Qiao Xiaoxian’s magic cultivation maneuvers were not enough to trouble Jing Lie.
What troubled him most was that the ice cones she condensed in her spare time were just as powerful as the barrage of attacks from all five Battlewaste Team members combined.
She used the sharp fragments from their own explosions as a base, converted the wild spiritual power dissipating from the blasts, and turned them into ice cones for a counterattack.
This was an incredibly clever and energy-efficient method, yet it contained a level of control so terrifying that even Dao Seat Jing Lie could not imagine it.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh
The ice cones roared toward the 5 members of the Battlewaste Team.
Although more than half of them collided with the spell bombs and canceled each other out, this exchange was clearly worth it.
A small portion even rushed toward the Battlewaste members, posing an undeniable threat to their lives!
Helpless, they had to pause their output of spell bombs and gather their rings in front of them to form a defensive wall.
This greatly slowed their attack rhythm, giving Jiang Ke’er and Qiao Xiaoxian an immediate chance to press forward!
Their bodies moved like lightning, covering another one-third of the distance!
“Friendly reminder, you’ve crossed the midline,” Jiang Ke’er said.
Jing Lie could no longer remain calm.
While one reason was the embarrassment of eating his own words—”You cannot cross the midline”—more importantly, he realized that the Battlewaste Team was now the one facing the threat of defeat.
It was hard to believe, but that did not interfere with his calm thinking.
“Switch to the sixth formation!”
After weathering the wave of ice cone counterattacks, Jing Lie immediately stopped shielding and resumed his assault.
The only way for a team of 5 magic cultivators to win was to kill the enemy before they got close.
Therefore, they had to attack and utilize their superior firepower; defense was merely a slow death.
The Battlewaste Team’s sixth formation was no longer a random volley.
The rings belonging to Jing Lie and his team flew out, soaring directly toward Jiang Ke’er and Qiao Xiaoxian.
Some of the rings suddenly condensed crystals, which then rapidly expanded into dense, spiked crystal spheres!
The other rings transformed into immensely thick crystal walls, connecting into a complex, towering labyrinth that stood before the Battlewaste Team!
The labyrinth obstructed vision, while the spiked crystal spheres provided rapid harassment.
What was more troublesome was that the spiked crystal spheres were directly controlled by the Battlewaste members; they could be commanded like flying swords and were filled with lethal intent.
This was clearly their final defensive measure, as the cores of the spheres and walls were the power-enhancing rings, which could not stray too far from the magic cultivators themselves.
Thus, this tactic could only be unleashed when the enemy was about to get close, making it the most threatening strangulation formation!
Jiang Ke’er was trapped in the formation. She could not see Qiao Xiaoxian’s figure, nor did she know the current positions of the Battlewaste members.
She secretly sighed that a championship team was truly not built on reputation alone, and then she began to break through the walls.
The crystal walls were formed by the spiritual power of the Battlewaste members and were quite sturdy.
However, with the sharpness bonus of the Peerless Beauty and Frost Shadow, breaking through was not too difficult… but the opponent had clearly anticipated this method.
Behind every wall hid a spiked crystal sphere serving as a lethal trap, and the moment she broke the wall usually coincided with the exact moment her strength was exhausted.
Jiang Ke’er swung her sword to cut through a sphere, but it immediately exploded, firing spikes at close range!
Fortunately, her wind wall blocked them, sparing her from being turned into a sieve, but lingering in the wind wall was clearly just a slow death.
She needed a strategy to break the stalemate!
She had to break a path in one go with immense force, but she needed to judge Qiao Xiaoxian’s position beforehand to avoid hurting her teammate.
She tried to reach out with her divine sense, only to find that the crystal walls blocked even that.
Sound was naturally blocked as well.
Just as she was feeling troubled, she felt a tremor from the northwest. It was the pulsing of their summoning contract… accompanied by a warning sign!
Jiang Ke’er hurriedly stopped her forward momentum. At the same time, a blue beam of light roared past just inches in front of her!
“What the…”
Watching the energy beam, which resembled a destructive light, blast through the crystal walls and instantly freeze the edges so they could not heal, Jiang Ke’er’s nerves jolted.
Good thing I didn’t try to assassinate Qiao Xiaoxian just yet.
What kind of monster is she?
Suddenly, she had the feeling that she could just slack off, and as long as Qiao Xiaoxian killed everyone, they would win.
Of course, that wouldn’t work.
Every team had strategies for dealing with an overpowered individual; Qiao Xiaoxian’s performance was far too brilliant and had already drawn the opponent’s attention.
The crystal wall was shattered, and Jiang Ke’er used the gap to break through the obstruction and reach the edge of the arena.
However, at this moment, Jing Lie had already moved the Battlewaste members to the flank, creating distance from Jiang Ke’er.
Jing Lie’s expression was sorrowful.
Jiang Ke’er suddenly noticed that there were only 3 members beside Jing Lie!
One member was nowhere to be seen!
By the time Jiang Ke’er found him, she realized he had already used the cover of the crystal walls to sneak up on Qiao Xiaoxian!
He was covered in blood, covered in dense runes, and eerie formation arts were spreading beneath his feet, trapping Qiao Xiaoxian within!
Jing Lie’s expression was pained: “I’m sorry, Xiao Ye. We must win this match… We will never forget your sacrifice.”
For a moment, Jiang Ke’er couldn’t determine what she was feeling.
There was a sense of groundless fear.
She drew her sword and dashed toward Qiao Xiaoxian at top speed, but this was a premeditated suicide attack from the opponent, and it was clearly too late.
Qiao Xiaoxian’s feet were bound by black runic threads, and the Battlewaste member who was fighting for his life suddenly exploded, transforming into a spear of fresh blood! It pierced straight toward Qiao Xiaoxian’s forehead!
At the critical moment, Qiao Xiaoxian acted as if she had gone insane; instead of dodging, she raised her arm, tapped her middle finger, and triggered the sleeve arrow on her wrist.
The specially modified, high-powered crossbow sent the arrow flying into the distance, toward where Jing Lie was standing! Qiao Xiaoxian smiled slightly, her red lips parting: “Projection.”
In front of everyone, before the blood spear could pierce her forehead, her body eerily turned into a black shadow! A split second later, she appeared where the arrow had landed!
“!!!”
Facing Qiao Xiaoxian, who had suddenly arrived in front of him using some unknown method, Jing Lie had no time to grieve for the “valueless death” of Xiao Ye. A dagger was already pressed against his throat!
“ENOUGH!”
He had never been this humiliated, not even when facing the Team Deities.
Jing Lie, eyes bloodshot, shed tears of blood.
A shocking, explosive force suddenly erupted from his clothes, forcibly pushing away Qiao Xiaoxian’s lethal dagger!
At the same time, his upper garment disintegrated on the spot, transforming into sheets of formation talismans covered in dense runes! The talismans descended upon the nearby Qiao Xiaoxian like a cage!
The surging power, which far exceeded their current level, left even Qiao Xiaoxian unable to dodge.
Jiang Ke’er was familiar with that power.
A Grade 8 Artifact!