Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 500 Suppressing Heaven and Earth

Dugu Qingli has been living alone since childhood and rarely cooperates with others.

As a result, after cooperating with Lu Xingzhou several times, their relationship became increasingly ambiguous.

Leaving aside the wheelchair tremors from before, this time, from being forced to lean against each other to being held in someone's arms, every step felt like it was staged.

Before, I would instinctively pull away if someone held my hand, but now I feel completely at ease when someone holds me in their arms, without any thought of struggling. It's like I'm very used to it.

I've gotten used to healing my wounds while still having time to look around.

As Lu Xingzhou sped away, countless ice figures chased after him with a clanging sound, while countless more ice figures surrounded him from all sides. Dugu Qingli paused to adjust her breathing, then cast a spell in his arms.

The sound of cracking ice rang out, and many of the ice figures that had caught up shattered, turning into frozen corpses that fell to the ground.

A crack was needed to break through the king's ice armor, but not for these ordinary civilians and soldiers. Dugu Qingli was like a god or demon here; wherever her magic touched, the ice figures collapsed.

Having lost their outer layer of ice armor, the red light in their eyes gradually faded—it seemed that this revival was strongly related to frost.

"It should be related to the Ice Demon," Dugu Qingli said in a low voice.

"Hmm." Lu Xingzhou had already made his judgment, so he didn't say much. He quickly went to the corner of the survey and put Dugu Qingli down.

"Boom!" Purple flames rose into the sky, encircling the surrounding area for several miles. Anyone who dared to enter the ice-man's territory would melt instantly, and screams of agony would echo continuously.

Unless they are kings, ordinary ice men are no match for these two evil stars, not even seemingly strong generals.

While the king was still dealing with Fu Gu's Yin True Fire, Lu Xingzhou quickly constructed a superimposed array in the eastern part of the city. Dugu Qingli stood by his side, sword in hand, protecting him and dealing with the few ice-man generals who could pass through the flames.

This is how normal cooperation should be... What's with all this hugging and carrying...?

Just as he was thinking this, Lu Xingzhou once again wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up, and flew south.

Dugu Qingli: "...I can fly by myself."

"Take care of your injuries, don't push yourself, there's still a tough battle ahead."

"……All right."

Since you've already hugged her, there seems to be no point in continuing to insist on flying on your own.

Little White Hair peeked out from Lu Xingzhou's shoulder; more and more ice men were chasing after them, and red light was everywhere.

Once they are surrounded and the king arrives in pursuit, it will likely be the toughest battle of their lives.

Lu Xingzhou followed the same method, setting up formations in both the south and west of the city, and eventually heading north.

The king's figure had already appeared among the pursuers, and the violent energy roared in from afar. Lu Xingzhou looked back and saw that the Taiyin True Fire on the king's forehead had been extinguished, revealing charred skin. The ice armor on his body was also melting, and water droplets slowly fell, like melting ice cream.

But its power was by no means weak. When the energy hit them, the two were quickly separated and bounced to the left and right on the ground. The ground in the center exploded with a bang, and frost flew everywhere.

Lu Xingzhou remained ablaze with purple flames, stretching for miles and blocking the advance of the other ice warriors. The king arrived on fire, followed by several powerful guards; this time, he did not maintain distance to fight alone.

Once surrounded, there's probably no way to escape.

But this is also the final step in setting up the formation. Once the formation is activated, the objective will be achieved.

Dugu Qingli stood guard in front of Lu Xingzhou with her sword drawn: "You set up the formation, I'll hold them off."

Lu Xingzhou swiftly drew the array diagram, and the king's fist struck Dugu Qingli's face once more.

This is Dugu Qingli's third battle against the king.

The king grew weaker with each attack, yet she was able to heal and recover continuously. From being unable to defeat him even when two people attacked her together the first time, to being able to hold her own for a long time in a one-on-one fight the second time, and then this time...

"Bang!" The ice sword was held horizontally, blocking the king's fist. Dugu Qingli only took two steps back to regain her footing. At the same time, the sword energy scattered and blocked the other ice guards.

