Taking a glance around, Yueshi noticed that the area beneath their feet was now devoid of any snow, which allowed him to see the dark brown dirt – a rare sight in the Frozen Wasteland.
Glancing toward his back for a moment he saw that the hole he opened to arrive here had been closed by the furious wind and snow.
And it was at that moment that he understood that this had been its plan all along - a trap to separate him and Yuan Yue.
Yuan Yue seemed to have finally noticed it too, and he could hear her soft screams from the other side – however, because of the whirlwind it was impossible for him to understand what she was saying.
"Looks like I will have to deal with you on my own." He looked at the beast with sharp eyes.
It wouldn't be easy, but he was sure it was not impossible. If he had been fighting alone from the start, then maybe he would have absolutely lost, but that had changed.
Creating the whirlwind had surely made the Frostbite Ape Queen spend a lot of energy, and there was no way she could maintain it without sparing it some of its focus and qi.
'I am sure her combat power has weakened, so there is a chance for me to win.'
Yueshi stopped thinking about unnecessary things and ran toward the creature.
Because he had spent all his points in the training grounds, he lacked cultivation techniques related to footwork; fortunately, the Ape Queen was not an extremely fast beast, or else he would be in trouble.
That reminded him that he could not continue like that. Training was good and important, but becoming addicted to it could lead him to his downfall if he did not cover all his bases.
Seeing him move, the huge beast did not stay still, either. While Yueshi was running toward her, the queen roared before charging at him, a shied-like structure made of ice forming in front of it.
Their clash gave birth to a resounding explosion, the resulting force of the impact sending shock-waves all around them – sending dirt and stones flying away.
The impact also made the queen retreat a single step, while Yueshi had to go back five or six, the difference in sheer strength between them becoming clearer with that.
Yueshi was not disappointed, however. Giving a few steps forward, he lashed out with his spear, and as it flew toward the ape, it looked like the swing of a dragon's tail.
The spear softly glowed in a blue color as Yueshi infused his qi on it – resulting in an explosion when the spear shaft connected with the bulky arms of the ape.
Seeing it lose balance, Yueshi promptly pulled his spear backward, before making a powerful thrust toward its heart.
The spearhead glowed with a sharp light as it made its way forward, but unfortunately, the Ape Queen was no pushover.
Seeing the spear advancing toward it, it furiously hammered against the ground with its large hands – a wall of ice forming between her and Yueshi.
Despite the spear successfully piercing through the wall of ice and destroying it, it lost a lot of power and the Ape Queen acquired enough time to retreat.
Not only that, it had even made its next move; just as the wall was brought down, Yueshi caught a glimpse of the huge ape falling toward him after giving a jump.
For a moment, Yueshi felt as all the light in this region was covered by a huge body - a humongous shadow covering everything.
Cursing inwardly, Yueshi promptly retreated; he could not win against it in a head-on confrontation, so there was no way that he would be able to defend when it received a boost from gravity.
Yet, despite retreating as fast as he could, he was still sent tumbling down when the ape hit the ground.
The entire region trembled and a curtain of smoke, dirt, and dust was raised as an enormous hole was torn open on the ground. Crack after crack extended all the way through the region covered by the whirlwind.
Then, just as Yueshi was getting up, he stumbled again as the ground under his feet caved in.
The resulting force of the Ape Queen's fall had made the entire land beneath their feet cave in a few centimeters, almost as if she wanted to prove her immense power.
Yueshi could feel his back become drenched in cold sweat at the thought of defending against such an attack. Chances are that if he tried, he been turned into meat paste.
That aside, the dust and dirt particles still filled the atmosphere and he could not see anything right now.
Waiting, in combat stance, he pondered how to deal with the demon beast.
Then, out of nowhere, he saw something flying toward him swiftly from his left side. All he could do was put his spear between them in the last moment, before being knocked to the side.
While he was sent flying, he caught a glimpse of what hit him – the Queen Ape's enormous fist.
'Damn it', plunging his spear on the ground he tried his best to stop himself from being knocked right inside the whirlwind.
After finally stopping, he breathed in deeply – because he had defended using his spear, the results were not as bad as they could have been.
Still, he could not help but release a hiss of pain; even with the blow having its power mitigated by the spear shaft, it still broke his right shoulder-blade.
Just moving caused a lot of pain already, and now, battling would become a few times harder. Maybe, just maybe, he was going to lose…
No, he could not lose. It was not just about him – if he lost, Yu Hai and the others would follow in his steps. But above all, he did not want that to happen to Yuan Yue, nor did he want Xuehua to grieve because of him.
Therefore, whatever price he had to pay, he would pay if it meant winning.
However, just as he set his mind in putting everything on the line, something grabbed him from beneath his feet. Looking down, he saw a hand made of crystal clear ice.
Then, as the dust started to settle down, he saw the Ape Queen smiling at him with a devilish smile and cold eyes.
