683: To the Next Mountain

To the Next Mountain

She slowly turned, gazing at her surroundings, staring into the eyes of the beasts. It was quiet but she could hear them snarling and growling at her. 

Their eyes were all wild and blood red, a contrast to many who had a white coat of fur. They glared at the group of three, seeing them as nothing more than prey. 

Holding her swords out, Ming Yue took a step into the fresh snow, sinking down an inch or two. 

"....ten, twenty, thirty... ninety, one hundred, one hundred and ten. I wonder how much this will do."

Finishing her count, the young cultivator suddenly vanished from her position. Before any of them could react, blood had been spilled.

And all hell broke loose. 

Blood continued to paint the snow red, bodies laid scattered across the forest. 

Ming Yue would move from one place to another, swinging her swords around with grace.

"Let's get rid of the stronger ones before they try to do anything."

Extending the range of her energy, Ming Yue targeted those with the strongest auras first. 

Among many others, one of them was a giant hound with shards of ice sticking out of its joints. Another was a deer with a thick coat of fur and antlers sharp enough to tear through tree trunks. All of them took no more than a few seconds to deal with as she spared no effort to kill them. 

The weaker ones fell from a few wind needles, 

Stabbing Blood Moon into the heart of another beast, she noticed something on the ground, tunneling through the snow. It came quickly, heading straight for her.

"Blasting Gale."

Forming a few lances, she aimed at the ground, shooting it and launching the creature into the air.

"A Pearl Worm!"

Flying into the air was a worm ten meters long and a mouth large enough to eat a man. There were rows of teeth ready to shred snow and flesh alike. But as terrifying as it was, it was a floating target for her. 

"Storm Lance."

Another round of lances came, slamming into the worm's body and tearing it apart. Blood rained down as mushy pieces fell as well. 

But there were still plenty of beasts around. 

After all, this was the Xue Mountains. If the snow storms weren't enough, there were plenty of beasts ready and waiting to tear some poor soul to shreds. But not even this was enough to stop her. 

As fierce as they were, this was not her first time getting surrounded by enemies. 

Her blades came down swiftly as she moved and she didn't stop until the last beast fell. Aside from Xiao Yin and Hei Yue, they were the only ones still alive. 

The snowy fog turned slightly red from the blood and there were bodies everywhere. 

Taking a look, she sighed, withdrawing her swords. 

"Alright, time to harvest it all", she muttered to herself. 

Funnily enough, it took her longer to harvest everything than to kill them. From skinning them to extracting their cores, there was practically a small mountain of materials, and next to it was a pile of beast cores. 

They were like little gems, shining and sparkling with power. The Glacial Doll's core was the largest one, comparable to a child's fist. It exuded the most power, shining the brightest. Who knows what value this was all worth but for her, this was nourishment for the Mountain's Ink.

"Now, let's see just how much this can affect the water."

Opening the little jar up, she grabbed the cores by the handful, dropping them in. The young cultivator watched as they sunk in, slowly dissolving. Saving the largest one for last, she dumped the rest in before waiting. 

Both Xiao Yin and Hei Yue went to her side, curiously looking at the jar that she was so focused on.

Ming Yue frowned, looking carefully inspecting the jar. 

"Huh, over a hundred beasts but there's barely any change at all. Time to put in the Glacial Doll's core and see if it does anything."

Grabbing the large ice-like stone, she looked at the swirling black water before dropping it in. As it sunk into the waters. the core slowly melted away, leaving behind glowing blue specks of light. 

"Ah, there we go."

She watched as the lights slowly vanished, swallowed up by the darkness of the Mountain's Ink. But then there was something sparkling on the surface. 

"Is that...?"

Taking a closer look, she saw small bits of ice, floating on the surface. 

"That's it! That's Abyssal Ice, isn't it?! So it works! As long as I hunt enough, I can get it."

But on that note, Ming Yue's smile drooped down slowly as she took another look at her surroundings. After such a big fight, the mess was just as big. 

"How much am I going to need? All of this made only a few bits of ice, fragile enough to melt to a touch. I'm going to need a lot more, much, much more."

Realizing this, she put the jar away and dusted her clothes.

Her gaze moved past the trees, looking off into the distance. With the Glacial Doll gone, the fog dissipated, revealing the other mountains. For the first time, they were in full view.  A wide range of mountains as far as the eye can see. With snow-covered peaks, tall trees, and low valleys, it felt endless and beautiful. 

Ming Yue gazed at the scene before looking at another part of the mountains. 

"Onto the next one."

Leaving the area, she and the other two headed for the next mountain.

She hunted and collected as much as she could, roaming the Xue Mountains. Each beast she killed, every herb she collected, all of it went towards the glass jar. Slowly but surely, the small pieces of Abyssal Ice grew larger and the energy emanating strengthened. 

So long as nothing went wrong, she'd have enough for the pill recipe.

"If I can get the full jar to turn, I'd be able to give the rest to Yuan and Wo Long."

Ming Yue looked at it, checking her progress before putting it away. Turning away, she glanced down, pulling Blood Moon out of the corpse of a beast. She knelt down and butchered it, taking the fur and the flesh while collecting the core. 

Suddenly, she heard a voice in a distance, shouting in her direction. 

It was faint but Ming Yue heard it, turning to see who it was. Hei Yue turned around, his ears perked up. She held her sword tightly, putting her guard up as this mysterious figure came up to her. 

With short hair and a muscular frame, he was by no means a giant but he was not small either. He wore a sleeveless uniform, an orange color that was accented with white. With his arms revealed, it showed black tattoos that were tribalistic, shapes and patterns that circled around his forearms, spreading into his shoulders. His expression was calm but fierce, thick and sharp brows combined with gentle eyes made for a strange combination.

As he ran to her, Ming Yue's eyes widened a bit as she recognized him. 

"Xing Juren?" she called out. 

Standing in front of her, the Prince of the Endless Peak Kingdom smiled as he greeted her.

"To think that it was you, Ming Yue! I didn't think that the one who's been hunting in these mountains was you", he said. 

Looking at him, he had grown more muscular while his arms were adorned with even more tattoos.

"Yes", she replied, "I haven't seen you since the tournament all those years ago."

"Indeed, much has changed since then."

As he said this, another figure suddenly appeared from behind him. Much smaller than him, she was a little shorter than Ming Yue.  0

"Juren, whose this?" 

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