A magical journey of a sharp-tongued woman and a goofy man

The ice crystal staircase steamed with white mist beneath the flame-patterned boots. Ye Shuli raised her hand to brush away the dangling icicles, and the tremors of the Snow Soul Spring in the southeast were transmitted to her palm through the jade pendant.

Beneath the dome, where twelve elemental lamps floated, seven pairs of ice-blue eyes simultaneously locked onto the still-burning embers on her cloak.

&34; The shifting sands of the Western Desert haven't buried your ambition yet? &34; The scepter of the Elemental Master leader slammed heavily into the ground, and frost spread rapidly along the gilded carpet. &34; Breaking the fire, wood, and metal restrictions in three days, do you think you're a savior? &34;

Ye Shuli shattered the ice crystals climbing her boots, crimson flames condensing into a spinning compass at her fingertips: "Three days ago, the Dark Abyss Rift swallowed the paulownia forest where the Golden Feathered Birds roosted, and the corpses of those spirit beasts torn apart by the elemental storm—" She suddenly flipped her wrist, the fiery compass projecting the purple crystalline dust floating on the scorched earth, "You should all be more familiar with these dark elemental remnants than I am."

A crisp cracking sound came from the ice crystal throne.

The three young controllers, draped in water-patterned gauze, exchanged glances. The woman wearing a silver maple leaf forehead ornament raised her hand, freezing the still-spreading frost: "Elder, the seventh section of the prophecy tablet does indeed record the scene of the five elements converging."

"Shut up!" The ice crystal at the top of the scepter exploded into a six-sided ice cone, grazing Ye Shuli's ear and embedding itself into the stone pillar behind her.

A shattered illusion of an ancient city emerges from the bursting ice mist, with magma gushing from the cracks in the twelve totem poles.

Ye Shuli's Flame Compass suddenly split into three clusters of flames, precisely enveloping the falling ice spike fragments: "The true reason for the destruction of Flame Fusion City five hundred years ago was that someone forcibly infused fire element into the water veins." She flicked her finger, directing the melted ice water behind the throne, where the astrolabe inlaid with five elemental gems suddenly spun wildly: "And the current elemental imbalance stems from you transforming the five elemental altars into killing weapons."

The suspended ice shards trembled slightly as the two silent male controllers pressed their hands against the elemental artifacts at their waists.

The Grand Elder's white beard and hair moved without wind, and a three-colored elemental chain wrapped around Ye Shuli's wrist appeared from the Ice Soul Pearl: "Even if what you say is the truth, why do you think that a reckless fusion won't cause an even greater disaster?"

"Just based on this." Ye Shuli suddenly ripped open her left sleeve, revealing three elemental marks pulsating rhythmically beneath her skin, with a translucent crystal core floating where her heart should have been.

The elemental streams hanging from the dome of the ice crystal palace suddenly changed their trajectory, forming a spiral of light around her.

The woman wearing the silver maple leaf exclaimed in surprise: "Elemental Resonance!" The icy mist in her palm uncontrollably condensed into a flame shape, and was then forcibly crushed into specks of light.

The other two wavering controllers had already descended the steps, and the elemental spheres floating at the top of their staffs were flashing at the same frequency as Ye Shuli's crystal core.

The four elders behind the Grand Elder simultaneously formed hand seals, and the moment the Ice Thorn Cage closed in from all sides, golden threads suddenly shot out from Ye Shuli's crystal core.

A metallic clang came from the darkness, and the twelve elemental lamps suddenly went out, while the elemental runes on everyone's robes lit up strangely.

"It seems you didn't notice that the altar barrier had already been corroded by dark elements." Ye Shuli snapped her fingers in the darkness, and three flames leaped onto the ice thorns, transforming into charred vines. "Before its death, the Golden Feather Bird sealed its last power into my crystal core; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to see through the dark abyss rift beneath the western desert dunes from three thousand miles away."

In the sudden burst of intense light from the Ice Soul Pearl, the Grand Elder's cracked staff slammed heavily into the ground: "Even if I give you the chance to fuse—" His frost-covered eyelids slowly lifted, "How can I guarantee that the five mutually reinforcing and mutually restraining elements will not backfire on the host?"

When the Lord of the Dark Abyss uses the life force of the entire continent as a bargaining chip, what can you use to stop the elemental rampage? &34;

The suspended planetarium crashed to the ground, and five elemental gems rolled to Ye Shuli's feet.

She bent down to pick up the dim fire elemental crystal, her burning pupils reflecting the Grand Elder's distorted face: "This question can wait until you've seen the Dark Abyss Rift with your own eyes."

