Southern mountains
In a cave in one of the mountain peaks over one thousand meters high, a young man in white kimono sat in a meditative position. Lightning arcs and streaks roamed around his body or spread out, crackling in synchrony with his breath. His otherworldly face, not fully visible in the dark cave. It was almost certain that he looked like an angel with his white flowy hair resting on his shoulder as he opened his eyes. His captivating grey irises shone in the dark cave, as he spoke into the darkness.
"I think it's time we left" His voice, fading as he disappeared.
–––
"So good."
A bald, fat man dressed in plain hanfu that seemed to be smaller than him, as his pot belly threatened to break free. He had a black cat lazily draped over his neck, as he savored the taste of the dried meat in his mouth before returning to stuff his face in the bowl.
He leisurely walks down the narrow street road, filled with tiled roof houses and children's laughter. He bent a little to go under a set of laundry fluttering on a bamboo pole.
On the other side of the road, a streak of black-red light passed by before abruptly stopping. As it stopped, it seemed like time had also stopped. Before anyone could register who it was, they were attacked by a fragrance. The fragrance seemed to have the ability to dull all other senses, giving them the greatest euphoria.
Then came the figure, men and women alike were mesmerized. They felt they were hallucinating when they gazed upon her pale smooth skin, that seemed to have no blemish. Her delicate, cute face was carefully sculpted. Even without a touch of makeup, she looked like a peerless beauty.
As she turned, her long legs came into view. It was neither too skinny nor bulky. Even her loose zhanpao could not hide her curvy body.
She squinted her dark eyes across the street at the only person who wasn't staring at her. Still she felt him roam all over her body.
'What is this feeling?' she thought before her gaze dropped to the cat that was staring down on her like prey. She subconsciously took a step back.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of a whistle coming from where she was supposed to be.
As the whistle fell, chaos ensued. The villagers were immediately pulled out of their trance. Even a breathtaking beauty could not lift them from their trauma.
"Not again." A woman shouted as she snatched up her child and sprinted towards the market square, joining the crowd of fleeing villagers. Everyone knew what the whistle meant—it was the third time this month that the outer village had been attacked by a beast horde.
While some ran for their lives, others ran to the village's east gate to stop the beast horde from advancing. They varied from Beginner realm cultivators in training, to a few Master realm cultivators. Even an independent Grandmaster expert showed up to help them reduce loss of life and property.
Still, with the amount of people defending against the beasts, they still found a way to enter the village.
"Shit!" The fat man cursed under his breath as a panicked villager slammed into him, knocking his bowl of dried meat from his hand. Deciding to blend with the chaos, he hurried with the crowd, so as not to draw the attention of the beautiful woman again. Who was now standing fearlessly in front of the incoming beast wave, a few people arriving beside her.
"This wave is a lot stronger than the previous one, for them to breach the gates this quickly." She said to her newly arrived colleagues.
A man in his forties with a mustache, wearing a red and black robe and steel chest and shoulder plate, came with a group of five all in red and black with weapon in hand. He stomped the ground and kicked the disk of earth that he created at a leopard-looking beast with long protruding fangs, knocking it back. He then responded, "I just got information that it seems the entire wave is coming all at once."
"Then this will be troublesome" She muttered as her sword flashed, the blade turning red from heat absorption. She slashed at the nearest beast, a fiery arc tore through the intermediate realm beast turning it into a poodle of blood.
In that instant, her fighting intent peaked, as her aura flared like a fire storm. She moved for another beast, deciding to take out the stronger ones. Every step was calculated and she observed every movement around her as she slaughtered the beast one after another.
She was facing a unique problem of not being able to kill fast enough. She constantly looked for ways to kill the beast quicker, trying to decapitate two beasts at the same time.
She suddenly noticed movement behind her –subconsciously turning to look, she caught a glimpse of a shadow slipped into an empty alley. She hesitated, struggling to decide whether to pursue or defend the front.
Ultimately deciding to go for the pursuit she darted towards the alley, but not before shouting "Hold the line."
"You heard the captain!" The mustache man called out.
Getting into the alleyway, she found it empty except the charred remains of what was supposed to be one of the flying monstrosities –which seemed to have been cleaved from the sky.
"What!" she exclaimed, shocked because all of this happened within the space of two breaths.
"Captain!, a new Grandmaster realm beast has appeared." An officer shouted, bringing her back to reality.
Remembering the beast wave, her body visibly heated up. She searched for the strongest beast only to discover it is another flying monstrucity, bringing her thoughts back to the alley, she wondered what realm it was.
