A calamity of agony and despair swept across Ice Jade without any prior indication. Countless lost their lives, their loved ones, or their homes. The planet that was once beautiful enough to garner the envy of billions had been turned into a wasteland of crumbled earth and ice.
The wails of the unfortunate, and the powerful, echoed out from every corner of the world. They were survivors. They were grieving.
"So loud, ugh." An indifferent voice groaned heartlessly, finding the despairing screams and heart-wrenching cries annoying. This voice was accompanied by a burst of silvery spatial light, coinciding with the appearance of a man above the capital city of Ice Jade. The once prosperous city filled with activity and experts was currently in a state of hectic chaos. Countless experts that could resist the destructive power, surviving either with half a life or with some minor injuries, were trying to gauge the situation, find their loved ones, or assist those in need.
The man was elderly, wearing an aquamarine robe with long sleeves. His every step induced a watery ripple within the space, granting him a feeling of being a drop of water amidst the sea that was the world. Yet within that drop of water was the capacity of untold tragedy and violence, mighty and fearsome as a tsunami.
This was He Bojing, the He Clan's Earthly Saint!
If the experts of the Bing Clan were to see this unfathomable being that stood at the top of the world, above quintillions of lives, as one of the few peak cultivators throughout the entire Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, a genuine Earthly Saint, they would be deeply confused!
The Mythical Oaths of the Aeternal Sky Starfield's Noble Clans prevented Earthly Saints from recklessly invading territories or entering Domains without explicit permission or provocation! Fortunately, the Mythical Oaths were structured by the Imperial Clan, who had allowed loopholes and exceptions via omissions or careful wording.
For example, if a Domain was under the assault of or involved with a suspected enemy foreign to the Aeternal Sky Starfield, Earthly Saints of the starfield had the right to intervene and investigate. It wasn't explicitly stated to help but to investigate! It was clear that the Imperial Clan kept this detail to justify 'helpful' invasions or direct implementation of Martial Law if the occasion required it. For example, seizing potential 'traitors'.
He Bojing was no longer restricted to watch from afar.
For Ice Jade, this wasn't a calamity! No, it was a miracle!
"I'll do this for you, my little ice flower." He Bojing intended to accumulate continuous favors from the Bing Clan. With a soft breath, he pressed his palm gently downwards. What was he? He was a genuine Earthly Saint! As he'd grasped Awakened Mystic Intent and the Apex-level Transformative Water Intent, he easily exerted his power over the planet's entirety with a wisp of his Mystic Power.
Just a wisp of his power could cause Ice Jade to collapse, yet he was using it to interact with the tens of billions of lives on the planet! A pulse of water swept across the world; the Ice Power from Bing Hanju's detonation melted into the gentlest water, rapidly dissipating into a vapor that carried traces of Life Energy, and those who were injured, barely breathing, were slowly being restored with every shallow breath. At the same time, the waves that formed gently brought those trapped by debris or in danger to safety.
"Thank the heavens that the average cultivation for this planet is quite pitiful," He Bojing mockingly commented as a rune formed on his palm.
Temporal Mystic Rune!
Those who'd just touched upon the brink of death and absolute grief, who just regained their breath of life, unanimously lifted their heads to see the gorgeous rainbows that formed across the planet's skies. It was beautiful.
"Is this…the miracle of a God?"
A mother drenched in water held her little boy tightly. It was hard to distinguish her tears from the water. The little boy desperately held onto an apple-like fruit; he was dead. The flash freeze had ended his life instantly, while his mother had desperately resisted with her Sky Layer Phase cultivation for a few seconds longer. Her life was saved by He Bojing.
"My…my son!" She looked at the ashen pale, lifeless expression of her only child. "Yo-your father left me; you ca-can't...please don't leave me. Please!" She howled desperately.
A wave of grayish light followed the pulse, sweeping across the world with startling swiftness.
"Mo-mommy! I-it hurts!" The little boy eked out desperately from the crushing embrace. The mother's eyes widened as she looked at the light of life within her child's eyes. Her current emotions were wild, but the only thing she could do was cry and cry with snot leaking out without end. She didn't let up; her embrace lessened in strength but increased in closeness.
"Mom!" The little boy was unable to understand what was happening. How could he know that his mother had sunk into absolute despair and then experienced the greatest joy in such a short period?
Countless lives across Ice Jade began to experience Temporal Reversion. Their lives that had been claimed a minute or so ago had been returned. It was as if they weren't crushed by debris, they weren't flash-frozen, or they weren't blown to bits.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Earthly Saints, those who've grasped terrifying Mystic Power and profound powers, possessed abilities that would make mortals view them as gods!
