Harsh winds capable of slicing metal like butter roared through the central mountain, perfectly complementing the bitter cold.
Yet, despite the sheer impossibility of the task, the children continued to persevere, climbing higher with bleeding hands and frostbitten limbs. They ignored the searing pain of their injuries, their faces hardened with resolve.
"I can't do this anymore!" one boy shouted, his voice trembling with exhaustion. "I'm out of strength, my balls are frozen...go on without me!"
As he released his desperate grip on the icy rock, the mountain showed no mercy. He fell, his scream cut short by the howling winds, leaving only the sound of his body vanishing into the abyss below.
"NOOOO!!!, NOT ANOTHER ONE!!!" Azrael roared, his voice shaking the very air around him. His anguished cry reverberated against the jagged cliffs as he watched the boy's small, fragile body vanish into the abyss below.
Sorrow and grief flooded his eyes, his hands trembling as he clung to the icy rock surface. He felt it again—that unbearable weight of failure, the suffocating guilt of being unable to save yet another life.
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!" he bellowed, his frustration echoing through the mountain "WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? ARE OUR LIVES NOTHING TO THEM?!"
During their climb to the top of the mountain, children began to drop like flies, their screams swallowed by the roaring winds. Azrael, once isolated from the true horrors of the world, was left paralyzed with each fall, his heart sinking deeper into despair.
He felt as if their survival rested solely on him, every loss cutting deeper into his soul. The sight of their bodies vanishing into the abyss replayed endlessly in his mind, each failure leaving him powerless and broken.
Despair gripped him tightly as he cursed his own weakness, unable to stop the mounting tragedies. The world felt colder, darker, and more merciless with every step.
"AZRAEL, CALM DOWN!" Uriel shouted as she noticed his turmoil. His usual collected demeanor was gone, and she knew she had to act quickly to snap him out of it.
"We are not responsible for anyone! Their deaths are not your fault but a mistake on their part for not persevering and enduring to the end."
Her voice was steady but urgent as she continued, "Brother, many of them only survived this far because of you. You gave your all to prolong their lives.
This is a cultivation world where death is ever-present, and what you've witnessed is only the beginning. If this is your breaking point, how will you survive in the long run?"
Though her words were firm, a warm gaze softened her expression. She understood his sorrow and despair, but she also knew he had to overcome them to move forward.
"Uriel, this is wrong... ALL OF THIS IS WRONG!!!" Azrael shouted with all his might, his voice echoing through the harsh winds and startling Uriel and the others.
Uriel's eyes narrowed as she absorbed his outburst, her patience slipping away. "Brother, who are you to decide whether it's wrong or right?" she retorted, her tone sharp and unyielding. "You're too weak to make that call. What qualifications do you have to impose your opinions on others? And how dare you use that condescending tone of righteousness with me?"
Her voice grew colder, the warmth of understanding replaced by the chill of authority. Being gentle had failed, and now she resolved to take a firmer approach.
"Keep quiet, be a good boy, and continue to climb... Are we clear?" she said, her words cutting through his delusion like a blade.
Azrael swallowed his opinions with great difficulty, forcing himself to continue the climb. Each climb was a struggle, but he pushed forward, the weight of the 4-ton cube was now feeling weightless to him, a testament to the immense strength his body had gained.
As the days passed, the number of deaths steadily increased, reducing their group to just 20% of its original size. Yet, Azrael ignored the countless screams echoing behind him, his focus solely on the mountain top ahead.
The cries of the fallen no longer reached him; he had shut them out, drowning in his own silent resolve. The climb had become his singular purpose, the weight of survival pressing ever harder on his shoulders, but he no longer faltered.
He continued to climb tirelessly, reaching the summit of the mountain. Once there, he quickly helped the others, urging them to climb faster and supporting them as they struggled to make their way up.
"Rooarre"
Chilling growls of unknown origin echoed throughout the mountain top.
Azrael looked at his chains and, with sheer brute strength, broke free from them. The others followed suit, using their own strength to escape, but their monocles remained firmly affixed to their limbs.
They then began to push their cubes toward the origin of the roar, the direction of the sanctuary they had been searching for.
As they neared the source, the sight before them was so horrific that many of them vomited, their stomachs turning at the grotesque scene unfolding before their eyes.
"URIEL, CALL ME SELF-RIGHTEOUS, I DON'T CARE, THIS IS PURE MADNESS!" Azrael roared as he began to cry. Uriel, shaken by his rage, now understood its origin.
In front of them lay countless mutilated bodies, stacked in grotesque piles that resembled twisted collections of discarded toys.
Limbs were torn from their sockets, scattered carelessly across the snow, while blood and brain matter splattered the ground, turning the once-white snow into a sea of crimson stain.
The air was thick with the stench of death, and the silence was broken only by the distant sound of dripping blood, each drop adding to the chilling horror before them.
"These are the bodies of the children who went different paths than us," Uriel said, her voice cold as she touched the sticky, fresh blood on the ground while identifying the bodies. "They took shortcuts, therefore their bodies lacked the tempering we received... their insolence led to their demise, brother."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over the carnage. "This is madness... pure cruelty. How could mother allow us to be here? What if we die?"
The group began to follow the path of carnage, the air growing heavier with the stench of blood and decay. As they advanced, the ground beneath them seemed to tremble, and the distant echoes of the roar grew louder, then, they saw it—the source of the devastation.
The monstrous creature laid before them, its grotesque form soaked in blood, surrounded by the mangled remains of countless victims. It was a nightmare made flesh, a terror so unimaginable that it seemed to drain the very beauty and purity from the world around it.
"Is that a demonic beast... why does it have so much killing intent?" Teng said, gritting his teeth, his body frozen with fear as he stared at the creature before them.
What stood before them was a giant polar bear with a cultivation base at the first stage of the body-tempering realm. Its appearance was plain, but its killing intent spoke volumes.
The bear began to rise as it sensed their presence, standing proudly at 11 feet tall. Dangling from its neck was a wooden key, emitting a faint burning smell.
"Brother, what's going on?" Uriel inquired quickly, her voice sharp with urgency. As she spoke, she began circulating her Qi, guiding the others to do the same.
"Sister stop circulating your Qi many used the same method but failed and the bodies before us support my claims
The cold was meant to temper our bodies, to make us stronger... to fight the bear. In order to survive, we need the key on its neck.
This fight is supposed to rely on brute strength. We are meant to tame this beast... No, we are meant to kill this beast using our bare hands. I understand it now."