Aoli advanced step by step across the frozen sea, leaving behind a winding trail of floating ice.
She had already chased three hundred li and was finally about to close in on her target.
In the distance, a massive azure spider crouched atop a raft. It had to be one of the brood raised by the Soul-Weaving Spider Matron.
For some reason, the creature had ceased its flight, which saved Aoli a great deal of trouble.
Her pace was steady, her heart as calm as still water.
For someone who had cultivated the Snow Maiden Manifestation, the vast ocean was her perfect battlefield.
Most of her Life Pattern arts were tied to water, and on this sea, her power was magnified to its peak.
A mere Azure Wing–ranked demon spider wasn't worth her regard.
As she pressed forward, waves rippled out beneath her feet, surging toward Qingzhuzi.
At the same time, snowflakes began drifting down from the cloudless sky.
In an instant, warmth vanished from the sea; the air turned frigid as though midwinter had descended.
Aoli would not repeat Fuying's mistake. Even against a lesser foe, she laid out her battlefield in full, prepared to fight at her utmost.
When she drew within three hundred meters, she halted.
Her senses told her that beneath the surface lay countless strands of spider silk, a hidden trap laid by the creature.
Carefully, she kept clear of the threads, unwilling to step into danger.
At her command, the ocean itself seemed to awaken; waves churned, and the hidden silken snares stood out clear as day.
With a flick of her fingers, a shard of ice crystal coalesced. She scattered it forward, and it shattered into a thousand razor-edged blades that sliced into the submerged web.
Ripples spread across the sea, accompanied by faint snapping sounds as the resilient threads were severed one by one.
"Hmph, petty tricks."
Her voice was calm, tinged with disdain.
The true battle was only beginning; these snares were nothing more than the spider's attempt to blunt her edge.
With the silk cleared, she strode onward once more, each step falling on a bridge of ice formed by her power.
Above, the snowfall thickened; the sea winds howled with biting cold. The entire ocean came under her dominion, transformed into a realm of ice and snow.
Qingzhuzi was completely enveloped within this frozen domain, shrouded by Aoli's will.
But the spider did not yield.
From its maw gushed torrents of silk, layer upon layer, cocooning its body in an armored shroud to ward off the killing cold.
Then it struck back.
The raft beneath its legs, built from twenty-four coconut logs, suddenly quivered. The spider poured its power into them, and with a resounding crack, the raft exploded apart.
The twenty-four logs shot outward like enormous bolts, soaring into the air and scattering across the battlefield.
Each log was bound with dense webs, and together they became anchors for a massive net that spread rapidly above the icy arena.
In a heartbeat, Qingzhuzi had vanished from sight.
It moved with terrifying grace, dancing along its threads like a phantom. Its massive frame blurred into countless afterimages, belying its size with impossible agility.
In mere seconds, it was directly overhead.
Suspended upside down from the web, it unleashed a storm of cerulean threads, cascading like rain to engulf its prey.
If even a single strand touched flesh, it had a thousand ways to ravage an enemy's spirit and soul.
The silken deluge fell.
Aoli's gaze sharpened. Her lips parted, murmuring a guttural incantation.
Behind her, a figure took shape, a snow-white maiden of ice, perfectly merging with her own body.
Aoli herself vanished, replaced by a towering snow maiden, ten feet tall.
This was her true foundation at the Dragon-Elephant realm, the secret manifestation of Snow Maiden, passed down through the teachings of Xizhi Island.
The avalanche of spider silk descended, but the Snow Maiden did not flinch. She seized the threads in both hands and, with a mighty heave, dragged the entire net down.
Qingzhuzi, lacking purchase in the air, was wrenched from above, its entire trap collapsing around it.
Behind the protection of her manifestation, none of the spider's powers could touch Aoli's true body.
It had no means of breaking through her Manifestation.
From within the Snow Maiden, her voice rang out cold and imperious:
"Without a manifestation, how could you hope to contend with mine?"
"Submit quietly and die!"
The falling Qingzhuzi was ruthlessly pinned against the ice by the Snow Maiden Manifestation. Its eight spider legs, sharp as blades, stabbed rapidly toward the Snow Maiden's vital points.
But this manifestation was as unyielding as Vajra itself; every strike was deflected, leaving not a single mark.
Qingzhuzi had never been a true match for Aoli, and now, burdened with grievous injuries, it lay on its back, throat locked in the Snow Maiden's icy grip, forced down hard onto the frozen surface.
At the same time, countless ice spikes extended from the bridge beneath their feet, driving straight into Qingzhuzi's body.
These spears carried the might of Aoli's Dragon-Elephant power; each thrust left a gaping hole in Qingzhuzi's flesh.
Emerald-green blood gushed wildly from its wounds, dripping into the sea below and spreading like ink through water.
Qingzhuzi writhed in agony, its body twisting and convulsing as its life force ebbed away.
But just as Aoli believed victory was at hand, a strange surge of foreign power suddenly erupted from her waist.
It was a jade spider carving she had kept close to her body. In an instant, it exploded!
This was the remnant of the Soul-Weaving Spider Matron, though its body and soul had long since been burned away. Under Qingzhuzi's call, it once again released a sinister divine might.
With a deafening blast, a half-human, half-spider manifestation appeared upon the battlefield.
"Elder Sister, aid me one last time!"
Under Qingzhuzi's control, the Spider Mother Manifestation fused with it in an instant.
The full Soul-Weaving Spider Mother Manifestation took form, and at once it clashed with the Snow Maiden Manifestation; the two titans locked in a savage struggle.