He simply raised his right index finger and pointed lightly at the ice pillar directly in front.
At the tip of his finger, a speck of chaotic radiance suddenly appeared.
That radiance was initially no larger than a grain of rice, yet it seemed to contain the birth and destruction of an entire universe.
In the next instant, the radiance abruptly expanded.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no blinding flash of light.
However, with Chen Ping’s fingertip as the centre, an invisible ripple silently swept through the surroundings.
“Crack, crack, crack.”
A teeth-grinding sound of fracturing rang out densely.
The five profound ice pillars, which contained the combined striking power of Heavenly Immortal realm experts and were inscribed with ancient divine clan script, instantly became covered in spiderweb-like cracks across their surfaces, as if struck by an invisible giant hammer.
The cracks spread rapidly, covering the entire pillars in the blink of an eye.
Then, with a thunderous boom, the five ice pillars collapsed simultaneously, turning into a sky full of ice powder.
The five divine clan warriors presiding over the formation all spurted out a mouthful of blood at the same time. Their faces turned deathly pale in an instant, their eyes filled with horror.
The formation had been forcibly broken, and they suffered severe backlash.
“This is impossible. Even a sixth-grade Heavenly Immortal realm expert would be trapped in the Profound Ice Dragon-Trapping Formation for a short while…” The leading warrior with dual axes exclaimed in shock.
What answered him was Chen Ping’s indifferent gaze, along with five sword energies that he formed by joining his fingers like a sword and slashing through the air.
The sword energies were formless, yet their speed surpassed thought itself.
The five divine clan warriors only felt a chill at their necks before their vision spun wildly.
They saw their own headless bodies standing in place. The blood had not yet spurted out before it was frozen by the extreme cold into crimson ice pillars. Then, their consciousness sank completely into darkness.
Chen Ping did not even glance at the five corpses slowly falling to the ground. He turned around, took a step, and his figure was already a thousand zhang away. After a few flickers, he caught up with the Crimson Cloud Demon Lord and Ling Shuang ahead.
The entire process, from stopping to killing the five and then leaving, took no more than a few breaths.
“Continue on our way.” Chen Ping’s tone held no fluctuation at all, as if he had merely swatted a few flies.
As the three continued deeper, the environment grew increasingly harsh.
Ahead appeared a massive ice rift canyon, bottomless in depth, with steep ice walls on both sides as sharp as if cut by blades. It was only about ten zhang wide and was one of the necessary paths to the heart of the ice plain.
“Senior, this place has dangerous terrain and is extremely suitable for ambushes.”
Ling Shuang vigilantly observed the ice walls on both sides, her divine sense carefully scanning every inch of the ice layers.
Chen Ping nodded. His golden vertical pupils quietly emerged as he scanned the canyon.
In his vision, the hidden energy fluctuations within the ice walls were as obvious as fireflies in the night. There were fully twelve of them.
Each one concealed a divine clan warrior. The weakest among them was at the fourth-grade Heavenly Immortal realm, while the two strongest auras had even reached the sixth-grade Heavenly Immortal realm.
They were almost completely integrated with the ice walls. Their heartbeats, breathing, and energy fluctuations had all been reduced to the minimum. Clearly, they were experts skilled in concealment and assassination.
Moreover, beneath the ice layer at the canyon entrance and exit, three interconnected triggering ice explosion formations were buried.
Once stepped into, they would trigger a chain explosion with power sufficient to severely injure a sixth-grade Heavenly Immortal realm cultivator.
“Twelve ambushers, three ice explosion formations.”
Chen Ping calmly stated the enemy’s arrangement. “Two at sixth-grade Heavenly Immortal realm, four at fifth-grade, six at fourth-grade. Quite a bit stronger than the previous group.”
Upon hearing this, the Crimson Cloud Demon Lord sucked in a breath of cold air.
With such a lineup and the advantage of terrain, even an eighth-grade Heavenly Immortal realm expert could fall here if careless.
