novelraw Chapter 117 The Mountain-Eating Beast
Chapter 117 The Mountain-Eating Beast
Chapter 117 The Mountain-Eating Beast
Inside Yanzhou City, on a towering tower.
Led by the president of the Yanzhou Professionals Association, an emergency meeting was convened. There were only seven or eight people seated in the room, but without exception, they were all the highest-ranking figures from various factions in Yanzhou.
"Old man Ling, what's the rush? Why did you call us here at this hour? I was just about to get off work and hold my granddaughter!"
The speaker was a bald old man, the vice principal of the Yanzhou Professional Academy, and a Star Cocoon Realm magician.
Ling Chen, president of the Yanzhou Professionals Association and a Star Cocoon Realm warrior, looked serious: "This afternoon, news came from Luntai that a strange snowfall had suddenly occurred, and the blizzard was spreading at an extremely strange speed, already covering Luntai, Changji, and Gongning—"
The old man with a mustache standing next to him chuckled and said, "Wait a minute? Old Ling, since when did we get to manage the astronomical observatory?"
He was dressed like he was on a Hawaiian vacation, in a floral shirt and shorts, and sandals, but he was actually the garrison commander of Yanzhou, a warrior of the Frost Moon Realm!
"This snowstorm is abnormal. Whether you are a normal person or a professional, you will feel your physical strength draining away rapidly when you are covered by snow. Elder Shen told me that this is likely the White Storm of the Heavenly Mountain Realm."
"The Heavenly Mountain Realm!"
The crowd was in an uproar upon hearing this. Not only for those at the Torch level, but also for those at the Star Cocoon and Frost Moon levels, the Heavenly Mountain Realm was a forbidden place. Only those at the Burning Sun level would dare to venture there.
Shen Wangshu sat in the chair with her feet barely touching the ground. She wanted to swing her legs, but that would damage her dignity. She squinted, took a sip of the tea on the table, and let out a long sigh.
Seeing everyone looking at her, she paused, put the tea back, and said, "Oh yes, I checked the clan's records, and it seems to be the White Storm. It's very dangerous!"
Among the group of elderly people, Shen Wangshu, a white-haired junior high school student, stood out. However, she was one of the three Frost Moon level experts in Yanzhou, apart from the local super clan Gu Clan, and was probably older than half of the people present.
Shen Wangshu squinted and sighed, "I heard that even purple-iridium level void beasts can't escape the white storm. But this is just a projection of calamity, so the level of harm isn't that high. However, if it's not handled properly, who knows what might happen!"
Some supernatural disasters in the virtual world can be projected into reality, but that's different from encountering typhoons, earthquakes, etc. in reality.
Like a tsunami, it is difficult to prevent. Even if it does occur, all they can do is be vigilant, take precautions, or even conduct a strategic evacuation.
"And most importantly, the blizzard came from the eastern Tianshan Mountains."
The president of the Professionals Association paused, then continued, "Everyone knows what's sealed on Mount Dongtian—"
Those present were either native Yanzhou residents or had spent most of their lives in Yanzhou, so they naturally knew the legend of Dongtian Mountain.
In the "Record of the Great Celestial Venerable Saving from Suffering and Calamity, Chapter on Subduing Demons," it is said that the Great Celestial Venerable traveled to Yanzhou, where nine out of ten houses were empty and the people suffered terribly. It turned out that there was a monster on the Tianshan Mountain with a stomach as big as a bottomless pit. After it had eaten all the wild beasts, spirits, and monsters in the mountains and forests, it now came down the mountain every day to eat a thousand people.
The Great Celestial Venerable went up the mountain to find the monster and asked it why it only ate a thousand people a day. The monster scolded the Great Celestial Venerable for being stupid, saying that it had eaten all the living creatures in the mountain. If it ate all the people today, what would it do if there was nothing to eat tomorrow?
The Great Celestial Venerable devised a plan for it, allowing it to eat soil and rocks, and even taste human flavors. The monster tried it and found it to be true. So it frantically ate rocks and dust, eating day and night for three days and three nights. Finally, it found itself unable to move. It turned out that it had eaten ten mountains and its size had become so enormous that it could hardly move.
The Great Celestial Venerable used magic to seal the monster's soul, while the monster's body transformed into the present-day Eastern Heavenly Mountain. Fearing that the monster might revive, the Great Celestial Venerable also summoned two mountain-guarding boys to watch over this mountain-eating monster.
The old man with the mustache looked at him with a look of surprise and said, "You can believe such baseless rumors? The Great Celestial Venerable's Demon Subduing Record has thousands of rumors about sealing ghosts and monsters. If every single one of them were true, the world would have been in chaos long ago."
According to the records, the monster was so terrifying that it devoured one or two of the Burning Sun Realm warriors who came to subdue it before the appearance of the Great Celestial Venerable.
If it truly is that terrifying creature, now that the Supreme Elder of the Gu Clan is dead and Yanzhou lacks Ranri's presence, it simply cannot withstand such a monster.
