Chapter 375. Yishan Ice Valley (3)

Crack!!!

Shaman's hand froze before they could grasp it. As soon as they touched the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence, they began to turn grey from the tips of their claws. The color spread up their arms, eventually turning them into a typical ice sculpture.

"As long as they're human, they can't contain the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence." Leng Yuefei said, looking at Shaman.

She's right.

This was a substance powerful enough to affect the entire climate of the North Sea.

Whether martial artist or sorcerer, no human could withstand it.

That was why they had chosen to destroy it instead of trying to absorb it.

Crack! Crack, crack!

Shaman’s body continued to freeze, not just their hands. Their feet also began to turn to ice, with delicate patterns like ice flowers blooming across their skin.

The moment the ice flowers reached their head, Shaman’s eyes widened.

"I see..."

A mocking laugh escaped Shaman's lips.

"As long as I'm human, that is."

With those words, Shaman began to change.

Crack! Crack!

As the sound of bones cracking echoed, their body swelled even more. Like a creature undergoing a metamorphosis, their skeleton and muscles changed shape.

Their height, which had already reached eight chi, soon reached ten chi, and then quickly surpassed it.

It wasn't just their height that grew. Their arms, legs, and other body sizes grew as well. It was overwhelming.

What was most surprising was that the ice that had swallowed their body also grew as if the two had become one.

"A turt... le?" Hawar muttered absentmindedly.

Shaman's body no longer resembled a human’s, but a turtle.

However, it was different from ordinary turtles. There was no turtle in the world that was over ten chi tall.

Their back and shoulders were severely hunched and the ice covering it naturally curled into a round shape, like a shell.

Their hands and feet, covered in snow—no, ice, transformed into forelimbs and hind limbs like those of an animal. Instead of fingers and toes, black claws grew out, poking holes in the ground.

Their neck grew long like a snake and then stopped. Their face also changed. There was no trace of a human being left.

The once pure white skin had turned black as if it had been contaminated, and scary teeth could be seen through the gaping jaws.

Their mouth and chin jutted like a duck’s, and their hair, once soft as silk, was frozen and tangled on their disheveled head.

"Dragon?" Leng Yuefei asked, looking up with a frown.

"Is that a Xuanwu?" Luo Xiaoyue asked uncertainly.

The dragon head and turtle shell reminded her of the Xuanwu of the North, one of the Divine Beasts of the Four Directions.

However, since their tail wasn't that of a snake and it was missing the second head on the end, she couldn't be certain.

If she had to describe their appearance, it was a mixture of a Black Dragon and a Xuanwu. It was quite unusual. Even the ice bloomed like flowers over its shell.

"No, more importantly, a person turning into a dragon...?" Luo Xiaoyue muttered blankly. She had seen it with her own eyes, yet still found it hard to believe.

If she had told anyone else what she just witnessed, they would have dismissed her as drunk or delusional.

The people of the North Sea were equally as bewildered, their faces filled with disbelief.

Northern Black Dragon?

Zhou Xuchuan also couldn't hide his shock. One thing that surprised him was a little different from others.

Four Sea Dragon Kings!

In Central Plains mythology, there were dragon kings who built dragon palaces and reigned under the seas of the east, west, south, and north.

The Blue Dragon in the East, the White Dragon in the West, the Red Dragon in the South, and the Black Dragon in the North.[1]

Zhou Xuchuan had already

met

the southern Red Dragon. To be exact, he had met the mysterious sect that was named after the Red Dragon, the South Sea Dragon Gate.

After seeing the South Sea Dragon Gate, I had wondered if there would be others who had inherited the name of the Four Seas Dragon Kings... but to really think...

Gulp.

To think that Shaman of the Xuexue Tribe was actually the North Sea Dragon King!

He had been baffled when the South Sea Dragon Gate's technique, the Dragon's Roar, had been used by the North Sea's Shaman. However, that mystery had been solved.

The Dragon's Roar was a martial art that imitated the sound of a dragon's cry, and was also a means of communicating with dragons.

If Shaman really had the power to ascend into a creature similar to a dragon, it wouldn't have been strange for them to use it.

"GRAH!!!!"

Shaman, who was either a Black Dragon or a Xuanwu, howled.