"My precious Mystic Power," He Bojing slightly frowned. As an Earthly Saint, one that firmly grasped the Temporal-type Mystic Rune, He Bojing's Temporal Reversion was extraordinarily seamless, and for most beings beneath the Mystic Ascendant Realm, it required no lifeforce to bring them back, simply some Mystic Power.
That said, recovering even an iota of this grand power required an absurd amount of time and high-level resources, especially since it was composed of four types of separate mystic-graded energies.
He Bojing sighed in his heart; this was all for Bing Tian, so he stomached the loss. "Now, her turn." The He Clan's Earthly Saint's eyes lit brightly as he burst into silvery spatial light. The next moment, he stood at the epicenter of the destruction—the sight of Bing Tian's death. Bringing back a Demi-Mortal Lord was costly, so she'll have to repay him. The thought excited him.
Dual Cultivating for the next century should cover that. His eyes glowed expectantly. Bing Tian's ice beauty flashed across his pupils, and his heart raced slightly. Furthermore, she was an untainted, pure Demi-Mortal Lord virgin—an extreme rarity in the world of cultivation. He had to put in the extra effort to ensure that Temporal Reversion would bring her back completely.
In truth, he had watched the Bing Clan's Clansman slay Bing Tian earlier. To his eyes, it all happened slowly. While those who've lost their lives here might've felt that clansman's movements were sudden and explosive, for an Earthly Saint, it was easy to react. While he could've intervened after she got skewered and held on for a few milliseconds, he decided to let the situation develop to better position himself to gain from the event. The worse her situation, the better the repayment.
"Here," he lifted his hand, and the remains of Bing Tian's corpse rapidly gathered above his palm from all over. To think that these gory pieces of icy flesh were once an icy beauty that could stimulate his innermost desires. Her immaculate body he had seen while she was held captive materialized within his pupils, and his smile grew.
To her, he'll be her hero. This'll make it easier to obtain her alongside this massive debt of billions of lives.
He held his laugh as he executed Temporal Reversion. The broken pieces of bone, flesh, and muscle of Bing Tian began to twist and undergo a shocking reversal! In a second, Bing Tian's gorgeous body was repaired. After getting an eyeful of her stunning body's proportions and curves once again, he exerted a bit more strength, and her clothes returned as well.
"..."
"..."
He Bojing frowned heavily, his expression darkening by the millisecond. The reversion cost very little relative to what he had originally expected—too little.
Bing Tian's body was alive; she was inhaling and exhaling, and her lifeforce had been stabilized. This baffled He Bojing. He sent his Spiritual Sense into her body, and his eyes widened in disbelief.
Her Sea of Consciousness, Mystic Soul, Mystic Core, and Primal Yin were gone!
HER PRIMAL YIN!
Her body's innate energies were being perfectly regulated by her Mystic Physique, so it hadn't gone volatile. His heart descended into the depths of despair! This was no different from a fleshy bag of blood and muscles with an alluring visage. It was useless! Absolutely fucking useless!
"WHERE IS IT?!" He raged with a deep howl. Then, his eyes lifted.
That Bing Clan's clansman!
"I'LL KILL YOU!" His hopes for a pleasurable century of cultivation and joy were dashed. He had to find out what had happened! With a thunderous step, he burst into silvery light, speeding through fixed space!
-----
"He's after us!" Xiao Bing exclaimed in her heart in horror. 'Bing Jialun' was rushing towards them, filled to the brim with murderous intent, and it was clear that he intended to kill them as well! Her scalp numbed, and her heart raced as she hastily tried to think. The Protective Rune's power was amplifying her abilities, including her perception, so she had some time.
When she realized that Yun Che was moving much slower than she expected, she looked at the gift that Wei Wuyin had left her. Wu Yu's Protective Rune! It didn't just have passive abilities! Na Xinyi had once used a similar rune to dominate the Dark Yin Palace, and she had the same access. She linked her Spiritual Strength within, and the empowerment she was experiencing instantly elevated by a few levels!
She tapped into a portion of its power, channeling it into Bing Liya, and then forcefully pushed her away! The granddaughter of the Bing Clan's recently deceased Matriarch was sent hurtling across the Dark Void as a comet of bursting light.
