Chapter 13: Memories of the Past – The Ice Scorpion Clan Confrontation, Part One
I still remember that after I completed the first ten thousand years, I faced the first Heavenly Calamity of my life.
After that, my mother allowed me to go to the Ice Scorpion Clan. In truth, my mother was a friend and acquaintance of the Ice Scorpion Empress, so it wasn't difficult.
I still remember my first encounter with the Ice Scorpion Empress, one of the Northern Calamities — the Green Emerald Star Calamity — and the situation her sister was facing.
Her sister was a female Ice Scorpion named Shim Blue.
At that time, her sister, Shim Blue of the Ice Scorpions, was preparing to break through and had reached ninety thousand years.
At that moment…
Memories resurfaced.
In the north-central region lay the lands of the Frost Scorpion Clan.
Between the snow-covered hills stretched a vast frozen lake, with a small island at its center.
To most people, the scene might have seemed beautiful, if not for the pits carved into the hills and the countless scorpions that appeared to be made of ice, their tails jade-colored. Some of these scorpions reached up to three meters in height, and with their numbers exceeding a thousand, no visitor to this place would ever have the chance to enjoy the view.
But now, the region that had remained peaceful for centuries was plunged into chaos, as all the scorpions gathered around the lake, and a fierce battle raged.
In the middle of the small lake stood a blue Frost Scorpion, radiating immense amounts of red mental energy mixed with blue, signaling that it was a Spiritual Beast on the verge of surpassing the One Hundred Thousand-Year Barrier.
Normally, no one—except those with strength exceeding a hundred thousand years—would dare approach it.
Yet at this moment, four people were attacking it. Since two of the elders could somewhat restrain its attacks, it meant they were at least not weaker than it in power.
The first person was an elderly man, appearing to be in his seventies. To any ordinary onlooker, he would have seemed like a harmless old man who wouldn't hurt a fly.
But now, he looked utterly majestic, surrounded by flames, holding a red fan in his hand, with nine Martial Spirit Pearls orbiting him in perfect harmony: Yellow – Yellow – Purple – Purple – Black – Black – Black – Black – Black… He was a Martial Spirit Master, known as Super Ryru!
Usually, there was rarely anything that made him take matters seriously, especially since he was already at the ninth level of Martial Spirit Master.
But now, he wasn't just serious — he was extremely annoyed.
At first, things had gone smoothly. One of their sect disciples had reached level 80, and as usual, he needed to find an Energy Pearl, and his age had to be between 80,000 and 90,000 years.
But since his element was ice, it was almost impossible to find a suitable pearl and spirit core in the Fallen Star Forest.
So they decided to head north, to the largest gathering of ice spirit beasts, to select a more suitable spirit beast.
To ensure the mission's success, the sect leader sent the second, third, and fourth elders along with him.
However, the stronger the spirit beasts, the harder they were to defeat.
Especially since the second elder's Martial Spirit was the Dragon Turtle, a defensive water-type spirit, while the third elder's Martial Spirit was the Ice Sword, and the fourth elder's Martial Spirit was of the Air element.
As for the first elder, his Martial Spirit was the Fire Fan.
In addition, they had no spirit equipment, meaning they couldn't use their full power at 100%, while the local spirit beasts were more efficient in fighting within their icy environment.
But they hadn't expected the Ice Scorpion they had chosen as the eighth Energy Pearl and Spirit Core to be ninety thousand years old and on the verge of breaking through the hundred-thousand-year barrier!
Not only was it able to withstand the attacks of the title holders at levels 95 and 93, but it also succeeded in killing the disciple accompanying them, who was now awaiting help from the rest of the Ice Scorpion Clan!
But the biggest surprise for them was the appearance of an Ice Scorpion over a hundred thousand years old!
Now the battle had reached a deadlock, and if they didn't find a quick way out, escape would be almost impossible, especially since they were surrounded by dozens of Ice Scorpions, none of which were younger than 10,000 years.
The second elder shouted loudly: "Big brother, I'll stop this scorpion — get out of here!"
