Divine Emperor of Death

Fire and ice exploded together, instantly enveloping Shirley's imitation in a freezing yet thawing surge of massive proliferation of energy that threatened to extinguish the entities caught in it to not even ashes. It engulfed all the escaping phoenix figures, causing four of the five to instantly shatter upon contact.

As for the last surviving Fire Phoenix silhouette, it transformed back into Shirley; precisely the fake Shirley, and unleashed a terrifying amount of scarlet and icy-blue flaming wisps, intending to defend against Shirley's offense as her energy actually seemed to have surged to the ninth level of the Ninth Stage, practically giving it the power to withstand the alternating highest and lowest temperatures of ice and fire!

*Shhhh!~*

Despite the fact that Shirley's prowess had reached the ninth level in the Ninth Stage from the combination and clashing with her imitation's energy that was at a similar level, not even a single line of spatial crack could be seen. However, the terrifying destruction that spread remained for a while, gleaming with an excessive amount of energy as they converged toward the imitation under Shirley's control.

They rapidly twisted and churned at the center where the fake Shirley remained trapped, trying to kill her. However, the fake Shirley's prowess was equal to or even better than her combination of Ice and Fire Laws, allowing the fake Shirley to be able to defend against her onslaught.

'Curses, if only I had my Ice Laws at Level Six Intent and have conjured a Supreme Immortal Rune for Ice Laws...'

Shirley clenched her teeth, thinking that it would have made a difference, allowing her to wipe out her imitation at this moment.

However, sweet sweat started dripping from her forehead as her focus was concentrated to the extreme on controlling those unstable flames.

Naturally, she was finding it incredibly hard to control the combination of Fire Laws and Ice Laws. After all, she had only devoted herself to learning the Ice Phoenix Frozen Wisp Records and comprehending all its techniques recently, and only then could she actually move on to comprehend the combination of Fire and Ice Laws!

Only a few days back did she actually test combining her fire and ice a few times, each time ending in failure until she succeeded at the hundredth and thirty-eighth time, falling flat in exhaustion.

Because of that, she succeeded in combining now but also because of that, her imitation failed at that very process.

It was a matter of chances as she just hadn't fully learned it yet and had to let it go as she couldn't maintain it for long, but now, she suddenly felt like she had grasped something as she witnessed the separate entities of scarlet flames and icy-blue flames go against the amalgamation of both entities.

"…!"

A spark of insight appeared in Shirley's mind, which she quickly grasped. However, as she changed her focus to her sudden comprehension of the concept of combination, the imitation saw a moment of reprieve and abruptly surged with even more scarlet flames and icy-blue flaming wisps, destroying the converging amalgamation of fire and ice as she escaped.

"I see… so that's how it is..."

However, Shirley couldn't help but slightly grin at this moment, noticing her imitation appear towards her.

"Die!"

Scarlet flames converged and turned into the noble yet threatening, burning image of the Fire Phoenix and even the Ice Phoenix as they struck down.

However, Shirley raised her hand at this moment, scarlet flames and icy-blue wisps appearing in the same palm at the same time.

"…!?"

*Booom!~*

The fake Shirley's eyes went wide before the both of their powers clashed, causing a huge explosion to occur as it sent both of them flying into the distance before they both struck the walls, spitting a mouthful of blood.

Although the imitation's blood disappeared into thin air, Shirley grimaced before she grinned widely.

What she uttered as a fantasy, that she could perhaps learn something from watching her doppelganger battle her became a reality. The clash of two similar energies, one combined and the other uncombined, caused her to comprehend the ungodly combination of fire and ice. Such extreme opposites that would never join but forcefully destroy themselves were now under her control that her chances of using it in battles went above ninety percent!

That was what became mind-boggling to the imitation because the original's comprehension had surpassed the Shirley who had entered this challenging room!

Shirley stood up and recollected herself, moving her shoulders as she relieved her pain of hitting those dense walls that wouldn't even give out a single crack to their strokes. Nonetheless, she quickly raised her hand, summoning the scarlet flames and icy-blue flaming wisps on the same hand again, causing her to understand that at this point, she just had to practice repeatedly and would never fail to create a combination of Ice and Fire Laws again.

'Although not to the level of fusion, I'm making huge progress at the moment, thanks to the Ice Phoenix Blood that's still fresh...'

She felt that being able to circulate ice and fire energy at the same time in the same meridian pathway was now a massive boon to her! Her body had already supported such an endeavor, but since she lacked the comprehension, she hadn't dared try it, afraid that she would accidentally destroy her meridians.

"Hmph! Don't think only you can summon the icefires of phoenixes!"

