The dark shadow remained motionless as the ice spear flew toward it. However, several tentacles composed of black mist sprouted from the darkness behind it. They lashed out and coiled around the projectile, binding it in a heartbeat. Then, the spearpossessing a hardness comparable to fine steelwas snapped clean in half.
Seeing this, Su Ming grew serious, realizing half-hearted probes would no longer suffice. He began to condense a sword of ice in his hand. Simultaneously, his Magic Power surged, forming a protective layer over his skin.
He had finally sensed the true strangeness of this entity. His spear had been destroyed so easily because the moment the black mist touched it, a bizarre force had invaded the ice, causing it to collapse from the inside. To prevent this eerie vapor from affecting him, he decided to add a layer of insurance.
On the other side, seeing Su Ming launch his attack, Shenhe and Hu Tao also employed their own methods. Shenhe summoned an Ice Simulacrum to accompany her as she and Su Ming closed in on the shadow from both sides.
To her shock, the moment her Ice Simulacrum made contact with the shadow, it was shrouded in black Qi. The simulacrum began to dissipate at an alarming rate; worse, the black energy seemed to be traveling along the threads of power she used to control the puppet, creeping toward Shenhe herself.
"Not good!" Realizing the danger, Shenhe immediately dispelled the technique and retreated, catching Hu Tao before she could step forward to help. "Get back! There is something wrong with this thing!"
"Fall back!" Su Ming shouted, gesturing for them to clear the area. "Leave the rest to me!"
Shenhe and Hu Tao nodded, pulling back to a safe distance while carrying the unconscious Mingjun. Once the three were far enough away, Su Ming swung his sword, unleashing a crescent moon-shaped strike that instantly cleaved the dark shadow in two.
"Phew... Is it still not over?" Su Ming watched the shadow writhing on the ground, his guard rising. He detested things that refused to die even after being cut into segments.
"As I thought, simple physical attacks are useless. It makes sense; the Remnants of a God are essentially the lingering resentment of a fallen deitythe echoes of a god's soul and obsession.
Attacks that cannot wound the soul won't have much of an effect on a creature like this. Fortunately, I've learned a few arts to exorcise the Remnants of a God. I couldn't use Elemental Power before, so I never had the chance to try them, but today is as good a day as any. I just hope there are no accidents on my first attempt."
Su Ming quickly analyzed the situation while the shadow reformed. This time, it abandoned its roughly humanoid shape and turned into a mass of tentacles. A vast expanse of black mist surged behind it, and countless eerie limbs lashed out toward Su Ming.
"Exhale... Time to get serious." Su Ming's gaze sharpened as his Dragon Factor went into full operation, mobilizing every drop of his Magic Power.
He took a single step forward. The moment his foot touched the ground, ice spread out for several meters. The once-clear sky turned overcast in an instant as a gale began to howl. Snowflakes crystallized in the air and the temperature plummeted. Before the tentacles could reach him, a massive Blizzard erupted, centering on Su Ming and covering a radius of ten miles.
The dark shadow was frozen solid in an instant.
"Go!" Su Ming commanded.
Countless ice spikes erupted from the earth, skewering the frozen shadow. Finally sensing the threat, the creature struggled to break free, desperate to reach Su Ming.
"Heh, getting anxious? Too late."
The ice spikes rapidly formed an Ice Prison around the shadow, completely immobilizing it. The extreme cold within the prison reinforced the freeze, ensuring the thrashing shadow went still. The frigid air spread like wildfire, turning the shadow into a solid block of ice in the blink of an eye.
"Right, it's contained. Now for the final step... Let me think, how did the incantation go?" Su Ming tapped into his memory. "Ah, there it is."
He formed a series of hand seals and began to chant softly.
"Stars scattered and constellations spread, descend your divine power with speed.
Drive out the demons and the strange, strike them down with the thunder's rage.
Gather the spirits and bind the ghosts, let the True Qi flow through the hosts.
Banish the evil and bind the sprites, command the Six Ding in holy rites.
The Emperor's decree is a divine mandate, let there be no pause, no wait.
Swiftly as the law decrees!"
"Go!"
A Talisman materialized out of thin air and shot forward like a bolt of lightning, sticking firmly to the shadow. In the next moment, the Talisman erupted with light. The block of ice trapping the shadow began to melt, and as it did, the eerie shadow dissolved with it.
Then, the Blizzard subsided. The shadow existed no more.
Su Ming exhaled a long breath. After the enhancement of his Dragon Factor, he only felt a slight shortness of breath, as if he had merely finished a light warm-up. He dispelled the ice sword in his hand, looking a bit disappointed. Though the shadow had been strange, its actual combat strength had been mediocre at best.
As the battle ended and the storm died down, Shenhe and Hu Tao hurried over. Shenhe looked at Su Ming, her eyes filled with concern. "Are you alright?"
Su Ming shook his head. "I'm fine. It looked like quite a commotion, but I was just playing it safe. After all, I only started using the arts and Talismans my master taught me a few days ago. I was worried that if I wasn't proficient, something might go wrong. So, I decided to put in a little extra effort to freeze it first, giving me time to think about the technique. It seems the results were quite good."
After answering Shenhe, Su Ming looked down at Hu Tao, who had been circling him suspiciously for the past few moments. "Director Hu, what are you looking at?"
Hu Tao stopped and stared intently at Su Ming. "You... you're actually an Adeptus, aren't you?"
Su Ming laughed. "What makes you think that?"
"Ever since the Northland Bank approved that loan so easily, I suspected your identity wasn't simple," Hu Tao said. "But the commotion you just caused... that settled it. You're an Adeptus, right? After all, what ordinary person could create a Blizzard like that?"
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