Countless steel blades of grass danced across the snowfield!

Gu Shen leaned back as a steel throne burst through the tide of Black Millstones, condensing in the center of the vortex.

He sat upright on the throne.

Gently tapping his fingers, the Pure Land domain broke through the earth. The snow-white leaves of the towering trees enveloped the surrounding hundred meters. The wisps of black mist lingering in the sky above this icy plain were frozen in that instant—

"Crack!"

The crisp, pleasing sound of shattering echoed in all directions.

Tang Ran stared blankly at the scene.

He couldn't believe that his domain was being suppressed by a third-level extraordinary… Throughout the development history of extraordinary individuals in the Five Continents, had there ever been such an outrageous instance of cross-level combat?

No, such a thing was absolutely impossible!

"Boom!"

He threw a heavy punch, aiming it at Gu Shen. Separated by tens of meters, countless black tides surged from his body. This should have been a desolate scene of devouring the heavens and earth, but under the absolute suppression of the Pure Land, these black tides only rushed forward ten meters before being suppressed once more.

Tang Ran felt as if his spirit had crashed into an iron wall!

"Bang, bang, bang, bang—"

Countless Black Millstone tides were frozen and shattered!

Gu Shen also extended his five fingers.

He pressed forward gently.

A domain intent named "Annihilation" advanced backward along the black tide.

Layer upon layer of tides shattered and reformed continuously.

The two domains engaged in a head-on confrontation—

For a short time, the two were evenly matched, but in reality, the consumption of the black tide was increasing, and Tang Ran was already showing signs of being unable to sustain it.

Blood gradually seeped from his orifices.

The pain on his body was nothing.

The mental shock was the most fatal.

Tang Ran stared in astonishment at the young man sitting on the throne not far away… Gu Shen's name was known to everyone in Dongzhou. Even those serving time in the Tundra Prison had heard of him.

He knew that this young man was a ruthless character. Not long ago, Han Dang, the once-famous genius adjudicator of the Tribunal, was miserably imprisoned… This "law enforcer" who had once personally arrested many high-risk criminals ended up in such a state because of Gu Shen!

But he couldn't have imagined.

How Gu Shen had cultivated to this level in such a short period!

Suppressing his fourth-level domain, was this the eighth level of the Deep Sea?

Tang Ran raised his head, his roar echoing in the snowy wind: "Gu Shen! You've been hiding so well!"

Everyone had been deceived by Gu Shen—

This young man must have cultivated to the fourth level, at least the advanced stage of the tenth level of the Deep Sea!

"..."

Gu Shen remained unmoved by Tang Ran's roar.

Gu Shen calmly looked at the man in front of him, his eyes only filled with indifference… The reason this domain confrontation had lasted so long was that he wanted to see just how much killing power his current "Annihilation Domain" could unleash.

This criminal named Tang Ran was quite strong, not a weakling among fourth-level individuals.

However.

Having just broken through, coupled with the blessings of the previous three transcensions, Gu Shen's spiritual foundation was too rich. If he had remained at his previous level, he would have been slightly weaker in this confrontation.

"After reaching the eighth level of the Deep Sea, with the blessing of three transcensions, my strength is not much different from those captains in the Restart mission."

Gu Shen said to himself, "Although I can't compare to geniuses like Fischer and Zhongyuan at the fourth level, dealing with Tang Ran… is more than enough."

A ray of blazing light erupted in his pupils.

"Same level strength, mental battle, what can you use to fight me?!"

Gu Shen stood up, took a step forward, and at the same time, extended his palm. Countless steel blades of grass were blown up by the gale, converging into his empty palm, turning into a long blade!

"Slash!"

Gu Shen simply slashed down with the blade.

This slash was simple and unadorned, with no swordplay to speak of.

But this slash was wrapped with the Pure Land domain's full "Great Cold" and "Annihilation"!

The blade's surface reflected a pale silver light.

In an instant, it illuminated Tang Ran's desperate face.

In this duel, he was completely at a disadvantage.

The Black Millstone domain was completely crushed by the Pure Land, and all his power was suppressed in his body. At this moment, he felt extremely suffocated, with a feeling of having strength but nowhere to use it…

He raised his head, looking at the ordinary blade light crossing the void. The sense of crisis that Gu Shen's casual slash brought him was even stronger than Mu Qingyang's full-force spear earlier!

"Boom!"

Tang Ran had no choice. He ignited his most important spiritual sea.

The Black Millstone domain erupted with terrifying momentum once again. He burned his soul at this moment, choosing to fight Gu Shen head-on.

