blood flames with a sizzling sound, completely unable to solidify.
"How could this be..."
Jeremiah's voice held a trace of disbelief.
He knew that his control over Ice attribute Starlight energy had already reached its peak, yet against Chen Xing's blood flames, his 'Extreme Cold' couldn't even perform the most basic 'freezing.'
This meant that the 'rank' of the Blood Flames was far superior to his Ice Starlight energy—an absolute attribute suppression.
Without any hesitation, Jeremiah resolutely pulled out a special 'Cold Crystal Nanobot Serum' unique to the Star Frost Faction, and fiercely plunged it into his abdomen.
The next second, countless tiny nanobots began to work on his wound, ultimately helping to seal it and isolate Chen Xing's burning blood flames.
During this process, Chen Xing merely watched calmly, without launching any attack.
Indifferent, arrogant...
At this moment, Jeremiah felt like he saw the 'shadow' of the Tendo in Chen Xing.
Because only monsters like them would disregard the enemy's condition and base everything solely on their own 'interest.'
And the current Chen Xing was undoubtedly doing something similar.
She was waiting, waiting for him to display a method worthy of her interest.
For this, she could even do nothing, simply waiting for him to recover from his injuries.
And the source of this arrogant confidence was her terrifying strength.
Thinking this, Jeremiah made up his mind.
He closed his eyes, and the Starlight energy around him surged frantically, several times more violently than when he condensed the Ice Prism Hell.
The next second, pale blue ice crystals rapidly spread outwards, centered on his body, instantly covering the entire passage. It formed a massive, five-meter-high Ice Prison, trapping both him and Chen Xing inside.
The inner wall of the Ice Prison was covered with tiny Balance markings, which emitted a cold light and frantically began drawing out the surrounding Starlight energy like living things.
Even the residual scent of blood flames in the air was slowly being sucked away by these eerie markings.
And inside this Ice Prison, Chen Xing could clearly feel that the Starlight energy within her body was showing slight signs of becoming uncontrollable, as if the Balance markings were attempting to forcibly draw it out.
She raised an eyebrow, and a trace of interest finally returned to her cold face.
"The 'Giant Ice Prison,' built with the Frost Giant as the core, combined with the Arbiter of Sloth."
"Jeremiah, it seems you have indeed grown quite a bit over the years."
Jeremiah stood at the other end of the Ice Prison. He looked at Chen Xing, who was curiously examining the prison's markings nearby. His face was pale, but his tone was firm: "Chen Xing, I admit I am far inferior to you, but if it's only to stall you... I can still manage it."
In response, Chen Xing curled her lip into a cold smirk.
"Want to stall me? That depends on whether you... have the capability."
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