Chapter 23: Array Master
Jiang Yuebai flexed her fingers, causing the ice crust to fall off. She furrowed her brows, recalling the process of casting the spell moments ago, and attempted it again.
Water-attuned spiritual energy flowed from her dantian, and she used the Grass and Wood Technique hand gesture to cast the spell. However, as the spiritual energy surged, she failed.
Unwilling to admit defeat, Jiang Yuebai continued to try. Midway through the hand gesture, she failed once more.
She made several more attempts, each ending in failure.
Yet she had just succeeded a moment ago. The effect of this Grass and Wood Technique was much stronger than her previous attempts. Not only did the seedling beneath her regain vitality, but it also grew taller than the other seedlings.
Water-nurtured wood, it must have been the strengthened water-attuned spiritual energy enhancing the Grass and Wood Technique. She understood this much.
What intrigued her was the lingering ice on her hand.
Suddenly, a cold glint flashed before her eyes. The seedlings she had just nurtured froze once again, centered around the most robust one, and frost quickly spread outward.
"Annoying bug!"
Jiang Yuebai gritted her teeth, manipulating the hand gesture and infusing it with sharpness into the seedling.
Her consciousness entered the Verdant Mist Realm, yet before she could locate the Ice Armored Beetle, a deep chill seized her, locking her in place.
A slicing sound cut through the air, and crystalline blue ice spikes rushed toward her. The sharpness, along with Jiang Yuebai's consciousness, shattered into pieces.
"Ah!" Jiang Yuebai groaned, collapsing to the ground, her face pale with veins popping out. Nosebleed flowed, and the piercing pain in her mind was unbearable.
"What kind of bug shoots ice spikes?"
Jiang Yuebai gritted her teeth, steadying herself, and looked around to seek help from Tao Fengnian. She saw her grandfather busy working in the distant medicinal field and suppressed the urge to call for help.
The spreading frost was still a threat. Her Urgent Sun Water was now contained in a crystal-clear bottle. If she didn't do something, her grandfather's spirit wheat seedlings would be ruined.
With a determined heart, Jiang Yuebai wiped away her nosebleed and once again approached the seedling.
She focused all her attention, acting like a stealthy assassin, carefully infusing sharpness into the seedling.
Dispelling the verdant mist, Jiang Yuebai's pupils trembled.
A colossal ice-blue armored beetle, larger than a water vat and exuding a regal aura, stood at the center of the Verdant Mist Realm, arrogantly surveying its surroundings. It crazily absorbed the vitality of the surrounding vegetation.
Its crystalline and translucent back armor was as sturdy as ever, while faint green radiance blinked within its backplates. A lingering frost enveloped it, emitting the sound of ice crystals colliding as it swirled around.
Was this the Ice Armored Beetle King recorded in the "Catalog of Curiosities"? But there was something different about it; the Ice Armored Beetle King mentioned in the catalog didn't possess that faint green radiance.
Swoosh, swoosh!
The Ice Armored Beetle King detected Jiang Yuebai's sharpness. Frost surged around its body, and two ice arrows shot forth.
In a critical moment, Jiang Yuebai instinctively initiated the Chasing Star Steps, manipulating her sharpness to narrowly evade the ice arrows. Her eyes lit up.
Yes, since she could use the Woodcutter's Blade technique here, she could naturally use the Chasing Star Steps too.
After these days of battling with the Lantern Fiends, she had integrated footwork and blade techniques, making them an instinctive part of her. Treating this battle as a real one, she would first try to take on this Ice Armored Beetle King.
As her intention solidified, a surge of verdant aura enveloped the surroundings, as if Jiang Yuebai's figure materialized. Brandishing her woodcutter's blade, she charged toward the Ice Armored Beetle King.
Clang!
The woodcutter's blade, which had felled countless Ice Armored Beetles, cleaved onto the beetle king's back. The frost was shattered, and sparks flew amidst a burst of flames.
The Ice Armored Beetle King quivered, a crack appearing on its back armor, revealing numerous marks corroded by Urgent Sun Water.
Jiang Yuebai's spirit soared. Ice arrows shot towards her, and she swiftly twirled, evading them like a nimble bee.
The woodcutter's blade relentlessly chopped at the Ice Armored Beetle King's body. Immobilized by its own hard ice shell, it relied on the defense of its sturdy carapace while using the ice mist as a weapon.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Sparks flew as the woodcutter's blade struck the robust ice armor. Cracks multiplied, and Jiang Yuebai's eyes blazed with determination. Gripping the blade with both hands, she jumped up with all her might.