"Gu Shen! I'll fight you!"

Tang Ran didn't care about anything anymore. He pulled out a wisp of dark-black spear from the ground. Criminals who were pressed into the Tundra Prison naturally wouldn't have any sealed objects… His only weapon was his "fourth-level spirit" that he had tempered for twenty years. He clenched the black spear, aimed it at the silver-white blade light slashing down from the air, and stabbed it out fiercely!

Mu Qingyang's spear was like the rising sun.

And Tang Ran's spear at this moment was like the eruption of a tide in the darkness, a flood of mountains and seas!

It was just that his black spear revealed a strong sense of despair and desperate madness…

This was the reason why the previous five-person team couldn't even escape when they encountered the battle. These high-risk criminals were all lunatics walking on the edge of life and death. In desperate situations, they would definitely erupt with even greater power than usual!

But unfortunately.

Tang Ran encountered Gu Shen.

Gu Shen only fought "life-and-death battles," and this one was no exception.

"Clang!" A crisp sound rang out. The long blade slashed down. Wherever the blade light passed, the black spear shattered inch by inch, scattering in all directions.

This slash was not just a spiritual crush!

The sharpness of the nameless iron was even more unparalleled!

Even if Tang Ran risked his life, he couldn't resist a single slash… In the next moment, the silver-white blade light poured into his body completely.

Gu Shen looked at the man in front of him expressionlessly.

His "Great Cold Domain" possessed the "Annihilation," which was definitely a top-tier domain intent. Anyone who took such a slash from him couldn't be saved, even by the gods.

The cold intent of the Pure Land penetrated inward from the shoulder pierced by the blade light!

In just a few seconds, icy frost covered Tang Ran's entire body. His lips, hair, face, and fingertips were all covered with a layer of pale frost.

At this moment, Gu Shen frowned slightly. He suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Logically speaking, Tang Ran should have turned into an ice sculpture within seconds.

But his body only showed frost… without further signs of solidification.

"Heh…"

A hoarse voice, with a hint of laughter, resounded on the snowfield.

Tang Ran looked at the young man in front of him coldly.

The pain brought by this slash was even more unforgettable than Mu Qingyang's spear…

"The suffering of today, if there is a future, I will repay it a hundredfold!"

He said hoarsely, word by word.

At the moment Tang Ran ignited his spiritual sea, a shadow behind him extended out. In those few seconds, it had spread out of Shuli. This winding shadow was Tang Ran's biggest trump card.

He knew.

He couldn't possibly be Gu Shen's opponent.

Then… his only way to survive was to escape!

"What is this power?" Gu Shen frowned.

He scanned with his spirit and found that his blade intent was gradually being "digested" within Tang Ran's body!

Even the spirit he sent out returned with much less!

In just an instant, Gu Shen understood.

"It's the sheath! It's a fragment of the Stone Sword!"

The sheath collapsed, and the fragments of the Stone Sword shattered the [Snow Cage], while also shattering the prison cells confining the criminals… That massive explosion caused a large number of casualties in the core area.

The prisoners who were imprisoned inside the Iron Walls back then had no way to avoid the surge. They could only endure it!

Those with weak strength and bad luck were directly nailed to death by the Stone Sword fragments. There were many of them!

Those with strong strength, like Tang Ran, could still "endure" even if they were hit by some fragments, completing the prison break!

Although he "lived" through it.

He was still stabbed by the Stone Sword. For six hundred years, no one had been able to figure out what the sheath was… Even if these Stone Sword fragments were removed one by one, they would still have a strange and unpredictable impact on the body of an extraordinary individual!

And the power on Tang Ran's body that was devouring his domain's killing intent and probing his spirit came from the Stone Sword fragments!

A moment of distraction.

Tang Ran fell backward, his black robe fluttering. This withered, almost frozen body fell toward a small pool of shadow water. At the same time, his spirit had already swept to several miles away. This long-distance "teleportation" naturally came at a price. Using it once required a long rest, and using it a second time would bring great pain to the caster.

But Tang Ran couldn't care about that anymore. The pressure that this madman named Gu Shen gave him was even stronger than Mu Qingyang, forcing him to burn even his spiritual sea!

At this moment, as long as he could escape, he would accept any price!

"Splash—"

Tang Ran fell, merging into the shadow cold pool.

This wisp of shadow followed the extremely slender, Black Millstone domain that stretched for thousands of meters and was only a thin line, flying away at an extremely fast speed. In just one second, it was about to disappear from sight.

Gu Shen's expression instantly turned gloomy.

