Chapter 44: Isotropic Ice.

Half an hour later.

Cheng Jinyang was pinned to the ground by Li Qingwan.

"Do you feel any pain?" Li Qingwan calmly said as she held his arm in a lock, "This cross-arm hold restricts the movement of your arm. Any attempt to move will cause pain, and forcing your way out could dislocate it."

To be honest, the pain wasn't very noticeable, but the sensation of the beautiful girl's skin was.

The arm locked in place felt a cool, soft touch. This girl would be very comfortable to hug on a summer night, right? No, what am I thinking...

Cheng Jinyang let out a muffled groan, indicating he felt the pain, prompting Li Qingwan to release his arm.

Having this girl teach him grappling techniques as compensation for eavesdropping on their conversation was Miss Wang's idea. The reason was that the Longxi Li family was renowned for their martial prowess, particularly in close combat. Learning a few moves from Li Qingwan would help Cheng Jinyang compensate for his weakness in close-quarters combat.

With such a reason, Cheng Jinyang couldn't refuse. His universal gravitation ability excelled in long-range combat but had a weakness in close combat. His princess sister had recently been teaching him firearms, so learning close combat wouldn't hurt.

What surprised him was that Li Qingwan agreed to this request.

"Watch carefully the specific moves and positions." Li Qingwan demonstrated again and patiently asked, "Understand?"

Cui Jinqi and Wang Wanrou were sitting on the sofa nearby, watching the two practice in the middle of the living room.

"Wanrou," Cui Jinqi cautiously asked, "Will you really let us go after Qingwan finishes teaching?"

"Otherwise?" Miss Wang retorted, "Kill you both and bury you in the community flowerbed?"

"Heh heh," Cui Jinqi chuckled awkwardly.

Wang Wanrou looked back at the two, focusing on the information relayed by the mind interface.

Pain, skin contact... the signal waveform changed, but there were no signs of a connection with Li Qingwan.

Is it because Li Qingwan's personality lacks heterogeneity?

Or is it because some unknown key condition is still unmet?

For now, let's collect this data and later look for Yang Wangshu for more samples.

Wang Wanrou yawned out of boredom.

.........

On the Yangtze River Bridge, a taxi was driving forward.

If Cheng Jinyang were here, he would recognize the middle-aged man wearing sunglasses as the same driver who had previously driven them and whom Wang Wanrou had remarked was suspicious.

Silently gripping the steering wheel and lightly pressing the accelerator, the driver suddenly noticed that there were no other vehicles around.

Have my whereabouts been discovered, and the bridge sealed off?

No matter. The secret meetings with several aristocratic families in the Pukou District and the meeting with Xie Guyan's son have already been done. Next, I just need to...

A violent explosion suddenly erupted, and the taxi seemed to be struck by a massive force, flipping sideways, breaking through the right-hand guardrail of the bridge, and plunging into the Yangtze River below.

Immediately, ice spread rapidly from the point of impact, freezing a ten-meter radius of the river in seconds.

From the center of the ice, a humanoid figure slowly floated up, covered in thick white frost, looking just like the middle-aged driver.

Princess Nankang stood on a lamp post at the edge of the bridge, with her hands in her pockets, silently watching the man on the ice below.

This was Shen Shiju of the Wuxing Shen family, a fourth-grade supernatural with the bloodline ability "Isotropic Ice."

According to intelligence held by the royal family's internal library, his ability essentially manipulates hydrogen bonds, forcing water molecules to solidify at normal temperatures, thus creating large quantities of structurally controlled ice, similar to the "metal manipulation" of the Yangdi Chu family.

Naturally occurring ice crystals connect each water molecule with four others via hydrogen bonds. However, with the "Isotropic Ice" ability, Shen family members can increase this number from four to ten, creating "Ice-10" with physical properties that natural ice lacks, such as...

Hardness.

An ice spear suddenly grew from the ice beneath Shen Shiju's feet, extending upwards over 20 meters within half a second, targeting Princess Nankang on the lamp post.

The incredibly fast freezing process was like a harpoon gun, with physical strength and impact force capable of piercing through metal armor, shattering the lamp post instantly as the ice spread and exploded.

However, Princess Nankang had already leaped into the air, avoiding the ice strike. A cannon muzzle emerged from the opening on her shoulder.

A high-power military laser beam shot out from the cannon, piercing through several layers of ice walls that rose in front of Shen Shiju, narrowly missing his shoulder and hitting the river behind.

Missed.

By manipulating the different densities of the ice walls, he caused the laser beam to refract before melting through, deviating from its original trajectory?

Princess Nankang immediately understood his combat strategy and extended an electromagnetic rifle from her forearm, firing at the ice fortress below.

Armor-piercing bullets penetrated the reformed ice walls, splashing into the river and creating towering waves. The ice surface where Shen Shiju had stood was now completely shattered, and the broken pieces slowly sank into the water.

Is he dead? Or escaped?

Princess Nankang scanned the river surface and retrieved a spherical object from her waist, casually tossing it into the water—a small sonar detection robot designed to locate submerged enemies.

As the detection data was relayed back, Princess Nankang discovered a spindle-shaped object moving rapidly upstream along the riverbed.

I see, the density of Isotropic Ice is greater than water, so he created a makeshift vehicle, achieving high-speed underwater travel through repeated freezing and melting.

Given his abilities, engaging in underwater combat would be extremely dangerous. The surrounding water could freeze into deadly ice blades at any moment.

Even being too close to the river surface is risky, as rising ice spikes could attack. Princess Nankang could only hover tens of meters above the river, launching airborne attacks on Shen Shiju hidden in the riverbed.

Armor-piercing bullets rained down, encountering significant resistance upon hitting the water—the surrounding river instantly froze into hard ice, limiting the bullets' penetration to just over ten meters before they lost all momentum.

According to the built-in database analysis, the main channel depth of the Yangtze River near Jiankang is nearly thirty meters. In other words, he could always hide at the riverbed, ready to form an ice armor up to thirty meters thick.

Even if these armors were shattered by shells, they could revert to water and reform, creating an endless cycle. Truly a fourth-grade supernatural—his combat effectiveness in such an environment rivals even a third grade.

Princess Nankang finally ceased fire, watching him depart with a grim expression, abandoning the idea of using higher-powered strategic weapons.

This segment of the Yangtze River runs through Jiankang City, and any collateral damage to the buildings on both sides would bring significant negative repercussions for the royal family.

The Wuxing Shen family, that recently rising southern noble house. Shen Shiju has such power, so it's no wonder their family is prospering. Unfortunately, why did they choose to side with the rebel Wang Chuzhong?

Has the prestige of my Sima family fallen so low that southern aristocrats prefer to pledge allegiance to a traitor rather than rely on the royal family for entry into the scholarly gentry?

I need to return and ask my uncle.