Wang Lan Biyu swallows the blood back while simultaneously diving to the side when her kin attempted to whip her like a rag doll. Noticing it missed, the body tightens and coils around her seeming to find her a bit more formidable now that it realised its prey could move after being hit so heavily. But how could Lan Biyu allow it to gain another edge? A flash of silver, the screeching sound of steel clashing against tough scales creating so much heat Lan Biyu's muscles strained and her cold blade became hot. Sweat coating her brows the girl leaped from the center of the circle retreating from the beast's twisting body. She took a deep breath, the hand holding her still-red blade was trembling.
On her left side...a loose robe swung lifelessly with the girl's movements. Her expression was like stone. Besides the sound of the uprooting of stray trees around her, there was also the faint dripping of a thick liquid. She dared not relax for long and viciously swung at the snake head bursting forth from the bushes from seemingly nowhere. When his fangs met steel, Lan Biyu could see the surprise in the other's eyes. His tongue flicks and she stiffens when the snake's pupils narrow after licking up her blood. Tossing her sword away he slowly curls up to scrutinize her a few feet above her head.
She deliberately meets his gaze, her cold blade held to the side with no indication of attacking first. Looking her up and down the snake suddenly chuckled and a deeply rattling voice escaped his incompatible lungs. "Sstrrange~ How strranngee~" Though she wasn't in a pose of pure aggression, he also noticed that if he moved closer. More than likely she would take action in stopping him. It was interesting. "What is a "Royal Chuanqi" doing escorting human cultivators in the An Xing realm? Hmm?" he tilted his head curiously.
Not fearing her nor having any more intentions of attacking after figuring out her identity easily. Licking his fang which still carried a bit of her blood and relishing the sweetness of her bloodline. Lan Biyu could even see the joy and brief flicker of bliss that crossed his face after tasting her. So sweet. So pure. So heavenly.
She didn't respond, but by now he seemingly believed her to be one of their own and let down his guard leaning a bit forward. His eyes filled with eagerness and desire "Though this humble one has yet to experience the outside world, those of the royal lineage usually do not come back all that much~ Tell us, your Highness, are the humans outside as delicious as they say~" His childish tone was as if not even a few seconds ago he had full intentions of killing her. Like a hatching acting cute towards his superior. Lan Biyu didn't allow anything to enter her expression, only looking on coldly while covered in her own blood. He questions her again leaning over further "Your Highness?"
As if just noticing she was in human form he looked the attractive human over that although was covered in blood and a bit of dirt couldn't hide her charming features. "How long will your Highness hide your noble form? Although your human skin is exquisite as expected of a royal isn't it uncomfortable pretending all day long?" "Is it fun?" She finally uttered callously to the snake who gave her a false look of surprise. "Hmm? Isss what fun your Highness?" Spiritual energy gathered around the tiny human, in the eyes of the large silver serpent member she still looked incomplete.
A mere fragment of what was surely one of the most beautiful spiritual beasts to have ever been born who had cast aside her true form. The playful light in his eyes dies as the snake gives a hair-raising chuckle, the aura surrounding them changing entirely. She took a deep breath as the snake above her spoke humorously. "This one once heard an interesting tale about a certain special batch of exceptional hatchlingsss. Ssss~ See, there was once an especially talented and beautiful pair of hatchlings~" His eyes narrowed with delight as Lan Biyu's icy gaze grew ten degrees colder.
"-One male~ One female~ The female hatchling was particularly talented and caught the Lord's eyess-pfft! Ahahaha-!!" His laughter was cut short as the seemingly weak girl sent a vicious wave of ice with a clean swing of her blade toward his head. His laughter bounced off the trees as the rain of sharp ice followed him with a dark-faced girl. Seemingly expressionless on the surface, her chest rose and fell with fury. Trees split, the earth shattered, and stones scattered. Nature could not stop her silent barrage of vexation and murderous intent. Knowing the chase would last forever her eyes cool as Lan Biyu stops in place bringing her blade to her lips she mutters quietly before swinging widely sending a tidal wave of ice.
*CRACK *SNAP Curving like the crescent moon she cut off his retreat with a wall of ice as tall as a miniature mountain surprising the snake who had been toying with her. "Oh ho~? So, it seems that human form of yours still holds a few secrets." Glancing behind him, he observed with new curiosity as the spiritual beast in human form exhaled the arctic wind from her blue lips. Not a single drop of sweat had escaped the beauty, her white robes were tattered and covered in blood, she was missing a limb, and dirt clung to some parts of her corrupting her saintliness. But her glower was as icy and steady as ever. Her eyes were gorgeous at this moment, like sparkling white opals. Along her neck, he could even spot similar colored scales emerging from her being desperately repressed by the owner.
