Heavenly Ice Legacy

There are stars glowing brightly over a snow covered mountain range such that one would think its daytime, and the snow itself is pouring down upon the mountains like a heavy rain.

"Ha.... you gathered a thousand cultivators from the best sects across the Shadow Moon Dragon continent to try and kill me!" an elderly man yelled, "And you still have yet to succeed. You bring dishonor to the legacy of your teachings!"

The elderly gentleman had long grayish red hair, a face matching the peach tree oath holder Guan Yu, eyes like a wild beast who lives for battle, and a fire red aura is literally exuding from his body to match such a temperament.

"This is the heaven's punishment, Yei Tian Ming! You attacked the sects of nearly all those present, killed our talented younger generation, and destroyed the resources our brothers and sisters worked so hard to gather!" an old man yelled, of whom appeared to be the leader of this thousand strong army.

This old man with a beard that reaches to his waist and wore rubes better suited for that of beggars, but thanks to his comrades (if only temporarily) gave off an aura no weaker than the man across from him.

"Ha…. you all may advertise yourselves as wise and honorable, but all I've seen is step on the lives of a common man! You've all wiped out a village for a rare herb or induced a plague for mineral rights!" Yei Tian Ming screamed, "What is wrong with me inflicting what is truly the heaven's justice upon you all?!"

It should be noted that the wild dog, the old man, and the army he leads are hovering hundreds of feet above the snow covered mountains thanks to the immense amount of qi held within the bodies of these cultivators.

"What is wrong with using our strength to gather the world's treasures? It has always been and always will be the bigger clenched fist that leads the world." the old man yelled, "Enough of this….. we will see you suffer pain a thousand fold of what our combined brothers and sisters felt! Otherwise my name is not Nie Zhaoge, but rather is a fool not worthy of holding the title of Sect Master of the Heavenly Moon Sect!"

The white haired man begins to condense his qi into both of his fists, and with that the army he leads against the lone Yei Tian Ming begin their assault upon the lone figure. Soon after shockwaves begin to explode like thunder over the snow covered mountain range, and whether it's because of a corpse falling or an attack missing….. the snow itself launches towards the sky as if an artillery shell hit it. This whole cycle continues until what seems like mountains have been painted red with blood.

"Ha ha… arghh!" Nie Zhaoge grunted as he coughed up some of his own blood while also being covered in the blood of his allies, "Truly….. Yei Tian Ming…. You have shown us how frightening the power of a peak level 10 Heavenly Prime Warrior can be! To think you were able to kill a third of our combined army alone."

"I'm honored, but to think an army lead by a mere level 6 Heavenly Prime Warrior could last this long against me." Yei Tian Ming said in an amused yet flattering tone while he too coughs up blood.

The right arm of the wild dog that Yei Tian Ming is no longer responds to his commands, his left eye gone after being sacrificed so he can avoid a heavy blow, and the rest of him is leaking blood from various parts of his body.

"Humanity will always band together against the most evil of sinners like you! Nor can you keep this up much longer!" Nie Zhaoge says to his lone opponent, "But that does not mean you won't be able to leave some kind of legacy behind."

"What do you mean?" Yei Tian Ming asks as he was surprised by and yet is still vigilant against this sudden lull in fighting.

"I speak of your deceased master's two most divine cultivation techniques. The Yang Ice Lord Dragon Scripture and the Yin Flame Dragon Emperor Scripture that you practice!" Nie Zhaoge declared.

On that note the face of Yie Tian Ming turns red as if to clearly represent the most absolute rage.

"As if I'd dishonor the memory of my senior brother by giving away our master's most prized possessions!" Yei Tian Ming screamed with fury, "If the will of the heavens is truly for me to die this day…. then these cultivation techniques die with me!"

"So be it…. a painful death it is!" Nie Zhaoge yelled in turn.

"You are right though….. I cannot fight for much longer… so live or die… I shall end this fight with my strongest attack!" Yei Tian Ming declared…. not to the enemies across from him, but rather the heavens above.

Yei Tian Ming raised his still functioning left hand towards the heavens, he then his gathers what qi he has left into the palm of his hand as it starts to take the form of a small sphere the size of his head.

"What a profound aura! As expected of a cultivation technique capable of manifesting a soul weapon." Nie Zhaoge thought as he once again couldn't help but feel an odd respect for his most hated opponent.

"Everything has gone according to your plan sect master." said one of the cultivators hovering close to Nie Zhaoge, "That sinful Yei Tian Ming should have just handed over his master's techniques to you, but now he'll just create his own path to King Yama's court."

The concentrated sphere of qi in Yei Tian Ming's hand begins to take the shape of a spear, and yet due to the sheer awe it caused none of his enemies are taking this rather blatant opening. It is expected though as in the face of absolute power, who can't but help feel awed?

"Before I'm forced to drink the soup of Yama's old lady….. I'll make sure to take as many of you as I can to burn in hell with me!" Yei Tian Ming screamed as he drew upon his very life energy and crammed it into his spear.

The details upon this spear became more apparent as it reached its completed form….. a entirely flaming red weapon with the blade emerging from the mouth of a dragon akin to Guan Yu's famous Green Dragon Crescent Blade in appearance.

