Chapter Fifteen: Glacial Escape

As beast, sword, and boy, ran throughout the land of Heavenly South (Tiannan -> Heavenly South), countless cultivators were notified of a rampaging peak five stage demonic beast.

A young boy with blonde hair seeming to be of at least Late Foundational Stage due to his pure speed of avoiding a fifth stage beast, and a monstrous being that seemed to tower over the mountains themselves. 

The description soon flew throughout the entirety of the Heavenly South and the new dominators of the South, the Seven Sects, soon responded. 

Through thorough investigation, it was deduced that this was the Mountainous Tortoise Beast that the previous sect, the Profound Sword Sect, was after. This was due to its precious materials that lay on its back. 

Each and every time a cultivator, whether it be a refiner or a sword cultivator, where to see this beast they would become infatuated with the spikes that lay on its back. Their instincts correctly deducing that the materials of this beast would produce the best possible result in refinement, albeit below the Nascent Soul Stage.

Due to this, this beast has been spotted and farmed countless times by early Core Formation Cultivators due to its preciousness, although most of the time they seek to gather a small fragment of its spikes only. 

With the reveal of this news, several sects acted at once. Many sects that focused on refining or talisman making soon acted, amongst them were the Heavenly Talisman Sect from Great Jin and the Thousand Bamboo School from the far west of the Heavenly South. 

Countless Core Formation Cultivators sped off at their maximum speeds in order to either recruit a new disciple, or to get the refining material of the beast.

The ravenous rampage of the Mountainous Tortoise soon reached the ears of the Nascent Soul Cultivators, but other than seeing that it provided no benefits, none had bothered. At this stage most would not bother with common affairs, tending to their own cultivation more than anything else. 

Meanwhile the young teenager who caused all these disturbances was mentally drawing circles in his mind trying to escape the beast still.

…

It has been well over a week. It's still chasing me… 

Thank the Aeons that I have so much mana and qi…

Everytime I tried to reason with the beast it would simply glare at me with more murderous intent than the last time. 

The beast is not so fast that I cannot escape it, but with the extra mass on my body due to its spike… which I am not letting go, I cannot move at my full speed. Plus avoiding human settlements have also been a pain as I need to determine where I can go rather than just plainly escape. 

Though, my opportunity to escape is about to arrive soon. The air is becoming humid. Even with the warm temperatures of summer, my plan should work out.

I will NOT let go of my precious sheath material!

…

As another day went by, the clouds in the sky slowly changed their colors as the sun was hidden behind a layer of clouds. 

The heavens had become dark, filled with crackles in the air, and lightning beginning to appear and dwell within the clouds. Rain soon fell as the wind increased its speed. 

Yanqing's opportunity had arrived. He soon used some of his remaining mana and Qi to use [Ice Control], changing some of the rain in the sky into that of ice. Countless icicles crashed on the land as Yanqing maneuvered alongside [Aurora] to create a large domain of icicles using the rain. 

A massive blizzard began forming, and with the conduction brought by the initial freezing temperature of the ice the surrounding air soon began changing too.

Yet, the beast did not bother with such actions as it would not hamper its actions at all! This brat had to die!

As several hours had gone by, the entire area had a chill dropping temperature, evening for cultivators. The surrounding air had begun to freeze itself, and the land was of pure ice and snow. 

The changing temperatures had caused the land itself to change in its entirety, reminiscent of a battle between Nascent Souls and Deity Transformation Cultivators as the very world bent to their desires. 

With the final convergence of ice and snow, Yanqing used his spiritual manipulation to create the biggest hunk of ice possible in his current stage. The surrounding ice, snow, and remnant water slowly fused into one as a giant glacier started forming in the air. 

And after forming such a glacier, he began his final act. 

A glacier the size of 50m fell from the heavens towards the earth, planning to destroy anything in its path, yet that was not the purpose Yanqing had deemed. 

The moment it made contact with the ground, the glacier split into several larger chunks of ice, piercing the land and creating the final structure needed. 

He rose to the air, ignoring the claw of the beast that was about to hit it, and charged straight into the heavens. Piercing the clouds with great momentum as the sun shined upon the land once more. 

The result of the sun making contact with the countless ice below was a wonderful sight. One would see a giant rainbow forming across the entire land as the light of the sun reflected across each and every surface of the ice. 

A blinding light flashed across the land as the beast was blinded by the vast light reflecting across the land. 

Taking this opportunity, Yanqing used the remnant of his strength, qi, and mana to run away at his full speed. Previously this was not a decision he could take as the beast could simply deduce his direction with its phenomenal eyesight. But now, with this shining opportunity, he was able to make the greatest runaway he could do!

Using the clouds and reflection of light as a cover, Yanqing soon flew far away from the sight of impact!

The peak fifth stage beast finally noticed that the brat had disappeared, and its anger boiled to the extreme. Its body visibly grew in size as it pushed its magical power from its bloodline to the extreme. Now standing at a towering 200m in the sky, with the land below it being crushed by the excessive weight it had. 

Its piercing roar reached for several hundred miles as even Yanqing had heard it. Sweat flowed down his face, but his smile remained intact. His adrenaline was soaring after that. 

