In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, everything was ready.
Tang Chuan brought along the deacon named "Bai Xun," as well as two other Speed Hall Disciples at the Spirit Emperor level.
The four of them quietly left the Azure Emperor Sect and sped directly toward the Icebound Forest located on the periphery of the Far North.
The Icebound Forest is located in the far north of the continent, with a bitterly cold climate and year-round snow cover, growing cold-resistant coniferous forests and various ice-attribute plants and Spirit Beasts.
Although its range is not as vast as the Star Dou Great Forest, the environment is treacherous, and the Spirit Beasts are mostly ice, snow, or wind attribute, making them fierce and difficult to deal with.
After flying for more than half a day, the four of them landed at Shuangye Town on the edge.
After meeting up with the Speed Hall Disciple Bai Ying who was lurking here, Tang Chuan did not stop and immediately, under his guidance, went deep into the Icebound Forest.
The deeper they went, the lower the temperature became; the wild wind carried ice shards, causing pain when they scraped against the face.
Ordinary Spirit Masters would likely find it difficult to take a single step here, but for Tang Chuan, who had consumed the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the blazing apricot delicate and possessed immunity to ice and fire, it had no effect at all.
Under Bai Ying's guidance, they arrived at a hidden valley surrounded by towering ice Peaks, the Cold Crystal Valley.
The temperature inside the valley was even lower, with crystal-clear ice pillars and ice stalagmites everywhere; the ground was covered with thick snow and ice, and some glowing ice-blue moss and low shrubs grew there.
"Sect Master, this is it!"
"The lair of that Mirror Shadow Beast should be in the deepest part of the valley, inside a leeward ice cave."
"It hasn't come out for the past few days; it should be active inside the cave."
Bai Ying pointed to the depths of the valley and said in a low voice.
After the four of them arrived near the cave entrance.
Tang Chuan said to Bai Xun and the other two: "You stay here to provide support, stay hidden, and be ready to deal with emergencies at any time. If that Mirror Shadow Beast escapes, you must immediately pursue it, understand?"
"Understood, Sect Master, be careful!"
The three of them cupped their fists and replied.
Afterwards, Tang Chuan walked alone toward the cave, which backed against a huge ice cliff and whose entrance was half-hidden by hanging icicles.
The cave was deep, the chill was bone-piercing, and a faint light shone from within.
Tang Chuan did not rashly rush in but first carefully investigated near the cave entrance.
On the ice layer on the ground, there were clear claw prints similar to a pangolin but larger and sharper, as well as some broken crystal residue.
The icicles on the edge of the cave entrance had fresh signs of being gnawed.
Everything indicated that this was indeed the lair of the Mirror Shadow Beast, and it was inside.
He sneaked into the cave silently.
The interior of the cave was more spacious than imagined, winding downwards.
More and more glowing crystals were embedded in the surrounding ice walls, reflecting the passage in a bizarre and surreal way.
The air was cold and dry, permeated with a faint, strange smell similar to a mixture of metal and ice and snow.
After advancing about a hundred meters, the front suddenly opened up, and a huge cave, like a crystal palace, appeared before his eyes.
In the center of the cave was a pool of unfrozen cold water, deep and glowing with a faint blue light.
Around the cave and on the dome, dense, varying-sized, and colorful clusters of glowing crystals grew, reflecting the entire space like a dream.
And by the cold pool, on a "nest" piled up from various crystal fragments, a Spirit Beast was curled up, seemingly sleeping.
The Spirit Beast was over four meters long, its body resembling an enlarged pangolin, covered all over with palm-sized, crystal-clear rhombic scales like top-quality crystal, each scale glistening with mesmerizing colors under the refraction of the surrounding crystal light.
Its head, however, was not the pointed snout of a pangolin, but rather somewhat resembled a legendary dragon head, only without horns, with a shorter snout, and its eyes were tightly closed, the eyelids also having a crystal-like texture.
It was precisely the eighty-thousand-year Spirit Beast—the Mirror Shadow Beast!
Judging from the majestic spirit power fluctuations emanating from it, which were hidden but not released, its cultivation had definitely reached over eighty-five thousand years, perhaps even approaching ninety thousand years!
"Not bad! An eighty-thousand-year Mirror Shadow Beast!"
Tang Chuan took a deep breath, his heart unable to contain his excitement.
