Chapter 144 - Son of lightning.

The frozen wasteland was completely different from the other environments Yao Jun had ever seen. A strong wind whipped up the loose snow on the ground, while the snow that was falling from the sky felt like tiny knives of ice as they touched his skin. To prevent himself from falling into the deep snow, Yao Jun had to constantly circulate his Qi through his feet to be able to walk properly.

"I really don't want to meet whatever Demonic beast is responsible for creating a place like this."

Yao Jun could not help but silently mutter to himself as he walked. The cold wind and snow forced him to constantly produce a small amount of fire around him, and the snow was so white and pure that it almost blinded him whenever he looked at it. He had already walked through the frozen wasteland for 3 days, and since he constantly had to circulate his Qi, there was no way for him to get any sleep. Even to cultivators who had strong bodies, this environment could be considered inhospitable.

Of course despite his lack of sleep, Yao Jun did not allow his vigilance to drop in the slightest, there was no telling what sort of Demonic beasts were lurking in this frozen wasteland. And since relying on his vision in a place like this was not a good idea, he was forced to rely on his other senses and instincts to notice any traces of Demonic beasts.

The frozen wasteland was mostly flat, with a few deep gashes in the ground that went deeper down than Yao Jun was able to see, as well as a few snow covered mountains located in various places. Over the last three days of walking, Yao Jun had occasionally spotted traces of people wandering through the area, as well as traces of battle.

One such trace of battle was a snowy mountain in the distance that had its top half completely shattered, with only a few sharp rocks left sticking up. The reason Yao Jun could tell that this shattered mountain had recently been the site of a battle was because there was still smoke coming from the shattered part of the mountain. There was even something that seemed like lava slowly dripping down the side of the mountain. The fact that it had yet to stiffen or freeze showed just how hot the lava was.

If it was up to Yao Jun, he would try to walk in a circle around the shattered mountain. But right now he could not do that, because there was something on that shattered mountain that resonated with his Demon God's Gate, calling to him just like Zhuyin had. Because of that, Yao Jun had to head directly towards that shattered mountain.

While Yao Jun continued walking, he suddenly felt an all-encompassing feeling of danger assault him. He did not even stop to think, his body vanishing into the shadow and re-appearing 100 meters away. Since there was snow flying around in the air, there were plenty of shadows for Yao Jun to take advantage of. The moment Yao Jun vanished into the shadows, the snow where he had been standing exploded.

Not just snow, but also sharp shards of ice shot upwards at high speed. The snow and ice that shot upwards quickly changed direction, once more shooting towards Yao Jun. Not just the ice and snow that had been shot up from the explosion shot towards Yao Jun, all the snow that was in the area was starting to move towards Yao Jun.

Yao Jun once more vanished into the shadows and appeared 100 meters away, but this time he had a gash on his left arm. Using the shadows to dodge would only work perfectly if the opponent was at a certain low level of strength. The fact that the Demonic beast was able to send its snow and ice into the shadows to attack Yao Jun told him one thing, that the Demonic beast was very powerful, most likely stronger than him, something that had started happening more and more to Yao Jun since he entered this hidden realm.

Yao Jun opened the palm of his right hand, a ring of crimson fire spreading out from his body and melting all the snow around him. Using the ring of fire, Yao Jun created an area of flame around him, removing all the snow within 50 meters of him.

With the snow no longer able to approach Yao Jun, the Demonic beast that had been in hiding was forced to reveal itself. From the place where the snow had first exploded, a large Demonic beast that resembled a gorilla appeared. The body of the Demonic beast was at least five meters tall, but it had still been able to hide perfectly within the snow. Its arms were as thick as a barrel, its body covered in snow white fur, and there were two large fangs sticking out from its lower jaw, almost reaching all the way up to its nose.

"No fucking way."

The moment Yao Jun saw the Demonic beast, all thoughts of trying to battle it vanished from his mind. The Demonic beast was even stronger than Wei Zhong Jun, having already reached the 7th Xiantian Heaven. Trying to fight it would only lead to his death, so Yao Jun immediately made the choice to escape. Trying to use the shadows to flee was foolish, as the Demonic beast was capable of attacking into the shadows, so Yao Jun chose to flee using overwhelming speed.

He activated both channels he had carved for Crumbling The Nine Heavens, and then took it one step further. He could increase his speed by coating his body with lightning, but there was one other way he could increase his speed even further, by letting the lightning course throughout every inch of his body, forcing his nerves and limbs to react and move faster than they should be able to.

He had only come up with this technique recently, so he had not tested it properly because of the great pain it brought with it whenever he used it. But now was not the time to worry about something like that. Lightning crackled within his gray eyes and spread throughout his body, even coursing throughout his brain. Time seemed to slow down as all his senses were raised to the extreme because of his brain being forced to move at several times its normal speed.

Arcs of purple lightning danced around his entire body, even lifting up his violet hair and causing it to dance in the wind. Arcs of lightning danced in his pupils, even being released from his mouth and nose whenever he let out a breath. Right now, he truly looked like someone born of lightning.

Both his strengthening techniques were active so Yao Jun was currently at his strongest, his body filled with overwhelming strength and pain. Yao Jun ignored the pain and took a step forward, his body blurring as the sound of thunder rang out. Despite his dramatically increased speed, the Demonic beast was still able to react, throwing a punch towards Yao Jun. Following the punch of the Demonic beast, the snow that was falling from the sky also started to shoot towards Yao Jun.

Yao Jun did not move to dodge the snow, allowing it to slash open his body and dye the snow red with his blood. The Demonic beast had far more strength than him, but it seemed like it was completely focused on raw power, it lacked speed. Yao Jun used his control over wind to create a temporary foothold beneath him and using it to jump upwards.

His foot landed on the fist of the Demonic beast and Yao Jun used it's fist as another springboard. He put strength into his foot and continued to shoot forwards, moving past the eyes of the Demonic beast like a blur and vanishing into the distance behind it. He had considered trying to take the chance to send an attack towards one of its eyes, but he quickly gave up on the idea.

A Demonic beast as strong as it, even its eyes would have great defensive strength. It was more likely that his attack would bounce off and delay him. Yao Jun chose to go with the safer option of simply fleeing as fast as he could. While he was fleeing from the Demonic beast, he also started feeling more confident about heading towards the shattered mountain. If he could flee from a Demonic beast at the 7th Xiantian Heaven, even if it was one focused on strength, he would most likely be able to flee from whatever was calling for him in case it ended up being too strong.