Chapter 49: Warning
He held his hands in a hollow embrace. The powers of Water and Fire were no longer distinct and separate; instead, they were forcibly merged and compressed in a violent manner, forming a sphere of destruction that crackled internally with exploding red and blue light.
"Water-Fire: Burst Stream Break!"
BOOM—!
Lin Yu slammed the sphere downward! The sphere erupted in mid-air, not as a spreading shockwave, but as a destructive tornado several meters in diameter, composed of high-speed, intertwined crimson and deep-blue currents!
Everywhere the tornado passed, space was torn into fine black fissures. The swamp below was instantly evaporated into a giant crater, then frozen by extreme cold into a surface as smooth as a mirror, only to be blasted into dust by the subsequent flames! The destructive energy storm lunged straight for Ye Xishui!
"Arrogant! You death-seeking junior!"
Ye Xishui was completely enraged! Her last shred of thought regarding a peaceful resolution was crushed to pieces. The opponent was clearly intent on exterminating her Holy Ghost Church and was even flippantly using her to test his moves! This was an utter humiliation!
"Do you truly think the Old Man is afraid of you?!"
She let out a piercing shriek and threw her withered hands upward. The blood-colored soul power churning around her solidified instantly, transforming into nine massive, crimson bone shields composed of countless wailing faces, layered one after another in front of her!
At the same time, a blurry yet massive phantom radiating overwhelming resentment and a bloody aura flickered behind her—it was her Martial Soul Avatar!
Screech—Bang! Bang! Bang!
The violent Water-Fire tornado slammed heavily into the crimson bone shields. The ear-piercing sound of corrosion, the popping of ice crystals, and the shrieks of vengeful souls mixed together!
The first three bone shields were instantly pierced and evaporated like a hot knife through butter! The middle three flickered violently as countless vengeful souls wailed and dissipated amidst the alternating fire and ice!
The final three bone shields barely managed to hold, but their surfaces were covered in spiderweb-like cracks and traces of scorching and freezing.
Ye Xishui groaned and retreated several steps, her internal energy and blood churning. Just defending against this one strike had consumed a significant portion of her soul power. The destructive power of this youth's mixed elemental attack was absurdly high!
The golden light in Lin Yu's eyes grew even brighter, quite satisfied with the effect of the strike.
"Good! Again!"
He gave her no room to breathe. His figure flickered like a ghost within the distorted space, and every appearance was accompanied by an extremely sharp elemental attack!
Flame Dragon Piercing the Sky! A dragon composed entirely of sky-burning fire roared forth, its maw breathing flames capable of melting gold and eroding bone, setting the very air ablaze.
Black Ice Spikes! Thousands of massive ice cones, shimmering with deep-blue cold and carrying the power of Absolute Zero, condensed out of thin air. They rained down like a storm, covering all of Ye Xishui's avenues for evasion.
Ice-Flame Instant Kill Arrow! At his fingertip, Lin Yu condensed a dot of strange blue-and-white light. This was the temperature of Ultimate Ice compressed to the extreme, then instantaneously triggered by the power of fire!
A beam of light as thin as a hair—moving faster than the eye could follow—flashed past, aiming straight for the center of Ye Xishui's brow! This strike contained ultimate penetration and an instantaneous burst of freezing power!
Ye Xishui roared repeatedly, exhausting all her methods!
The sea of blood churned, turning into a towering wave to block the fire dragon.
Vengeful souls condensed into a giant bone claw, shattering the sky full of ice spikes.
In the nick of time, her figure turned into a bloody shadow, narrowly avoiding the lethal Ice-Flame Instant Kill Arrow. However, her hood was instantly vaporized, revealing the pale, withered face of an old woman, now distorted by rage. A lock of her dry white hair was frozen into ice by the passing chill and subsequently shattered.
