Chapter 145: The sixth Demonic beast.
Yao Jun brandished his sword, but it was Zhuanxu that made the first move. It did not try to buy any more time to heal its wound, but instead chose to make the first attack. All the ice in the area exploded into tiny fragments that started to rapidly spin around Yao Jun, like a large tornado of ice that was continuously growing thanks to the freezing snow.
Yao Jun stood in the center of the tornado and tried to inspect it for a short moment, trying to figure out the best course of action to dealing with it. But before he could get anywhere with his inspection, some of the shards within the tornado shot towards him like tiny blurs. Yao Jun narrowed his eyes and started to twist his body, dodging the shards that flew at him. For the shards that flew at him from angles that were hard to dodge normally, he would jump into the shadows for a short second and then appear a short distance away.
There was no place that did not have a single shadow or any spot of darkness, not even the center of this tornado. Even the shards of ice that flew at him cast a tiny shadow that Yao Jun could take advantage of. It was right as he dodged out of the shadows that the real attack arrived. The shard that cast the shadow Yao Jun used to dodge suddenly grew, turning from a small shard into a human sized doll of ice.
The doll of ice sent out a punch that moved at the same speed as the shards, but Yao Jun was halfway out of the shadow and caught in an awkward position. He twisted his body as best he could positioning his left shoulder in front of the oncoming attack.
The punch hit his left shoulder, a slight cracking sound ringing out as Yao Jun's body spun to the side and was pushed to the ground. Using the momentum of the punch spinning his body, Yao Jun ignored the pain and sent out an attack of his own. His attack was not aimed at the doll, but at the attack that he was certain would aim for the opening that appeared when he got punched.
Just as he thought, the body of Zhuanxu appeared from within the doll, its front legs stomping down at Yao Jun's chest. Yao Jun's sideways slash lit aflame and clashed with the left front leg of Zhuanxu, slicing through the armor, forcing Zhuanxu back a little, and leaving a wound on its leg that reached all the way to the bone. Zhuanxu's right front leg still managed to hit Yao Jun, stomping down on the side of his abdomen and denting his armor.
Yao Jun felt the taste of iron in his mouth as some blood was pushed up his throat and out his mouth, but the corners of his mouth curled into a ferocious smile. He ignored the pain coming from the bones in his left shoulder and forced his left arm to swing out at a high speed. His left arm curled into a fist and crashed into Zhuanxu's right leg. The impact of the hit cracked not only the armor covering the leg, it also cracked the bone inside the leg, but it also caused the leg to stomp down even harder on Yao Jun's abdomen.
He opened his fist and grabbed onto Zhuanxu's leg, ignoring the thorns of ice that grew out from the leg and stabbed into his hand. Yao Jun let out a deep breath and exerted all his physical strength. The bones in his left arm creaked, but he still managed to force Zhuanxu's body upwards. From his prone position, he raised Zhuanxu's body and then slammed it sideways onto the ground.
Once he brought Zhuanxu down, Yao Jun would not give up the opportunity to attack. His left arm still held onto Zhuanxu's right leg, the thorns of ice that pierced into his arm growing longer and longer, already piercing through his arm and wrist. Yao Jun forced his body up and slashed out with his sword, flames, lightning, and wind coating the blade.
Every slash would slice through the armor on Zhuanxu's body, leaving bloody wounds on his body. But there was no way Zhuanxu would simply accept being attacked like this. Yao Jun's left arm that was holding Zhuanxu down was already completely pierced through by spikes of ice, only still capable of moving because Yao Jun was using lightning and wind to force it to move as he wished.
There were also constantly shards of ice shooting out from the tornado that surrounded them, carving open Yao Jun's armor. A single shard was not capable of dealing much damage to Yao Jun, but the damage started piling up as more and more shards sliced him open, drenching his body in his own blood.
The tornado around them suddenly dissipated, and Zhuanxu managed to slip out of Yao Jun's grasp by using the blood that dripped down from Yao Jun's hand. It slipped into the ice and reappeared a short distance away. Its body was covered in bloody wounds and Its breathing had gotten quite ragged as It looked at Yao Jun, whose left arm was clenched tightly and looked like it would be almost useless for the rest of the fight.
“I must admit, I did not expect you to fight in such an insane manner, not even caring if you suffer wounds if it means you can wound the enemy.”
Zhuanxu's voice was a little weak as it spoke, its eyes looking at Yao Jun with a wary expression. It simply could not fathom that someone would fight in such a manner, basically giving up their left arm for the chance to land a few attacks. It was a style that could only be called completely mad.