"The Great Celestial Venerable's Demon-Subduing Record was compiled by someone with ulterior motives to obscure the true deeds of the Great Celestial Venerable. However, some rumors are not unfounded. Moreover, news from Hoshino Prefecture indicates that something strange has happened in the Eastern Heavenly Mountain, with the Divine Mother Cult appearing. Just now, news came from Pleiades Official that the Divine Mother Cult's 'Rat Child' has appeared in the Eastern Heavenly Mountain—"
Upon hearing this, an eerie silence fell over the room.
The emergence of the Divine Mother Cult will inevitably bring disaster. Even without the legend of the "Mountain-Eating Monster of the Eastern Tianshan Mountains," the mere news of the Divine Mother Cult's appearance is enough to make them prepare for the highest level of combat readiness.
"It seems we need to investigate the Eastern Tianshan Mountains."
"Who's going? Together?"
"It might be a diversionary tactic. You guys discuss who should go. Two people are enough. Old Ling and I will deal with the White Storm and see if we can stop the spread of the Void Realm calamity. The rest of you will stay in Yanzhou."
Upon hearing this, the vice principal of Yanzhou Professional Academy was about to get up: "I'll go to Dongtian Mountain. I have a few students who went there to do missions a few days ago. I'll pick them up while I'm at it."
The garrison commander of Yanzhou shook his head: "Xiao Tangxing's Cocoon Realm is not safe."
"I'll go there."
Everyone looked over and saw Shen Wangshu put down her teacup, pat her robe, and stand up, saying, "As you all know, there was a feud between the previous generation of Zishu and the Shen family. Since I know the whereabouts of this generation of Zishu, there is no reason for me not to go. Moreover, there are children in the clan who are training in Dongtian Mountain, so I will go and pick them up."
Shen Wangshu sighed inwardly. To encounter such a thing on his first training experience, the Grand Tutor was really unlucky.
The old man, dressed in Hawaiian attire and guarding Yanzhou, said, "In that case, Sister Shen and I will go to Dongtian Mountain."
The vice principal of Yanzhou Academy, standing nearby, quickly said, "If there's a chance, I'd really trouble Elder Shen to rescue my students. The 'Listen to the Dragon's Roar' team, who are on a mission in Yannan Village, are all geniuses that only appear once in a century. They're guaranteed to reach the Star Cocoon realm and eventually the Frost Moon realm. It would be a misfortune for Great Yu if they were to perish there!"
Although they only transferred here this semester, those kids are exceptionally talented, especially Longyou. Both his talent and temperament are just what he likes, and he wants to take him as his apprentice.
The association president, remembering something, quickly said, "By the way, there's another team from Yandong Village who's also stuck in Dongtian Mountain. They're from the capital, and they're all children from prominent families. The team leader is a child from the royal Jiang family, who is said to be the most talented among this generation of royal children and has the potential to inherit the Jiang family's divine fire. If there's an opportunity, we would appreciate it if Elder Shen could help them get out."
Shen Wangshu: "————" Why does she look like she's going to kindergarten to pick up her kids from school?
An old man grinned, grinning, and chuckled, "From what you're saying, it's quite lively on the Eastern Tianshan Mountains now?"
"A once-in-a-century talent, and now they can field two teams in the Eastern Tianshan Mountains?"
"If they were all such monstrous talents, they probably wouldn't even need us old men to lift a finger to thwart that damned Divine Mother Cult's conspiracy, would they?"
"Isn't it said that the Pleiades are also in the Eastern Heavenly Mountains? I remember this generation of Pleiades belongs to the Ye family of Beidu, right? That kid Ye Yaotian, isn't he? A few years ago, I saw him lead the team to win the national professional examination championship. Now, trapped in the mountains, could there be a genius more monstrous than him?"
In the East Tianshan Mountains, the masked man in Yanbei Village looked up. It wasn't dark clouds obscuring the sun; rather, a crack suddenly appeared in the clouds behind the ice caster, and the icy air gushing out from the crack dyed half the sky bluish-white.
He hovered there, his staff pointing diagonally at the ground, the icy blue light emanating from him so bright it was blinding. Then, he swung his staff.
Hundred-meter-long ice spears pierced out one after another from the crack, like a row of huge fangs suddenly growing out of the sky, casting crisscrossing shadows that cut the earth within a radius of several miles into countless fragments.
The next instant, it fell as fiercely as a sudden rainstorm!
"Are all the people in Hoshino Prefecture this despicable?"
The masked man cursed under his breath: "Exploding Body Dharma Form!"
He suddenly felt his feet sink, and a burst of earthy yellow light erupted from his body—not light, but the energy of the earth flowing into his body from the soles of his feet.
His bones cracked, his muscles bulged like mountains, and his skin developed rock-like patterns. Three zhang, five zhang, ten zhang—in the blink of an eye, he rose from the ground, transforming into a towering, armored giant.
As those dozen or so hundred-meter-long ice spears pierced through the air, he spread his arms, shielding the small house behind him with his chest.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ice spears shattered one after another on his back, shards of ice raining down, leaving the surrounding ground riddled with holes. He remained motionless, letting the ice shards cover his shoulders.