He raised his left hand slightly, and blue-gold light bloomed; the Blue Silver Emperor Spirit was already in his hand.
To deal with this kind of Spirit Beast that is good at copying and changing, one must control it with the momentum of thunder, not giving it a chance to escape.
"Blue Silver Emperor, Binding!"
Several thick and tough Blue Silver Emperor vines, entwined with gold patterns and other various colored patterns, emerged like Spirit snakes, instantly crossing tens of meters to wrap around the sleeping Mirror Shadow Beast!
Before the vines arrived, that spirit power filled with the aura of life and restraint had already alerted the target.
"Hiss—!!"
The Mirror Shadow Beast suddenly opened its eyes! They were a pair of eyes like those carved from the purest blue crystal, cold and transparent, reflecting the countless crystal lights around it, and even more, reflecting Tang Chuan's figure!
The rage of being disturbed and the instinct of facing a threat made it react instantly.
It saw the crystal scales on its body erupt with brilliant light simultaneously!
The light was not an attack, but was rapidly condensing, twisting, and shaping in front of it!
In the blink of an eye, an "Image Tang Chuan," exactly the same as Tang Chuan, even with the Blue Silver Emperor Spirit in hand and the spirit power fluctuations around its body being exactly the same, appeared!
The "Image Tang Chuan" also raised its hand, blue-gold light shining, and several "Blue Silver Emperor vines" shot out, aiming directly at the real Tang Chuan!
Whether it was speed, angle, or spirit power intensity, it was surprisingly very similar to the attack launched by Tang Chuan!
"Copying an image, huh? Interesting!"
Tang Chuan narrowed his eyes and smiled.
Since he had treated the Mirror Shadow Beast as one of the most suitable spirit ring targets for his second Spirit, the Gold-Eating Heavenly Gang Hammer, he naturally understood the Mirror Shadow Beast very well.
From the data, he clearly knew that the Mirror Shadow Beast's innate ability could not only copy Spirit Abilities and copy other Spirit Beasts, transforming into their forms, but could also copy an enemy's image.
But the image it copied, while capable of being passed off as real and even possessing part of the original's strength, was ultimately an energy illusion with its limits, and it required the continuous consumption of the Mirror Shadow Beast's own spirit power and mental force to maintain.
And after copying Tang Chuan's image and letting it intercept Tang Chuan.
The Mirror Shadow Beast's body flashed with silver light, and its form changed suddenly!
The crystal body, originally a pangolin with a dragon head, actually turned into a snow-white, crystal-furred Swift Ice Rabbit that was only a foot long!
This is a thousand-year Spirit Beast in the Icebound Forest that excels in speed and is good at escaping in icy and snowy environments.
The Mirror Shadow Beast, having turned into a Swift Ice Rabbit, tapped its limbs on the ice, turned into an almost invisible white afterimage, and shot toward a smaller, deeper passage on the other side of the cave!
"Still want to run?"
Discovering that the Mirror Shadow Beast wanted to run, Tang Chuan immediately rose into the air, the blue silver emperor right leg bone flashed slightly, and at the same time, the Self-created Spirit Skill · Thunder Flash was activated!
Dense blue-gold electric arcs exploded around his body, electromagnetic thrust erupted, and his speed soared instantly, like lightning tearing through space, catching up from behind to chase that white rabbit shadow!
"External Spirit Bone: Thors Spine — Spear of the Thunder God, Lock!"
During the pursuit, thunder light erupted from the spine on Tang Chuan's back!
A thunder spear, condensed to the extreme and entwined with destructive purple-gold thunder, instantly formed, firmly locking onto the fleeing Swift Ice Rabbit ahead!
The Spear of the Thunder God, extremely yang and rigid, unparalleled in speed, powerful, and comes with a lock-on.
It is the nemesis of Spirit Beasts like the Mirror Shadow Beast that are good at changing!
"Go!"
"Squeak—!!"
Feeling the destructive lock-on aura behind it, the Mirror Shadow Beast, transformed into the Swift Ice Rabbit, let out a terrified shriek, desperately driving its spirit power, increasing its speed by another thirty percent, while the crystal light on its body flickered rapidly, attempting to change its form again or use other life-saving abilities.
But, it was too late!
"Puchi—!!"
The purple-gold thunder light flashed and vanished, and the Spear of the Thunder God accurately hit the Ice Rabbit's hind leg!