"Now taste the fury of all the innocents you've all killed for the sake of your corruption and greed in the form of my Flaming Dragon Destroyer Spear!" Yei Tian Ming screamed as he threw his spear the precision and force only lightning itself could match.

The force of Yei Tian Ming's throw was so great that the following sonic boom once again kicked snow up into the air, and the air around the spear itself began to ignite into flames.

"Quickly, get into the array formation and bring out the Divine Void Mirror!" Nie Zhaoge screamed as if his life depended on it, of which it actually does.

As another cultivator passes Nie Zhaoge this very mirror….. it appears to be no more than an ordinary mirror encased in a simple spherical wooden frame that could be found in any commoner household, but then again the greatest of treasures of the heavens have often had the most unassuming appearances.

"Perhaps I might have been a little afraid if I used light techniques instead of flames like you Nie Zhaoge, but my scorching flames will easily melt the glass of your little toy!" Yei Tian Ming yelled as his response showed his unfamiliarity with this artifact.

The fire surrounding the Flaming Dragon Destroyer spear begins to expand and begins to take the shape of dragon with such realism that if this army of cultivators did not see it formed before their very eyes; they would have assumed they were dealing with the real thing.

"Then let's put that to the test shall we!" Nie Zhaoge yelled as he and the surviving members of his army of cultivators channeled their qi into this strange mirror.

This Divine Void Mirror begins to swallow all of this channeled energy with such greed like a flower that hasn't been watered in a thousand years, and with all that power as fuel the space in front of the mirror begins to tear as easily as a leaf in fall revealing an empty white space within.

"Impossible…. how could you have a relic capable of tearing open the void itself?!" Yei Tian Long yelled as his face showed an expression of absolute shock.

"Ha ha ha…. the Divine Void Mirror is a treasured heirloom of my sect… given to my sect's founding ancestor from an expert even far more powerful than you as payment for a favor." Nie Zhaoge laughed, "Now let us see what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object!"

"Interesting….. then if I die today…. I Yei Tian Ming shall die doing the impossible!" Yei Tian Ming said as he seem excited by this unexpected challenge despite the situation.

The Flaming Dragon Destroyer Spear began to sink into the tear opened by the Divine Void Mirror the moment they came into contact with one another like quicksand. At that same moment the army of cultivators directly behind the tear in space all coughed up blood due to the backlash, and those who lack said cover were almost immediately disintegrated by the spear's heat.

"What…. impossible….. even with treasures capable of opening tears into the space between the lower and higher realms… this large…. there's no way it could block my strongest attack!" Yei Tian Ming said.

"Ha ha ha…. truly you underestimate your own arrogance. If all the Divine Void mirror could do was open tears to the space between rungs of a ladder then we would indeed have all burned." Nie Zhagoe as he believes victory is in the palm of his hand, "Instead it's like a river that breaks off into a thousand streams…. simply put it diffuses the force of your blow breaking it into pieces and scatters it across the void between ladders."

"Master did mention such treasures existed in the realm above." Yei Tian Ming thought, "Wait…. then the person who gave your founding ancestor that treasure was-"

"Yes….. a cultivator from a realm above of an entirely different ladder." Nie Zhaoge said, "The spatial energies between all realms is more than enough to put down your flaming lizard, and even on the tiny chance it does somehow into another realm…. then even the weakest cultivators would be more than capable of putting it out for good."

Being the prideful man that he was, Yei Tian Ming refused to completely believe that he could not rise above this challenge and decided to channel even more of his reaming life energy into this last attack.

"How do you like the ace in the hole we prepared just for you?" Nie Zhaoge laughed, "It's perfect for someone who likes to use big attacks like you don't you think?"

In the end Yei Tian Ming's final attack was completely absorbed into the space between realms, and when the tear in space was finally closed many within the army of cultivators fell down to the snow below whether simply exhausted or simply dead. Only just over a hundred members of this army remained hovering in the air.

"This is checkmate ,Yei Tian Ming." Nie Zhaoge declared just before swallowing a pill that instantly restored his depleted qi.

After using an attack that consumed nearly all of his life force, Yei Tian Ming no longer has the appearance of the muscular wild dog that he was feared and known for. His long raid hair is gone leaving only a few random strands of gray, his skin is attached to his bones like a latex suit, and dark blotches litter his skin much like the craters in the snowy mountain below.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen." Nie Zhaoge declared has he too raised his hand above his head in order to gather a massive amount of qi.

Nie Zhaoge's concentrated gathering of qi comes together to form a large sphere of light as if he had summoned a portion of the sun itself down to this world.

"If your strongest attack is a fire meant to cleanse the land... then mine is a thousand 1st class archers all perfectly zoned in on their target." Nie Zhaoge said in a calm fashion.

That sphere of light beings to shrink as hundreds if not thousands of arrows of light begin to shoot forth from within, and of course they all race towards the now weakened Yei Tian Ming with utmost haste.

"NIE ZHAOGE, I swear that even if I must take part of the circle of reincarnation and visit King Yama a thousand times..... I YEI TIAN MING WILL KILL YOU AND PUT AN END TO YOUR EVIL WAYS!" Yei Tian Ming screamed at the top of his lungs with the last of his strength.

