C14 Snow Lotus
The nature of the Holy Body remained a mystery, as such a constitution was a rarity in the Celestial Essence World. The Devil Body, on the other hand, was a different story. Based on the information he had gathered, the Devil Clan boasted the strongest power among the three great races: the Devil Clan, the Beast Clan, and the Human Clan.
Yeh Yulin's mother hailed from the Devil Clan, rumored to hold a significant rank within it. It was common knowledge that the Human Clan relied on strategy, often resorting to intellect to compensate for their lack of brute strength, aiming to become military strategists or advisors. Yet, to ascend to the nobility of the Devil Clan or the Beast Clan, one must possess formidable strength—a universal requirement regardless of one's origins.
Thus, the Devil Body inherited by Yeh Yulin was bound to be formidable.
Regarding the Holy Body, its mere manifestation had already taken Yeh Yulin by surprise, aligning with the ancient texts' claims that with an unimpeded cultivation speed, the Holy Body was indeed the supreme physique.
Nevertheless, Yeh Yulin was acutely aware of his shortcomings: time and combat experience. Children of the Yeh Family were expected to commence their cultivation by the age of six, with various battles interspersed as part of their training—a regimen Yeh Yulin had missed out on.
Time was the other critical factor. Reflecting on the last sixteen years, Yeh Yulin couldn't help but feel they had been squandered. Consequently, he contemplated whether to venture deeper into danger to hone his skills.
As for the ancient horn, Yeh Yulin sighed softly. The sound had elicited an unprecedented reaction from Twilight—shock and even fear—yet he remained tight-lipped, despite Yeh Yulin's persistent inquiries.
This reticence led Yeh Yulin to suspect the horn's significance; after all, Twilight had always been obliging to his requests. But this time, Twilight offered only a cryptic directive: to explore on his own or to avoid meddling with the object altogether.
In Twilight's words, Yeh Yulin sensed a tumult of emotions: joy intermingled with fear. Joy was understandable, but the source of fear remained elusive.
Despite his attempts to uncover its purpose, the horn's function eluded him. Ultimately, Yeh Yulin resigned himself to the whims of fate.
At this moment, as Yeh Yulin gazed into the dark expanse of the No-falling Forest, he found himself hesitating.
He was on the very edge, where mostly Level One and Level Two Devil Beasts roamed, with Level Three being a rarity. Venturing deeper could mean encountering Level Four Devil Beasts, but what if he came across a Level Five? What then?
"You can't get fat with one bite; take it one step at a time!" Yeh Yulin quickly steeled his resolve and prepared to depart.
"Roar!"
Just then, a thunderous roar echoed, imbued with an innate oppression and majesty that made Yeh Yulin halt abruptly, staring in awe toward the source of the sound.
It was immensely powerful!
The roar was laden with such overwhelming pressure that Yeh Yulin could immediately discern that this Devil Beast was leagues beyond the one he had just slain. Its strength was unfathomable, certainly surpassing any Devil Beast or person he had ever encountered.
"It's on par with a deacon of the Yeh Family!"
Be it a Holy Body or a Devil Body, both were exceptional, and Yeh Yulin's senses were incredibly acute. He could detect even a Level Ten Battle Soldier who had ignited ten Spirit Flames. Only when someone broke through that threshold and ascended to a higher realm would they elude his perception.
"Is this really just the outskirts?" Yeh Yulin murmured incredulously. "Why would such a formidable Devil Beast be lurking here? This doesn't make sense!"
But there was no one to answer Yeh Yulin's query.
"Roar!"
The roar resounded once more.
In such a situation, the typical reaction would be to flee, but Yeh Yulin hesitated briefly before clenching his teeth and moving toward the source of the roar.
Clearly, there was a battle underway; otherwise, such a roar would not have been emitted. When two High Level Devil Beasts clash, the lesser Devil Beasts scatter, making it paradoxically safer to approach.
With that in mind, Yeh Yulin boldly ventured deeper.
"Is it a formidable opponent? I want to witness firsthand just how mighty a true powerhouse can be!"
In the depths of the night, Yeh Yulin's heart was ablaze with an intense longing for battle and a thirst for blood.
Above all, he yearned for a goal, one that embodied absolute power.
He was determined to witness the might of a truly formidable adversary.
Though the area was devoid of low-level Devil Beasts, Yeh Yulin remained vigilant. In fact, this was the moment he was most cautious.
The power of the entity he sought was even more formidable than he had anticipated. At first, he believed the roaring was a mere few kilometers away, but as he followed the sound, he realized it spanned a distance of at least ten kilometers.
Such strength was awe-inspiring.
"What's happening?"
As the roaring drew nearer, Yeh Yulin was startled to notice a drop in the surrounding temperature. It was summer, and even within the forest, the temperature should have been over twenty degrees. But now, it was undeniably below ten degrees, and it continued to plummet as he advanced.
"Could this be an ice-type Devil Beast? Or perhaps a person who commands the ice attribute?"
At last, Yeh Yulin had reached his destination—a world blanketed in snow.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
The air was filled with the continuous echo of thunderous roars and reverberating booms.
Yeh Yulin's eyes widened in awe. There, before him, was a vision to behold: a snow fairy brandishing her scepter, locked in combat with a colossal tiger over ten meters tall.
The woman, only slightly older than Yeh Yulin and certainly not beyond her twenties, had luminous silver hair that whipped about wildly, adding a bold flair to her otherwise stoic and flawless face. Despite facing a tiger-type Devil Beast towering over ten meters, her composure remained unshaken. Her perfect figure was elegantly clad in a white dress, exuding an air of nobility.
She was like a creature born of the snow, existing in a realm of her own.
Her impeccable beauty, voluptuous and statuesque form, and an aura of nobility and sanctity were mesmerizing...
Such perfection in a woman seemed almost unreal!
Yeh Yulin instinctively held his breath, yet beside her stood a presence so commanding that he dared not let his guard down.
The tiger Devil Beast radiated an overwhelming scent of blood and violence. Even from a great distance, Yeh Yulin felt a suffocating compulsion.
The ferocity of this tiger Devil Beast was undoubtedly at the level of a Yeh Family deacon, yet who was this girl? She was holding her own against such a formidable creature. In fact, she seemed to be overpowering the tiger Devil Beast.
The term "Ten Great Heroes" involuntarily sprang to Yeh Yulin's mind. Only the revered Ten Great Heroes, the future rulers of the Yeh Family, could wield such power at this age.
The Ten Great Heroes were determined through the Ten-hero War, a contest among the most powerful young members of the Yeh Family, held every five years. Becoming one of the Ten Great Heroes meant becoming the family's rising star, with a wealth of resources awarded and an automatic promotion to the rank of family deacon. Some would even be granted noble titles and territories, gaining significant influence.
The current family patriarch and elders had all once been among the Ten Great Heroes. Yet, Yeh Yulin didn't know where this girl ranked among them.
For Yeh Yulin, the Ten Great Heroes were an esteemed and elusive group, rarely seen and even less understood. His speculations were just that—without certainty.
But that was the Yeh Yulin of before. Now, with the ability to cultivate and possessing both the Holy Body and Devil Body, he was confident that he would not fall short of anyone in the future.
"Ten Great Heroes," Yeh Yulin whispered, gazing at the snow maiden, "One day, I'll reach that level too... Huh!"
