Chapter 204
Scarface's henchman, A Biao, grabbed Lin Xiao by the collar of her blue dress and violently slammed her against the ice wall. The dull thud made Lin Xiao's vision go black, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
He reached for the last half-piece of ice in Lin Xiao's arms—it was something she had secretly hidden for her younger brother. The moment his fingertips touched the ice, Lin Xiao bit his wrist hard, causing A Biao to scream in pain. He slapped her across the face: "You little bitch, you dare bite me! Grab your brother and see if you're still so stubborn!"
Lin Xiao's cheeks instantly swelled and turned red, her teeth grinding together, her eyes filled with stubbornness: "I would rather die than let you hurt my brother!"
She activated her ice-type ability again, but this time it wasn't a small ice blade. Instead, she gathered all her strength and froze a thin layer of ice under A Biao's feet.
Ah Biao slipped and fell to the ground, hitting the back of his head on the manganese crystal support, and passed out.
"This is outrageous!" Scarface, seeing this, raised his axe and swung it down at Lin Xiao's head. The axe blade whistled through the air, and just as it was about to strike her, a pale blue bolt of lightning suddenly descended from the sky, striking Scarface's axe precisely. With a "crack," the manganese crystal axe blade shattered from the lightning strike, and the fragments splashed onto the ice surface, making a crisp sound.
The entire scene fell silent instantly. The refugees looked up in astonishment and saw a silver-gray figure floating in mid-air, surrounded by a faint blue and light purple aura of supernatural power. It was none other than Su Jing, the "God of Wealth".
Her invisibility ability had been deactivated, and her flight ability suspended her two meters above the ground. In her right hand, she held a laser gun that gleamed coldly, while her left fingertips crackled with lightning-based energy. Her eyes were icy cold as she swept over the thugs present: "You bully a little girl? Do you even deserve to live in this world?"
Zhao Hu was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening, and waved his hand with a sinister grin: "Brothers, let's go! So what if she's the God of Wealth? She's all alone. Kill her, and all the supplies in the ice cellar and her spatial storage will be ours!"
A dozen thugs immediately grabbed their weapons, some holding steel pipes, some holding machetes, and others picking up rubble from the ground, and pounced on Su Jing.
Su Jing's lips curled into a cold smile, and her lightning-based supernatural power surged at her fingertips. Three thick bolts of lightning shot out simultaneously, accurately hitting the three villains charging at the front.
The lightning pierced through their bodies, leaving charred holes. The three of them collapsed to the ground before they could even scream, their bodies twitching twice before going still.
"Laser guns ready, target elimination." Su Jing gave the order to the air. A spatial energy fluctuation flashed, and three small laser guns flew out of the space, hovering around her, their muzzles aimed at the remaining villains.
She activated her ability to replicate Lin Xiao's second-tier ice-type ability. With a wave of her left hand, more than a dozen ice shards appeared out of thin air and shot towards the villains' knees like a rain of arrows. With a few "plop" sounds, the villains' knees were pierced by the ice shards, and they all knelt down on the ground, their weapons falling to the ground, howling in pain.
Seeing that things were not going well, Zhao Hu turned around and tried to run into the ice cellar, hoping to hide behind the ice and put up a last-ditch resistance.
How could Su Jing give him a chance? Activating her flying ability, she instantly caught up with Zhao Hu, aimed her right-hand laser gun at his back, and shot out a red laser that pierced directly through his heart.
Zhao Hu staggered and collapsed onto the ice pile, his blood staining the white ice. He looked back at Su Jing, his eyes filled with fear and resentment, before finally falling heavily to the ground, lifeless.
Scarface was terrified when he saw Zhao Hu killed. He pulled out the third-tier manganese crystal fragment he had previously stolen from his pocket, trying to activate the fragment's energy to fight back.
But as soon as he grasped the shard, Su Jing's ice-type ability froze his wrist, and the ice spread up his arm, instantly freezing his entire arm.
"You should return what you stole." Su Jing's voice was icy. Lightning-type power gathered at her fingertips, and a bolt of lightning shot towards Scarface's brow. Scarface's eyes widened, and his body stiffened as he fell to the ground. The manganese crystal fragment in his hand rolled away and was collected by Su Jing using her spatial power.
