Two weeks passed in a blink of an eye. Hanyuan sat in the center of his garden, bathing in the concentrated sunlight that filtered through the high altitude mists. He let out a long, slow breath, feeling the Core n his Dantian spinning with a heavy stability.
"With that, my foundation is finally solidified," Hanyuan mused, a small smile playing on his lips. "Now I can actually start pushing for the 2nd Layer of the Mortal Core Realm. But even then, I can feel it... that barrier is still miles away."
The Mortal Core was like a bottomless pit; it swallowed massive amounts of Qi and only gave back the slightest increase in density.
Hanyuan stood up, his white robes rustling. He let out a sharp, piercing whistle that echoed off the white jade walls. From the shadows of the pagoda's roof, Lingxiao dove with terrifying speed. The Silver Winged Eagle banked mid air and landed on the basalt courtyard with a heavy thud, its razor sharp talons leaving deep gouges in the reinforced stone.
Hanyuan mounted the beast, and with one powerful stroke of its wings, they soared into the sky. They bypassed the jagged central peaks, navigating through the churning sea of clouds until they reached the more vibrant slopes of the Sapphire District.
As they neared Qin Yu's estate, Hanyuan spotted his friend at the edge of a sheer cliff. Qin Yu was currently training, his sword trailing ribbons of high pressure water as he practiced complex, spiraling techniques.
"Brother Hanyuan!" Qin Yu shouted, stopping his drill mid swing.
Lingxiao landed with a gust of wind, and Hanyuan jumped down. "Let's do a mission, Brother Yu. I'm running low on resources, and I need a steady supply of Mid-grade spirit stones if I want to maintain this pace."
Qin Yu grinned, "I was thinking the exact same thing. Let's see what the Sect needs today."
Qin Yu let out his own whistle, and his White Crane landed before them. The two mounted their beasts and flew toward the central hub of the high peaks, the Mission Pavilion.
Unlike the Outer Sect's basalt hall, the Inner Sect's pavilion was a soaring dome of translucent crystal. Inside, the mission boards weren't made of wood, but of massive slabs of glowing green jade. The number of disciples here was much smaller, perhaps only twenty or thirty, but each one radiated a suffocating, heavy pressure that made the air feel like liquid lead.
Hanyuan's eyes scanned the jade boards, filtering through the high tier tasks.
[Collect Void-Leaden Ore from the Shadow Caves. Reward: 20 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.]
[Subjugate the Rampaging Flame-Maned Lion. Reward: 50 Mid-grade Spirit Stones. (Strength of 5th Layer Mortal Core Required).]
Hanyuan's gaze moved past several more "5th Layer" and "Peak Stage" requirements until his eyes locked onto a silver sealed mission that had just appeared.
[Mission: Defense of Autumn Harvest City]
Description: Protect the border city against an incoming Beast Tide.
Duration: 3 days.
Reward: 30 Mid grade Spirit Stones
Requirement: Mortal Core Realm (Early Stage allowed).
"Thirty stones for three days of work," Hanyuan noted, his obsidian eyes lighting up. "That's 3,000 low-grade stones in a single trip."
Qin Yu leaned in, checking the details. "Autumn Harvest City is the Place where most of the Food for the local kingdom is produced . If the beasts overrun it, thousands will starve. It's an endurance mission, perfect for stabilizing our combat forms."
"Alright, let's take it," Qin Yu said energetically, his hand reaching for the mission tally.
Hanyuan nodded, his hand tightening on the Cold Cloud Spear. He had spent months in seclusion, he was hungry for the Battle.
The wind roared past Hanyuan's ears as Lingxiao's wings sliced through the lower altitude heat. Below, the lush green forests gave way to a patchwork of golden wheat fields and winding irrigation canals,the agricultural heart of the region. However, the serene landscape was marred by a dark, undulating smear moving from the distant mountains toward the city walls. It was a tide of feral beasts, a cacophony of roars and trampling hooves that shook the very earth.
After ten grueling hours of high speed flight, the soaring stone ramparts of Autumn Harvest City finally loomed on the horizon. The city was a fortress of brick and wood, far humbler than the azure stone of Blue Dew City or the jade or even the Stone Walls of Spirit Springs City.
On the city wall, an old man with deep set wrinkles and hair as white as mountain snow let out a heavy, weary sigh. He clutched his staff so tightly his knuckles were white. As the City Lord, he was one of the five Peak 9th Layer Qi Refining experts currently leading the defense, but looking at the endless sea of monsters below, his hope was flickering like a candle in a gale.
"Aye... that such a beast tide should descend upon us so suddenly," he whispered, the sound nearly swallowed by the roar of the horde.
A middle aged man with distinctive green hair and a longsword at his hip stepped up beside him. "City Lord, do not despair yet. We sent the emergency jade to the Mystic Sky Sect hours ago. Help should be arriving any moment!"
Suddenly, a piercing, bone chilling SCREECH echoed from the clouds above.
The green haired official looked up, his face draining of color. He saw a massive, ten meter shadow descending with terrifying speed. "A Mortal Core flying beast! Heavens, we are finished! The tide brought a king from the sky!"
"Wait!" the City Lord cried out, his keen eyes narrowing as he shielded his sight from the sun. "I see someone on the Eagle's back! And look behind it! There is a huge Crane, and another person standing atop it!"
The green haired man's terror turned into a violent tremble of relief. "The Mystic Sky Sect... the Disciples have arrived!"
The soldiers on the wall, who had been bracing for a gruesome death, watched in stunned silence as the shadow reached the peak of its descent. Before the eagle even touched the ramparts, a figure leaped from its back.
He plummeted thirty feet, landing on the stone walkway with a heavy thud that didn't even bend his knees. He stood tall, the Cold Cloud Spear held loosely in his right hand. The first impression he gave the soldiers was one of overwhelming power, a sharp, frigid aura radiated from him like a physical force. The second was his youth.
Though Hanyuan was only thirteen years old, the tempering of his body and the density of his Mortal Core made him look fifteen or sixteen. His long black hair whipped in the wind, and his obsidian eyes held a depth that made even the City Lord feel like a junior.
Hanyuan didn't wait for introductions. He walked slowly to the edge of the Walls, his gaze fixed on the front line of the beast horde,mostly Tier 1 Horned Wolves and Iron Skinned Hogs.
"Stand back," Hanyuan said, his voice resonant and calm.
He stepped onto the very edge of the wall and swept his spear in a wide, fluid horizontal arc.
"Silver Crescent Horizon!"
A magnificent, translucent blade of freezing white Qi erupted from the Cold Cloud Spear, expanding until it spanned thirty meters. It hissed through the air, striking the front ranks of the tide like a scythe through wheat.
In a heartbeat, more than a dozen beasts were sliced clean through, their remains frozen solid before they even hit the dirt. The ground beneath them turned into a sheet of jagged ice.
Hanyuan watched the carnage with a small, satisfied smile. The strength of the Mortal Core realm is truly a different world, he thought. What used to be an ultimate move is now just a casual swing.
Beside him, a blur of blue and white landed. Qin Yu joined the fray, his crane circling above. He drew his sword, and with a series of rhythmic stabs, sent high pressure water spirals into the heart of the horde, drilling through the skulls of several beasts at once.