Her spiritual energy surged restlessly, converging with her consciousness as she fiercely slashed at the seam of the armor.
Bang!
A mighty strike cleaved through emptiness, causing the Ice Armored Beetle King to dissipate into a white mist, vanishing without a trace.
About to pursue, a thunderous explosion erupted in Jiang Yuebai's mind.
"Congratulations, your divine consciousness is beginning to form, and your sea of consciousness is opening wide."
As if heaven and earth were splitting apart, they divided into yin and yang, with clear aura ascending and turbid aura descending.
Jiang Yuebai 'saw' flashes of dark void, lightning and thunder, howling winds, and the surrounding verdant mist along with the remnants of the beetle king's cold air being swept into the newly opened sea of consciousness.
In the blink of an eye, it felt like a millennium. When Jiang Yuebai's consciousness withdrew from the seedling, all the surrounding seedlings had withered. The palm-sized, ice-blue beetle split open its carapace, unfurling its wings, and shot into the sky.
Ignoring the state of her newly formed sea of consciousness, Jiang Yuebai instinctively yelled. She had to catch this beetle.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Jiang Yuebai drew her true woodcutter's blade from her waist and swung it forcefully at the Ice Armored Beetle King.
The king was agile, avoiding the blade's edge and flying farther away.
Annoyed, Jiang Yuebai looked up at the sky. At that moment, the earth and sky quaked.
Multiple beams of light erupted from the Heavenly Star Peak, soaring into the sky from different peaks. They tore through clouds, creating a vast golden array in the sky that rotated slowly.
As if struck by a heavy hammer, Jiang Yuebai knelt to the ground. The fleeing Ice Armored Beetle King plummeted from the sky, crashing right in front of her, struggling to take off.
Joy surged within Jiang Yuebai. She quickly imprisoned the Ice Armored Beetle King with a glass bottle containing Urgent Sun Water, sealing it with a cork. The scent of Urgent Sun Water inside the bottle made the beetle king wary, preventing it from moving.
After completing these actions, Jiang Yuebai removed her hat and shook off the snow
, her face bearing traces of blood. She looked around with a raised head.
The night was dark, and snowflakes were flying.
Mixed with ice-blue beetles, scattered everywhere, they flew towards the sky, creating a spectacular scene.
The world became clear, the moonlight hazy, and countless profound runes formed an array that rotated slowly in the sky, adorned with countless stars.
A woman dressed in plain white, with her hands behind her back, stood proudly. The starlight danced around her, making her look ethereal.
The woman with the array was like a small butterfly amidst a giant Peng.
Jiang Yuebai was drawn to the woman and couldn't take her eyes off her. She couldn't see the woman's face clearly, only seeing her lightly waving her hand.
A bright light poured down from the top of the eastern mountain.
The array shattered, and ten thousand stars fell, but she stood still!
Her black hair flew, and her clothes fluttered.
The moment's shock caused Jiang Yuebai's eyes to widen to the extreme, and everything within her sight was bright and dazzling.
She witnessed the light tearing through the darkness, the ice and snow melting, the earth returning to life, and all the haze and gloom dissipating.
A snow disaster that almost took everyone's lives was resolved with just one wave of her hand!
The morning light shone on her face, melting the ice and snow on her body.
Jiang Yuebai remained standing where she was, looking up, where the woman's figure was no longer there, leaving only an intense and unquenchable fire burning in her heart.
She yearned for the power to shake the heavens with a single wave.
From this moment on, Jiang Yuebai craved strength like never before.
In the shadow's embrace, with the aura of Tao Fengnian, Jiang Yuebai trembled as she asked, "Grandfather, who is she?"
"Tian Gang Peak's First Seat, Zhao Fuyi, also known as 'Fuyi Zhenjun.' She can kill a person in ten steps and leave no trace for a thousand miles. After completing her mission, she disappears, hiding her achievements and fame."
"She is a Array Master, currently the most powerful Yuan Ying stage cultivator in the entire Spirit Realm. One hundred years ago, during the Cataclysm of the Dark Sea, she single-handedly guarded the gate and beheaded tens of thousands of ghosts on the Wenti Island, rising to fame through that battle."
Jiang Yuebai withdrew her gaze from the sky and her eyes gradually became resolute. For the first time, she had a clear goal.
"Grandfather, I want to become a Array Master!"
🤩🤩
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