Xiao Bing acted decisively. She sent Bing Liya in the opposite direction before using the Protective Rune's Mystic Power to jet away! The experience of flying so fast felt astonishing to her! However, she felt a prick at the back of her neck. Her numbed scalp trembled, and she instinctively turned around despite her emotions. Her beautiful blue eyes widened! 'Bing Jialun' ignored Bing Liya and was chasing her!
"He's after me!" Xiao Bing was appalled. She thought Bing Liya was the target, so she decisively sent her in another direction using a large portion of the Protective Rune's strength. While the rune's power was exceptional, considering 'Bing Jialun' had acted against two Demi-Mortal Lords and was still alive, it was clear that his strength was not ordinary. She didn't dare fight using borrowed and haphazardly used power against a genuine Ascended being.
Her decision, of course, was correct! While Wu Yu's Earthly Saint-forged Protective Rune was powerful, it had limited strength, and she had limited skills. It would be extremely difficult to kill an ordinary Soul of Mysticism Phase cultivator using it, but even an elite Demi-Mortal Lord would find it difficult to harm her in a short time if she used it purely as a defensive measure.
"I can't let him capture me!" She firmly decided as she sped away with the greatest speed possible! But when she looked back at the murderous 'Bing Jialun' once more, her pupils shrunk as he raised his large blade. With a single swing, she felt the world grow dark and heaviness of indescribable levels pressed against her heart.
"He's…trying to kill me…?" Her mind went blank as the Protective Rune's power waned, on the verge of collapse. Xiao Bing was fully aware of her Everlasting Ice Essence Physique, a top-tier Yin Cauldron physique; she couldn't believe that this man wanted to slay her…
…was she too conceited in her thinking?
-----
"Bothersome!" Yun Che roared in his heart. Xiao Bing had a Protective Rune, and it was absurdly powerful, allowing her to run away. She had even sent Bing Liya hurtling through the Dark Void. He had the urge to kill her first, but the Mystic Power enveloping her was dense and durable, so he'd have to either waste a single swing of the Heretical Berserk Godsword or a lot of time to breach it.
Bing Liya wasn't worth it; he chose to focus on his primary target and make her his sole target, unwilling to allow her Primal Yin containing the profundities of Everlasting Ice to escape his grasp. As long as he killed her with the Heretical Berserk Godsword and absorbed her Sea of Consciousness, Primal Yin, Astral Soul, Astral Core, and Everlasting Ice Source Quintessence, he would be able to use external resources to cultivate it to the Mystic-grade, and he would forever have an external Yin Cauldron to cultivate with.
"Hm?" His eyes widened as he turned around, noticing the changes on Ice Jade. "An Earthly Saint has taken action! Fuck!" He roared in his heart, urgency swelling heavily as he hadn't expected that. Where did this Earthly Saint come from? He had scanned the Truefrost Domain for the last week, and there should've been none! How did they react so swiftly?
He was now at a crossroads: leave with the Heavenly World Core or risk it and kill Xiao Bing!
"..."
He didn't have much time to waste, lifting the Heretical Berserk Godsword, using its unique power to suppress Mystic Power and Spiritual Strength, and viciously swung towards Xiao Bing! The Protective Rune was an external device, and its Spiritual Strength was fragile in comparison to a legitimate Earthly Saint, and the seams of its foundation began to descend into turmoil, growing increasingly weaker, and Xiao Bing became noticeably slower!
A single swing!
A true swing of the Heretical Berserk Godsword!
A force containing the full weight of a titanic-sized planet barreled towards Xiao Bing, and she helplessly watched as it approached at undodgeable speeds.
BOOSH!!!
-----
Xiao Bing felt a warmth envelop her. Was this death? Was it always so warm? She…she didn't want to die. Not like this! She hadn't even seen him yet! And she was still a virgin! While it was often believed that only men had such thoughts, women too had these thoughts at the twilight of life-and-death!
Ba-dum! Ba-dum!
A series of powerful, thunderous heartbeats pounded beside her ear. It woke Xiao Bing from her encroaching sense of abject fear, and her eyes fluttered open from their tightly shut state. She first saw a strong chest of perfect muscles and soft grey scales. The hexagonal shapes of these scales were boundlessly alluring, and she was instantly distracted by its masculine beauty and the scent it exuded.
"..." She was still alive? The sensation of her waist being held, her body being cradled by two strong arms, and a soft, gentle warmth suffusing her body caused her to awaken completely to the fact that she was still breathing! She was alive!
When she gathered the courage to lift her gaze to see her savior, she saw an indistinct mask with indistinguishable features, but her heart instinctively recognized who had saved her.
"Is it really you?" Her soft and normally cold voice exclaimed emotionally.