The fake Shirley harrumphed in utter coldness. She couldn't believe that her original had comprehended the concept of combining Ice and Fire Laws.

She was in the same situation, yet why couldn't she comprehend?

Feeling extreme jealousy arise in her heart, she raised her hands and summoned the scarlet and icy-blue flames, trying to combine them as she adopted a balance between soft and hard approach like Shirley did. She knew all too well that only with complete balance could she combine them and try it again as she previously did, watching the unstable strands of scarlet flame and icy-blue wisp conjoin.

A second later, she could feel a resonation, causing her to be moved beyond words as she felt the happiness of succeeding, raising her head as her lips curved into a wide grin.

"Did you see that? I'm getting closer to you, Shirley… so don't leave me behind..."

The fake Shirley's eyes shook, causing Shirley to feel the same as her heart skipped a beat.

'What the…? Why is my imitation showing raw emotions…? Almost as though it's real...'

However, before she could even contemplate why, a wisp of ice and fire shot towards her, causing her to unleash her own that came off as more refined and concentrated than what the imitation threw. The two wisps of ice and fire surged with an unbending intensity, causing the air to sizzle before they clashed.

Light and darkness appeared at the same time.

*Boom!~*

A huge explosion occurred, devastating the chamber with the proliferation of the scarlet-white sea that churned with an ungodly amount of energy, constantly trying to extinguish the things that were caught inside to the atomic level. However, both Shirley seemed to have predicted this result and maneuvered the spacious room with their movement techniques and barrier, heading straight towards each other as they stared with hostile intent.

"Hehe~ You want to defeat me and have husband praise you?" The fake Shirley sneered, "I want to experience the same…!"

These words caused Shirley to look at the imitation in confusion.

"Unfortunately for you, he would despise you."

"That isn't fair! Only I should live! Not you! Die!"

The imitation clamored with hate as she created a wisp of ice and fire again. But this time, Shirley's pupils dilated as she was utterly sure that…

'So its prowess is capped at six levels above…?' She became stunned.

No matter what, the combination of ice and fire caused her prowess to peak to the ninth level of the Ninth Stage! However, for the imitation, it seemed that even though her normal prowess was at the ninth level of the Ninth Stage, the combination of ice and fire only allowed her prowess to touch the peak of that level but not enter the next as it should've by all means!

If she had known this, she wouldn't have been so worried about losing and adopted a battle of attrition, afraid of showing her defeated face to Davis. Instantly, her expression blossomed into a wide smile as she started her counterattack!

*Shh!~* *Shh!~* *Shh!~**Shh!~*

Multiple wisps of ice and fire emerged in the air, surrounding Shirley. The imitation's eyes went wide as she saw the congregation of scarlet-white flaming wisps tower over her, which suddenly made her seem minuscule as an ant, making her feel that her life wasn't hers anymore as a towering entity was going to stomp her to death.

"I don't have time to play with you anymore. If I use my blood essence, you'll probably use it as well, perhaps, allowing your prowess to surge beyond your current limit. That's why, take this newly prepared, half-assed technique of mine that I don't know what it is capable of, hehe~"

Shirley's crazed voice resounded as the scarlet-white flaming wisps descended and congregated together, but instead of maintaining a respectful distance and equilibrium, they conjoined upon one another, forming to create a big scarlet-white flame that towered in front of the dumbfounded imitation who was locked in space from the very fear and the prowess of the monstrosity in front of her that radiated an immense might.

She looked at her small scarlet-white wisp that made contact with the monstrosity when everything turned black and white in her vision.

*Booom!!!~*

Shirley's figure shot past the emerging sea of scarlet-white flames that had managed to engulf her once. She didn't retreat but was sent flying from the resounding explosion, flying straight towards the barrier to the corridor before she struck the barrier. The barrier didn't seem to hold Shirley as she was flung towards the rear when suddenly a purple-robed figure appeared in her trajectory and captured her with her body, flying along with the momentum as four sharp scythes appeared behind her back and stabbed into the walls.

However, it wasn't able to penetrate into the walls and caused metallic sparks to fly. However, it finished its purpose of stabilizing the momentum and receiving Shirley without harm.

"Shirley…!"

Evelynn held Shirley, her pupils dilating as she saw the extreme burns on every part of Shirley's body. She couldn't help but instantly take out the Life Revitalizing Pill and feed Shirley, who subconsciously took the pill. However, there were no signs of healing, causing Evelynn to clench her teeth, knowing that the pill would only waste its medicinal essence if Shirley didn't remove the powerful and invasive remnant energy haunting her.