Chapter 773: Fiendish Beast |
"What is that?"
Ming Yue watched with shock and horror as this hellish creature emerged from the crack.
It resembled less like a beast and more like a human but there were stark differences.
Its skin was thick and reddish while its body was large and muscular. Its face was incredibly frightening, with hair like a lion's mane, sharp yellow eyes, and fangs that could tear limbs apart. Finally, there were two horns that grew at the top of its head.
As it came out of the spatial crack, the beast let out another guttural roar, beating the nearby mountain peaks like a drum, causing them to crumble with each beating.
Gazing at its surroundings, the creature seemed to be searching for something and soon enough it saw her.
The moment it did, the creature revealed an unsettling grin before pointing at her and speaking.
"Found. Prey."
She knew that it was something that had to be culled immediately.
Over half of the beast's body had already come out of the spatial crack before Ming Yue made her move.
Raising her sword upward, she brought forth the power of the skies. Clouds gathered and darkened, flashing with light and thundering as lighting gathered. Seconds passed as they churned before clearing out, revealing a giant lance made of lightning.
It was as large as the beast itself, looming over it like the blade of an executioner. Even the beast itself felt threatened, staring at the lightning lance with a frown.
It growled and roared, lifting one of its arms to grab it out of the sky.
But Ming Yue brought her sword down.
"Mortal Lightning."
The lance flashed, shooting down like a beam of light, grazing the beast's arm and hitting the very top of its head.
She could see the lance's power travel down the beast's body, wreaking havoc all throughout it! The beast cried out in pain, convulsing under all of that power. It nearly fell on its back, crashing into the little mountains and crushing them.
But the creature was still alive and it soon recovered, smashing its fists on the ground in anger. It let out a furious roar, twisting around and glaring at the young cultivator who had already prepared another lance.
Compared to the first, it was much stronger, condensed to the point where she could barely keep it in control. Lightning arced out wildly, striking at the surrounding black clouds.
"Mortal Lightning."
She brought her sword down once more, sending off the second attack. However, the beast was prepared this time. With both hands, it quickly grabbed at the lance, stopping it in its place. It struggled, trying to bear the pain as the skin of its hands was slowly being burnt off. Grunting, the beast's grip tightened, trying to crush the lance only for it to burst and explode right in front of it.
It was so big and bright that it was blinding, even for Ming Yue herself.
She looked away for a moment before turning back, seeing that Death Wind Mountain was no more. But the spatial crack was there, and so was the beast, still alive. Its breath was heavy and slow but it wasn't dying yet.
"Haah, what kind of creature is this?"
Letting out a tired breath, Ming Yue was surprised at this. After all, Mortal Lightning was not a weak attack.
"That first one had enough to vaporize Redmist Sanctuary. The seconds was ten times that and it's still alive. Just how tough is this beast?", she wondered.
Fortunately, it was slow and frankly, not very smart but the beast's fortitude was nothing to scoff at.
As she readied another attack, she felt something land on her shoulder, turning to find a crow perched there.
"Hm? What's this? Is the Crow Immortal trying to tell me something?"
Ming Yue stopped and looked around before seeing the High Council's castle coming towards her. Suddenly, an enormous formation appeared in front of the castle itself, glowing with golden brilliance.
Sensing something, she turned to look at the beast seeing the same formation appearing on the spatial crack.
The beast realized that something was wrong, trying to stir from its dazed state but it was far too slow. Golden chains shot out of the formation, wrapping around the wrists and the stomach, trapping the beast.
It struggled but failed to break out, unable to take a step forward or a step back.
The beast was stuck and there wasn't enough time before another formation appeared right on top of it. Beams of light shot down, connecting the two formations together while the creature screamed and shouted, trying to free itself!
But the light beams started to radiate some sort of power causing the creature to wither away.
And Ming Yue just watched in amazement as the castle arrived by her side.
She knew it was there but she just stared down at the crack, seeing the massive skeleton still there. Having seen what she just saw, the cultivator needed more than a few seconds to absorb it all.
"That is a Fiendish Ogre."
The voices of the High Council echoed into her mind, snapping out of that dumbfounded trance.
"That is what comes out of the cracks? Such terrifying beasts?" she asked them.
Just dealing with one of them was troublesome, what would the experience be like for others? How many would be able to survive?
"Indeed, this is one of many beings that can emerge from those cracks. They could be wild beasts, hellish creatures, or heaven-sent allies. As for who comes from what, we do not know the answer to that. Now then, we can deal with this as it isn't your time yet."
The castle then flew past her, descending down on the spatial crack. She saw it hover over the crack and watched a different formation being cast.
Ming Yue was still a bit shaken by this Fiendish Ogre. The fact that it survived her strongest technique twice, the fact that it could speak, and the fact that it called her "prey". None of this sat right with her but she knew that what the High Council said was right.
She wasn't strong enough.
And so she returned to Luan City, descending to the steps of the tea shop. Compared to how crowded it was earlier, the shop was practically empty and it was a bit of a mess. She walked inside to see Aunt Cui and Elder Fei sweeping the floors together, cleaning up the debris.
They stopped the moment, they saw her enter, immediately running up to her.
"Ming Yue, you're back!" said the Elder.
"Is everything fine now? Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"
Aunt Cui quickly examined Ming Yue, checking to see if there was injuries, big or small. The young cultivator just smiled and shook her head.
"Don't worry, there's nothing wrong", she told her.
"What? But that roar from before, was it not some beast? Was that the reason for the earthquakes?" Aunt Cui asked.
There was fear in her eyes, no doubt scared of losing the girl she knew all those years ago. Ming Yue just smiled and reassured her.
"The beast has been dealt with though I don't know if it was the source of the earthquakes. But hopefully, it won't be happening anytime soon. Where are the two children? Xing'er and Yang'er?"
She looked around, seeing no trace of the carriage.
"Oh, they're upstairs. They were crying after this ordeal but we managed to get them to sleep. Fei Xian is up there with them right now."
