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Titan Snow Fiends!
These were once a type of super soul beast from the far northern lands.
No, even now, Titan Snow Fiends remained among the ranks of super soul beasts.
Due to environmental factors, while humanity's rapid development had impacted the far northern regions, it hadn't been as devastating as what happened to the Star Dou Great Forest. At least for now, most of the original soul beast species still existed in the far north.
However, some species had been captured and turned into soul spirits, or studied for their ice-attribute bloodline powers to serve as references for artificial soul spirits—a regrettable but inevitable outcome.
From the data Xu Yuan had read, the Titan Snow Fiend clan should still exist in the far northern lands today. It was even rumored that the Titan Snow Fiend King still lived, though it had retreated deep into the heart of the far north.
"Never would I have imagined that the gatekeepers of the ten-thousand-year soul spirits in the Spirit Pagoda would be Titan Snow Fiends—and not just one, but four of them!" Xu Yuan's expression grew grave.
The Titan Snow Fiends possessed the bloodline of a super soul beast. While they might not be as terrifying as the Dark Golden Terror Claw Bear, there was no doubt they were on the same tier.
What made the Dark Golden Terror Claw Bear so fearsome was its overwhelming specialization—its brute physical strength combined with its pair of Dark Golden Claws, capable of tearing through almost anything.
The Titan Snow Fiends shared the same tier of bloodline as the Dark Golden Terror Claw Bear, but their abilities were slightly more varied. They excelled in raw power and mastery over ice elements. Despite their massive size, they lacked any traits to compensate for their cumbersome nature.
This resulted in the Titan Snow Fiends having slightly weaker overall combat capabilities, but their bloodline potential was immense.
Even so, this was only when compared to the Dark Golden Terror Claw Bear.
For ordinary soul beasts, the Titan Snow Fiends held overwhelming advantages in every aspect.
Fortunately, these four Titan Snow Fiends were not yet ten thousand years old—they were still juveniles.
Adult Titan Snow Fiends could reach heights exceeding fifty meters. The four before Xu Yuan and Na'er were around forty meters tall, and the icy aura they emitted had not yet reached the level of Absolute Ice.
"They must be weakened versions of Titan Snow Fiends."
Xu Yuan concluded.
As the two analyzed how to deal with the four Titan Snow Fiends, an electronic voice echoed from all directions.
"Spirit Pagoda, Eighteenth Floor: Survive the attack of four Titan Snow Fiends for ten minutes."
Xu Yuan: ???
Wait!
Why just survive for ten minutes?
Damn it!
Xu Yuan felt his entire plan thrown into disarray.
This was clearly a difficulty-lowering standard for the challenge. Yet, for Xu Yuan and Na'er, it had become an unexpected obstacle.
There was no way around it—if merely surviving for ten minutes counted as passing, how were they supposed to drag out the fight to recover their strength?
For others, surviving might be difficult, but for them, they could kill three of the Titan Snow Fiends, leave one heavily injured without killing it, recover their strength to peak condition, and then finish off the last one. This way, they could enter the nineteenth floor in the best possible state to face ten-thousand-year soul beasts.
But everything changed the moment the electronic voice announced the rules.
Just moments ago, Xu Yuan had inwardly criticized the Spirit Pagoda for being merciless, setting such a difficult trial at the eighteenth floor to guard the ten-thousand-year soul spirits.
He had even thought that perhaps they should mentally prepare for the possibility of falling in battle for the sake of obtaining a ten-thousand-year soul spirit.
But then the Spirit Pagoda went and announced this new rule via the electronic voice.
I hate electronic voices!
Countless thoughts raced through Xu Yuan's mind as he quickly gave instructions to Na'er.
"Na'er, work with me to instantly kill two of them first. Then we'll each take on one and figure out ways to preserve and restore our strength during the fight."
Instant kills—the burst required for that would be astonishing.
After all, these Titan Snow Fiends were forty meters tall, with incredible defensive capabilities. Being able to instantly kill one was already impressive enough, let alone two.
"Roar!"
It was as if the four Titan Snow Fiends had overheard their plans. They let out loud roars, pounding their chests with their arms. The booming sounds echoed throughout the hall.
The four metal doors had fully opened, and the energy restraints binding them dissipated.
The four Titan Snow Fiends charged forward.
"They're much weaker than the Three-Eyed Demon Apes," Xu Yuan sneered.
He unleashed his spear momentum.
Forbidden Technique—Soul Sealing!
With a sweeping motion of his spear, the already weak spiritual power of the four Titan Snow Fiends was completely suppressed by Xu Yuan, rendering them unable to use it.
"Second Soul Skill, Dreamscape!"
Xu Yuan pulled the consciousness of the four Titan Snow Fiends into the dreamscape.
Integrating essence, energy, and spirit into the dreamscape, Xu Yuan forcibly imprisoned their consciousness.
At the same time, both Xu Yuan and Na'er unleashed their strongest spear strikes.
Xu Yuan's spear momentum was unstoppable, its intent shattering space. He thrust his spear into the chest of one Titan Snow Fiend, but even with all his strength, the Tianyuan Five-Element Spear sank into its chest without reaching the heart.
The five elemental forces converged at the spear tip, causing an explosion.
Boom!
Only after the explosion of the five elemental forces did it seem to affect the Titan Snow Fiend's heart.
Yet, the Titan Snow Fiend still hadn't collapsed into a corpse.
Xu Yuan took a deep breath, awestruck by the vitality of the Titan Snow Fiend.
On the other side, Na'er's spear strike also only pierced into the Titan Snow Fiend's chest, failing to reach its heart.
The Silver Dragon Spear unleashed a devouring force, forcibly consuming its life energy, but the effect was minimal.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan had no choice but to adjust his strategy on the spot.
He launched consecutive spear strikes, piercing the chest of one Titan Snow Fiend two or three times with each attack.
Sweat dripped from his forehead.
While Yao Yao helped maintain the dreamscape, the task of integrating essence, energy, and spirit to stabilize the dreamscape and imprison the four Titan Snow Fiends fell entirely on him.
Dividing his focus to simultaneously restrain four massive beings was incredibly taxing.
"The consumption of trapping someone in the dreamscape doesn't just depend on the strength of one's spiritual power—it also depends on the strength of their willpower resistance."
If someone had strong spiritual power but didn't resist, Xu Yuan could relatively easily pull them into the dreamscape.
But if their willpower was strong and they resisted fiercely, the burden on Xu Yuan would increase significantly.
These four Titan Snow Fiends might lack intelligence compared to humans, but their spiritual power was far from weak. As for their willpower?
After enduring countless years of hardship, soul beasts generally possessed stronger and purer willpower than humans. Their instinctive resistance was full-force rebellion.
In less than thirty seconds, the dreamscape collapsed.
Of the four Titan Snow Fiends, only the one Na'er had continuously drained of life force was dead. The other three were still alive.
Even with two or three gaping holes in their chests and chaotic explosions of the five elemental forces inside them, they hadn't lost their lives.
"Roar!"
Three deafening roars erupted in unison, accompanied by the thumping of their hearts, still beating powerfully despite the gaping wounds in their chests.
Their resilience was simply terrifying.
"Na'er, I'll trap them again for ten seconds!" Xu Yuan gritted his teeth.
Now they had no choice but to return to their original plan.
They would do everything in their power to kill three of them, leave one heavily injured, and then focus on recovery.
At the very least, they needed to restore their soul power as close to peak condition as possible.
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