A Step Ahead

Shock and instinctive fear warred with offended outrage on its bestial face — how dare this insignificant bug intrude upon its hallowed den!

Maw gaping wide in an enraged hiss, the Crystal Ice Snake lunged to meet Miao Ying's charge, countless sword-length fangs bared in a lethal cage. 

At the same time, a vortex of spectral Qi howled into life around its writhing coils, flash-freezing the very air into a whirling dervish of razor ice shards.

But Miao Ying never slowed, a thundering bark of laughter ripping from his lips as he plunged into that frigid blender without a shred of hesitation. 

The ice-blades shattered against his lightning-wreathed form in sprays of crackling splinters and wispy Qi, unable to find any purchase on the supreme Qi essence cloaking him.

Eyes wide and almost feverish with the joy of imminent violence, Miao Ying swung his fist at the serpent's lunging head, Lightning Qi screeching around the blow in a tortured wail.

Scaled lips pulled back in a defiant snarl, the Crystal Ice Snake twisted aside at the last possible second, the strike pulping scales and flesh in a spray of cobalt blood as it skated along the side of its jaw rather than caving in its skull wholesale.

Undeterred, Miao Ying rode the momentum of his swing into a spinning roundhouse kick, his heel hammering into the joint of the snake's neck with all the force of a crashing meteor. 

Something shattered under the impact with a sickening crunch, a shock wave of displaced air rippling out to shake the cavern.

Thrown back by the titanic blow, the Crystal Ice Snake writhed in agony, a gargling howl bursting from its mangled throat. Motes of subzero Qi swirled around its wound in a frantic blizzard, the preternatural cold struggling to staunch the spurting gore and realign the splintered vertebrae.

Miao Ying didn't give it the chance to heal. Bounding after his stricken prey, he rained down a lightning-fast barrage of punches and kicks, each one backed by the full brunt of his savage Lightning Qi. 

Scales that could turn mortal blades shattered like glass under the onslaught, sprays of blood, and pulped meat filthying the ice as Miao Ying pummeled the monster without mercy.

In desperation, the snake whirled the bulk of its coils at Miao Ying like a gigantic flail, the scream of sundering wind heralding a blow that could smash a city wall to powder.

But Miao Ying was no longer there, his body blurring into a bolt of golden lightning that arced up and over the wild swing to land lightly behind the snake's head.

In the same instant, his sword leapt to his hand, the dark blade igniting with a rapturous howl of Sword Qi. Not even bothering to adopt a proper stance, Miao Ying struck like a thunderbolt, his arm pistoning forward to drive the wailing blade deep into the ruined meat of the Crystal Ice Snake's neck.

The sword punctured scale and flesh and bone without resistance, the lightning roaring around it flash-boiling blood and marrow to bursting in an instant. It sank to the hilt with a meaty crunch, skewering muscles and tendons until its gore-slick tip jutted obscenely from the other side of the skewered serpent.

An awful stillness hung over the valley for a single heartbeat. Then, with a final gurgling hiss, the titanic snake went limp, its kilometer-long body spasming once as the eldritch light in its eyes flickered and died. 

The feared monarch of the frozen wastes, a demon that had endured for dozens of years...slain in a mere dozen breaths by a nameless human.

Not even breathing hard, Miao Ying yanked his sword free in a geyser of freezing blood, the motion as casual as a mortal man flicking a speck of dust from his sleeve. 

A savage smile was born on Miao Ying's face. Just as he had thought, these so-called 'fearsome monsters' were nothing before the might he now commanded. He had only needed a fraction of his full strength to put this overgrown garden snake in its place.

Without the Devourer Rune, he felt confident he could slay beasts up to the 6th or maybe even 7th stage of Qi Establishment. And that was just the beginning. There would be no limit to his potential now!

Flicking the ichor from the peerless blade with a disdainful snap, he sheathed it once more and turned his attention to his true prize.

Ripping open the Crystal Ice Snake's shattered skull with his bare hands, Miao Ying plunged a fist into the ruin of its brain, his fingers squishing through the frostbitten mush until they closed around a pulsing chunk of gelid meat. With a savage twist, he wrenched the item free, holding the plum-sized orb of pulsing blue crystal up to the light with a smirk.

The demon core, the nexus of the beast's Qi, and the wellspring of its supernatural power. Even now, wisps of icy mist still curled from the core's faceted surface, the air temperature plummeting with its mere proximity. Any other cultivator would have been flash-frozen just by touching the thing.

But to Miao Ying, that arctic miasma was little more than a pleasant cool breeze. Channeling a pulse of Qi into his glowing Devourer Rune, he watched with satisfaction as tendrils of black energy greedily latched onto the core and bore it into his body. 

Motes of winter Qi swirled around the vanishing crystal in a frenzied blizzard before they too were sucked into the all-consuming vortex.

An ocean of pure, undiluted cold flooded Miao Ying's meridians, so frigid it burned like the hottest flames. His Qi bucked and heaved at the sudden influx of opposing energy, golden lightning warring with azure frost in a tempestuous riot. 

But Miao Ying's Devourer Rune clamped down on the clash with a ruthless will, forcibly harmonizing the disparate powers under the unflagging dominance of his tyrannical spirit.

Slowly, the arctic Qi submitted to the roaring thunder of Miao Ying's Devourer Rune, grudgingly fusing with his body, unleashing refreshing waves of energy that tingle his very cells. 

His expression twisted into a massive grin at the sensation. 

How intoxicating! Even this diluted stream was enough to push his recent breakthrough to new heights of perfection. He was getting very near to the peak of 1st Stage Qi Establishment.

With its core harvested, Miao Ying turned his attention back to his map, scanning for his next target. 

It was right there.

The Ice Demonic Bear's lair was not far from here. Perfect.

Miao Ying burst into motion, his Qi-enhanced speed slicing through the driving snow like a blade through silk. Lightning crackled in his wake, his body flickering between the snowflakes as he employed the Speed As Supremacy art. 

In moments, the bear's lair appeared before him, a yawning crater gouged into an icy cliff face. But something was amiss.

Even a kilometer distant, Miao Ying could see flashes of clashing Qi painting the glacial walls in strobing colors, and sense the wild fluctuations of dueling auras tearing at the world. 

Boulders shattered and crevasses crumbled under the onslaught of earth-sundering techniques. His supernal eyesight pierced the haze, glimpsing a lithe vermilion blur exchanging blows with a towering figure of shaggy white. 

Someone was actually trying to solo the Ice Demonic Bear? 

The bear was in a league of its own, its aura a mountainous, suffocating weight frosted over with glacial Qi. Each swipe of its scythe-like claws unleashed blades of hoarfrost Qi that made the air scream.

The turbulent Qi suggested a sect disciple at the 5th stage or near peak 5th Qi Establishment stage was testing their luck.

And making a mess of it, judging from the erratic energy spikes.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Miao Ying strode towards the battle, intent on seeing this farce clearly. He alighted at the mouth of a titanic cave, a jagged maw dripping with phantasmal glacial Qi, a rime-encrusted hell that devoured warmth and light.

Venturing inside, two things struck Miao Ying at once. First was the unholy reek saturating the brittle air - the coppery tang of blood mingled with scorched hair, all underlaid by the bear's pungent musk. It seared the nostrils and left the tongue swollen and numb.

And second was the mysterious fighter still darting around the Ice Demonic Bear like a frenzied hornet, lashing the monster's shaggy hide with sizzling whips of sword Qi. 

To Miao Ying's slight surprise, it was a young woman. An arrestingly beautiful one at that.