Suddenly, a loud crash of breaking chains echoed from the depths of the ice cave, and the woman wearing the silver maple leaf ornament abruptly ripped off her forehead ornament.

The water element gem embedded within automatically flew into Ye Shuli's palm, forming an incomplete ring with the other three element stones.

The First Elder's scepter cracked with spiderweb patterns amidst a sharp buzzing sound, and the ice thorn cages of the four elders behind him suddenly turned around.

"If you cannot provide answers to these three questions before dawn..." The Grand Elder's voice mingled with the howling winds of the ice cave. The shattered Ice Soul Pearl hovered three inches in front of Ye Shuli's brow. "The Elemental Temple's judgment platform at the stake will make the final choice for you." The Ice Soul Pearl's cold light pierced the darkness, and five elemental stones beneath Ye Shuli's feet suddenly floated into a ring.

She lightly touched the elemental crystal with her fingertips, and the molecular structure diagram from the modern laboratory clearly appeared in her mind.

'The first question.' She threw the fire elemental stone at the water elementalist. 'Can water extinguish fire?' The crystal passed through the ice shield summoned by the water elementalist and ignited with a ghostly blue flame in the cold air. 'When the temperature reaches 2000 degrees Celsius, water decomposes into hydrogen and oxygen to aid combustion—just like now.'

The water elementalist hurriedly cut off the spiritual power, looking at the burning ice shield with a shocked expression.

Ye Shuli turned and walked towards the Grand Elder, her footprints leaving lava patterns on the ground: "The second question, elemental counteraction is merely a manifestation of energy conversion."

She suddenly grabbed the two elemental stones, one gold and one wood, and collided them. The sparks that flew out condensed into a yin-yang symbol in mid-air: "Modern smelting technology has proven that molten metal can stimulate plant growth—what you call mutual restraint is merely a link in the energy cycle."

A faint cracking sound came from the ice crystal dome, and the elemental runes of the seven controllers began to pull at each other uncontrollably.

The woman wearing the silver maple leaf suddenly exclaimed: "The elemental flow is balancing itself!"

"One last question." Ye Shuli pressed the earth elemental stone into the crack in the ground, and the gushing magma instantly solidified into a crystal pillar. "Dark element is not an enemy, but untamed energy." Golden feathers appeared in her palm. "Just as electricity needs an insulator, we only need—"

"Enough!" The Grand Elder suddenly shattered the crystal pillar with his staff, the cracked staff pointing southeast. "The Snow Soul Spring will freeze in six hours. If you truly can control the elements, then withstand the three strikes of Azure Flame."

The moment the flame-patterned boots shattered the ice, the red-haired man emerged from the shadow of the throne.

The lava crystals embedded in his shoulder armor and Ye Shuli's crystal core glowed simultaneously, and all twelve elemental lamps on the dome suddenly turned blood red.

Ye Shuli suddenly pulled off the silver hairpin from her hair, and memories of precise suturing in a modern operating room flooded into her mind.

When Cang Yan transformed into a fire python and pounced, she twisted the three-colored elemental chain into a thin thread and precisely pierced the fire python's vital spot.

"The temperature is too high." With a flick of her fingertips, the fire python obediently coiled around her shoulder.

The teacup in the hand of the water elementalist watching the battle suddenly vaporized—all the overflowing heat was compressed into a tiny space.

The red-haired man roared and summoned nine fire rings, but Ye Shuli injected the crystal core energy into the silver hairpin.

Through a psychic perspective akin to a modern sniper scope, she saw a 0.3-millimeter gap at the junction of the fire rings.

The silver hairpin pierced through the nine layers of fire rings and embedded itself in the stone pillar, causing the raging flames to suddenly stop.

Ye Shuli reached out and caught the falling sparks, which formed the outline of a golden-feathered bird in her palm: "Shall we continue?"

The Grand Elder's scepter suddenly broke in two, and the ice thorn cages of the four elders turned into fluorescent light and dissipated.

Just as the woman with the silver maple leaf was about to speak, black ice crystals suddenly fell from the top of the ice cave.

"I apologize for disturbing your enjoyment." The black-robed figure emerged from the distorted spatial rift, the dark patterns on his sleeves causing Ye Shuli's crystal core to suddenly sting.

The amethyst skull he was playing with suddenly looked southeast. "I heard the Ice Beauty of Snow Soul Spring is about to awaken?"

Ye Shuli's pupils contracted—on the person's raised palm, there was clearly a dark element that resonated with the frequency of her crystal core.