Break the Ice

"Entertain me, why don't you? The screams of frail cunts like you give me such a hard-on."

The Hooded man's hand held a huge chunk of Mei mei's arm. Sitting with him on the table are 2 other hooded fellows.

"Let me go! Somebody, please heeelp!" Mei mei tried her best to break from the man's hold as she screamed for help, but his grip was more mighty than a metal clamp; she would most likely dislocate her arm first before she could free herself.

"Louder! Wahahaha!"

The hooded man's gruff laugh reverberated throughout the entire restaurant. Zhang could only watch with his knees shaking as her sister was getting tormented. He knew that the moment he interfered, his death at the hands of the cultivator would be swift.

Despite her pleas none dared to help, the sinister aura that the hooded figure exuded was clear enough to let even those who are none cultivators to sense that the strength he harbored is inconceivable.

Even Xiao herself sensed it. The man was an anomaly, the sadistic battle lust radiating off of him was backed up by immeasurable strength. If she engaged him, her cultivation path would surely end here and now.

But so what?

A volley of ice stakes came crashing down upon the man's wrist, although unharmed, his hold temporarily loosened. Seizing the opening, Xiao immediately dove in to retrieve Mei mei. Her dash landed her next to Zhang with Mei in her arms.

"Zhang, take Mei mei and leave."

Worry streaked across Mei's face as she was about to bolt out of the restaurant with his brother. Would Xiao risk her life just because of her?

"Come with us Xiao, there's no need to engage that monster anymore!"

Xiao shakes her head, "He's going to chase after us, Mei mei. Go on ahead with your brother, I'll go and meet with you later. Besides, there's no way I'm going to lose to someone like him. Now go!"

Although hesitant, the siblings eventually left.

"Do you want us to chase after them, brother Qiang?" One of the men suggested, removing his hood to reveal a handsome young man with long crimson hair.

Qiang removed his hooded cloak. The towering bald cultivator wore nothing but his hanfu pants, his shirtless body bulged with humongous muscles that looked like they were going to burst from his skin at any moment.

"No, being on the run had left us starved for entertainment. This brat seems capable. I want you all to have fun, witness me as I break this woman." Qiang's lips arced into a sinister smile. The intensity of his gaze would be enough to make ordinary humans dribble urine down their legs.

Xiao chuckled in the face of imminent danger. She was really in for it now. Now that Mei mei and the rest of the premises had been evacuated, the thought of running away crossed her mind. She would have done so if it wasn't for the fact that turning your back against a foe like Qiang would be a death sentence.

"Break me? In your wildest dreams, baldie."

Xiao raised her high up, cold air breezed through the entire restaurant as numerous ice stakes formed above her. With Xiao's precision, there is no doubt that the ice stakes will pierce every single one of Qiang's pores, turning him into a pincushion. Xiao was going to end it with her first blow, if she cannot…then Qiang is the one who's going to end her.

Xiao waved her hand, the ice stakes followed to obliterate their intended target.

The mist from the ice was so thick, Xiao had trouble discerning if she had killed Qiang or at least assess the damage he took.

"Not bad, not bad at all. If you have any more ace up your sleeve then now would be the time to bring it up. You have already courted death, you see. You will not live to see tomorrow."

The dispersing mist revealed the visage of the unharmed Qiang.

Xiao did have another Ace, it was martial arts. But closing the distance with the muscular behemoth would be tantamount to hastening her demise.

Xiao snorted, unfazed that her opponent just shrugged off her ultimate attack. The terrifyingly colossal gap between their cultivation wasn't lost to Xiao. Still, she would gather all of her bravado and refuse to go out with a whimper.

"Get your eyes checked, baldie. I'm pretty sure you're the one who's courted death."

"Me!? Gwahahahahaha! You're more of a comedian than a cultivator! Is this how you're planning to make me let my guard down, woman?"

"Of course not, you knucklehead. You will perish by my ice."

Xiao raised her hand once more. Foregoing numbers for a more concentrated strike, Xiao's ice qi swirled in the air to form an enormous ice stake twice the size of her intended target.

The ginormous ice stake shot forth, heading towards Qiang's vital spot without the slightest bit of deviation. His heart. Like her attack before had been foiled, Qiang grabs the ice stake by his hands, the impact moved him an inch but that was it.

Qiang crushed the stake without effort.

Now it was his turn to retalite. Qiang's entire body tensed up, kicking the ground to make a dash towards Xiao. His speed far above what a normal cultivator is capable of, but the most terrifying part of his charge was his fist about to crash into Xiao's face. It contained all of the strength the realm below him could muster, for if he hit Xiao with his current one -Peerless daeva- then he won't be able to discern if she's worth devouring or not.

It was a sordid test of some sort, if his opponent wasn't at least a divine champion then she would die in one hit. But if she survives his onslaught…her soul would no doubt help him advance his stars.

Death approacheth for Xiao, and it took the form of a fist. She had to think fast or else her brain would be scattered on the floor.

Erecting 3 walls of ice, Xiao fortified them with as much qi as she could. Qiang's fist crumbled them all but at least it dulled his blow that by the time they hit Xiao's arms guarding her head, she was only blown out of the restaurant.

His superbly dangerous test concluded, Xiao passed with flying colors. Qiang's blow was impossible to block or dodge except for someone in Xiao's current realm.

Xiao stood up from the rubble. Naturally, she wasn't able to come out of the ordeal unscathed, her right arm had been dislocated. Yet, it wasn't enough to stop her from flashing Qiang a taunting smile.

Xiao fearlessly looks her opponent in the eyes, "Shit, would you look at that. Still alive and kicking."

"Fine, though by a margin you still passed the test. I judge your soul worthy to be devoured." In truth Xiao would've been luckier if his attack had ended her, from this moment onward the iron demon would give her a taste of his real strength. Most who lasted on scuffle this long with Qiang met a fate worse than death. For he is the demonic cultivator with a 1 million spirit stone bounty on his head. The infamous Iron Demon, Tian Qiang.

The brat had bark to match her bite so she would at least acknowledge her.

"Tell me your name, woman. I shall give you the honor of remembering it."

"Yao Xiao, forget it or not, it doesn't really matter. You will die by my ice anyway."

"Gwahahahaha!" From Qian's laugh came a booming shockwave that cracked the pavement which he stood along with the nearby street lamps. "You're saying your ice is going to kill me!? That's not possible. No attacks can pierce me, you see."

With his declaration of invincibility, the very air exploded by the massive amounts of qi he just released. Indomitable iron coated his entire body from the shiny dome of his head down to his toes. His vile metal skin powered by innumerable souls glistened under the moonlight night, flexing his iron biceps at Xiao.

"Now that it's come to this, I won't show you any more mercy. These babies are roaring to go, you see!"