The energy of the Great Nature gathered between its gaping jaws. The problem of the lowered temperature—it was certain now, it had to have been the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence.

Rumble!!

Shaman's roar echoed throughout the ice valley. A deep tremor followed, shaking the very horizon.

The cliff, which barely allowed even a sliver of sunlight, trembled uneasily before a portion of it cracked and fell.

BOOM!

"B-be careful!"

"The Ice Valley is collapsing!"

The North Sea Ice Palace members finally came to their senses.

This wasn't hail or debris. This was an avalanche, no, an iceslide. It felt like meteorites crashing down from the sky.

The force of the iceslide was enough to reshape the valley’s terrain. Luckily, the collapse occurred at a distance, and they managed to avoid it.

Instead, the real problem was what would happen next. They were already worried about how to get out.

However, the greater concern was Shaman, the one behind the roar.

"I'll take care of this before the situation gets worse," Zhou Xuchuan said.

He was curious about Shaman's relationship with the South Sea Dragon Gate and the Four Sea Dragon Kings, but he pushed aside those thoughts for now. Things might have been different if he were alone, but since he had many people to protect, including his one and only Junior Sister, he didn't have time to spare.

Thud!

Zhou Xuchuan kicked off the icy ground. He moved forward as if gliding on a frozen path. No, he truly was sliding.

He didn't even need to exert any force. Just shifting his center of gravity propelled him forward smoothly

.

The scenery raced past him. He closed the distance with Shaman faster than the eye could follow.

Boom!

The heavy, stretched-out sound split the air.

It came from Shaman, who had raised a massive front leg and slammed it to the ground with full force.[2]

The noise quickly turned into another roar.

BOOM!

Its front leg contained a power that could shake the world.

Zhou Xuchuan couldn't tell if it was power coming from its large body or the energy of the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence, but it was enough to make one exhausted with just a look.

The icy ground sank around its front leg. Instead of stones, ice rocks splintered and rose partially through the broken ground.

It was truly a natural disaster. The ground shook as if an earthquake had occurred, and a shock wave crashed down.

"Ugh!"

"Kya!!"

"Grab on!"

The warriors of the North Sea Ice Palace screamed.

Those caught in the shock wave looked like they had been struck by a dragon’s fist.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

If they hadn’t been strong enough to enter the Ice Valley in the first place, many would have suffered internal injuries or been flung into the ice walls.

"GRAH!"

Shaman roared and prepared to slam its front paw down again.

"Audacious!"

Zhou Xuchuan shot up from below and struck its paw.

Crack!!

It didn’t feel like hitting flesh or breaking bones. Since Shaman’s paw was encased in ice, the sensation was like shattering a dense shell.

Zhou briefly wondered if this ice acted like a defensive qi barrier or something akin to Black Iron Armor, but it didn’t matter.

"GRAH!!!!" Shaman roared. This time, mixed with the bloodlust was pain.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

While it wasn't certain if Shaman was a dragon or a Xuanwu, what they did know was that the valley shook every time it moved its body.

It was wreaking havoc with its heavy body, so there was no way the surroundings would be unharmed. Ice shards, or rather, ice boulders, rolled down from above as it slammed against the valley walls, threatening everyone below.

"GRAH!!!"

Shaman's mouth gaped open, but this time it wasn't the heart-stopping Dragon’s Roar.

Whoosh!

A cold wind blew around its mouth like a whirlwind.

The scattered snowflakes in the air floated up and were then sucked into its mouth, emitting a pure white light.

It was an extreme aura that further lowered the temperature of the atmosphere.

Zhou Xuchuan realized something was wrong and warned the others.

"Block it!"

BANG!

The moment Shaman exhaled the aura gathered in its mouth, a ripple appeared, like a stone falling onto the surface of water.

Immediately, a beam of light traced a path behind the ripple and shot like a meteor straight toward the North Sea Ice Palace.

"Be careful of the aftershock."

The North Sea Ice Palace Master, Leng Yuefei, raised her hand against the blast.

Ssssss!

Leng Yuefei's eyebrows twitched. The moment the beam of light touched the center of her palm, the impact surged through her as if she had collided with one of the Six Empyrean Overlords at full force.

