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"The Holy Ice Thorns Aura" encompasses two effects: "Frozen Domain" and "Rebounding Thorns." The "Frozen Domain" does not merely lower the temperature but rather extracts the "kinetic energy" from all objects within its range, slowing everything down, including thoughts. This nullifies the speed and reaction enhancements provided by the "Emperor Martial's Overlord Technique," bringing them back to their original state. Meanwhile, "Rebounding Thorns" reflects any force that comes into contact with it, regardless of whether it is an attack or defense. This means that even when weapons clash, the opponent receives both the attack from the paladin and the reflected attack from the aura, effectively using "your own spear against your own shield," thereby negating the enhancements provided by the "Overlord Technique" in terms of strength, attack, and defense.

Moreover, the paladins who practice this technique can possess lunar attributes for their own aura. In the Radiant Temple's secret teachings, enhancing willpower, endurance, and recovery has always been a specialty. With this advantage, the temple only needs to send out two or three paladins of the same level to suppress a lion clan expert practicing the "Emperor Martial's Overlord Technique," ultimately establishing human dominance on the Mainland.

This pinnacle of halo divine arts cannot be bestowed upon warriors by priests; it must be self-activated by the most devout paladins after drinking the holy blood from the Holy Grail and undergoing long-term ascetic training. Only then do they have a chance to activate this aura. Therefore, paladins who master this aura are called "Holy Grail Paladins." Due to the limited amount of holy blood the "Eternal Grail" can provide, even those who drink the holy blood have less than a ten percent chance of activating the "Holy Ice Thorns Aura." Thus, the Radiant Temple's "Twelve Holy Grail Paladins" often fail to reach full strength. Fortunately, there are even fewer lion clan members who have mastered the "Emperor Martial's Overlord Technique"; otherwise, it would truly be insufficient.

Powerful abilities have always been the ultimate pursuit of all creatures. The "Emperor Martial's Overlord Technique," being the top martial art on the Mainland, naturally becomes the highest aspiration. Despite countless covetous eyes, the lion clan has never been stingy with the secrets of the "Overlord Technique," even publicly disseminating the manuals. However, countless experts have learned through bloody lessons about the strict requirements for mastering the "Overlord Technique." Apart from the lion clan, whose exceptional qualities make them suitable, only one or two tiger clan experts have ever succeeded in cultivating this aura. All others who attempted to reach the Sword Hero realm exploded and died. Honestly, I also have a copy of the "Overlord Technique" manual, but after carefully studying its intricacies, I dared not practice it due to the excessively demanding requirements.

Falling back to alternatives, many experts focused on the "Holy Ice Thorns Aura," which could rival the "Emperor Martial's Overlord Technique." If they could create a lunar attribute aura like the "Holy Ice Thorns Aura," they could certainly compete with lion clan experts. However, such divine abilities are incredibly intricate. Despite the temple's support, they only managed to produce inferior imitations. Old Hake's "Purple Thorn Aura" was one of them. And this so-called "impossible miracle" finally appeared in my hands.

My "Ice Prison Demon Thorn Technique" is not just a simple aura cultivation method but a culmination of my previous martial arts knowledge and various powers, with the foundation being my "Golden Bell Shield." I did not know that the Golden Bell Shield originated from the Shaolin Temple's seventy-two great techniques, "The Indestructible Body Skill." If mastered, its power rivals that of "The Muscle-Changing Canon" and "The Nine Yin Manual." However, the cultivation requirements are too stringent, with the first condition, "born with elephant-lifting strength," deterring almost everyone. Since the founding of the Shaolin Temple, no one has achieved even minor success, making the difficulty unimaginable to outsiders.

Later, several modifications simplified it into the widely known Golden Bell Shield, which my master further refined into a tool for cultivating inner energy from the outside inward. It was only after I achieved mastery and absorbed a large amount of essence through the Tiger Soul that my body met the requirements, accidentally triggering the true form of this skill. However, the advanced cultivation methods had already been altered beyond recognition, leaving me unable to continue. Thus, I vowed to create a supreme martial art of my own based on this foundation.

From the priestess Bai Lanling and the captured Sword Hero Lanster, I obtained information about the "Holy Ice Thorns Aura" from the Radiant Temple. I also referred to Old Hake's "Purple Thorn Aura," deduced the characteristics of the lunar attribute from the Heavenly Wolf Tribe's "Azure Star Rain," and combined it with the cultivation method of the "Nine Yin Manual's" similar technique, the "Mystic Yin Soul Piercing Finger," along with Lanster's "Sacred Heart Kalpa Technique" to harmonize the holy attributes. This became the foundation for creating my "Holy Ice Thorns Aura Aura."

Of course, if I could achieve in a month what others failed to accomplish in a thousand years with such a rudimentary foundation, it would be nothing more than a bard's fanciful tale. In reality, when I forcibly maximized several powers and tried to fuse them, I soon faced a joint backlash from all the forces. What I thought would never happen to me—the dreaded deviation—truly erupted. For hours, I endured unbearable torment, recalling how my master once swore to create the upper volume of the "Nine Yin Manual" and was trapped on the island, losing his wife and exiling all his disciples.

"Is this my retribution?" At that moment, I was filled with regret over past deeds, tears streaming down my face onto the silver crystal around my neck. Suddenly, a vast yet gentle force emerged from the crystal, instantly suppressing the chaotic energies within me and guiding them into a cohesive whole, circulating along twelve peculiar paths. When I opened my eyes, I saw Bai Lanling's astonished face, as the strange aura spinning beneath my feet was identical in appearance and function to the "Holy Ice Thorns Aura" activated by the Radiant Temple's Holy Grail Paladins. Moreover, the fusion of multiple powers elevated my aura to the third realm of Sword Hero overnight, granting me an indestructible defense, which is why I dared to confront the inheritor of the "Emperor Martial's Overlord Technique" head-on.

"Clang~ Clang~ Clang~"

Continuous clashes of weapons resounded in the garden atop the Qingcheng Fortress. Human Holy Grail Paladins need several individuals to counter a lion clan expert practicing the "Overlord Technique" due to the racial disparity in physical attributes. As a werewolf with exceptionally strong attributes, I became the first person capable of matching a "Overlord Technique" inheritor of the same level one-on-one. However, despite its renowned status and unyielding prowess, the "Overlord Technique" still surpassed my newly created martial art. After hundreds of exchanges, my protective Golden Bell Shield began to crumble. If not for the continuous circulation of Nine Yin energy to heal and channel, I would have collapsed long ago. Catherine, although bleeding from the corner of her mouth, grew increasingly fierce and gradually gained the upper hand.