Then the seventh and eighth Spirit Pearls glowed. In an instant, his massive body began to swell, transforming into a fifteen-meter-long giant turtle with a dragon's head. It let out a deafening roar, then charged directly at the Ice Scorpion!
The Ice Scorpion Empress said at that moment: "Humans, don't even dream of surviving here!" She had dared to target her people.
Suddenly, the Ice Scorpion Empress sensed something and let out a small feminine roar, then lunged toward the giant turtle.
She couldn't catch up to her level-95 opponent, let alone first get past the Martial Spirit Master carrying the level-93 title.
Although she was far stronger than him, his defense was incredibly tough, and she couldn't break through easily, much less kill him.
However, once she sensed that her old friend's presence was growing stronger, she stopped worrying about the Air-element Martial Spirit and decided to focus on the second one — the Martial Spirit Master with the Turtle Spirit.
She didn't even bother paying attention to the fourth person, because even if he was a level-90 Martial Spirit Master, he wouldn't be able to escape from her clan members.
At the same time, the title-bearing Martial Spirit Master also sensed a powerful presence approaching, one that was by no means weaker than the scorpions behind him.
He realized that the situation was worse than expected, and made a decision — despite his fear, it was the only choice to save his life.
At that moment, talking about defense became impossible, and even staying alive became extremely difficult.
So, he activated his Air element and soared at full speed in the opposite direction, straight toward the source of that powerful presence!
From my perspective, the first person (Aeson Dracon):
Finally, my mother had made a breakthrough, and it was time to head to the Ice Scorpion Clan's territory.
Although repeating the same things didn't bother me, I was eagerly looking forward to discovering new places and seizing opportunities.
That said, I had met my mother's requirements and reached ten thousand years, but my recent progress had slowed to nearly half of what it had been initially.
Even though I understand that cultivation slows in the later stages, that didn't mean I was satisfied with it.
I figured I could make much faster progress through battles.
Moreover, since I had reached the ten-thousand-year threshold, Aislin would accompany me. After all, it would be beneficial for her to train against opponents who matched or surpassed her strength.
Regardless of anything else, the ability to defend oneself is vital, because I wouldn't always be by her side.
Furthermore, Aislin had become lazy in her cultivation, and during this time, she had only reached eight thousand years.
As we approached the Ice Scorpion Clan's territory, I began to sense strong fluctuations in spiritual energy. But before I could respond, my mother surged ahead and vanished from sight, saying at the last moment that she had detected numerous powerful human auras.
At that moment, Selena spoke:
"Aeson, you and Aislin stay in the clouds — you'll be safe here. There are many powerful title-bearing Martial Spirit Masters, and once we defeat them, I'll come back to you."
I replied, "Alright, Mother," without worrying about our safety. We were already on the edge of the Ice Scorpion Clan's territory, and even finding a thousand-year-old spirit beast here would be difficult, let alone one ten thousand years old.
Moreover, unless a Spirit Sage appeared with a flying spirit, no one would even notice us.
As soon as she finished speaking, I looked at Aislin, and without words, she immediately agreed and hurried along.
After all, it's rare to find a title-bearing Martial Spirit Master stronger than a regular Martial Spirit Master, let alone the fact that since my breakthrough to ten thousand years, I had never fought truly powerful opponents.
The last time I fought was against a weak Martial Spirit Master with a Tiger Spirit, who had a medium-level Spirit Pearl: Yellow-Yellow-Purple-Purple-Purple-Black. That was when I was around nine thousand years old.
Although I was frustrated that I couldn't land a blow, he also couldn't penetrate my defense. Even when he activated his Martial Body with his Martial Spirit, he left only superficial scratches on my scales.
He was the first Martial Spirit Master I ever faced, which surprised me greatly. I had no idea there were Martial Spirit Masters in this world, and I had already killed a few before. But my mother dealt with him before I could discover my full limits.
Now, after my breakthrough, with all my indicators at least doubled, the only people capable of breaking through my defense would be level-87 to level-90 Martial Spirit Masters, equipped with Martial Spirits of maximum offensive power.
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