686: Tenacious Beast

Tenacious Beast

As the group readied themselves, the beast reared its head towards them, walking on all fours as it shook off the snow.

"A Frostflame Bear..."

Xing Hou took a step back as did the others. They thought they could escape for a moment, but the bear had long noticed them. 

Glaring at them with a pair of icy blue eyes, its mouth opened. 

"Quick! Dodge its breath!" Xing Juren shouted. 

Everyone scattered, moving just as the Frostflame Bear breathed out fiery blue flames. Everything that breath touched turned to ice in an instant. 

"Storm Lance."

The beast was suddenly struck at the sides, faltering by just a step. It turned toward the direction of the attack before letting out another breath of blue fire. 

But Ming Yue kept her distance, attacking the beast's blindspot. 

"Xiao Yin, Hei Yue! Don't get close!"

Both the fox and the owl yipped as they understand, doing what they can to support her.  The Star Owl shot beams of light from their claws while the Mistral Fox produced puffs of black fog, giving Ming Yue plenty of opportunities to run and hide. 

When the Frostflame Bear knew that it could not catch her, it stood on its hind legs and began to belch out even more of its fiery breath, drowning everything in ice! A mountainous creature who was at least ten feet tall, breathing flames like it was a dragon. 

A short distance away, Xing Hou ran to her brother, trying to tug him away. 

"What are you doing?! We have to run!" she yelled out, pulling with all her strength. 

But Xing Juren was immovable and even yanked his sister to him, hiding behind a bush. He kept his eyes on the Frostflame Bear while speaking. 

"It's already seen us. It probably remembers our scent, and nowhere on these mountains is safe once it does. Either we kill it or we die."

Hearing those words, Xing Hou was quiet, staring at her brother before turning to look at the beast. 

"Ming Yue is currently grabbing its attention and it's going on a rampage with its breath, trying to get her. But it can't keep up forever."

Xing Juren faced his sister, looking at her with a firm expression. He already donned his armor, two metal sleeves that seemed to wrap tightly around his arms from the tops of his shoulders to the tips of his fingers. 

"The moment it gets tired, even if for a second, we have to make our move. Aim for its stomach, no matter what we have to try to knock it down. Do you understand?" he said. 

She quickly nodded to which he turned back to the bear. 

"Good, if we get out of this, I'm sure the Elders will have quite the surprise waiting for them."

He leaned forward, watching the Frostflame Bear intently. 

On the other side, Ming Yue moved from tree to tree, shooting an array of lances and needles as she avoided the bear's attack. 

"Damn, what the two elders said was right, a Frostflame Bear is a dangerous beast. A Storm Lance has nothing but scratch it while those blue flames could freeze through my barrier just like that."

Thinking this, she felt a chill down her spine before ducking as fast as she could. Icy blue flames shot over her head hitting the tree behind her. A bitter cold aura came from it, sharp and piercing into her body, through to her bone. She glanced behind her, seeing the tree turn to ice before hearing a loud thud. 

Looking forward, she saw the Frostflame Bear on all fours, charging right for her. 

But then it couldn't take another step as Xing Juren appeared, grabbing the beast one of its hind legs. His arms were bulging as he held the beast back. And then his sister came sprinting, pulling her arm back. Fiery flames erupted from her hand and condensed into a single fist.

"Fist of the Raging Sun!"

She smashed her fist into the side of the beast, putting all of that power and the weight of her body into that hit. It sunk into the beast's body before she pulled her fist out and jumped back. 

A burst of flame came out of the wound as the Frostflame Bear roared out in pain. But the flames were quickly snuffed out as the cold aura surrounded its body. 

"Nng, ah!"

Xing Juren suddenly let go and retreated several steps. He raised his arms, seeing them shake as bits of ice had just barely begun to form on his armor. 

"So cold!" he thought, "Any longer and my arms would've gone numb."

But now was not the time to think of such things as the beast recovered, turning its attention towards the siblings.

It suddenly rose up, lifting its forearms up to slam down on them! 

"Oh no!" 

The sibling duo retreated as quickly as they could but braced themselves for the attack. But before the beast could strike, a giant storm lance flew past the siblings, crashing into the bear's chest with a resounding boom. 

The impact was enough to make the ground shudder and every tree that had been turned to ice shattered. 

As for the beast, it lost its balance, falling on its back instead. 

"Together!"

As Xing Juren shouted, he and his sister leaped up. The both of them brought their fists together, releasing bright white flames from them. 

"Shattering Nova!" 

Ming Yue joined the attack as they descended, forming multiple Storm Lances. Striking the beast, it roared out in pain swiping at them to defend itself. 

White flames spread across its body, burning away at its fur while blood dripped out of its body. The Frostflame Bear wriggled in pain but it turned around and got up on its feet. Breathing heavily, the beast glared at them with its blue eyes. 

Xing Hou bent down a little, putting her hands on her knees as she tried to recover. 

"Even after all that, it still hasn't died?!"

Her brother took a deep breath, returning the glare with one of his own. 

"Now you know the terror of this beast. Imagine if we had come across a pack. What then?"

As for Ming Yue, she spun her swords, quietly looking at the creature. 

"What rank would it be? If Sky Realm Cultivators have trouble with this beast, it can be no more than Rank 5 but compared to the ones I've seen. This might be a Rank 6 or even 7", she thought.

However, Ming Yue was not afraid of it. She had gone through much worse and she was no ordinary Sky Realm Expert. 

"Both of you step back."

She walked forward while the two siblings looked at her. Her presence suddenly changed as an electric blue energy coursed through her body. 

"Yo-"

Before Xing Juren could even speak, Ming Yue moved. Her body vanished before their eyes and the Frostflame Bear was subject to a barrage of attacks at a speed it could not match. It flailed its arms around, trying to catch her. 

It let out another Frost Breath, coating everything in ice and flames!

But, she was simply too quick. 

With both Blood Moon and the Black Blade, she covered the beast in wounds, cutting at the joints. And then she stopped standing in front of the bear. Despite all of its injuries, its eyes were still sharp, staring at her like an enemy. 

It could barely stay up but it would fight to the end.  It was a ferocious beast but most of all it was tenacious. 

Ming Yue narrowed her eyes. She switched her grip, wielding both swords in a reverse. She lowered her legs and stared right at the beast.  2

"Reaping Blade."

She was soundless, utterly undetectable. 

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