Noticing this, both Gao Zhen and Yi Chen locked eyes with each other.

Wariness and hatred were apparent in both their eyes. Along with that, a trace of irritation was also vividly evident in Yi Chen’s expression.

Tch!

He clicked his tongue loudly before focusing his gaze on the approaching Ice monsters fifty meters away, which were closing in fast.

Seeing this, Gao Zhen let out a sigh of relief and did the same. Her hatred towards Yi Chen could wait...surviving this crisis took priority over everything else.

Quickly swallowing a few Qi Nourishing Pills, she took out the God Slaying Sword and imbued it with her innate Qi that was recovering rapidly and braced herself for the contact.

Meanwhile, with the remaining time, Yi Chen pulled open the status panel of the approaching figures while munching on a few Qi Nourishing Pills.

=========STATUS=========

Name: Black Glacial Soldiers

Strength: 320 [Equivalent to Fifth Qi Absorption Stage cultivator.]

Remark: Long-term contact will lead to corrosion. [Regenerate: 10,000 EXP]

========================

’Corrosion?’ Yi Chen’s eyes furrowed when he read the remark, as his guard against these rushing faceless figures increased.

Still having a few seconds until contact, he immediately regenerated the ability’s remark by spending his EXP points.

[Remark (2/3): Are made of black ice. (Regenerate: 25,000 EXP)]

Unsatisfied with the response, he glanced towards the Glacial soldiers who were less than five seconds away, and, gritting his teeth, spent another chunk of his EXP points.

’Again!’

[Remark (3/3): Can only do physical attacks.]

’This!’ Yi Chen’s eyes brightened when he read through the remark and prepared himself to face the enemy.

With their enormous numbers, he had no intention of using his martial techniques or Qi Absorption Arts to deal with these Glacial soldiers. That would only further drain his Qi Pool and Spiritual Sea.

Being already experienced in such a wide-scale battle, he had learnt how essential conserving one’s Qi was.

Therefore, tightly clutching the hilt of his sword, he coated it with a subtle layer of innate Qi and lunged straight at the Glacial soldiers when they were just two meters away.

SHING!

A strong vibration passed through his blade all the way to his body the moment his sword hit the Glacial soldier’s body.

However, it lasted only a second before the fiery Qi laced around his blade weakened the black ice, allowing his sword to cut through it the next instant.

’Yes! Fire can easily beat ice!’ Yi Chen grinned in realisation and started dealing with the surrounding Glacial soldiers with even more vigour.

Meanwhile, several meters behind him, Gao Zhen wasn’t having it as easy as him.

TING!

TING!

TING!

It was only after dealing three heavy blows that the Glacial soldier in front of her crumbled to pieces, forcing her to use a greater force of her Qi in order to buy enough time to retaliate against the horde.

’Dammit!’ she cursed after slaying the twelfth Glacial soldier.

Initially, she had the intention of absorbing their cultivation using the God-Slaying Sword. However, she soon realised that these Glacial soldiers didn’t meet the sword’s conditions, and thus, no matter how many of them she slew, they brought no improvement in her cultivation.

Knowing that in a battle of attrition, using her martial techniques now would mean seeking death, she was forced to keep swinging her swords at the Glacial Soldiers.

However, with her strength being much lower than theirs, she kept getting pushed back after every other exchange.

Unlike her, Yi Chen had slain tens of Glacial soldiers by now and was having the time of his life.

"Come on, you bastards!" he roared in excitement and poured all his pent-up frustration onto his subsequent strikes.

One Glacial soldier after another kept falling under the ferocity of his sword, further increasing his momentum.

CRACK!

Just then, his blade gave way and broke into several shards.

’This!’

Yi Chen widened his eyes in surprise and immediately used the Bursting Fire Steps to distance himself from the soldiers.

Looking at the remaining shards still clinging to his hilt, he found a layer of rust present on their surface.

His eyes widened in realisation as the remark flashed once again in his mind.

’Long-term contact will lead to corrosion.’ Yi Chen repeated in his mind and immediately took out his next sword.

"I only have two more spares left..." he let out a heavy breath and rushed straight towards the incoming Glacial soldiers.

This time, he didn’t target their chest and other thicker areas and deliberately went for their necks.

Although this increased the difficulty, it drastically reduced the contact time his blade had with the dark Qi that was infused within their bodies.

’It’s tougher than I thought...’ Yi Chen gritted his teeth while constantly taking a few steps back after every two or three exchanges.

If they had come one after the other, then he would have had no problem in slashing away their necks.

However, taking full advantage of their numbers, they kept attacking him simultaneously, which made him fail to strike their necks several times and attack their torso instead to survive.

After each such strike, metallic shards chipped off from his blade, bringing it closer and closer to its breaking point.

Gritting his teeth, Yi Chen kept retreating to give himself enough time to familiarise himself with this new pattern of attacking.

THUD!

His back suddenly hit a soft yet firm surface, making him turn around. Gao Zhen’s figure immediately appeared in his eyes.

Feeling a similar sensation on her back, she, too, had just turned her head behind at this moment in panic.

Seeing that it wasn’t a Glacial soldier but Yi Chen, a subtle relief appeared in her heart, but that immediately turned to anger as she glared at him the very next instant, "Don’t touch me, you bastard! Do you have a death wish?!"

"It’s you who entered my territory and not me! Get lost if you don’t want to be touched," He snorted while glancing at her exhausted state. It was apparent to him that she was forced back by those soldiers.

"Your territory? I don’t see your name written anywhere here." Gao Zhen snorted while dealing with the incoming Glacial soldiers and roared back, "If you don’t want me to stab your back the next time, move away from me now!"

To her baseless threat, Yi Chen just chuckled derisively and commented, "Sure, do it. The great Gao Zhen would surely be able to deal with my portion of these monsters herself as well. Ain’t that right?"

"You-!" Gao Zhen wanted to stab him to death at that very instant, but the mounting pressure from the Glacial soldiers’ incessant attacks forced her to restrain her anger.