"Want to escape?!"

His reaction speed was extremely fast. The moment he realized that the "Stone Sword fragment" could digest his killing intent, he guessed Tang Ran's true intention was to escape. So he immediately waved his hand!

The [Iron Throne] disassembled the long blade.

The moment Gu Shen waved his hand, the iron light in the sky was "teleported" by the Pure Land domain to the outermost edge of the domain's expansion, turning into a square iron seal, heavily nailing down on the extremely stretched Black Millstone shadow line!

"Thump~~~"

Gu Shen's raising of his hand was too fast. He actually nailed the Black Millstone in place. At this moment, this wisp of Black Millstone line was still spreading, but with one end nailed down, the "speed" of the other end became slower and slower, and eventually even showed a tendency to be pulled back to its original place!

At the same time, Gu Shen sprinted out.

The shadow was stretched longer and longer, and Tang Ran reappeared. This "escape method" of his had great advantages, allowing him to quickly escape underground, but it also had disadvantages. Once it stopped, it would be considered the termination of the spell… At this moment, with the end of the shadow nailed down, he couldn't continue to escape. After appearing, he hurriedly used his spirit to cut off this half of the long line, making a "lizard tail amputation" feat!

It was a pity.

Being a step slower meant the matter was settled.

The moment Tang Ran cut off the Black Millstone long line, his eyes blurred. A figure flashed by. Gu Shen held the iron sword, running across the snowfield at an extremely fast speed. Within the 0.1 seconds of "brushing past," he drew his sword and directly beheaded him!

The blood didn't even have time to splatter.

Gu Shen's mastery of the Pure Land domain was already "skillful." At the moment of drawing his sword, the cold intent froze his blood… The Stone Sword fragments dissipated a part, and the intent of Annihilation surged up a part.

With a thud, Tang Ran's head landed on the ground.

"Glugluglulu…"

Gu Shen lowered his head, looking at this astonished and terrified head. Thousands of thoughts surged through his mind. The "surprise" that this coincidental encounter brought him was not just an A-level escapee.

The Stone Sword fragments could actually have such a strange impact on the bodies of these criminals…

He carried the head and slowly walked toward the headless corpse that had fallen on the ice field. At the same time, blazing fire leaped out from the space between his eyebrows… The body of a dead "fourth-level extraordinary individual" had quite a few extraordinary source substances, which were greatly needed at the moment of breaking through.

Gu Shen would not waste such a situation.

While the blazing fire feasted.

Gu Shen crouched down and carefully inspected Tang Ran's body with his spiritual power. As he had expected, the "Stone Sword fragments" in this guy's body had been cleaned up on their own, but there was still residual power stationed there.

Strangely enough.

After Tang Ran died, the residual power of the "Stone Sword fragments" became difficult to regenerate and gradually dissipated.

Did this power also conform to the iron law of natural return in the extraordinary world?

When the host died, it also died with him.

"How many of those guys who escaped from the 'Snow Cage' were stabbed by the Stone Sword?" Gu Shen stroked his chin. This number was probably not small. Judging from the scale of the explosion at the time, those who were completely spared should be very, very few lucky ones.

Most importantly, to escape from prison, the prison must be destroyed.

Not being stabbed by the Stone Sword fragments and the prison being destroyed… This was simply a "chosen one."

After a while, the blazing fire had devoured the source substance on Tang Ran's body.

Gu Shen reached out and touched the "head" of the little flame, and found that the emotional feedback from the blazing fire was very average… He smiled, not taking it seriously. He originally thought that it was just that the little guy was used to the wealthy days of opening his mouth in the Shrine Mountain, and this meal was not full.

But when Gu Shen used his spirit to check the "specific income" of this meal, he realized that the situation was a bit strange.

Tang Ran, a fourth-level extraordinary individual—

He had just been killed by himself, and the extraordinary source substance on his body had not yet had time to "return to nature"!

But the extraordinary source substance left in his corpse was only half of that of a normal fourth-level individual!

Gu Shen's expression became serious. He recalled the pain and fear that appeared on the latter's face when he had seen this guy from a distance earlier.

"A lot of the source substance has dissipated…"

He muttered, "Is it the 'Stone Sword' that eliminated his source substance, turning him into a mortal?"

……

……

(ps: 1. There is only this chapter tonight, thank you for the support of the leader "World Hall". 2. I will adjust my schedule during this time, and the update time cannot be so dark in the new year. Future updates will be placed in the morning. So everyone, go to bed early tonight, there will be another chapter tomorrow morning, the update time is around 7:15.)