Ling Shuang also gripped her sword hilt tightly, preparing for a fierce battle.
“Stay close to me. Do not leave within three zhang of me.” Chen Ping instructed, then took the lead and stepped into the canyon.
The moment he entered, the ambushers on the ice walls moved.
There were no shouts, no warnings, only the purest killing intent erupting.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.”
Twelve ice-blue figures shot out from the ice walls like ghosts, so fast that they left afterimages in the air.
Their weapons varied: ice swords, ice spears, ice wheels, ice spikes, but without exception, all emitted a deadly chill. They attacked Chen Ping’s group of three from all directions, sealing off all escape routes.
At the same time, the three ice explosion formations beneath the ice layer were triggered.
“Boom, boom, boom.”
Terrifying explosions erupted from beneath their feet. The extremely compressed icy energy was released instantly, forming three ice-blue energy pillars over thirty zhang in diameter that shot into the sky, completely engulfing Chen Ping’s group of three.
The shockwave from the explosions caused countless ice cones to fall from the ice walls on both sides. The entire canyon trembled.
Cold smiles appeared on the faces of the twelve ambushers.
With such coordination and such a killing setup, even the elders in their clan would temporarily avoid the edge. These three ignorant outsiders were undoubtedly dead.
However, their smiles froze on their faces the next second.
Within the ice-blue energy pillars, a point of golden light suddenly shone.
That golden light was faint at first, but in the blink of an eye, it swelled and spread, like the rising sun in the east, unstoppable.
“Roar.”
Indistinctly, a dragon’s roar echoed through the canyon.
Wherever the golden light passed, the violent ice explosion energy melted and annihilated rapidly, like spring snow meeting scorching sun.
A golden sphere of light three zhang in diameter steadily hovered in mid-air. Inside the sphere, Chen Ping stood with his hands behind his back. The Crimson Cloud Demon Lord and Ling Shuang were protected behind him, completely unharmed.
On the surface of the sphere, chaotic immortal power intertwined with a trace of true dragon vital blood, forming an absolute defence.
“What?!” The twelve ambushers were horrified and pale.
The ice explosion formation they had activated with full power could not even break the opponent’s defence?
Chen Ping raised his eyelids. His gaze swept over the surrounding divine clan ambushers. He said faintly, “The ambush was well set, but unfortunately, the power was lacking.”
Before his words finished, he moved.
This time, he did not use sword energy again.
Instead, he formed an ancient and profound hand seal with both hands.
“Chaos, Prison Suppression.”
“Boom.”
With Chen Ping as the centre, an indescribable heavy pressure suddenly descended.
It was not physical pressure, but suppression at the level of laws.
It was as if the weight of the entire heavens and earth had converged here, pressing down on these twelve divine clan ambushers.
“Thud, thud, thud.”
The twelve ambushers fell from mid-air like dumplings, crashing heavily onto the ice surface.
They discovered in terror that the circulation of their ice-based immortal power had completely stopped. Their bloodline divine abilities were fully suppressed. They could not even move a single finger.
They could only watch wide-eyed as that white-clothed figure slowly approached.
“You… who exactly are you?!”
The leader of the ambushers, a fifth-grade Heavenly Immortal realm expert, struggled to raise his head. His eyes were filled with fear and disbelief.
This kind of absolute law suppression he had only felt from a few top elders in his clan.
Chen Ping did not answer his question. He simply extended his hand and gently clenched it across the air toward the twelve.
“Bang, bang, bang, bang…”
Twelve consecutive muffled sounds rang out, like crushing twelve ice grapes.
The bodies of the twelve divine clan ambushers exploded simultaneously, turning into twelve clouds of blood mist. They were then frozen by the extreme cold into twelve gorgeous ice sculptures of blood flowers, adorning the pure white ice surface.
Chen Ping dispersed the hand seal, and the golden sphere of light vanished accordingly.