…

After flying for another two days he finally settled down somewhere even he did not know. Maybe he could've flown to the Great Jin or even somewhere else in the continent. He honestly could not care, but the previous experience was exhilarating. 

But now, he could rest sensing that there were no nearby creatures. [Aurora] stood by his side as he fell into the newly made cave and fell directly into slumber. 

On the other hand, the Mountainous Tortoise was not having a good time. 

Countless Core Formation Cultivators arrived at the site of impact as they saw a land filled with endless snow and light. Even for them, this sight was still one to behold as some had to use eye techniques to allow them to see. 

Yet for most of them, their eyes lied on the prize itself. The treasure was right in front of them for their picking… Greed and happiness rose in the eyes of all of the cultivators as some had saliva visibly dripping from their mouths. 

In an instant countless magical treasures deployed with their full capabilities. Swords, spears, mirrors, hammers, puppets, and several other types of magical treasures opened at full power. 

Sensing the enormous amount of spiritual energy being used, the massive beast turned in its direction before delivering a massive roar that would kill any cultivator under Core Formation within two miles. 

Seeing the activity of the beast, some of the cultivators calmed down their excitement as they changed their pursuit. Killing the beast was of utmost importance as only then could they take the loot. Since the beast was so large, everyone had an opportunity to take something out of it. 

Each part of this massive beast was a treasure, ranging from its skin which could be used for talisman making, its spikes which could be used to refine protective treasures, sheaths, swords, spears, and its body which could be used to create a massive puppet fortress. 

Each faction had their own goals that aligned with one another, and with this the battle had begun in this new land. 

Countless lights emerged, ranging from yellow, green, red, blue, and brown as countless elements bombarded the massive beast. Each attacking a spotted weak spot of the beast as listed in the bestiary. 

Each of these factions had done their own research ahead of time in order to deduce the best spot and time to fight the beast. 

As countless injuries began appearing on the beast's eyes, mouth, underbelly, and even its spikes the beast began to roar even louder. A piercing roar paired with its pure red eyes had caused the beast to begin breaking through in the battle. 

A massive surge in the area occurred as the beast was fighting for its life, exploding his potential to the maximum. 

The size of the beast soon grew larger and larger, from 200m to 225m, and even further beyond that. Some of the cultivators saw this and were debating on whether or not to continue to gain more resources, but the more experienced cultivators fought even harder.

Seeing the breakthrough, puppeteers, sword cultivators, and refiners had all begun to use their final must-kill moves. Countless arrays appeared as puppets gathered in formation, gathering the surrounding spiritual energy in an attempt to prevent the breakthrough and to use the energy for its own move, swords brandishing themselves before expanding to meteor like sizes, and other weapons that soon grew in size as well.

Countless swords fell from the sky, each at least 50 m in height, piercing blasts the size of a mountain began to envelope the beast as the puppets had gathered enough spiritual energy, and other waves of flames, water, earth, metal, and wood gathered. 

In this dramatic moment to decide whether or not they gain their precious materials and whether or not the beast could survive, a massive burst of spiritual energy and light erupted in the area as it was obliterated. 

After the flashing light, it was revealed the beast had died. Its spiritual energy dispersed into the air as it howled for the final time. Anger, disbelief, and pain were visible in its eye as the light faded from its eyes. 

Holes were apparent throughout the body of the beast, fragments and pieces of its spikes lay about the glacial wonderland, and frozen blood changed certain areas into the color of pure red. 

The eyes of the cultivators grew immensely bright, as if each one had met their path to the Heavenly Dao itself as they all sped towards the materials left behind. 

In this moment of brief peace, all factions attempted to gather as much material before another could gain them. Since the size of the beast was so large one could not fight until after the looting was over. 

Some of the cultivators watching from the side ran in like vultures, sweeping up as many treasures and resources as they could. Although the main combatants were annoyed, it was something that would distract them from looting. 

Soon the entire beast was dismantled, not a single fragment or bone left behind from its towering body. As the final pieces of the beast were being taken away, a single item remained clear in the eyes of everyone.

The demonic core of a fifth grade beast breaking into the sixth grade. Although it only corresponded to the early stages of Core Formation, it was still a treasure in the Heavenly South where demonic beasts were rare. 

Eyes turned red as everyone looked towards the person who had taken the core into their hands. Weapons, spiritual energy, and blood began to rain down once more as the battle of the demonic core began. 

New Move:

[Glacial Parade]: A move in which Yanqing uses his surrounding environment, preferably in rain, in which he freezes the surrounding area as rain or water falls. Each one of these slowly changes into ice and snow before raining down countless pieces of ice.

Eventually, vision itself would blur as these fragments of ice and snow would devour the world in its color. The freezing temperatures crumble any creatures unable to handle it.

Depending on whether or not the move is used for escape or offensive purposes, the user would either drop a massive glacier or another move in tandem to create the greatest effect. 

The best effect would be caused by the last move, piercing the clouds and skies to reveal the light of the sun to create a blinding light. This light would reflect on the surfaces of all the ice to create a moment that even a Nascent Soul Cultivator would be unable to see through.