The fight between Tian Yang and Xue Yebai continued to rage on.
As soon as Xue Yebai's ice palace finished forming, he let out a guttural roar. The mana imbued in his voice scattered the ambient mana around him, repelling most of Tian Yang's attacks.
At the same time, a wave of power emanated from the ice palace.
Voom!
Thousands of kilometers of the area around the two men were frozen solid. It wasn't just a layer of frost covering it, no, the molecular structure of the material that was frozen was changed into the purest of ice itself.
Pillars rose from the earth, a crystalline ceiling formed above their heads, and jagged stalactites dripped down from above as well.
Xue Yebai established his territory. All mana other than pure ice elemental essence was driven out. In this kind of situation, any practitioner that didn't use ice as their main form of attack would be severely disadvantaged.
After all, they could no longer replenish mana, and they could no longer command ambient mana to do their bidding. This kind of move was essentially crippling all opponents caught in its grasp.
Xue Yebai raised his arm into the air as his face twisted into a cold smile. "Tian Yang, I'd like to see how you escape this time."
His arm fell rapidly. On his command, the ice surrounding the two men came to life.
Frightening tides formed on both sides and entrenched Tian Yang, forcing him to defend against them. The stalactites on the ceiling fell in quick succession to prevent him from escaping into the sky. As for the ground, it was frozen so solid that even someone at Tian Yang's level would have to put in genuine effort to break it.
From what it seemed, Tian Yang was left with no option other than to hopelessly defend. Seeing this, Xue Yebai's cold smile became wider.
A shimmering crystalline sword mirroring Damien's Mirage appeared in his hand. Except, this one was entirely made of ice.
"Tian Yang, the ice I have curated over all my years of life, my Hallowed Emperor Ice, is ranked at the very peak of ice elements. Even if you try to attack it, you will not be able to damage it as you please."
Xue Yebai took his stance and probed his sword. His mana agglomerated around the blade, forming something akin to a sheath of ice.
"Since it is you that I'm dealing with, I shall give it my all. Taste my pinnacle sword art. Absolute Ice Art: Ice Coffin."
His sword slashed diagonally through the air, leaving a clean line in space that could be seen with the naked eye. The slash of Sword Intent took form into a massive ice coffin that swallowed Tian Yang, entrapping him within.
"Hahahahaha! The space around you has long been frozen by my Territory! Let's see how you escape this time!"
The attacks coming from all sides finally converged. Even a layman could see that if Tian Yang truly couldn't defend, he'd be gravely injured, if not killed.
Tian Yang's voice suddenly rang out from within the ice coffin. Even with all the madness raging around him, it could be clearly heard as if he was roaring at the top of his lungs.
But his tone was oddly calm.
"Xue Yebai, even after so many years that you've spent bitterly preparing to kill me, this is all you amount to? If so, you should've just fallen into the temptation of those traitors."
He waved his hand lightly. In that instant, the ice coffin around his body vanished as if it never existed in the first place.
"There's a reason spatial cultivators are so feared in society, and a reason why the Heavens rarely grant talent in Spatial Laws unto the beings residing under it. Puny tricks like these…are meaningless in front of me."
BOOM!
Tian Yang spread his arms to his sides. The two tsunamis of ice that were about to crush him flat were caught in his grasp.
"Shoo."
An abnormal pulsation occurred in space. The sound of cracks spreading through glass overtook all other sounds around the battlefield.
And then, space shattered once more.
The layers of ice that Xue Yebai used to freeze the spatial layers were cracked in an instant. As for space itself, it coiled in on itself like a spring under Tian Yang's command.
Voom!
The spring burst. The ice tsunamis, the falling stalactites, every attack Xue Yebai had thrown at Tian Yang…they all began moving in reverse.
It was a strange effect. It didn't look like they were being pushed back, rather, it looked like time had rewound. But Tian Yang didn't use any time elemental essence at all. He had achieved a seemingly impossible feat using Spatial Laws alone.
"Elemental essence?" Tian Yang scoffed. "Perhaps for others, this kind of substance is of utmost importance. But for us spatial cultivators, why should we rely on it?"
He flicked his finger, causing thousands of spatial blades to appear in the air and revolve around his body like a protective halo.
"Space is omnipresent. Even if you wish to declare your Territory, there must be a space for you to occupy. You see, the concept of space is far vaster than you could ever imagine with your puny brain."
The spatial blades around Tian Yang shot out. They teleported all over the place without any sort of predetermined pattern, laying waste to everything Xue Yebai had put effort into building to fight Tian Yang.
Once again, the two of them were back to square one. At least, when it came to their environmental advantages.
Tian Yang looked at Xue Yebai placidly and spoke. "So let me ask again, why should I care about the lack of spatial essence around me when I could just bend space itself to follow my will instead?"
BOOOM!
Space shattered into countless mirror fragments floating in the air. Xue Yebai was inevitably sucked into this new spatial phenomenon with no time to react.
"Tian Yang, you bastard!" Xue Yebai roared. Like a mad beast, he charged recklessly while pushing his mana to the limit.
Tian Yang sighed. "It seems you still don't understand. Very well, I shall allow you to experience it with your body so you can no longer find a reason to question it."
Xue Yebai ignored Tian Yang's words and kept charging. But, the fact that he still hadn't reached his desired location after so much effort suddenly began to nag at the back of his mind.
'Where?!'
Xue Yebai felt a sudden threat and stopped abruptly. When he looked around, he found himself in a completely random location, standing in front of a spatial rift that would've sliced his body into countless pieces if he had been even a single step too late in stopping.
He spread his awareness rapidly in confusion. Only then did he realize something strange.
When he started his charge, he was in a direct line to Tian Yang. However, now, he was thousands of kilometers to the right of him, standing in the sky.
'How…?!'
Xue Yebai gritted his teeth in denial and tried again. He put up a barrier of mana around his body to stop himself from being influenced by the surroundings, charging at Tian Yang.
But Tian Yang didn't even acknowledge his efforts. He simply stood there and watched Xue Yebai make a fool of himself with a condescending look in his eyes.
Xue Yebai continued to madly charge. He would move through space laterally and longitudinally at random, ending up in completely unpredictable locations every time he forced himself to stop.
If it was only this, it'd just be shame that he experienced. The problem lay in the fact that countless spatial rifts littered the Territory Tian Yang had set up, each having the power to kill him if he ran into them.
Xue Yebai was vexed to say the least. No matter what he tried, it would only end in him losing face without any gain. He even thought about turning traitor in that moment and embracing the Nox to escape, but he realized that such a choice wasn't available to him.
"Haa…Xue Yebai, your filthy personality has always been something I abhorred, but I allowed you to live because we humans need to preserve as much strength as possible for the coming war. But, you have crossed the line."
Tian Yang raised his hand into the air. For the first time since the fight started, his killing intent leaked from his body.
"Today, I declare your death. Live better in your next life if you don't wish to die so fruitlessly."
Tian Yang dropped his arm. The space in his Territory began to shrink and fold in on itself like a blanket. And within the folds of that blanket was the helplessly flailing Xue Yebai.
"TIAN YANG! EVEN IF YOU KILL ME TODAY, I WILL HAUNT YOU FOR ETERNITY! DO NOT THINK THIS IS THE END!"
He roared like a madman. His eyes were bloodshot, his teeth gashing maddeningly as he spoke.
But his roars held no substance. They were the final wails of a dying man. As space continued to compress with him inside of it, his body was slowly crushed along with it until he became nothing more than a large meatball.
Just like that, Xue Yebai, Head of the Xue Clan, had perished.