Sword energy crisscrossed, weaving a sword net in front of Lu Xingzhou. The girl protected the man with the engraved array, fighting against thousands of enemies alone.

Lu Xingzhou glanced over in the midst of his busy schedule and saw Little White Hair with flowing white hair, fighting with his sword drawn, surrounded by ice and snow—a truly beautiful scene.

He wasn't idle either. With the soul banner fluttering, black flames roared out, and powerful Yin spirits like Huo Liancheng swept across the area with cries of ghosts, turning the entire north of the city into an infernal hell.

The aesthetic appeal is gone, the style has changed drastically, but the effect is very good.

These ice figures are devoid of spirit, and the vengeful spirits tearing at their souls are just what they need.

The spirits can be scattered. Sometimes, unleashing all the spirits at once is a powerful move that shouldn't be used recklessly; it's a last-ditch effort.

"Boom!" Just as they were locked in combat, the earth shook violently, and the whole city trembled.

Another sudden spatial ascent occurred at this time.

Caught off guard, Lu Xingzhou almost miscarried the array, and Dugu Qingli also staggered, taking a blow to the shoulder from the king.

The king was also badly injured; he was stabbed in the shoulder, and the cut on his forehead spread to his face.

At the same time, Si Han and the others outside also felt a violent tremor and lost their footing. They were horrified to discover that the millennia-old ice beneath their feet had developed fine cracks, especially in the relatively less dense areas around the edge of the Cold River, where the glacier had cracked significantly, showing signs of the Cold River about to collapse.

"This is terrible! I never imagined it would get this bad!" Several high-ranking officials from the Frost Kingdom exclaimed in alarm, "Once the glacier moves south, at least half of the Frost Kingdom will be destroyed!"

Forget about the consequences of the glacier collapse; the earthquake alone caused houses in nearby Coldwind City to begin collapsing, including the famous clothing store...

The shop owner salvaged the signboard and ran quickly to a wide-open space. The surrounding disaster-stricken people gathered in a chaotic frenzy, staring in horror at the turbulent situation of the northern glacier, feeling as if it were the end of the world.

"Don't panic!" Sect Master Zhang Liying, hovering in the air, shouted, "Lord Lu and Saintess Tianyao have come here to resolve this matter. Have faith in the Holy Land!"

"You want me to believe that Lord Lu can pick up girls? Fine, but believe he can stop the glacial apocalypse? Who are we thinking straight?" "Where is the Holy Lord? And the glacial upheaval has also harmed the Demon Realm; hasn't the Dragon Emperor taken any action?"

Zhang Liying didn't believe that the young couple could be of any use in such a major event, and thought to herself, "We're doomed." The main reason was that previous earthquakes were still within everyone's tolerance level; no one expected it to be this serious.

Neither Ye Tinglan nor Long Qinghuang expected that this would be the last time, and neither of them gave it enough importance. Otherwise, Long Qinghuang would not have just focused on her pregnancy and let Lu Xingzhou handle it himself.

At this moment, Long Qinghuang stood atop Dragon Cliff, turning to look west, her heart trembling: "Oh no... how could it be so serious? I even told him to go by himself..."

Ah Nuo: "...Let go, my face hurts."

Long Qinghuang released her grip on A Nuo's hand: "Aren't you worried?"

Ah Nuo rubbed her face: "I was worried, so I had my fortune told..."

"What divination?"

"The master is the disciple's sister, reversing the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches."

Long Qinghuang: "?"

The two stared at each other, wondering if it was a master-disciple relationship, since Long Qinghuang had just been instructing A Nuo on body training.

You little brat, you want to be my older sister?

Ah Nuo scratched her head, it didn't seem to mean that.

But whatever its meaning, this hexagram doesn't seem like an inauspicious one.

"No, you little thing, your fortune-telling is unreliable. I have to go myself." Long Qinghuang stamped her foot and shot westward.

He moved, then suddenly stopped, looking into the distance with surprise and uncertainty: "...It's calmed down?"

"It's quelled?" Si Han and the others, who were circling above Han Chuan, were astonished: "Lu Xingzhou actually has this ability?"

