Yulong continued running for some time, but it didn't seem he was getting any closer.
With a sigh, he stopped, startling Zhao Zhelan.
"Why did you stop? Tired already?" She said.
"No, this method is just too slow," Yulong said. With a quick hand gesture, he summoned his sword from his inventory and then threw it up into the air. Instead of falling to the ground, the sword defied gravity, floating.
Yulong made a move to get ontop.
"Stop! You will fall! You're only a Ninth Level True Martial!" Zhao Zhelan exclaimed.
Yulong paid her no mind. "Hope you can keep up." He said, before throttling into the distance. Surprised, Zhao Zhelan struggled to keep up.
*
*
*
For the next hour, Zhao Zhelan ran, jealous of this mysterious Ninth Level True Martial that could ride on a sword before her. Just who would force her to use her movement technique to keep up?
Of course, there were certain expensive swords called sky swords that weren't meant to be used in battle but as a flying treasure. The one Yulong rode wasn't one of them. The fact that he could control his Qi so precisely at his level was a shock.
But now at this higher speed, they could see the mountain drawing nearer.
'We'll get there in an hour. Perhaps two,' Yulong thought.
They neared the base of the mountain, stopping just before it. As Zhao Zhelan caught her breath, Yulong examined the ground.
He rubbed the dirt and looked at it thoughtfully. 'This dirt has been recently moved. Someone's been here.' He narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, his eyes widened.
Almost as if it was sprouting, a large clawed hand of an orange color tore out of the ground, reaching for Yulong's face. Yulong just barely managed to evade it, pulling his head back at the last second.
Yulong backed away and Zhao Zhelans head swerved toward the commotion. The hand, feeling that it did not skewer a face, clawed the dirt and started to push the rest of its body out from the ground.
His lips in a tight line, Yulong clenched the hilt of his sword. The normally teal blade started to glow a bright yellow, shining as Yulong got into a stance.
'Sword Intent! It can't be! Not at his level! Must be a similar skill!' Zhao Zhelan thought. She then spread her palm out, materializing a sword from her storage ring. The sword had a white hilt and was made of standard steel.
Meanwhile, a fat body had crawled out from the ground. The head of the beast was demonic and scaled. The bottom jaw jutted out, while the upper lip was nowhere to be seen.
It stood on two, stubby legs and had a soft, round belly. Two gray horns jutted out from the sides of its head, and an odd engraved mark lay bare on its forearm, like the thumbprint of an angel or the mark of a devil.
It let out a hissed breath, locking eyes with Yulong.
Crouching low, Yulong leaped into the air just as the giant vanished and reappeared in front of the place he'd been moments ago- swiping at the air.
[Earth Eating Demon - Spirit Mark]
[First Level Soul Gathering]
Clenching his blade, Yulong suddenly dropped down like a stone, a red aura surrounding him as he got closer to the beast.
'Good, seems like I can still use «Almighty Charge».' Yulong thought.
The Demon, seeing that Yulong was above it, leaped high into the air, arms outstretched.
'Hopefully, I have enough Qi for this. A Thousand Sword Strikes...'
The red glow increased in size, making it look like Yulong was enveloped in flames. The dazzling bright sword he held glowed as he held it to his side, plummeting down toward the beast.
'«Constant Sword Slash»!'
Yulong suddenly disappeared from his position appearing down on the ground. His sword was still at his side.
The demon roared in surprise as it hung in midair for a bit- almost floating, and started to plummet.
However, that was not why the demon roared.
Zhao Zhelan gasped, her eyes widening. 'No way! Did he actually...!'
Two of the large hands of the beast fell to the ground with a large thump. So did its two stubby legs, causing a spray of blood that narrowly missed Yulong.
Up in the air, the demon spun, missing its hands and feet. Not only that, it was riddled with deep cuts and slices along its body. Two of the biggest ones were around its neck.
"Mm, its neck is tougher than I thought," Yulong said. He could've cut the beast to pieces but only riddled its body with cuts to slow it down. He never expected the neck to defend against his proficient sword intent.