It was the power of the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence, which had absorbed energy from the North Sea for hundreds, even thousands of years.

If she hadn't reached the Coruscant Realm, she might have frozen instantly. The blast was so powerful her body began to tremble unconsciously.

"Haaap!"

Zhou Xuchuan noticed Leng Yuefei's shaking and stepped forward.

He was worried about Luo Xiaoyue and Little Ghost behind her.

Thud!

He kicked off the back of Shaman's hand and ran. Since the beast’s arms were made of ice, every time he started to slip, he kicked off again and leapt higher.

Rather than running, it would be more accurate to say he was leaping upward.

The head!

He continued to run forward using its ice shell as a stepping stone.

He also didn't just go up. He spun around in the air, too.

Clenching his left hand, which wasn't holding a sword, tightly, he thrust it forward with all his might.

RUMBLE!

This wasn't a squelching sound.

Shaman's head turned to the side with a loud bang.

The part made of ice was severely broken as its neck was severely bent.

"GRAH!"

The light that had gathered in its mouth lost direction, scattered, and vanished.

It's not as strong as I thought.

The beast’s carapace was solid. While not as tough as Ten Thousand Year Cold Steel, its durability was still well above average. But Zhou Xuchuan was anything but average.

Though he had not achieved Completed Mastery in Power Strike Fist, he compensated with an enormous amount of qi, almost limitless like the vastness of the North Sea.

The beast's head rang, and the pain spread through its entire body.

Zhou Xuchuan slid down Shaman’s neck, which was writhing in pain, and landed on its shell.

Is the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence, below here?

It wasn't in the beast’s head. Just like how hearts and brains were protected by bones, it seemed the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence was also hidden within the shell.

Without hesitation, Zhou Xuchuan unleashed a technique.

Violet Haze Dawnbreaker!

BOOM!

"Grah!!!!"

Shaman's suffering wasn't over.

Zhou Xuchuan had no intention of conserving his strength. He wasn't particularly tired, nor did he feel the need to test the waters.

After hitting the shell with Violet Haze Dawnbreaker, he pulled his arm back and then drove it forward again to stab.

"GRAHHHHHHHH!"

Shaman's neck, which had slumped, jerked back to its original position.

Its neck muscles were flexible and rebounded well. It opened its mouth, preparing to kill the human on its back.

However...

"I'll handle the head."

The monster of the North Sea, Leng Yuefei, landed while pinching her nose in disgust.

In the hollow eyesocket, its vertically split pupils burned with emotion, waiting for an opening.

The North Sea Ice Palace Master’s cultivation method and even her Ice White Divine Palm, were still, at their core, Ice Desolation Arts.

No matter how great they were, they meant little before the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence. Shaman intended to block Leng Yuefei’s strike and devour her.

"Bow down."

Leng Yuefei's palm struck Shaman's forehead.

Bang!

It didn’t feel like a slap. It felt like a sledgehammer crashing down.

The head that had barely risen fell forward as if it had been broken again.

"It's finally easier to look at you now, Xuexue Tribe Chief."

Leng Yuefei was neither naive nor arrogant. She had no illusions about confronting the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence with just Frigid Yin Qi.

Once he became an Absolute Master like the Six Empyrean Overlords, it was easy to draw out pure power in addition to the power of Frigid Yin Qi.

So she deliberately excluded Frigid Yin Qi and struck with only her palm.

"..."

Meanwhile, the people behind her just stared blankly.

Although Shaman was a divine beast that was only heard about in legends, it was being beaten down so one-sidedly that it felt pitiful. It was only natural since there were two of the Six Empyrean Overlords, beyond the pinnacle of martial artists, but something still felt strange.

Was it necessary to come down here?

Davaaa, the Northern Wind Vice Captain, pondered seriously.

Huff.

In the end, Shaman, who they weren't sure if it was a dragon or a Xuanwu, only let out a howl filled with anger and pain before collapsing.

1. This is mixing the two myths. The first is the Five Dragon Kings myth, five elemental dragons of different shades that lay in the four cardinal directions and the center of the central plains, and the Four Seas Dragon Kings, who are the Sons of the Dragon God assigned to each direction. ☜

2. Shaman is now a thing, still not gendered, but not a they. ☜