It was not that Tang Chuan couldn't aim, but that he did it intentionally; he wanted to severely injure it, but could not kill it immediately.
Because later, he also planned to find a way to see if he could raise this Mirror Shadow Beast's cultivation to one hundred thousand years!
"Boom!"
The violent thunder power exploded in the "Ice Rabbit's" hind leg, its transformation form was forcibly interrupted, the silver light dissipated, and it revealed the Mirror Shadow Beast's original body again.
Only now it was in a sorry state; there was a charred blood hole in its hind leg, blood mixed with small crystal scales splashed, its whole body was charred black by electricity, its light was dim, its aura instantly withered, and it collapsed on the ice, twitching in pain, no longer able to escape.
And behind him, the "Image" that had been fighting with Tang Chuan, the moment the Mirror Shadow Beast's main body was severely injured and its mental force was difficult to maintain, made a crisp shattering sound, turned into countless crystal-clear light spots, and dissipated into the air.
Tang Chuan's figure landed, looking at the seriously injured and dying Mirror Shadow Beast, whose eyes were full of fear and unwillingness, and walked over slowly.
"Over eighty thousand years, close to ninety thousand years... It's a pity, it failed to break through to one hundred thousand years."
Tang Chuan shook his head slightly, still a little regretful.
However, thinking of the previous ninety-thousand-year Demon Eye Blood Magic Tree, Tang Chuan once again took out a jade box from his spirit tool.
After opening it, inside was a ten-thousand-year Ice Spirit Ginseng King, blue all over, emitting pure cold ice and life aura.
This item is a great supplement for ice-attribute Spirit Beasts and might help it break through its Bottleneck.
Tang Chuan tossed the Ginseng King to the side of the Mirror Shadow Beast's mouth.
A trace of doubt flashed in the Mirror Shadow Beast's blue crystal-like eyes, and then, attracted by the instinct to survive and the majestic energy of the Ginseng King, it struggled to open its mouth and swallowed the Ginseng King into its belly.
The majestic ice-attribute energy and life essence dissolved in its body, attempting to repair its injuries and strike at the barrier.
The light on the Mirror Shadow Beast's body lit up again, its aura recovered somewhat, and the bleeding from its wounds gradually stopped.
However, that ninety-thousand-year Bottleneck was like a chasm; no matter how the Ginseng King's energy washed over it, it was still missing that final breath.
"It seems the Opportunity has not arrived."
Discovering that the Mirror Shadow Beast still couldn't break through to one hundred thousand years like the previous ninety-thousand-year Demon Eye Blood Magic Tree.
Tang Chuan was not surprised in his heart, but still felt a little disappointed, sighing helplessly.
Since the result had been revealed, Tang Chuan no longer hesitated, raised his right hand, summoned several Blue Silver Emperor vines to twist and form, turning into a sharp Blue Silver Emperor spear.
Immediately after, the spear was like lightning, accurately piercing into the weak point where the Mirror Shadow Beast's head and torso connected, penetrating its brain and heart.
The Mirror Shadow Beast's body shook violently, its blue crystal eyes completely lost their luster, and after letting out a low, mournful cry, it slowly went limp.
The next moment, majestic pitch-black energy surged out from its corpse, the pitch-black mixed with rich blood color, obviously already infinitely close to the one-hundred-thousand-year level!
The energy circled and condensed crazily in mid-air, finally turning into a ninety-thousand-year Peak spirit ring with deep light, black with a hint of red!
At the same time, at the chest of the Mirror Shadow Beast's corpse, a strange piece of bone emerged under the reflection of the spirit ring's light.
The bone was carved entirely like top-quality colorless crystal, crystal-clear, with flowing light faintly moving inside; its shape was roughly oval, resembling a sternum, obviously a torso bone.
But what was strange was that in the very center of this crystal torso bone, which was the position corresponding to the heart, there was perfectly embedded, or rather naturally grown, a piece of bone about the size of a palm, shaped like a heart-protecting mirror, about an inch thick, slightly darker in color, and silver in appearance!
This silver bone piece was integrated with the crystal torso bone, emitting a more restrained, yet more solid and heavy aura than the torso bone, and there was a faint, wonderful fluctuation of being both independent and connected.
Seeing this, Tang Chuan couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
"What kind of Spirit Bone is this?!"
(End of Chapter)
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