Yulong leaped out of the way as the demon's body slammed into the ground, breaking through earth and rock and forming a small crater.
"Ge... Ge..." Weak sounds emanated from it.
As the dust cleared, he then walked closer to the demon to inspect its arm, only to find the odd mark there glowing.
"Ge... Ge... Ge..."
Yulong raised his sword again, intent on killing the demon and taking its core.
"GEEEAAAAHHHHH!"
Suddenly a menacing aura exploded from the crater. Yulong was still calm- even smiling, never flinching as the thunderous roar that came from it, combined with the aura, would send any Mortal Martial flying.
Two hands grew from its arms, and two legs grew from its stubs.
Steam rose from its mouth as the demon suddenly stood up faster than the human eye could see.
It faced Yulong, opening its maw wide. Yulong's eyes widened as he noticed the inside of his mouth was glowing as if something was about to shoot out of it-
'«Cleaving Slash»!'
Boom!
Zhao Zhelan chose this time to intervene.
As a bolder shot out of the demon's mouth, Zhao Zhelan had already moved, using her movement technique to dash towards there, intercepting the boulder with a powerful front strike.
Yulong immediately leaped back as Zhao Zhelan then nimbly dashed toward the demon, striking it with powerful slices of her sword. Nevertheless, it was obvious she was struggling to keep up with the improved speed and reaction time of the demon.
'The demon is occupied for now... Hopefully, I have enough Qi for this last stab.' Yulong lifted his sword before he threw it as hard as he could toward the demon.
The sword whizzed through the air, moving so fast it almost seemed to teleport before the demon. Realistically, Yulong wouldn't have enough strength for this, however, with the Qi amplifying his blade...
Zhao Zhelan, seeing this, stopped engaging the demon. It let out a growl of triumph lunging towards Zhelan. Suddenly, a disc-sized hole appeared on the side of its head. It stumbled a bit, remembered that it was dead, and fell to the ground with a thump.
"Good job." Zhao Zhelan said, nimbly leaping towards where Yulong stood. His sword came back crashing into his outstretched hand, a large brown crystal at the tip of the blade.
Yulong acknowledged her compliment but still stood warily. 'Each battle can't be all out, life or death. Really, what is the mountain, and what will we find..?' Yulong sighed and looked up towards the mountain, glowering.
Then he focused on the description.
'Ah. Simple enough.' Yulong thought, turning to Zhao Zhelan who was looking at him with a confused look, as if wondering what he was cultivating.
He threw his sword into the sky and it fell back down, hovering over land. "Let's get going." Yulong said, leaping onto the blade and disappearing with immense speed.
Zhelan shook her head and bounded after him.
...
...
"I see." A pleasant voice said. It came from a woman who sat cross legged in a middle of a spring, a large lion in front of her. She seemed to be talking to it. "So he defeated one? Very interesting." She said with a yawn, returning to her cultivation.
The Nirvana Gathering lion in front of her didn't dare interrupt.
...
"Wow. I can't believe a True Martial managed to do it." Said a man. He sat on a flying sword, his lips forming an 'o' of surprise as he looked down at the attendant who spoke to him at the peak of a mountain.
"Fun. I want his sword." The man said, grinning madly at the servant. He nodded and vanished- as if he was teleporting, only leaving the man.
He licked his lips. "The thousandth sword for my collection... It surely must be legendary, right?"
...
"Young Master Yang!" A burly man ran up towards a lady standing in the middle of a plain. She looked back in surprise.
"Our scouts have said so: A man of the True Martial killed a Spirit Marked beast! He might be the one to join the sect you had in mind!" He huffed, as if he had run thousands of miles. As a Soul Gathering Cultivator at the peak, that was the only thing that would tire him.
"Ah. Another one." She smiled. The burly man blushed.
She turned back to facing the sun.
"But remember. You must know that there is always more than one path to the top of the mountain."