"Ahhh…"

Pain filled Xinran"s beautiful face as she looked down at the blade poking out of her chest. She angrily grabbed the tip of the blade, bent lower and performed a back kick with her right leg, successfully striking the ambusher in the stomach.

Thud thud thud...

The silver-armored woman withdrew her weapon and backed away a little. Xinran didn"t look happy in the slightest even though the armor protecting her ambusher"s abdomen was a little cracked.

……

"Xinran!"

I moved to Xinran"s side immediately and looked at the terrifying wound at her chest. "Xinran, your wound… will it…"

Despite her heavy breathing and fatigued expression, Xinran smiled at me and said, "Don"t worry, big brother. This isn"t enough to kill me."

"Mn…" I hesitated. What was even the right thing to say in this type of situation?

Xinran didn"t wait for me to come to my senses though. She looked at her attacker angrily and said, "Aren"t you supposed to be guarding the Infinite Snow Domain? Why have you come here?"

As it turned out, the ferocious woman was none other than the second strongest Sovereign of the Purgatory, Sophie the Snow Minstrel!

Sophie smiled at Xinran and replied, "I was attacking Seven Star City until I sensed b.l.o.o.d.y Finger"s presence disappearing gradually just now. At that moment, I knew that it had to be you. There is no one in the entire human realm besides you who has the power to kill him!"

"Ovia is a tyrannical monster! Death is what he deserves!" Xinran declared.

"That he may be, but it is hardly your duty to kill him!"

Sophie pointed her sword at Xinran before continuing, "You"re not escaping this time. The highest order we received from Lord Lin Na is the one to kill you. That is how much of a pain you are to the Purgatory, Wind Singer. If I kill you today, I"m sure Lord Lin Na will reward me handsomely!"

I silently resummoned my apparition and the Phantom Wolf King and prepared for battle. I couldn"t even read Sophie"s level or rank, but giving up was not an option. Xinran would be in grave danger otherwise.

Drip drip...

Despite Xinran"s attempt to staunch the bleeding, red blood continued to drip through her fingers and wet the ground beneath her. She was rapidly losing stamina by the second.

Suddenly, Sophie noticed the color of Xinran"s blood and exclaimed in shock, "Wait. Red blood? I… I cannot believe this. You actually betrayed the Purgatory. You even gave up your pride as an undead and made a human body."

The corners of Xinran"s lips turned up. "Pride as an undead? What"s that? The undead are creatures that know only greed and slaughter. That is why I searched every ruin in the G.o.d Domain, created a human body and transformed my Divinity into Humanity. My power may be weaker than it was before, but… but I…"

Xinran shot me a long glance before she declared with greater determination than ever before, "But I still want to become someone like big brother! He is a man who treats this cruel world with kindness despite possessing the body of an undead, so that is the kind of person I will become as well!"

"Hehe…"

A derisive smile crossed Sophie"s lips. "Cruel world, you say…? Never mind. For the sake of the camaraderie we once shared, I will forgive you for saying that. Have you forgotten the time we resisted the invasion of Longte the Evil Messenger and Liuge the Spirit Controller together? For sixteen years, we fought side by side until we finally killed those two devils and took back our rightful territory. Have you truly forgotten everything, Xinran?"

Xinran s.h.i.+vered once before murmuring, "Sophie, what are you…?"

Sophie spread open her arms and smiled. "Return to the Purgatory with me, Xinran. I promise that Lord Lin Na will accept you back to our fold. You are our pride, and you are not a traitor. In fact, your chance to prove that is right here. Kill these human adventurers and that half-dead human prince without a heart so we may bring their heads to Lord Lin Na as tributes. Let us resume our sisterhood just like before…"

"You want me to… kill my big brother?"

Xinran immediately shook her head in panic. She pointed the Dragonbone Spear at Sophie and declared in a harsh voice, "You devil, I would rather fight the entire world than harm a hair on my big brother! He is… the most important person in my life, and I will never betray him!"

Sophie sighed quietly. "In that case, I have no choice but to claim your life!"

……

Swhoosh swhoos.h.!.+

Sophie smiled as a swirl of ice appeared around her sword. "Come taste the new ultimate technique I cultivated for a thousand years in the Purgatory, Xinran. And show me how strong you are now that you"ve finally broken through your seal!"

"As you wis.h.!.+"

Xinran lifted her spear horizontally and summoned swirls of blood-red energy around her spear. Sophie"s element was ice, while Xinran"s element was freezing fire. It was the result of a perfect, yet paradoxical, fusion of two great elements, ice and fire. The flames she conjured were cold, but that only made them even deadlier than regular flame!

Thud!

Xinran pushed herself off the ground and thrust her speartip at Sophie"s chest. At the same time, she shook the spear a bit to fire the energy she summoned!

"Hmm?"