“Of course. I am unable to forge weapons. I cannot draw up arrays. I have no idea how to make potions or pills. I am completely useless in everything but battle. Battling and fighting is the only thing I can do properly, so I will do whatever I can to ensure that I get better at it. Beating you and having you follow me will increase my strength, so what if I suffer a few wounds while convincing you to follow me? Besides, if I don't have strength, I will be unable to protect even a single thing.”
Yao Jun let out a low laugh as he responded, not even glancing at his left arm. In this world, the strong could do basically whatever they wanted. To make sure that nothing happened to those he cared about, Yao Jun needed strength, so much strength that no one would even dare think about touching those close to him. So what if he had to endure pain while gaining that strength? Nothing in this world came for free.
“Really. Quite a mad way of seeing it.”
Zhuanxu let out what seemed like a chuckle. It had lived its entire life within this hidden realm, so it had never experienced something like this, nor had it ever met anyone like Yao Jun. Most of the inhabitants in this hidden realm were Demonic beasts that kept to their own territories after all.
“You have no idea.”
Yao Jun's lips curled into a bright smile as he slowly and forcibly raised his left arm. Zhuanxu did not quite know why, but it felt a terrible chill run down its spine when it saw the smile on Yao Jun's face. When Yao Jun raised his left arm up to chest level, he opened his palm and revealed a small crimson orb encircled by violet lightning.
“What is...!”
Zhuanxu did not manage to finish its words, the orb within Yao Jun's hand shooting forward and exploding into a large dome of fire that covered both of them. Bolts of lightning and blades of wind accompanied the flames, completely ruining the top of the shattered mountain. The snow and ice melted under the high heat, the solidified lava once more melting and flowing down the mountain. The lightning shattered the few rocks that did not melt, while the blades of wind sliced up everything that still remained in the end.
When the fire faded, the sides of the mountain were covered in lava, while the middle part was filled with deep gashes and shattered rocks. And at the very center of it all, was Yao Jun and Zhuanxu. Zhuanxu was lying on the ground, its white fur charred black and stained with blood. Gashes covered most of its body, and it was clear that it would not be able to survive for much longer.
Yao Jun was a bit better off, as he was the one who had thrown out the attack, and had some resistance to the elements within the attack. But his armor had still completely shattered, leaving him in only rags. His skin was charred in several places, and he had deep wounds that were bleeding heavily, dying him completely red.
“You have lost, Zhuanxu.”
Yao Jun's right arm still grasped his sword, and he forced his body forward, taking slow steps towards Zhuanxu. His sword let out a low scraping sound as he dragged it behind him. When he reached Zhuanxu, he raised the sword with a trembling arm, placing the blade on Zhuanxu's throat as he spoke.
“Indeed. I am unable to beat your mad way of battling, and you simply have too many different ways to attack. Even worse, you are able to use the fire of the Crimson Dragon, easily nullifying my ice.”
Zhuanxu let out a low and slightly bitter laugh, its voice so weak that it was nearly inaudible. While speaking, it occasionally coughed out some blood and was forced to stop talking.
“Demon God Yao Jun, you have proven your worth. Allow me to follow at your side, providing my aid and observing what heights you will be able to reach.”
Zhuanxu looked at Yao Jun with serious eyes as it spoke. It then closed its eyes and attempted to give a short nod of its head. It had been beaten in single combat, so it had no complaints. Yao Jun forced his left arm forward using wind, and placed his palm on Zhuanxu's head.
A white light surrounded Zhuanxu and Yao Jun, an icy sensation quickly filling Yao Jun's body. It was like all the blood in his veins was turning into ice, his entire body slowly freezing. But just like it was with Zhuyin, the pain quickly vanished as the white light completely surrounded Zhuanxu, absorbing him into Yao Jun's Demon God's Gate. The icy sensation quickly turned pleasant as creaking sounds rang out from within Yao Jun's body, his body growing stronger and his cultivation rising slightly.
After Yao Jun's cultivation settled at the late stage of the 2nd Mortal Earth, the creaking sounds from his body stopped ringing out and the top of the mountain turned silent, with only Yao Jun left in the area.
“Haah, only one more and I will complete this armor. I should also be able to break through to the 3rd Mortal Heaven at that point. I wonder what will happen at that point.”
Yao Jun let out a sigh and slightly muttered to himself, looking at the shoulder guards that had appeared and covered his upper arms and shoulder. Zhuyin had granted him a helmet and raised him to the middle stage of the 2nd Mortal Earth, and Zhuanxu had granted him shoulder guards and raised him to the late stage of the 2nd Mortal Earth. Only one more Demonic beast and his armor would be complete.
“But first. I need some rest.”
Yao Jun's legs lost all strength and he fell into a sitting position, letting out a small laugh. Absorbing Zhuanxu had slightly restored his wounds, but he would still need to use a large amount of herbs and pills if he wanted to restore himself to peak condition. Everything else could wait until he was completely restored.