Shaking off the thought, she focused on the beast which also seemed to have locked on her as it dived down. She steadied her body and prepared for a collision, but ducked at the last minute. She slashed at the wing of the Shadow Roc with her fiery sword, rendering it unable to fly. Though it was now confiscated to the ground, it was still a Grandmaster with talons that could divide her into two equal parts.
Man and beast both fled their surroundings so as not to be collateral damage in their fight, as they both dashed forward for another confrontation.
–––
When the dust settled and beasts' parts lay scattered across the bloodied streets, the Azure guards started the grim work of clearing the remains. Cleaning up was easier than the first, …or the second, everyone was adapting quickly and the toll on life was kept to a minimum.
In a particular alleyway, a group of officers in patterned red-and-black robes surrounded a charred carcass, their ranks shown by the embroideries on their sleeves. The intensity of the battle was evident in their appearance, as they took pills for their injuries and for resuscitation.
"I don't think this was caused by fire." A scholarly man said, as he squatted to take a better look.
"Jun Liu, what do you mean?" Their captain, the stunning beauty asked.
Jun Liu adjusted his glasses, "Captain Chi,
I think this Shadow Roc was struck by lightning. There is still a faint ozone scent that lingered even though most of them have dissipated. And judging by the point of contact and time interval, I don't think this beast death was even intentional. It was probably obstructing whoever did this, leading it to this fate. And as to how the person escaped or left, that I do not know."
There was a moment of silence before
"Impossible!" one officer barked.
"Did you hit your head, scholar?" another sneered.
"Even the captain couldn't kill a Shadow Roc as a side task!. The weakest of those things are a spirit realm." a third scoffed.
"So are you saying the captain doesn't know how to count, or this mysterious fellow decided to kill the Shadow Roc and disappear at the same time." Jun Liu countered.
"And that is your best explanation?" A smug cultivator said folding his hands
Do you have a better explanation? "Jun Liu asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Naturally, in fact I have two, I think due to the chaos, the captain was mistaken and the guy had fled with the crowd" he said, which instantly earned him a cold stare, so he continued quickly "although, the more possible deduction is that the guy killed the beast as a distraction and hid. Due to the situation the captain did not have the time to confirm the situation."
"Either way there is no proof of either scenario, But Ao tian, what did this mysterious man use to kill the Shadow Roc. You can't possibly tell me fire did this in less than two breaths." Jun Liu asked.
" It is more believable than someone have lightning innate elemental ability " Ao tian countered
"You frog in a well!. Read ancient scripts. You will learn of different elemental affinity, lightning being one of them"Jun Liu lectured
" Did you say lightning? and why all the noise. Chi Xianyan, control your officers, they ruin the name of the azure guards with all this bickering" A man appeared from behind and said with a voice that seems to be linked to heaven. Before he continued " now who said something about the lightning elemental arts"
"The Commander is back"
"This beast ride in this remote place must be serious to make the commander miss his annual event"
"Don't tell me a Heavenly Origin realm beast is about to appear!".
"The legendary Heavenly Origin realm!".
"Can the Commander deal with a Heavenly Origin beast?."
Excited whispers spread among the ranks at the arrival of Jing Tu.
"Commander Jing Tu, why are you back early?" Chi Xianyan asked respectfully. There are very few people she respects and he is one of them.
"He was not there" he said, seeming a little sad, but continued " and you guys said something about lightning. Did you meet a lightning user?"
" No, but it seems the commander knows a lightning user." Jun Liu said smugly while moving the glasses on the bridge of his nose
"You being here proves it, I did not want to believe it since if he was not there you would have already being back" Chi Xianyan said
"Yes, I kind of encountered a problem. You know how I always say he is not alone, I confirmed it today. It's just that this person is less accommodating and when I was getting too close it hit a qi barrier that sent me flying, I almost died, " he replied smiling sheepishly, scratching his head.
"Only Commander Jing Tu," an officer muttered with a nervous laugh, "can smile while telling a near-death story…"
Jun Liu asked almost jumping" who is this lightning user"
One of the officers that came with Jing Tu responded after paying attention to the conversation, "Lightning affinity? I've heard of him. They call him something, I can't remember, I think they call him."
"LIGHTNING GOD!!!" Jing Tu and Chi Xianyan echoed together.
"I don't know him personally, in fact I've never met him, but deep in the southern mountains there is a lightning user. I know it is not a magical beast because of the feel of the Qi, around the peak where he stays there is a lightning barrier which I use to temper my body"Jing Tu answered.
"No wonder the commander usually comes back injured,"Ao Tian said.
At this point the conversation was already taken to a private place.