Chapter 362: Battling the Ice Bears
As students of the legendary Shrek Academy, none of Tang Wulin's group were particularly impressive. In spite of that, they were still stronger than soul beasts of the three-thousand-year level. The four ice bears knew this, and indicative of their intelligence, they chose to engage in a battle of energy. Nothing short of an ironclad defense could endure their omnidirectional attack. Gu Yue paled at this realization. Facing one ice bear of this level would be no problem for her if she used Elemental Tide, but the combined force of all four bears was a different story.
"Relax, Gu Yue!" Tang Wulin shouted as he activated his Purple Demon Eyes and charged into the blizzard. "Follow me!"
The blizzard put Tang Wulin's team under considerable pressure. Yuanen Yehui summoned her Titan Giant Ape martial soul and used her third soul skill, Diamond Titan! Her body swelled with strength, but even so, she was just as affected by the blizzard as her teammates. Only attacking the ice bears would dispel it, and Tang Wulin's Purple Demon Eyes could pierce through the flurry of snow and locate the bears.
Then, out of nowhere, the pressure of the icy onslaught eased up.
For the first time since they entered the tower, Xu Xiaoyan took action.
Ice wheels shot out one after another, spinning in the air to suck the swirling snow away from the team. Since Xu Xiaoyan could also wield the element of ice, she had a connection with the blizzard. She could control the blizzard to some extent, and each one of the ice wheels she summoned could weaken it. Although she only had two soul rings, control was her forte. The effects of her efforts were clear.
As Tang Wulin approached the bears, one of them suddenly roared. To his surprise, the four bears turned tail and ran off in different directions.
How crafty! Are they planning on keeping us at a distance and letting their blizzard do all the work? Tang Wulin's eyes shined a brilliant purple as the realization occurred to him. No. I can't let them do that. If I do, we lose.
"Xiaoyan!" Tang shouted. "Attack with Yuanen and Zhengyu! Gu Yue, protect Xu Lizhi and Xie Xie! We're splitting up!" Then he darted off to the side, rushing deep into the blizzard.
One of the ice bears suddenly stumbled and fell to the floor with a groan, the blizzard growing weaker. Tang Wulin had used the spiritual attack of his Purple Demon Eyes, disturbing the bear's focus and impairing its mind. Resisting the storm of ice raging around him, Tang Wulin charged onward. Bluesilver grass rapidly spread toward his target. As long as he defeated this ice bear, the blizzard would drastically weaken and it would be far easier to deal with the rest.
But he was underestimating the ice bear.
The bear slashed out with its claws, shredding the encroaching bluesilver grass to bits, then curled up into a ball and rolled away, retreating across the icy floor.
This bastard...!
Tang Wulin's three soul rings disappeared, a single golden ring appearing in their stead. Powerful waves of blood essence rippled from his body as golden scales appeared on his right arm and torso. As blood essence surged through him, the biting cold no longer hindered him, and he instantly sped up.
A few meters from his prey, Tang Wulin stomped the ground and pounced on the rolling bear. He landed right in front of it, his dragon claw brandished threateningly. The ice bear used the momentum of its roll to fling itself forward, immediately standing upright and lashing out with its own claws. Tang Wulin met the bear's claws with his own, and a shockwave erupted from the resulting collision. This three-thousand-year ice bear could generate at least five thousand kilograms worth of force, and there was no way Tang Wulin could compete with that. The clash sent him flying backward, but the bear wasn't unharmed either. Its right claw had been crushed by Tang Wulin's dragon claw.
Tang Wulin stabbed his claw into the ground, skidding to a grinding halt, and then he charged forward once more. He directed his blood essence to flow according to the path of Dragon Shocks the Heavens, and its strength instantly increased by several times. Although he still couldn't use Dragon Shocks the Heavens to its fullest potential, after the incident that happened the other day, he discovered that he could now control the flow of his blood essence to an extent. Now he could move it around his body like soul power, empowering certain parts of himself. This method rapidly drained his blood essence, but it also provided him with an explosive burst of power. He reversed the flow of his blood essence and concentrated it in his right arm. The scales on his arm began to shine brilliantly, dyeing the surrounding snowfall with golden light.
Unleashing a ferocious roar, he charged at the bear. Icy blue light exploded from the bear as it nursed its wounded claw. It launched itself forward and rolled toward Tang Wulin once more, resembling an enormous ball of ice.
Tang Wulin felt neither joy nor fear. He activated Golden Dragon Body and his blood essence ascended yet another level, golden light bursting from his body. Furthering strengthening his claw, he punched at the ice bear.
A boom tore through the air, sending tremors throughout the hall. Everyone turned toward the noise to see a flash of golden light. The blizzard died off in that area, revealing Tang Wulin standing there alone. He stumbled back to his companions, then steadied himself. His right arm trembled visibly. Only he knew what had just happened.
In its ball form, the ice bear had increased attack and defense power, but it had faced Tang Wulin's dragon claw, which had been enhanced by both Golden Dragon Body and reversed blood essence flow!
In the instant before the two had collided, a foot-long beam of golden light had shot out of the fist to slice apart the bear's defenses. Then a split-second later, the fist came rushing in. The bear's body had been blown away with a single punch.
Although Tang Wulin had been knocked back by the rebound, the bear was dead.
It had lost in a barbaric contest of pure force!
Tang Wulin panted for breath, his right arm spasming as he worked to regulate his internal energies. He may not have used much soul power, but the amount of blood essence he consumed was enormous. Using Golden Dragon Body and reverse blood essence flow at the same time left him drained.
Yet, after doing so, the blizzard clearly weakened. Sensing that their comrade had fallen, the three remaining bears roared with rage. These roars soon became mournful, and the blizzard gradually dissipated. Xu Xiaoan had used her Purple Demon Eyes to lead Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu to the remaining three bears. However, just as Yuanen Yehui was about to finish off the last ice bear, Tang Wulin shouted.
"Don't kill it just yet!"