To be honest, Leo did not catch his attention at first, but after Leo consecutively defeated two prodigies, Cyrus had no choice but to take Leo seriously.
Cyrus thought to himself that if he had faced Maverick just now, his entire body would probably be charred black by now.
“Damn it, he can actually hold his own against Maverick,” Northwood said, his face a mix of shock and displeasure.
Beside Northwood, Southwood, who had been defeated by Leo, also wore a serious expression.
“No, look at Maverick…!” Noah Shadow, still pale, suddenly spoke up.
Everyone’s gaze quickly turned to Maverick.
At this moment, the Lava Beast Fire on Maverick’s body was still burning fiercely, but its power seemed weaker than before. Among the purple-gold flames, one could see specks of white mixed in.
This scene made everyone’s eyes widen in shock once again.
The Lava Beast Fire had been corroded!
This indicated that the previous clash was not evenly matched; Leo had the upper hand.
Maverick knew the true situation best. Yes, a small part of the Lava Beast Fire had indeed been corroded by the cold current.
Maverick clenched his fists tightly, and the Lava Beast Fire within him surged out like a tide.
The specks of white mixed in the purple-gold flames were quickly burned away.
Maverick’s eyes locked onto Leo with a mix of shock and anger, which eventually turned into fury. Hidden within his rage was a faint sense of humiliation from being toyed with.
“Kid, you hid well. You also have a Celestial Artifact within you!” Maverick’s rough and sinister voice rang out.
Hearing this, everyone’s gaze shifted to Leo, their faces filled with astonishment.
Noah Shadow’s single eye flashed as he said in a sinister tone, “Maverick is right. Only another Celestial Artifact, one more powerful than the Lava Beast Fire, could corrode it.”
Above the pill furnace, the remnant soul of Ancient Tyrant Pill Sovereign also showed a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
Leo’s face remained calm as he loudly admitted, “That’s right, Celestial Artifacts are not exclusive to you!”
As he spoke, Leo raised his right hand, and an icy white light appeared above his palm.
The moment the icy white light appeared, the temperature on the central stone platform plummeted.
Snowflakes began to fall from the sky but evaporated before they could touch the ground due to the high temperature of the Lava Beast Fire.
Everyone’s gaze focused on the space above Leo’s palm.
It was a flawless white lotus, about the size of a palm. The lotus was transparent and crystalline, with nine petals that seemed to be carved from the purest ice.
The icy white lotus gently rotated, emitting a radiant icy white light into the world.
Within the icy white light emitted by the lotus, there were snow-white Spirit Fish shadows swimming beautifully.
“What kind of spirit object is that!?” Many cultivators had never seen such a lotus before.
Among the prodigies, Southwood’s eyes flickered as he spoke in a hoarse and envious voice, “It looks like… the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus!”
“Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus!?” The eyes of the other prodigies also flickered with light.
Noah Shadow spoke again, “According to legend, the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus possesses extreme cold power that can freeze a cultivator’s spiritual power, consciousness, and even soul…”
“That lotus is really beautiful, but why are there snow-white Spirit Fish shapes in the light emitted by the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus?” Frida asked with sparkling eyes and curiosity.
Windsor also chimed in with confusion, “I’ve never heard of Spirit Fish shapes appearing in the light of the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus.”
Above the pill furnace, Ancient Tyrant Pill Sovereign’s remnant soul stared intently at the icy lotus above Leo’s palm with deep eyes like an ocean.
After a moment, Ancient Tyrant Pill Sovereign’s remnant soul showed a thoughtful expression on his face.
Then he voiced his guess: “This Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus must have absorbed Frost Essence Elixir over ten thousand years to exhibit such a phenomenon.”
Hearing this from Ancient Tyrant Pill Sovereign’s remnant soul shocked all the prodigies present and the cultivators on the periphery simultaneously.
“So he possesses not one but two Celestial Artifacts!”
“Having two ice-type Celestial Artifacts is just too incredible!”
“No wonder he isn’t afraid of Maverick’s Lava Beast Fire…”
The cultivators watching from the periphery were visibly stunned by this revelation.
Celestial Artifacts are rare treasures in the world with immense power. For a cultivator to obtain one is already an extraordinary fortune; having two is unheard of.
“I once saw a prodigy with two Celestial Artifacts in the Starfall Realm. I never expected to see someone with two Celestial Artifacts in the remote Southern Marches Realm,” Ancient Tyrant Pill Sovereign’s remnant soul said wistfully as if recalling something.
As a Spirit God realm expert, Ancient Tyrant Pill Sovereign knew how great an opportunity it took to obtain one Celestial Artifact, let alone two.
At this moment, Maverick was undoubtedly the most displeased. He never imagined that Leo could possess two Celestial Artifacts.
He had ventured deep into desolate lands and endured countless hardships to find and refine the Lava Beast Fire. He thought he could easily crush all other prodigies with it…
And indeed, he had crushed all other prodigies until this boy with two Celestial Artifacts appeared out of nowhere.
This filled Maverick with a sense of frustration akin to “Why was I born at the same time as him?”
“Maverick, if you’re scared, kneel down and kowtow a hundred times to beg for mercy. Maybe I’ll consider sparing you,” Leo retorted with Maverick’s own words from before.
After speaking, Leo gently lifted his right hand.
The icy lotus floated up and quickly transformed into an ice lotus seat large enough for one person to sit on.
The ice lotus seat floated automatically to Leo’s feet.
Hearing Leo’s words made Maverick’s rough face twist with rage. He snorted and said, “Even if you have two Celestial Artifacts, their true power depends on their wielder’s skill!”
“Is that so? Then give it a try,” Leo replied indifferently.
As he finished speaking, Leo formed an ancient seal with his hands. In his deep pupils flashed images of a dragon and an elephant.
As Leo changed his hand seals, the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus beneath him began to spin rapidly.
The nine petals glowed brightly with icy white light.
In that icy white light swam vivid snow-white Spirit Fish shadows.
Leo channeled his spiritual power madly into the Nine-Petal Ice-Soul Lotus.
As it spun faster, two massive currents of extreme cold flowed out from it like rivers.