Every single arrow struck true and exploded creating smoke, fire, and steam as a result of the rapid heating of the snow below to consume the body of the once proud cultivator in its entirety. Once all of that cleared... there were of course no remains.

"Now then..... let's sweep the mountains for survivors everyone!" Nie Zhaoge calmly ordered the surviving members of his army of cultivators, "Be sure to move in groups as though I don't believe there was anyway for that wild dog to survive my attack... it's not the first time people believed he was dead."

Of course Nie Zhaoge truly believed from the depths of his soul that Yei Tian Ming was dead, and indeed he was. Infact the soul of the latter of these two individuals was already... let's say transcending to a new plain of existence.

"Bwahaa..... he he..." Yei Tian Ming mumbled as he suddenly regained consciousness as if he had stopped breathing in the middle of his sleep, "I... I'm still alive."

This proud cultivator quickly looks around and realizes he's in a small wooden shack filled with farming tools, and through the small open shack he can see grassy plains covered in heavy rain.

"Farmland? Impossible.... it would take me at least 5 days moving at sprinting speed to get to the closest farmland from the Bai mountain range, and in my condition there was no way I could have lasted that long let alone sprint in the first place." Yei Tian Ming deduced.

Yei Tian Ming looks around the small shed once more and discovers a man with tanned skin from working in the sun, and a beard so thick that it makes discerning any other physical features practically impossible. The same man seemed to be too occupied with keeping a sunken hearth lit as if his life depended on it to notice Yei Tian Ming had regained consciousness.

"This man is clearly suppressing his qi, but I'm too weak to tell by how much." Yei Tian Ming thought, "Still that rat Nei Zhaoge... he would have had the mountains searched to make absolutely certain I was dead. To spirit me away under those circumstances and heal my injuries.... he definitely isn't an ordinary senior."

Yei Tian Ming attempted to stand up, but he was still too weak and instead got this mysterious senior's attention by knocking over one of the farming implements when he fell back to the ground. Said senior then looked as though he had seen a ghost.

"Thank goodness you two are alright. I don't know how I'd explain it to my wife if I had lost you." the mysterious senior said as he breathed a massive sigh of relief.

"Two? Oh I see... he pulled someone else out from that frozen hell." Yei Tian Ming thought not realizing the confused expression that appeared on his face.

"Thank you for helping me honorable senior." Yei Tian Ming said in a heartfelt tone, "Once my injuries fully heal I shall be certain to repay this grace you have shown me."

"Bahhh.... I'm your father Ru'er.... not some pretentious silk pants afraid of simple hard work." the mysterious senior said as he suddenly burst forth into laughter, "I'm just glad that you and your twin brother Hu'er still walk amongst the living."

"Twin?!" an as of yet unidentified individual yelled.

Yei Tian Ming looked to his right and saw a boy of 12 or 13 years of age, black hair tied in a short ponytail with an extremely worn rag, and a scar running straight down the center of his right eye.

"My god... that really is me." Yei Tian Ming thought as he looked into the eyes of this young boy.

In the reflection of the eyes of this Hu'er, Yei Tian Ming saw a perfect match to the former in terms of both shocked expressions and appearance (minus the scar and ponytail).

"Though what I said to Nie Zhaoge was out of spite...... to think I a man who believed reincarnation to be worth as much as horse shit would be blessed by the heavens with a second life." Yei Tian Ming thought as he vigorously laughed within his mind, "Nie Zhaoge... if you are still alive in this new life of mine.... then your are forbidden from losing yours unless I am the one who takes it!"

Meanwhile some time before Yei Tian Ming had regained consciousness, in the skies above an ocean in a realm where the concept of cultivators are mere works of fiction and fancy..... a large metal bird is flying while carrying a hundred people in it's innards. In the realms of cultivation such a creature would be an absolutely priceless treasure, but in this realm it is a common occurrence.

"A diviiiiine blade lies before you.... so command... the wake of dreams to restore the world, cut waaaay the seaams." a teenaged girl quietly sings.

"Wow.... you've gotten even better at that song." said a young boy, of whom was heavily trapped in the thralls of love.

"Ha..... thanks..... I mean you said it was your favorite song from..... the Fire Emblem series wasn't it?" the teenaged girl chuckled with red cheeks, " I guess..... after listening to you play it a few times... that it started to become my favorite too."

"At least for you it's right next door..... for me overseas importing is expensive." the teenaged boy chuckled, "But yeah.... it's my favorite song ever actually.... I mean it perfectly represents what the hero's journey would be like in reality. Plus.... and I've said it before, the impact of you singing it is greater since you look almost exactly like the character who sings it in game."

"Well a girl does love to be constantly complimented on her appearance." the teenaged girl chuckled in turn.

"Look Mommy, there's a dragon flying towards us.... and it's on fire too.... how awesome." a four year old boy pointed out as he excitedly looked out an opening in this metal bird.

"Huh..... a fire dragon?" the teenaged boy mumbled to himself after overhearing the four year-old's statement.