Sophie let out an exclamation of surprise as she rotated her sword to form a vortex of ice. When Xinran"s speartip plunged into the center of the vortex, a huge explosion threw both combatants backward!

Bang!

Xinran was sent stumbling to the back, but Sophie wasn"t faring too good herself. The Snow Minstrel let out a groan of pain as her armor shattered further, and black blood seeped out the cracks around her right chest. It was the result of Xinran"s counterattack.

However, Sophie snorted triumphantly and crushed a dried bone beneath her foot. She abruptly tossed her sword into the sky and summoned the image of an ice dragon that spun around the weapon and roared almost as if it was protecting it.

A trace of shock crossed Xinran"s eyes as she stared at it. "Heavens, is that… the ultimate technique of the Dragon Speaker, War Dragon Strike?!"

Sophie replied indifferently, "Correct. Now die, my former friend!"

War Dragon Strike was absolutely an overpowered skill. The sky itself was changing color, and the entire Dharan City ruins were engulfed in an ominous darkness. If Sophie was allowed to unleash this skill to its full potential, forget Xinran, even the rest of us might die alongside her. The second strongest boss of the Nine Sovereigns was no joke!

I lowered my center of gravity slightly and activated Great Earth Transformation. Then, I threw the Cyan Netherworld Sword and hit Sophie"s torso perfectly with Sword Boomerang. However, the weapon bounced off her armor like nothing and...

1717!

I stared blankly at the damage number. Heavens, this gap is too big, isn"t it!?

Sophie looked unperturbed by the attack, but the slip of killing intent in her eyes said otherwise. She raised her left arm and growled at me, "Human brat. Die!"

Boom!

I, my pet and the earth abruptly sank two meters deeper into the ground. The sudden pressure Sophie exuded shattered all the stairs around me and dealt a ridiculous 350k damage to me! She wasn"t even attacking yet; her aura alone had almost one-shot me!

……

"You will not hurt big brother!"

Enraged, Xinran crushed the ground beneath her feet and leaped bravely into the sky. The Dragonbone Spear buzzed in her grasp as a black dragon slithered across the spear"s body. It was the draconic soul that resided in the weapon. Xinran was going all out because she knew exactly how powerful War Dragon Strike was.

"Hah! Die, Xinran!"

Sophie let out a battle cry and brought down her sword with both hands. The ice dragon rushed toward Xinran faster than her person!

Xinran thrust her spear forward and hurled her own energy at Sophie. However, the black dragon was clearly no match for the power of War Dragon Strike and was quickly devoured by it. When the remaining energy of the skill engulfed Xinran"s tiny body, a deafening explosion threatened to burst everyone"s eardrums!

Chiang!

It was the Dragonbone Spear clas.h.i.+ng against Sophie"s sword. The rush of energies was too bright for us to stare directly, and the wind intensity alone threatened to seal our eyes completely. However, it didn"t take a genius to figure out that it was the clash between two peak experts at the summit of cultivation.

……

Swhoos.h.!.+

A black figure fell in a straight line, crushed countless slabs and skidded at least a hundred meters across the ground before finally coming to a stop. It was Xinran of course.

Xinran"s right arm looked so b.l.o.o.d.y that it almost didn"t look like an arm anymore. Heaven knows how many times she was stabbed by Sophie"s sword, but it didn"t look like she could hold up the weapon for long. She looked like she was about to collapse to the ground herself.

Xinran looked up and uttered through gritted teeth, "Sophie, I won"t allow you to do as you please even if it costs me my life! Now come! I swear I"ll fight you until true death takes me!"

……

In the sky, the smoke faded away to reveal a bloodied and battered Sophie. Her silver armor was stained by blood, and there was a terrifyingly huge hole in her right leg. It was of course the work of the Dragonbone Spear. It proved that Xinran wasn"t completely outmatched, and that Sophie wouldn"t walk away from this unscathed if this truly devolved into a do-or-die battle.

Sophie slowly descended until she landed atop an altar. Then, she lowered her sword and let out a sudden sigh. "I suppose I should stop here. But hear this, Xinran. The Violet Empire is labeled a traitor to the Purgatory, and both Opero and Coldblade can"t wait to drench its soil in blood. They are supported by Lord Lin Na himself, so that should give you an idea how powerful your enemies are. Take care and be careful, Xinran."

Xinran nodded in a daze. "I know…"

……

Sophie smiled at her before walking to another side of the battlefield. It was where Ovia the b.l.o.o.d.y Finger was lying helplessly atop the rubble. Her beautiful features suddenly became distorted, and she roared at him with seemingly infinite hatred, "Still remember the last battle of the Ten Heroes, Ovia? You killed my allies and surrendered your pride as a human general. Today, the person who will claim your life isn"t Sophie, but those you killed in battle!"

"What?!" Ovia the b.l.o.o.d.y Finger exclaimed in shock before growling, "You cannot kill me, Sophie! You of all people cannot kill me!"