"Pfft!" She watched without an ounce of emotion as he cackled at her outrageous stubbornness. "I see! I see how it is!!" His skin-crawling coarse voice shouted with realization and ridicule. Appearing incredulous with her behavior after understanding her situation "So!! You have chosen to be one of them? You do know that you can never kill me in that weak form right? Hahahaha!! Ridiculous!!" He burst into another round of laughter unable to hold down the amusement within him. "A royal choosing to be on the side of invading insects!! It's funny-! To think a royal of our noble serpent clan has fallen so low haha! Not to mention one who had favor from our Lord!"
A sharp blade narrowly misses his right eye and his playfulness dies then as he retaliates with all intentions of killing too. It's a pity. "You are undeserving." Her lips purse as the weight in his body although blunt was powerful enough almost to swat her into the sky. As she was weighed down with the burden she spots silver fangs appearing from the arena of scales and kicks from his body for momentum to dodge instead. Catching a sleeve he did not relent, as this time, he was the one doing the chasing. Within the coil of the large snake, only small glimpses of spring blues and whites could be seen.
Her muscles were screaming at her, in terms of strength they were even, she could compensate in terms of skill. But in the end, she was still just a human on the plains of beasts. As he had stated, Wang Lan Biyu would die in this human body. Sliding from his encirclement before he could restrict her movements entirely. Lan Biyu's expression hardened as the second her slipper touched the earth she knew she had made a mistake. Stabbing her cold blade into the ground to catch herself from tripping as the hard ground took hold of her foot like she were a fly caught in a web.
She only had time to steady her fall before the same flicker of silver as before, this time, with prey that couldn't move, flashed before her eyes. The image flickering and merging with an old memory, a similar scenario from back then. The sword embedded deep into the earth could feel its owner's emotion fluctuate and her bloody hand trembled in that fraction of a second. She froze as those fangs that had swallowed her most treasured person were now, directed at her... "Hui-" *KRUNCH
In less than a second, there was no blue and white figure anymore... Merely a cold blade embedded deeply into the earth. Licking his lips the snake gave a small sigh of contentment and disappointment. "I had thought I'd be able to battle a real royal, but she had to be stubborn to the end." Eyeing the hand still attached the blade hanging pathetically and tragically in the field of ice and upturned earth. He hums and imagines the praise he will receive when he returns for taking care of a traitor. Not caring for the "leftovers" he slithers away almost humming and radiating his happiness of being able to eat a full meal.
The spiritual energy he had just swallowed was brimming with vitality so he didn't care for hunting anymore. All he wanted to do was return to the nest to slowly digest and assimilate the royal's corpse and energy into his own. It was a royal after all! Who gets the chance to devour one of their own every day? He could feel just how pure his meal truly was in his stomach. It was like a chunk of unmelting ice was sitting in him threatening to freeze his innards if he didn't deal with it immediately. When she was standing before him, he could only see the endless landscape of a wild blizzard.
He could only imagine the havoc such a powerful royal could have caused in her true form. Wasted potential. He had no idea what the brainless royal was thinking staying in such a weak piece of flesh that couldn't even handle a fraction of her real power. It would be too much of a waste to spit it out and let it dissipate back into the earth naturally. So he could only thank the stars he had run into the suicidal royal first. No doubt he would break through after taming the spiritual energy that has nowhere to escape inside him. Behind him, left in the wreckage having easily been overlooked in their battle.
A trembling hand covering the nose and mouth of an extremely pale face stared at the retreating back of the large beast. Qing Mianyang didn't dare to breathe or move. Squeezing herself into the broken remains of a hallowed trunk. Her eyes were red, tears cascaded down her cheeks like a waterfall crashing into her hand. In a complete daze after witnessing death for the first time, and the death of a familiar person too. The normally arrogant girl's horrified stare in the direction of the beast that had long left her behind.
How? How did this happen? Where was Elder Shao Lin? Gu Ping? Gao Chang? Why didn't they come even after so long to help? Chaotic emotions were battling within her. Terror. Disbelief. Helplessness and frustration in her weakness. And to her shame, there were even hints of relief that it wasn't her who had been killed... Only when the sky was starting to turn a little red, and the distant sound of voices calling her name and...and Wang Lan Biyu's could be heard. Only then, did the dirty frightened girl finally croak a fragile sob.