Xuan, Jade and Lloyd made their way through the dense trees of the forever woods. The sun was already setting, however the golden hues of the sky were masked by the green leaves of the tree top canopies.
Xuan felt awkward walking amongst Jade and Lloyd, especially due to their near CONSTANT flirting. Like good god he couldn't even understand how they kept on flirting with eachother for so long, but he didn't say anything. As a stranger and a mortal, he had no right now the authority to say anything.
Jade turned to Xuan, speaking up.
"Oh yeah, introductions. I am Jade, first disciple of master Xiaolong."
Xuan's jaw dropped.
"And I am Lloyd. Third disciple of master Xiaolong."
Xuan's jaw dropped even further. He knew that the cultivator duo were from the Eternal Skyfire sect but he didn't know they were the disciples of the second strongest Cultivator!
Any cultivator worth their salt would know about Jade and Lloyd, the students of the honored one. However, since Xuan grew up in a relatively poor environment he didn't have access to much information. He only knew about Xiaolong, Galr and the rest due to their sheer fame.
Lloyd and Jade both stifled a giggle at his reaction. Well, Lloyd did, Jade set out a small amused snort.
"Well, what's your name Mortal?"
Jade asked. Xuan came to his senses.
"O-oh, right. I'm Wok. Xuan Wok."
This time not even Lloyd couldn't help but make an amused expression.
"Wok? Do you use a Wok as a weapon?"
The male Cultivator asked. Xuan shook his head.
"Unfortunately no. I have this short sword over here, bought it after saving up for 5 years."
He said. Jade appeared a bit disappointed.
"Aw man...the hilarity of someone having the name Wok using a Wok would've been great."
She said. Xuan chuckled awkwardly, not sure how to respond.
"Anyways, let's continue on. The demonic beast is near. I can feel it."
She said before turning to a bush. Both Xuan and Lloyd felt an eerie feeling coming from the other side.
"There."
Jade said before moving towards the said bush. The other two followed suit, peering through the foliage to see what was outside.
The demonic beast was nothing Xuan had ever seen. Standing at a height of 8 meters, it's head was a rotating dodecahedron, runes etched in all its sides. An ethereal blue light emitted from the dodecahedron. Beneath it's 'head', the demonic beast has 8 blue appendages. The eight appendages left a hollow center, within which there was a singular eye that seemed to be looking everywhere at the same time. Eight blue wings sprouted from the creature, each one 16 meters in wingspan. Wind swirled around the creature's body, picking up stray leaves and dirt. The whirling of said wind was barely audible.
Xuan was horrified but at the same time enamored by the creature.
"What the hell.."
"That's a demonic beast."
Jade said.
"They are born when densi Qi around an area coalesces into a singular point. Due to their makeup they don't resemble any regular living creature. However, they aren't 'whole' as they lack a mind and a soul. These creatures attack anything around them, trying to absorb their Qi and soul so that they can be 'whole'. If they succeed in this goal, they become true demons."
She explained.
"You sure are knowledgeable about this."
Xuan said. Jade nodded.
"It's one of the first things we cultivators learn. Each demonic beast is a unique monster, having their own weaknesses and strengths, however we can predict what they could be depending on what Qi they are made up of. By the looks of it, that thing is made of Air Qi." She continued, before taking out a sword from thin air. Lloyd followed suit. Both the swords weren't decorated at all and appeared to be made of plain steel.
"Stay back Xuan. This won't take long. Lloyd, cover me from any stray attacks and distract it, I will attack it head on."
She said, getting into a low batlestance, her face hardened. A glint of battle appeared in her pale face.
"Let's do this."
She said before rushing forward. Immediately a sonic boom erupted due to her sheer speed. The sound was deafening, the shockwave, overwhelming. The trees uprooted with ease, dirt and branches alike being sprayed everywhere. Xuan was blown away by the force of the blast. Thankfully he was caught by Lloyd. The former was too disoriented to thank the latter, his ears ringing due to the sonic boom.
"Be careful Xuan."
He said before rushing to fight alongside Jade as well.
Jade swung her sword at the beasts 'head', aiming to kill it in one go. Surprisingly the demonic beast retaliated even with Jade's immense speed, its head morphing and changing shape so that Jade's sword passed through a gap in its head rather than the head itself.
The beast retaliated, raising one of its appendages and launching it at Jade with such speeds that it created an air bubble to form, travelling towards Jade at hypersonic speeds. Jade however shifted her body mid air, dodging the air bubble as well as the appendage, before attacking the said appendage. Steel clashes against cyrstalised Qi, the force of which created a deafenining boom.
While the clash still went on, the rest of the 7 limbs of the creature moved out to hit Jade from all directions. However, they were intercepted by Lloyd, who managed to hit all of them in one go. The strike didn't do any damage, Lloyd didn't have such power, but he did succeed in his job, that being to lure the appendages away from Jade. Due to the mindless nature of the beast, it began targetting Lloyd.
Jade used this opportunity to slip her sword, sliding it across the creatures appendage and thrust it upwards at the 'head', piercing it and more. However, contrary to Jade's belief, the creature wasn't dead. A powerful gust of wind sent her flying and crashing into several trees. The resulting sound was akin to a dozen thunders, audible for miles. Xuan had to shield his ears so that he didn't go deaf, and even then he was disoriented.
The creature didn't let up just yet, now focusing on Lloyd and striking at him with all seven limbs. Lloyd however parried each and every single one of them with ease, his face still unbothered.
After a brief moment, Jade got up with an unamused expression, still locked in. It seems she wasn't hurt in the slightest and only mildly annoyed.
"So the face was a decoy…good to know. Time to end this."
She said as her sword glowed a bright cyan. Lloyd saw the bright light and sweat dropped.
"Talk about overkill senior Sister.."
He said before suddenly disappearing and reappearing next to a very scared, confused but equally ecstatic Xuan. The latter looked at Lloyd in confusion.
"Whats going on."
"Senior Sister Jade is about to unleash her Sword art. All the disciples of master Xiaolong specialises in the sword, but Sister Jade also specialises in using ice."
He said. Suddenly Jade's voice was heard even though she was more than 500 meters away. It sounded heavenly, an unending sense of authority present in her voice.
"Sword art:Glacial Storm"
She said, raising the sword high into the air. The cyan glow intensified. The demonic beast let out a screech not heard anywhere else as it's seven wings unfurled and it rushed at Jade, it's speed so high that Xuan couldn't even see it. But it was too late.
Her sword was brought down, and with it, judgement. Icicles rose from the gound like a tsunami, piercing the entirety of the demonic beast in an instant. However, it didn't stop there. The icicles kept on rising and rising and rising, reaching farther and farther out, until it finally stopped.
What was the aftermath of the fight was a 100 meter tall cyan crystalline icicle, dominating the forest canopies. Xuan's mouth couldn't have been wider.
"Ah shit…looks like I over did it."
Jade said at the end with a grin.