Seeing their leader dead, the remaining thugs were so frightened that they prostrated themselves on the ground, begging for mercy: "'God of Wealth,' spare our lives! We were forced into this!"
Su Jing's gaze remained unwavering. She fired the laser gun again, and several laser beams accurately struck their vital points. The thugs fell to the ground, and the entire area around the trading platform instantly fell silent, with only the heavy breathing of the refugees and the dripping sound of melting ice in the ice cellar remaining.
Su Jing slowly landed on the ground, walked to Lin Xiao's side, and gently brushed the redness and swelling on Lin Xiao's face and the wound on her wrist with her fingertips glowing with a light green healing spiritual power (the basic healing effect that comes with the second level of Qi Refining): "It's alright now."
Looking at the silver-gray figure before her, Lin Xiao could no longer hold back her tears and knelt down with a thud: "Thank you, 'Goddess of Wealth' sister, for saving me! Thank you..."
"Get up." Su Jing helped her up and returned the third-order manganese crystal fragment to her. "This is yours."
She turned to look at the refugees who had gathered around her, her voice clear and strong: "Take as much ice and the remaining heat medicine as you need from the ice cellar. Each person is limited to 3 kilograms of ice and half a bottle of medicine. No fighting or scrambling is allowed."
The refugees were stunned for a moment, then burst into grateful cheers. The laborers who had been forced to chisel ice earlier threw down their chisels and rushed to the ice cellar, but no one fought over them; they all lined up to take what they needed.
The woman holding the child scooped up a spoonful of ice water and fed it to the child. The child drank greedily, a long-lost smile appearing on its face. The woman bowed deeply to Su Jing: "Thank you, 'God of Wealth,' you are truly our savior!"
Su Jing nodded, turned around and activated her spatial ability, taking out more than a dozen boxes of bottled water and compressed biscuits from her space and placing them on the trading table: "Distribute these supplies to everyone as well. The polar day is not over yet, so please use them sparingly."
Her gaze swept over the manganese crystal fence surrounding the ice cellar, her brow furrowing slightly—the battle just now had been too loud and might have attracted demonic beasts, especially the Flamewing Beast that had appeared before.
Lin Xiao walked to Su Jing's side, gripping the manganese crystal fragment in his hand: "'God of Wealth' sister, I am a second-tier ice-type ability user. I can help you guard the ice cellar. If any monsters come, I can be of assistance!"
The lightning-type ability user next to him also came over, cupped his hands and said, "My name is Lei Zhe, a second-tier lightning-type ability user. I am willing to stay here with Lin Xiao to protect everyone!"
Looking at their determined eyes, Su Jing nodded in agreement: "Okay, you're in charge of keeping watch. If you spot anything unusual, notify me immediately via communicator."
She took out several bottles of high-grade heat-resistant medicine and handed them to them: "These are enhanced heat-resistant medicines that can improve your ability endurance. Be careful and prioritize your own safety."
Just then, one of the refugees suddenly pointed to the distant sky and shouted, "What's that?!" Everyone looked up and saw several fiery red shadows streaking across the eastern sky; the heat waves from their flapping wings could be felt even from a distance.
A sharp screech echoed through the valley. It was a third-tier Flamewing Beast, and this time there were more than one, five or six of them, flying towards the ice cellar!
"They're Flamewing Beasts! And they live in groups!" Rei Zhe's expression changed drastically, and lightning crackled at his fingertips. "They must have been attracted by the commotion from the battle just now!"
Lin Xiao also activated her ice-type ability, conjuring ice blades at her fingertips, and nervously watched the approaching Flamewing Beasts: "'Goddess of Wealth' sister, what do we do? Their flames can burn through heat-resistant canvas!"
Su Jing quickly made a decision: "Everyone, immediately hide in the ice cellar! Lin Xiao, use your ice-type ability to freeze a thick layer of ice at the entrance of the ice cellar to block the flames;
"Reiji, you use your lightning-based abilities to attack the Flamewing Beasts' wings and disrupt their flight; I'll distract them!"
She activated her flight ability, instantly taking off. At the same time, she took out two laser guns from her spatial storage, holding one in each hand, and aimed them at the Flamewing Beast at the front, pulling the triggers.
