Zhao Ming couldn't help but glance in Zhu Zhuqing's direction. She was sitting cross-legged, recovering her spirit power, and looking at him with a surprised expression. He then glanced over at Medusa. Uh... she's still a snake, right?
"Zhuqing is over there, and it's not Medusa. Who's this... so big?" Zhao Ming mumbled to himself.
As he muttered, he turned his head back.
There, right behind him, was a beautiful, cold face, staring at him with icy disdain. Her eyes were filled with a dangerous aura.
The two faces were incredibly close, startling Zhao Ming.
"Yaya, you're awake?"
"Have you had enough of that?" A cold voice came from Tu Shan Yaya, her face momentarily flushed before she frowned in frustration.
"Enough, enough. Uh, no, I mean, that was an accident. I didn't do it on purpose." Zhao Ming awkwardly smiled and reluctantly removed his hand.
"Hmph, I'll settle this with you later." Tu Shan Yaya shot him a fierce glare but hesitated before gently wiping away the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Despite her sharp words, there wasn't a trace of malice in her actions.
Just like in the original story, she was still the same proud yet soft-hearted character.
Zhao Ming's heart leaped with joy, but he kept his face calm, savoring Yaya's fleeting gentleness.
After wiping away the blood from Zhao Ming's lips, Tu Shan Yaya's cold gaze shifted toward Zhao Wuji.
"Are you the one who hurt him?" Her expression remained indifferent, but her tone carried a sharp edge.
Zhao Wuji was momentarily taken aback. Could this woman be another of Zhao Ming's summons? He couldn't help but twitch his lips. The aura coming from her was even more intimidating than the snake's, and it felt as if his martial spirit was subtly suppressed by her presence.
Was this Zhao Ming's second spirit skill? Zhao Wuji recalled the moment Zhao Ming had activated his second spirit ring and realized what was happening.
"And you are?" Zhao Wuji asked, still slightly confused.
Tu Shan Yaya didn't bother answering Zhao Wuji's question. Her cold eyes swept over him, and in an instant, she had grasped what had transpired. She knew Zhao Wuji had injured Zhao Ming.
"He's under my protection. Got it?" Her voice was chillingly calm, but as she spoke, a powerful aura surged from her body, while Zhao Ming's spirit power visibly drained at a rapid pace.
"Why is my spirit power depleting so fast?" Zhao Ming couldn't help but groan inwardly.
"No matter what kind of monster you are, I refuse to believe I can't handle this today," Zhao Wuji said with a deep breath, his own aura flaring up in response.
"You, just a mere bear, dare to act so arrogantly in front of me?" Tu Shan Yaya snapped coldly.
"Exorcism Technique, First Form."
Her voice was icy as Tu Shan Yaya turned into a white blur, darting swiftly toward Zhao Wuji.
"Great Strength Vajra Palm!" Zhao Wuji smirked, seeing that Tu Shan Yaya intended to face him head-on. He released his second spirit skill once again.
Palm met fist.
"Boom!"
Waves of force rippled outward from the collision. Tu Shan Yaya was forced back eight or nine steps, while Zhao Wuji only took three steps back.
After all, Zhao Wuji was a Spirit Saint at level seventy-six, while Tu Shan Yaya was drawing power from Zhao Ming's level thirty-five spirit powerโa significant difference. This was with Zhao Wuji holding back considerably. If he had used his full strength, Yaya would have been in real danger.
"Spirit King-level strength," Zhao Wuji murmured to himself. He no longer cared about the exam.
Zhao Ming's martial spirit intrigued him more and more. He now had a rough idea of its nature.
From what he could tell, Zhao Ming's spirit skill was to summon powerful entities to fight for him.
But Zhao Ming's summoned creatures were incredibly strong for his current level. If Zhao Ming could summon beings like this as a Spirit Elder, what would happen in the future?
Moreover, hadn't he only used two of his spirit rings? Could he summon yet another powerful entity?
Zhao Wuji gave Zhao Ming a long, thoughtful look. He was beginning to understand just how fearsome Zhao Ming's martial spirit truly was.
At that moment, the Medusa Queen, who had been knocked back earlier, charged at Zhao Wuji once again.
Faced with attacks from both sides, Zhao Wuji's expression grew serious.
The Medusa Queen had taken a hit earlier, and Zhao Ming, learning from that, had her keep her distance, using long-range attacks instead. Streams of crimson energy, sharp like arrows, rained down on Zhao Wuji from behind.
Caught between Tu Shan Yaya and the Medusa Queen, Zhao Wuji couldn't find an opening to go after Zhao Ming or Ning Rongrong.
His original plan to take down Zhao Ming first was no longer viable.
Determined to end the fight quickly, Zhao Wuji's third and fourth spirit rings lit up.
He launched a powerful punch toward Tu Shan Yaya, sending her flying.
"I say, Yaya, can you stop acting cool like your sister? Let's end this quickly, or else I'm going to be drained dry by you two," Zhao Ming couldn't help but call out with a bitter smile.
Tu Shan Yaya, who had been knocked back, hovered midair and shot Zhao Ming a shy, irritated glance. "It's all your fault for being too weak."
But she knew Zhao Ming was right. Even though his spirit power was vast, it wasn't limitless.
"I'm going to get serious now."
A chilling aura began to radiate from her, and soon, thin layers of frost started forming around them.
Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and the others couldn't help but shiver, pulling their clothes tighter as the cold seeped in.
The temperature dropped rapidly as the cold air spread.
"Endless Wine Gourd, fill it up!" Tu Shan Yaya cried out as she raised her gourd to take a long, carefree swig, her movements graceful and fluid.
Moments later, her aura surged once again.
From behind her, a tail appeared.
Then a second tail emerged.
Finally, a third tail swayed into view, and the increase in power stopped.
With three tails revealed, Tu Shan Yaya's aura reached its peak.
As the temperature plummeted, icicles formed into sharp spears, shooting toward Zhao Wuji. At the same time, she pointed a finger at him and said coldly, "Freeze."
Just as Zhao Wuji was preparing to deal with the Medusa Queen, he felt a bone-chilling cold wash over him.
He activated his third spirit skill, Gravity Amplification. Under its influence, the ice spears flying toward him slowed down, giving him enough time to react.
He no longer knew what to make of the situation.
The two beings Zhao Ming had summoned were far more troublesome than he had initially expected.
But before he could release his fifth spirit skill, Zhao Wuji noticed a thin layer of ice forming over his body.
The ice quickly thickened.
The biting cold forced Zhao Wuji to shiver, and his movements became noticeably slower.
Though Tu Shan Yaya's ice couldn't completely freeze Zhao Wuji, it significantly hindered his ability to move.
---
๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ ๐ข๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฎ. ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐!
๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ ๐๐ผ:
โข ๐ฝ๐ค๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ๐๐ช
โข ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ
โข ๐ผ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐๐
โข ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ฒ
๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ป๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ:
โข ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐: ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฑ+ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐.
โข ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐-๐ข๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ!
๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐บ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐. ๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐'๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐!
๐ ๐ ๐ค๐๐ฃ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ: ๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ค๐ฃ.๐๐ค๐ข/๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง