Chapter Twenty Five: Frozen Heart Promise

Nie Asreal, "I just wanted to wish his Highness good luck. Are you feeling completely better after last night?"

Yi Lian blushed and nodded. "Yes. Thank you Nie Asreal. I will see you tonight."

He turned to leave once again but out of the corner of his eye he spotted his brother dropping Forcol to the ground with a clatter. His face had dulled like a spiked blade after a heavy battle. He had probably misinterpreted the words in such a way that was technically both inaccurate and accurate. His resting judgment face shattered to the floor along with his jaw and brain.

Yi Lian was very grateful that Nie Asreal cured him so when Nie Asreal pulled him back to press his lips to the back of his hand he nodded and speed walked out instead of yelling and hugging him so that they could both save face to their colleagues.

Yi Lian was immensely glad Bai Xi-Wang cared so little about these things. Of course he would tell the rest of the group as soon as he found them but at least Yi Lian didn't have to suffer through a reaction like Yi Jian's again. Luckily his friends didn't seem to be paying attention to them thanks to Yi Lian's cloak. It seemed like the cloak didn't work on people that knew him or were actively seeking him.

Most climbed the mountain and rummaged deep into the caves. These were both incorrect methods but the few that knew the best route thought it better to keep these things as hidden knowledge for the scholars among them.

The gorge before him was filled with jagged red rocks and a strange mix of smooth and rocky terrain. The sun shone through the gorge giving it the look as if the mountains were alive and foreign.

The Evil Peak Demons maundered around in a sluggish manner. They moved with great difficulty as they used all of their strength to move one leg at a time that was growing boulder sized rocks from beneath the skin as they went. It was a tragic sight but they had little consciousness. Not yet anyway.

Yi Lian took a step forward. Clutched Winters-Gaze tightly in his grasp, took a deep breath of humid air and sliced forward.

The ground rumbled beneath him, the sand that bounced up from the earth hung suspended in the air, stuck in a moment of time whilst silence filled the gorge as everything in it paused. A hum emerged, like a ring in one's ear and Yi Lian spun, the sound of his footwork echoing around as he swung Winters-Gaze again.

It let out a blade of blue energy force that rippled through the gorge like an explosion of fire. Everything the wave touched became engulfed in a layer of frost. The desert-like area slowly began being engulfed by a white frost as it crawled across the floor like a plague.

As the ice hit the Evil Peak Demons they were frozen to the ground as the frost piled into ice, those with a great deal of strength cracked it apart and turned their attention to Yi Lian.

Yi Lian walked across the ice with ease, twirling Winters-Gaze through his fingers and let it dance around in the air.

A Peak Demon lunged out but Winters-Gaze would just slice right through it in one fell swoop. It was like a knife to butter when it came to Winters-Gaze. Others would just hack at them until they died but Winters-Gaze could never be used in such a manner and today it was in a good mood.

He continued down the valley, slashing and severing each one in two.

A few hundred later he found the opening behind the mountain. The sun blazed above him. The ice around him dissipated and he sheathed Winters-Gaze. He knew little of how many points each participant had or how many was a large quantity but he felt ready to sit and rest until the event was over. His head was starting to feel dazed under the heat and he wasn't going to push himself too hard for a random contest.

Forward a few steps was a sheer cliff face overlooking a dead forest leading up to a far, far away city. It was peaceful but uncomfortable.

He looked out with a smile.

Then it went dark.

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Yi Lian woke sitting. He was sitting slouched up against the mountain side with a rope tied tightly around his torso. Something was definitely amis.

He looked up to see the sun was setting in a great ball of fire that lit the sky and heaven alight like a burning rage. Silhouettes stood ahead of him. One kneeled whilst the others surrounded and yelled. The yelling felt so distant. His eyes blurred and his face felt boiling hot again. He smelt an odd burning smell. Like charred cloth.

Bai Hua cried out in the most painfully panicked voice, "Yi Lian! Wake up! They have Nie Asreal- They have him-"

Somewhere to his right Bai Hua was knocked to the ground.

He spit out a mouth full of blood before passing out completely.

A voice sounded above him, "Thank the gods for that. He's been screaming for hours."

Judging by the charred stone around them it looked as if a fight had broken out. There were blade dents in the ground along with blackened footprints.

He looked around when his vision came back somewhat and almost fainted himself. All his friends were lying on the floor bloodied, bound with their weapons nowhere to be found, completely unconscious.

It seemed that Bai Hua was the one that managed to stay awake the longest but alas he now joined his brothers.

Yi Lian looked around quickly, trying to take in as much as he could but everything was a blur, even his mind.

Yi Xien was there, heaped over in a pile, slumped in a sitting position as if he were dead. A few Yi Sect disciples had their weapons drawn and were securing the area whilst at the centre stood Yi Jian with one of Forcol to a kneeling Nie Asreal's neck.

Yi Lian yelled out, "No! Get away from him Da-ge!"

Yi Jian looked over to his brother and grasped Nie Asreal's shoulder tighter.

Nie Asreal chuckled. "You still call him your family after you have seen him like this?"

Yi Lian wanted to cry. He was strong but seeing your own blood brother leave all of your friends in a bloodied mess, those friends of which he held a closer family bond with then him, it was just too overwhelming.

Yi Lian, "I didn't know-"

Nie Asreal, "I tried to show you your Highness but even if he murdered in front of your eyes you wouldn't accept it. You see that disciple over there?"

He directed his head in the direction of Yi Chen. He was the one Yi Jian beat that night he had seen his true self.

Yi Lian thrashed in his bindings. "What did you want me to do? What does everyone want me to do? I sit quietly, stay out of politics and drama yet here we are! Why are you doing this Yi Jian?"

Yi Jian turned to him with his eyes filled with hatred for the first time. "You haven't been the same! You used to be my brother! You looked up to me. You worshipped me. Now that you have seen how I keep a handle on things, now that you met him, you are distant and Yi Lian you may not realise it dear brother but i see it in your eyes. The slight fear, confusion. I can see you holding back from asking me about my actions-"

Yi Lian ripped out of his bindings and started yelling, "What fear? What confusion? You are scum Yi Jian. I have stayed quiet to survive. I've seen what you have done to others and I really very much believe you would treat me the same. Father wouldn't care if you beat me bloody, neither Mother so what would hold you back other than innocence? I may be holding back Yi Jian, and oh I have but don't mistake what action I'm holding back."

A Yi Disciple ran forward to grab him but one look and a ripple of spiritual energy sent him far off of his feet, into the mountain wall and unconscious.

Yi Jian laughed, "Oh and what could you be holding back?"

Yi Lian closed his eyes.

Yi Jian, "Don't bother, your sword is bound by a strong spirit I found, so it'll stay by my side-"

The ground rumbled, ashes jumped metres into the air and hovered for a moment. It looked like snow frozen in the air from the demonic realm.

The disciples watched in wonder but when Yi Lian opened his eyes they all froze in place except Yi Jian and Nie Asreal.

Nie Asreal looked on with an idyllic gaze. He finally got to see his flower bloom, and bloom it did.

Yi Lian said between clenched teeth, "What am I holding back? I am the most powerful cultivator of our generation! Maybe even others as well." He took a breath but it did nothing to calm the mind. "What I'm holding back is killing you! Freezing your heart in your chest and watch you as your heart turns to dust."

Yi Jian's smile faded. Yi Lian thrusted out his hands and everyone fell to the ground like dolls.