The red laser struck the Flamewing Beast's wing. Although it failed to penetrate the hard scales, it caused the beast to let out a scream and deviate from its flight path.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Su Jing activated her lightning-based superpower, and several thick bolts of lightning shot towards the Flamewing Beast in the air. Wherever the lightning struck, the scales instantly turned black. The Flamewing Beast's roar grew sharper and sharper, clearly enraged.
The refugees inside the ice cellar huddled behind blocks of ice, trembling with fear. Following Su Jing's instructions, Lin Xiao froze a half-meter-thick ice wall at the entrance. The ice wall glowed with a pale blue light and emanated a bone-chilling cold.
Lei Zhe stood behind the ice wall, occasionally shooting out a bolt of lightning to interfere with the Flamewing Beast in the air.
Su Jing maneuvered around the Flamewing Beasts in the air. Her flight ability allowed her to nimbly dodge fire attacks, while her ice ability froze the tips of the Flamewing Beasts' wings, limiting their flight speed. Her laser gun precisely attacked their weak points—the base of their wings and their abdomens.
Suddenly, a Flamewing Beast spewed a flame towards the ice cellar. The flame struck the ice wall, and with a "sizzle," the surface of the ice wall instantly melted. However, it was quickly replenished by Lin Xiao's ice-type ability and never cracked.
“Sister ‘Goddess of Wealth’, there are too many of them! We can’t hold out for long!” Lin Xiao shouted. Her superpowers were being used up too quickly, and her face had turned pale.
Lei Zhe was also panting heavily, his lightning-based power output growing weaker and weaker: "My spiritual energy is almost exhausted!"
Su Jing knew in her heart that this couldn't go on. There were too many Flamewing Beasts, and their fire attacks were extremely powerful. The ice wall would be burned through sooner or later.
She turned to look at the refugees in the ice cellar and suddenly realized a serious problem—the corpses of the villains who had just been killed were still outside, and the smell of blood and the sounds of battle had not only attracted the Flamewing Beasts, but might also attract more demonic beasts.
Just then, a Flamewing Beast suddenly broke through Su Jing's defenses and spewed a flame toward the entrance of the ice cellar. This flame was more intense than before, and the ice wall melted almost half of itself instantly. Lin Xiao was burned by the residual heat of the flame and took a few steps back, with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Rezhe immediately shot out a bolt of lightning, striking the Flamewing Beast in the abdomen. It screamed and flew backward, but quickly rejoined the attack.
Su Jing gritted her teeth, activated her Overlay ability, and instantly overlaid Lei Zhe's second-tier lightning ability. At the same time, she raised her own lightning ability to the third tier, and several purple lightning bolts shot into the sky.
The attack struck the abdomens of two Flamewing Beasts instantly. They screamed as they plummeted from the sky, crashing onto the ground outside the ice cellar. After struggling for a few moments, they fell still.
But the remaining three or four Flamewing Beasts became even more ferocious. They spewed out flames at the same time, and the flames intertwined to form a fire net that enveloped Su Jing and the ice cellar.
Su Jing activated her spatial ability, instantly teleporting above the ice cellar. At the same time, she used her ice-based ability to freeze a huge ice shield to block the fire net's attack.
When the ice shield came into contact with the flames, it made a loud "sizzling" sound, and a large amount of steam rose up. The ice shield melted at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Everyone, run deeper into the valley!" Su Jing shouted to the refugees in the ice cellar, "We can't hold this place anymore!"
Upon hearing this, the refugees rushed out of the ice cellar and fled into the depths of the valley. Lin Xiao and Lei Zhe covered their retreat, occasionally using their supernatural abilities to attack the Flamewing Beasts and buy time for the refugees.
Su Jing looked at the fleeing refugees and then at the approaching Flamewing Beasts. She knew that this chaotic battle had only just begun.
The Flamewing Beast's attacks grew increasingly fierce. The manganese crystal fence of the ice cellar was ignited by flames, and the ice inside began to melt in large quantities, with water flowing down the valley.
In the distant dense forest, there seemed to be more commotion. It was unclear whether other monsters had been attracted there, or if some other danger awaited them.
She gripped the laser gun tightly, activating her Qi Refining Level 2 spiritual power, causing the aura of her supernatural abilities to intensify. In this chaotic battle between humans and beasts, she had to protect these refugees, at least giving them a chance to escape to safety.
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