Pleiades glanced at him, then raised his hand to unleash another volley of arrows: "Not eating? Here you go again."
With the timing so favorable to him, the energy expenditure of his skills was minimized. However, the masked man below knew that he couldn't let his opponent control the rhythm of the battle.
The giant's form quickly dissipated, and his figure soared into the sky beneath the light curtain that formed from the dissipated form.
He looked like a meteor hurtling upwards at an angle, the knife already in his hand, its blade beginning to glow with a dark red light—a sign that his charge skill had reached its limit.
Three hundred meters, two hundred meters—the next second, he collided with a ten-meter-thick snow wall, and a visible white wave rippled out from between the two of them, sweeping across the ground.
The pile of boulders a hundred feet away was overturned, and the stones crashed down the mountain with a thunderous roar.
Pleiades drifted back ten feet, waving his staff repeatedly, and ice spears condensed beside him, firing again in unison.
The masked man didn't dodge, but charged forward into the spearhead. He knocked the first spear away with the back of his knife, the second grazed his waist, leaving a spray of blood, and the third he simply reached out and grabbed the spear shaft, swung it around in mid-air, and smashed the hundred-meter-long ice spear back like a stick.
Pleiades dodged to the side, the ice spear grazing his ear before embedding itself in the mountainside, causing half of the mountain to collapse with a deafening roar, as rubble and avalanches rolled down the slope.
The masked man instantly appeared in front of them and slashed down with his knife.
Pleiades raised his hand, and an ice wall instantly rose up.
The knife struck the wall, cracking it and chipping the blade. Shards of the blade splashed into the caster's cheek, drawing blood.
He didn't even cry out in pain. He pointed his staff forward, and a burst of cold air shot out from the tip of the staff, instantly freezing half of the masked man's body into an ice block.
The masked man acted decisively, slamming his left fist into his chest, sending ice shards flying, while his right hand swung down with his knife for the second time.
Pleiades leaned back and fell from the clouds, the blade grazing his nose and severing three strands of hair.
As he fell, he tapped his staff repeatedly, causing more than a dozen ice flowers to explode in the air. Each one was a deadly move. The masked man pursued closely, his blade swirling into the ice flowers, scattering shards of ice everywhere.
The two fought from above the clouds to below, and then crashed back to the ground.
A deafening roar erupted as rocks tumbled down the valley floor, creating a deep ravine!
Pleiades quickly ascended into the sky, and before the dust had even settled, the glint of blades flashed behind it again.
He didn't dodge, but hovered in place, raising his left hand with his five fingers spread.
"Click."
It wasn't a loud noise, but a crisp sound, like ice suddenly cracking.
The masked man saw an ice wall suddenly appear in front of him, but this time the ice wall was too thin. He didn't even slow down and crashed through it. Ice shards cut several bloody gashes on his face.
At 100 meters, Pleiades raised his right hand as well, his five fingers closing simultaneously.
The water vapor within a ten-meter radius instantly condensed into countless tiny ice needles, densely packed, enveloping him in a giant ball of ice spikes.
This wasn't a wall, it was a trap—countless ice spikes surrounded him from all sides, and the next second they would rain down on him like a storm of pear blossoms.
However, compared to the ice spears that pierced through the mountains and the ice swords that split the heavens and the earth, these mouths and tongues are as small as mosquitoes.
The opponent clearly knows that attacks of that power are unlikely to harm him, so what's the point of sacrificing great power for more frequent attacks? It's probably difficult to even break through his defenses. — Could there be something strange about these ice spikes?
The masked man stopped charging forward, his knife swung in a circle, and he spun around like a whirlwind.
The ice needles were shredded into powder by the blade energy, exploding into a ring of white mist.
He looked at the Pleiades again, and the distance that had been narrowed was now widened again.
The other person's figure had already floated onto the opposite mountaintop.
"Impressive! You actually saw through my Ice Poison Needle. If you had been pierced by my ice needle just now, even a Frost Moon Realm expert would have been cut down. With such strength, why don't you serve your great motherland? Why are you colluding with the Divine Mother Cult?"
Pleiades looked at his opponent with an air of mutual respect and admiration, but in reality, he was terrified!
He made up all that meth; he was just out of ideas and trying to trick the other guy. How did he suddenly rush over like that? Frostmoon-level warriors are terrifying!
Why haven't the reinforcements arrived yet? He can't beat this guy!
Where's Shen Zhaozhao? Please help her!
Below, Pleiades' subordinates were all worried as they watched their leader being chased and beaten.
Although they knew their leader was very powerful, this was still a level above them, and it was the first time they had encountered a Frost Moon level expert during a mission.
However, Shen Zhaozhao only glanced at it and said, "Alright, let's ignore him and go check out the village and the temple."
"Miss Shen, aren't you going to help Lord Subaru? It looks like he's about to get beaten to a pulp!"
"No need, he can handle it. Let's do our thing."
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