Corrupt Creations

Her power circled inside her energy veins, before coming towards her mouth.

Fwoosh...

Lan Xue opened her mouth and as she started blowing lightly, a chilling breath of air left from inside her lungs, slowly moving towards her sixteen water warriors. When it touched them, thick ice shards started to form on the surface of their skin, making them transform once again.

It was like they were getting an upgrade in their defensive and offensive capabilities, since armors made of frozen thorns, completely covered their entire bodies and at the same time, the aura around them increased drastically. It was getting as heavy as the armors they were using.

The water swords that each of them held also turned into ice, getting a buff on their initial sharpness, turning into real deadly weapons. They now resemble overly large needles, ready to pierce the heart of their foes.

Those changes happened very quickly. It took less than ten seconds to fully form sixteen enhanced ice warriors, which contained the accumulated energy of two Mana Sovereign Realm entities.

Meanwhile, hundreds of copies were able to get closer to where Lan Xue was standing. They kept advancing in different speeds, while using different patterns to confuse her. But before they could make a move, Lan Xue's warrior raided their heads and opened their icy blue eyes.

Swish!

Her sixteen ice statues suddenly accelerated, each one of them moving towards a different area. Their speed was on another league, what was something impressive, given that they were wearing heavy ice armors.

However, what shocked the sanctuary Master the most, was not the power and speed that those mutated statues were displaying, but the fact that they were heading directly towards his invisible copies.

Slash!

Even before one of the ethereal copies hidden from sight could lift its arm, an ice sword passed through its body, completely cutting it in half. The ethereal particles had no chance to escape, since they were sealed in ice.

Clang!

Slash! Slash!

Clang!

As if they were operating in a formation, those ice warriors moved forward, while decimating everything in front of them. Groups of thirty to forty ethereal copies were easily being dealt with. When they exchanged blows, their purple vibratory swords were only able to create small fissures on Lan Xue's warrior's ice armors, before receiving a fatal blow.

One by one, their numbers were reducing, till only less than a dozen remained. However, the energy expenditure of Lan Xue's technique, wasn't a joke at all. She was doing her utmost to not show it on her face, but she was getting tired.

When the last one of the ethereal copies was destroyed, Lan Xue expanded her Soul Sense a bit farther and made sure none of them had hidden itself from her, before dispelling her upgraded technique. If she were to continue, the toll on her energy veins would offset the gains she had by creating those statues.

However, before she could relax, Lan Xue swiftly turned her body aside and dodged something. Unfortunately, she was feeling kind of tired, and her reaction speed was a bit slower than it should have been if she were to be at full power.

The air was forced aside, as an invisible triangular sword grazed over her left shoulder and arm, its tip penetrating her skin and opening a vertical cut that wasn't deep enough to be considered grave. However, in a battle between sovereigns, even an injury like that could easily disrupt the balance.

Smart decisions could also change one's fate and Lan Xue knew that she could not waste energy tending to her injuries, since time and odds were against her now. Ignoring the bleeding on her left arm, she gathered more Mana to defend herself.

'Water Dome.'

As Lan Xue was moving away from the spot she was attacked, with her right hand, she casted a protective water barrier around her. It initially appeared to be a bubble, but if someone were to look closely, they would see it was only half of it. Other than that, it appeared to be directed towards a certain spot, as if predicting that the attack would be coming from there.

"As I thought... You can see me." The Sanctuary Master undid his invisibility, since he realized it was useless against her.

"I have no idea on how you are able to discover me and my copies, but I have figured out how to properly deal with you now. There is no use of seeing, if your body can't move as fast as your perception!"

Just as he finished saying those words, the Sanctuary Master's figure vanished. He appeared right behind Lan Xue, right where her water bubble wasn't protecting her.

"Heh!" With a wicked smile, his purple sword descended towards her back, aiming to at least cut her entire backside open.

That strike contained a lot of Mana, some of it even overflowing from inside that triangular-shaped blade, creating a purple shadow of ethereal energy, as it cut down towards her. And just as he had expected, it entered in contact with his enemy, making the Sanctuary Master's eyes lit up with a light of excitement, from seeing a sinner get the punishment she deserved.

Everything happened so quickly, that he failed to understand what really had occurred. All he could see, were snowflakes drifting down on the air, at the place where Lan Xue's mangled figure should be.

But suddenly, the Sanctuary Master heard something coming from behind him.

"You're right. That's why I weakened my own defenses..." A frigid voice suddenly echoed from there, prompting him to look back. But before he could do it, or even think about executing a counterattack, he felt cold.

"Frost Point! Break!"

Boom!

Lan Xue's attack exploded directly against her enemy's body, creating a blast from two opposite energies entering in contact with each other. However, the location where that had happened, was right on the Sanctuary Master's back.

Even if he were the strongest Mana Sovereign initial-stage Realm cultivator in the Alteria continent, he would still suffer an injury from a direct attack like that. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't.