Corrupt Creations

The temperature in the whole area dropped down below zero and everything around Lan Xue, got frozen.

The Sanctuary Master watched as his ethereal vortex of purple particles, stopped spinning as it got affected by that frozen energy. However, his confident expression didn't change, since he was already prepared for something like that. His aura suddenly skyrocketed, shining in a deep purple color, as he infused more Mana into his ability.

Crack! Crack!

The layers of ice covering the ethereal vortex started breaking and the purple particles begun to vibrate with intensity. The Sanctuary Master smiled as he saw his vortex moving once again; however, his expression froze right after, when all the energy he had infused in that skill, couldn't completely shake the thick layers of ice off.

Lan Xue was one of the youngest and newest Mana Sovereign Realm cultivators and it was only natural, that her battle experience and the intensity of her energy, should be way below the threshold of someone like the Sanctuary Master, that was a veteran. But unfortunately for him, her icy energy was extremely solid and similar to his own energy. Not only it was strong, but it was also similar in how dense it seemed to be, signaling Lan Xue was not a simple character and also making things way harder than what he initially thought they would be.

Before he could understand how she had achieved that level of compatibility with her Mana so quickly, the purple particles that constituted his spiral, stopped advancing once again, as they were thoroughly frozen after reaching near where she was.

It seemed, that after a certain point, every single particle would eventually get frozen, unable to travel the remaining distance required, in order to reach Lan Xue.

However, The Sanctuary Master still could not believe that the girl standing before him, could have achieved those heights in the path of a Mana Sovereign. He abandoned the idea of continuing to pressure her with that simple technique and decided on displaying another one of his abilities; one that he was confident it would destroy her defenses.

His figure flashed and he took some distance from where she was, since it wouldn't be required for him to stay near her, to execute this next move.

"It seems that you excel on defensive abilities. Then let's see how tough are your defenses." The Sanctuary Master said in a mocking intonation, since he believed the piercing levels of his next attack, would completely surpass the level of protection Lan Xue's ice could bring to her.

In fact, his technique was no joke. While he brought both of his hands forward the fabric of space around his arms started to tremble. A sharp purple glint entered Lan Xue's eyes, as millions of particles gathered in a small sphere in front of her enemy's hand, making her feel like there was a cold and sharp blade, pointed towards her throat.

However, her eyes were not showing any traces of uncertainty, but were instead, calm. She just waited for him to finish his move, so she could completely shatter his confidence.

The Sanctuary Master gathered energy inside that small sphere, until he could not support it anymore. When it was trembling and appeared to be unstable, his wicked smile signaled that it was ready to be launched. But instead of sending it forward, he simply let go of his control over that sphere, since he knew it was not necessary to do anything else.

"Linear Ray." Just calling for its name, seemed to have triggered something inside that small spere and before his voice could fade, a vibration occurred, announcing it would attack.

Bzzt!

Less than a fraction of a second later, the unstable sphere collapsed, generating a purple ray of compressed ethereal particles, that radiated sharpness. However, the strongest point of that attack, was not its sharpness, but its speed.

In one moment, it was a kilometer or two away from Lan Xue, but on the other moment, it was a few centimeters away from her body, threatening to put a hole right where her heart should be.

If Lan Xue wasn't expecting for an attack like that, with her Soul Sense active, she would have been caught off guard. Fortunately, she was able to accompany the whole trajectory of that purple ray and intercept it with one of her preferred techniques.

"Ice Fortress!"

Boom!

In between Lan Xue and that ray of ethereal energy, in that small space, somehow, a huge wall made of ice, surged. It was not a normal wall, but it seemed to be the frontal part of a castle. However, differently from the icy energy she normally displayed, that ability was overflowing with the signature of the Glazed Lake Sect. It was one of the abilities she learnt there, a technique given to her by the Lake Goddess.

Naturally, it was not a normal ability, but one that could display a level above of her cultivation stage, at least when talking about defensive standards.

Bang!

Their powers collided and at first, the Sanctuary Master was able to feel his ethereal particles putting a deep hole on that strange block of ice that Lan Xue had created. But as his linear ray advanced, apart from a huge column of smoke that filled the air, obstructing the entire view, nothing else seemed to have happened.

Although he couldn't see Lan Xue's figure anymore, he could perceive her aura and noticing she was not dead yet, he furrowed his eyebrows. The linear ray was still cutting through space and constantly barraging the girl with its powerful might, but even though space tremble everywhere it passed by, right around that ice castle, the spatial laws seemed to be solid and stable.

When the smoke cleared itself, Lan Xue's figure was revealed. Even though the huge block of ice protecting her was completely destroyed, she stood at the same spot, uninjured. But her enemy's patience and tolerance, was not the same as before. It was already nearing the edge and being pushed further, by a sudden surging anxiousness.