The battle reached a fever pitch. Lin Yu used his newly acquired Water and Fire powers with increasing proficiency. Sometimes he separated them: the Ultimate Fire boiling the sea and the Ultimate Ice freezing the void.
Sometimes he merged them, unleashing destructive energy where 1+1 was far greater than 2. More frequently, he integrated spatial power, performing unbelievable displacements and attacking from tricky angles.
As a veteran Limit Douluo, Ye Xishui had deep foundations and bizarre evil techniques. She constantly summoned powerful vengeful spirits and blood beasts, cast curses, and launched mental impacts, even deploying several powerful evil soul tools she had kept hidden.
Above the Death Swamp, blood-light soared, fire and ice ran rampant, space shattered repeatedly, and the roar of energy collisions seemed ready to break the world apart.
However, Lin Yu's spatial abilities kept him in an invincible position, and the ultimate attributes of his Water and Fire elements strictly countered Ye Xishui's sinister blood-soul power.
With every collision, Ye Xishui felt her soul power draining like a dam opening its floodgates—repairing injuries, resisting attacks, maintaining her Martial Soul Avatar...
In less than fifteen minutes of fierce combat, nearly half of her soul power was consumed. Her aura clearly weakened, and her breathing became heavy.
In contrast, although Lin Yu had also consumed much, his spirit grew stronger as he fought. Golden light swirled in his eyes; he was like a tireless battle machine. His control over elemental power was rapidly improving and being validated through actual combat.
"That's enough."
After Lin Yu used an "Ice-Fire Spiral Slash"—fused with spatial folding—to cut a massive Blood Demon Puppet summoned by Ye Xishui in half and completely annihilate it, he felt the surging power and the insights gained from the fight. He finally stopped his relentless offensive, still feeling somewhat unsatisfied.
He stood suspended in the air, looking at Ye Xishui in the distance. Her aura was unstable, her black robe was torn in many places, and her expression was ugly to the extreme. He nodded with satisfaction.
"Not bad. This power of Water and Fire, in terms of pure potency, is enough to rival the full-strength strike of a Rank 96 or 97 Power-Attack System Titled Douluo," Lin Yu evaluated in his heart. "And once used in fusion, the power doubles with endless variations. Combined with spatial assistance... the actual combat effect far exceeds expectations! The origin power of the Silver Dragon King... truly lives up to its reputation!"
He put on that roguish, all-controlling smile again and spoke to Ye Xishui from a distance, his voice echoing clearly through the shattered space:
"Leader Ye, the warm-up was very enjoyable. These old bones of yours still have some bite to them."
Hearing this, Ye Xishui trembled with rage. Her withered finger pointed at Lin Yu, and she nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Warm-up? To push her—a dignified Limit Douluo and the Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Ghost Church—to such a pathetic state, consuming nearly half her soul power, and he called it just a warm-up?!
"Today serves as a reminder for your Holy Ghost Church. This territory—I've taken a liking to it. Your claws—keep them tucked away for me."
Lin Yu's smile suddenly turned cold, and a terrifying chill shot from his golden eyes:
"Next time, if I find your claws reaching where they shouldn't, or if you get in my way..."
He paused, his tone as grim as a wind from the underworld:
"I won't mind dismantling those bones of yours and filling this swamp with them along with your entire Holy Ghost Church! It just so happens I'm still short a few 'obedient' blades!"
Before his voice finished, Lin Yu's figure blurred. With a flash of silver light and a ripple in space, he vanished, leaving behind a shattered battlefield, churning gray mist, and Ye Xishui's face—distorted by rage, humiliation, and a hint of indescribable dread.
The bone-chilling warning echoed over the silent swamp for a long time.
She looked in the direction where Lin Yu had disappeared, her withered hands clenched tightly, nails digging deep into her palms as blood mixed with foul soul power dripped down.
She knew that the landscape of the Sun Moon Empire... no, the entire continent, was truly about to face an unprecedented, monstrous wave because of this mysterious and terrifying youth today.