The entire city of Hanlan suddenly calmed down. Zhang Liying and the others looked at each other in surprise, then overjoyed: "Who said Lord Lu is unreliable? Come out for a stroll!"

Hanlan City managed to preserve most of its buildings with almost no casualties. The cities along the Hanchuan border were far more than just Hanlan; countless cities rejoiced. At this moment, Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli were seen as living Buddhas by the people.

People may perceive things simply from the outside, but no one knows the life-or-death races that occur inside the Ice City.

Lu Xingzhou inscribed the final array diagram. The Yin spirits that had accumulated over the years had mostly dissipated, leaving only powerful Yin spirits like Huo Liancheng still holding on. Dugu Qingli slashed her sword across the king's chest, taking the blow herself and staggering back, spitting blood.

The king's second attack followed closely, striking her chest. Dugu Qingli dared not let him disturb Lu Xingzhou's engraving formation, so she barely held her sword horizontally in front of her, intending to take the hit.

This blow might seriously damage her foundation, but the girl's eyes remained calm, showing no intention of backing down.

In a flash, Lu Xingzhou flipped over and blocked her path. At the same time, he threw a formation stone, which disappeared into the center of the engraved array.

With a loud bang, Lu Xingzhou took a hard blow to the back, his Dragon Subduing Armor shattered, and a mouthful of blood sprayed directly onto Dugu Qingli's face.

Dugu Qingli stared blankly at him as the immense force sent the two flying and crashing to the ground.

The formation was already activated while the person was still in mid-air.

Starting from inside the palace, crimson lotus-shaped flames soared into the sky, followed by the great arrays at the four corners of the palace, with countless lotus platforms filling the void, and the form of Buddha seemingly appearing and disappearing in the sky.

Demon-subduing formations and crimson flames shone brightly, covering the entire city.

The red light in the eyes of all the ice men, including the king, flickered, and they all stopped moving, as if frozen in time.

Red lotus flames ignited on each ice figure, purifying and extinguishing all demonic intent.

The ice melted, like spring rain, and water flowed through the long streets. Whether it was frozen people or buildings and vegetation, everything was thawed, and the frozen city regained its original colors.

This is a layered formation. When the Demon-Subduing Formation takes effect, it also means that the Space-Freezing Formation takes effect.

The meaning of the Four Symbols emerges in the sky, and in the dark secret realm, it seems as if stars are shining, suppressing this universe.

The entire space was still being pushed upwards by some strange, enormous force, but it could no longer be pushed forward even a fraction of an inch.

"Bang!" Only then did Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli fall to the ground in each other's arms. The momentum caused them to roll several times on the ground, each panting heavily from exhaustion.

Lu Xingzhou barely managed to turn his head and saw a group of corpse puppets, their icy forms completely gone, standing there in various shapes. The ice city seemed to have turned into a zombie city, still moving slowly, like something out of Resident Evil.

The king's body, with his forehead burned but his eyes still glowing red, was slowly approaching step by step.

Even with the combined effects of his own Demon-Subduing Array and the Crimson Lotus Calamity Flame, he couldn't be completely purified; he was too powerful.

Without saying a word, Lu Xingzhou summoned the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

Those who wield the Soul Banner are least afraid of Resident Evil.

All the ice figures still have a bit of soul fire sealed inside, so they can move. At this moment, the Myriad Soul Banner becomes a bug-like nuclear weapon, with soul fire roaring throughout the city and all the remnant souls being collected into the banner.

This city probably has hundreds of thousands of people. Although a single soul fire cannot represent a soul, hundreds of thousands of souls can barely make up 10,000 souls.

Now that the previous loss of Yin Souls has been replenished, it has become a true Myriad Soul Banner, its power reaching the pinnacle of Radiant Sun, finally transforming from an auxiliary magic weapon into one that can be used in main battle.

Only the king's soul remained unmoved, only clutching its head and wailing, its voice echoing through the heavens: "I...I remember...the Ice Demon..."

At this moment, the king seemed to regain his senses and was no longer a killing machine.

(End of this chapter)