Step by step it slowly approached, while Yueshi continuously tried to unbind himself. Unfortunately, the grip was so strong that he could not move a single muscle, much less break the ice holding him in place.
The worst of it was that the grip was becoming stronger by the second, and soon his bones would be broken.
Then, the Ape Queen stood in front of him with cold and sharp eyes. Her gaze seemed to tell him that this was what he deserved and that soon the others would be sent to accompany him in hell.
Moving her hand, she started to make a squeezing motion…
However, at the last moment, the situation changed again with a blast.
An explosion sounded as the Ape Queen was hit in the top of its head, being knocked to the ground with so much power that its head went three feet below the dirt.
Maybe because of the suddenness of the move, even the ice hand melted away into nothingness.
Yet, Yueshi was not even given time to celebrate, instead, his face became deadly pale a second later.
Going a moment back in time, and just as Yueshi had found himself trapped in the whirlwind…
Yuan Yue watched as the hole Yueshi opened toward the center of the whirlwind closed, her eyes opening wide as it finally dawned upon her – the Ape Queen had planned to separate them from the start.
"Are you okay?" She tried to scream, however, he apparently could not hear her.
'He will win; there is no need to worry…' She told herself in her heart. 'I know he can do it, he is strong, after all.' Yet, no matter how many times she repeated similar words, her anxious heart could not calm down.
She put a hand above her chest and felt her heart beating so fast and aching so much that she thought it would tear her chest open and leap through the gap.
Her thoughts soon changed from 'he will win' to 'I need to do something'.
Honestly, she was not someone who would foolishly do something reckless, however, she could not calm down. It was as if the world around her had disappeared, and just she and the whirlwind existed.
Just thinking about what could be happening inside made her want to just jump in. It was even funny; it had been just a while back that she had found out that she liked him, yet, now she was so worried about his well-being that she could not even think of her own.
'Is this how first loves work?' She was not sure, and she could not ponder over that right now.
Glancing at the other battles, she saw that everyone was occupied – she would not be able to get any help.
Breathing in deeply, Yuan Yue prepared herself, releasing the Golden Buddha and the golden hand. Thanks to that, the already raging wind became even more furious and the snowflakes sharper.
'Please, do not die!' She was always playful and easy-going, yet, right now her eyes were filled with desperation.
Approaching rapidly, she looked at the chaotic wind and snow.
'If I had learned a protective technique instead of an offensive one…' Then things would have been easier, and entering would not be as hard; she would also have been able to help Yueshi more.
However, she had always been someone that liked to fight and confront her opponents head-on, and she had never learned any defensive techniques.
Therefore, all she could do was give her all and pray for his well-being, for him to be strong enough to overcome this trial too.
Her hands faintly glowed with a golden hue, then it became brighter and turned into the form of a giant golden hand overlapping her own.
Boom! an explosion echoed as the palm hit the wall of wind; however, it was not enough to penetrate it when it was working at full speed.
For a moment, her eyes trembled as she became more desperate. Then, she tried again and again, but it was of no use. The whirlwind was not being suppressed anymore, and her Golden Buddha Palm was not meant to pierce and tear through things.
Then, as if having a change of mind, she stopped; as she focused more, the giant hand started to decrease in size, until it was just big enough to cover her own.
'I must concentrate all the energy in a smaller point so that I can break it!' Her eyes grew sharper as she released another palm-strike.
As her palm struck against it, the wall of wind parted ways, allowing one distinctively see the hurricane being distorted – forming a single region without air in the shape of an outstretched palm.
However, a second later, it returned to normal – and as the wind hit her hand, Yuan Yue felt a searing pain.
The wind and snow were razor-sharp, slashing at her hand with power and speed. Despite the qi protecting her hand, many cuts were still made on it.
However, gritting her teeth, she cycled her qi again and tried once more – still, it was of no use. The whirlwind was fast, and was becoming more powerful as time passed!
'Fuck it!' Why was she not able to do it? Ling Tian Tian would have been able to open a path inside on her own… she guessed that even Xuehua had the ability to easily do it.
Why, then, could she not do the same? Hadn't she practice hard all those years, too? Why, then, did her fists fail her when she needed them the most?
No. That was not it. With her eyes moist, she prepared to continue trying. It was not that her fists failed her, nor was it that she was many times weaker than them. She was just not doing it right.
She was carefree and easygoing, those were her qualities and also flaws. Yueshi walked a path of pride, ambition, and confidence, his spear also sharing those characteristics. Meanwhile, Ling Tian Tian was domineering, arrogant, and fierce, and therefore, her sword followed the same path.
Yuan Yue had trained hard, and she had her own dreams. However, she had never thought about what path she wanted to follow, what sort of road she wanted to travel.
What did she want her fists to accomplish for her?
Was it fame, fortune, power, immortality… what was it that she sought, really?