Li Ruobing and Liu Qing continuously summoned ice spikes to launch attacks at each other. The high-speed flying ice spikes had a tremendous impact force and were not as easily affected by wind as fire spells. Although both of them used wind spells to defend against the ice spike attacks, they still got hit by the spikes and sustained injuries.

"I'm truly surprised, Ruobing, your power is unexpectedly strong. When I first met you, you didn't have this level of strength," Liu Qing touched his cheek that was scratched by an ice spike, looked at the red blood on his hand, and said with a smile.

"Stop talking nonsense. If you're afraid, then hurry and leave with your people!" Li Ruobing's tone was icy as she fully summoned ice spikes to attack Liu Qing, continuously launching the spikes towards him like sharp swords.

"Heh, in that case, I'll play with you to the end, Ruobing!" Liu Qing's eyes glinted with hostility as he also intensified his attacks, sending ice spikes flying towards Li Ruobing.

As they attacked each other and dodged the ice spikes in the sky above the forest, the intense battle lasted for ten to twenty minutes. At this point, it was difficult to determine the victor. Both of them had been hit by the ice spikes multiple times, with wounds that weren't deep enough to be fatal but were bleeding continuously. The prolonged fight drained their physical strength greatly, causing their movements to slow down and their attacks to weaken. The battle had evolved into a war of attrition, with the outcome depending on who could hold out longer.

"Ruobing, do you really want to kill me?" Liu Qing gasped urgently, gritting his teeth. His previously relaxed expression had vanished, replaced by an expression of extreme pain. Li Ruobing hesitated for a moment but then hardened her heart, saying, "You forced me to." The ice spikes continued to fly towards Liu Qing.

Liu Qing quickly used wind manipulation to leap onto a nearby tree trunk to dodge the ice spikes. However, seemingly exhausted, he missed the trunk with one foot, falling straight down from a height of seven to eight meters and landing on the ground with a thud, motionless.

Li Ruobing descended slowly from the air using wind manipulation and approached the fallen Liu Qing. Several ice spikes floated around her, ready to attack Liu Qing. After Liu Qing fell to the ground, he remained still, surrounded by a pool of blood, giving the impression that he had been fatally injured from the fall.

"This is your own doing; don't blame me," Li Ruobing said softly, a look of sorrow on her face. She summoned a small ice spike less than twenty centimeters long and sent it flying towards Liu Qing. The spike pierced his thigh, but Liu Qing showed no reaction, appearing to have lost consciousness.

"Has he really died from the fall?" Li Ruobing sent another small ice spike that pierced Liu Qing's shoulder, yet he remained motionless, showing no reaction.

"It seems he really has died from the fall." Li Ruobing thought to herself, sighed in relief, and suddenly felt completely drained of energy. The ice spikes floating around her all fell to the ground, shattering into pieces of ice.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Suddenly, Li Ruobing felt a sharp pain in her leg. Looking down, she saw a half-meter-long ice spike piercing through her thigh, causing her great agony. Slowly, she collapsed to the ground, weakened by the prolonged battle and her injuries.

"Hehe, it looks like you still care about me, Ruobing." At this moment, Liu Qing, who had been motionless on the ground, stood up. A relaxed smile reappeared on his face as he leisurely looked at Li Ruobing lying on the ground.

"How could this happen?" Li Ruobing lay on the ground, looking at Liu Qing in astonishment, realizing she had been deceived.

"I've won." Liu Qing continued to send several half-meter-long ice spikes, hitting Li Ruobing's shoulders, arms, thighs, waist, and other areas. The intense pain instantly rendered Li Ruobing powerless to fight back, leaving her unable to retaliate.

"Although your abilities are on par with mine, you're still too naive. But this was within my expectations; otherwise, I wouldn't have used this method against you," Liu Qing said triumphantly. His fall from the sky earlier had been completely staged to make Li Ruobing lower her guard.

"What do you want?" Li Ruobing gritted her teeth, enduring the pain.

"It's simple. I want to use you as a hostage to force you to hand over 'Di Jiang.'"

"You're dreaming. Even if you capture me, you won't get 'Di Jiang,'" Li Ruobing, despite being severely injured, remained steadfast and refused to yield.

Liu Qing's expression changed slightly, and he said with some annoyance, "Is that so? I'll pin your hands and feet with ice spikes, immobilize you completely, freeze your whole body into a block of ice, and leave you half-dead. Let's see if you can still talk tough then, hehehe..."

"You're a lunatic, you're not human!" Tears welled up in Li Ruobing's eyes as she realized that despite showing mercy to Liu Qing earlier, he was treating her in such a heartless manner. She felt foolish for ever having feelings for someone so cold-blooded and ruthless.

"Director Li, where are you?" Suddenly, a male voice rang out from the forest. Li Ruobing was startled, recognizing it as Qin Yan's voice, and quickly shouted, "I-I'm here!"

"Shut up!" Liu Qing scolded, summoning a large ice spike and piercing it directly into Li Ruobing's left arm, causing her to scream in pain.

"What are you doing, you scoundrel!" Qin Yan rushed over upon hearing the commotion and saw Liu Qing assaulting Li Ruobing. Without hesitation, he unleashed a blade of air towards Liu Qing.

Having experienced the power of this strange blade before, Liu Qing immediately used wind manipulation to fly up to a tall tree trunk, dodging the air blade's attack. Qin Yan chased after Liu Qing on the ground, continuously slashing at him. Liu Qing skillfully maneuvered through the large tree, using branches and trunks as cover. The air blade attacks from Qin Yan were either blocked by the tree or too far away to cause any harm to Liu Qing.

"This guy is quite strong and hard to deal with." Unable to fly through the trees like Liu Qing, Qin Yan had to give up on attacking Liu Qing and instead approached Li Ruobing. Seeing her injuries, he quickly removed the ice spikes from her body, then lifted her up to carry her for treatment.

"Why did you come here, kid? Where are my people?" Liu Qing stood on a nearby tall tree trunk, sternly questioning Qin Yan.

"Your people have all been driven away by us, you have completely failed!" Qin Yan said coldly, trying to use this to persuade Liu Qing to retreat.

"Damn it, these useless trash!" Liu Qing cursed, considering the idea of retreating. However, he quickly realized that besides Qin Yan and Li Ruobing nearby, there were no other people. Li Ruobing was already severely injured and unable to fight. As long as he could deal with Qin Yan, he could use these two as hostages to force the Academy of Supernatural Abilities to hand over Di Jiang. Therefore, he hadn't completely failed yet.