The private jet of the Surya family cut through the clouds like a silver needle, heading toward the mist-shrouded peaks of the North. Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was pressurized and silent, yet the air around Arga seemed to hum with an electric tension.
He sat by the window, his gaze piercing through the clouds. To the world below, these mountains were a dangerous trekking zone. To Arga's divine vision, they were a graveyard of ancient energy, a place where the Earth's pulse still beat with a primitive, untamed rhythm.
"Master, we are approaching the drop zone," Yasmine said, checking her tactical gear. She was dressed in thermal armor, a pulse-rifle slung over her shoulder. "The 'Heavenly Lotus' was sighted near the Azure Lake, a crater at six thousand meters. No drone has ever returned from that altitude."
"Because the air there is saturated with Cold Qi," Arga said, his voice calm. "It freezes the circuits of your machines and the lungs of your soldiers. You should stay with the aircraft, Yasmine. This is not a place for mortals."
Yasmine tightened her grip on her harness. "I am your shadow, Master. If I cannot walk where you walk, then I am useless to you."
Arga looked at her, a faint, indiscernible glint in his eyes. "Very well. But do not stray more than three paces from my back. The moment you step outside my aura, the cold will turn your blood to ice."
The jet slowed, hovering over a jagged plateau. The cabin door slid open, and a blast of sub-zero wind roared inside. Arga stepped out into the void, his feet finding purchase on the air as if it were a solid staircase. Yasmine followed, her breath hitching as the temperature plummeted to minus forty degrees instantly.
As they touched down on the snow-covered ridge, the world turned silent. The Azure Lake lay below them, a perfect circle of deep blue water surrounded by pillars of natural ice. In the center of the lake, perched on a single floating sheet of frost, was a flower that glowed with a soft, ethereal violet light.
The Heavenly Lotus.
"It's beautiful," Yasmine whispered, her teeth beginning to chatter despite her thermal suit.
"It is a Tier-2 Spirit Herb," Arga noted, his eyes narrowing. "And it is not alone."
The water of the lake suddenly began to churn. A massive shape rose from the depths, shattering the ice sheets with the force of a tidal wave. It was a serpent, sixty feet long, its scales the color of ancient glaciers. Its eyes were two burning orbs of sapphire light, and a single, jagged horn protruded from its forehead.
The Frost-Horned Python.
The beast let out a roar that shook the very foundation of the mountain. A wave of concentrated cold energy erupted from its maw, turning the falling snow into deadly shards of ice.
"Get behind me!" Arga commanded.
He stepped forward, his right hand glowing with the Nine Sun Current. As the wave of frost reached him, Arga slammed his palm into the air.
BOOM.
A wall of golden flame erupted, clashing with the frost. The steam hissed violently, obscuring the vision of the beast.
The Python didn't hesitate. It lunged, its body moving with a speed that defied its massive size. Its tail swung like a mountain-crushing flail, aimed directly at Arga's head.
"A beast at the peak of the Foundation Realm?" Arga's smile was sharp and cold. "In the Celestial Realm, I would have used your skin for a pair of boots. Today, I will use your Core to temper my soul."
Arga didn't dodge. He raised his left arm, catching the massive tail with a single hand. The impact cracked the stone beneath his feet, but Arga's body didn't even waver.
"Is that all the strength a Spirit Beast has in this era?"
Arga gripped the scales, his fingers digging into the icy armor. He twisted his torso, and with a roar of his own, he swung the sixty-foot serpent into the air, slamming its head into the jagged cliffside.
The mountain groaned. Boulders tumbled down, burying the serpent's tail, but the beast was resilient. It hissed, the horn on its head glowing with a blinding blue light. The water of the lake rose up, forming hundreds of crystalline spears that hovered in the air, all pointed at Arga.
"Ice Rain: Thousand Deaths!"
The spears launched. They moved faster than sound, a lethal barrage designed to shred anything in their path.
Arga closed his eyes for a fraction of a second. Second Cycle: Sun-God's Mantle.
A sphere of pure, incandescent golden light expanded from his body. The ice spears hit the barrier and disintegrated into mist instantly. Arga didn't stop there. He leaped into the air, his body trailing golden fire.
"You are just an animal," Arga's voice echoed across the peak, sounding like thunder. "Know your place before the Sovereign!"
He descended like a meteor. His fist, wreathed in the Nine Sun Refining Fire, struck the serpent's glowing horn.
CRACK.
The horn, the source of the beast's power shattered into a thousand fragments. The Python let out a final, agonizing shriek before its massive body collapsed into the lake, the blue light in its eyes fading into darkness.
The water stilled. The blizzard died down.
Arga stood on the surface of the lake, his breathing steady. He reached into the water and pulled out a small, glowing blue orb the Beast Core. He then walked toward the center of the lake and plucked the Heavenly Lotus.
"Master..." Yasmine stumbled toward the edge of the shore, her face pale with awe. She had just witnessed a man fight a legend and win with his bare hands.
Arga looked at the lotus in his hand. Its violet petals were pulsing in rhythm with his own heartbeat.
"With this," Arga said, his voice carrying a new, terrifying depth, "the Third Cycle of the Nine Sun Current can begin. By the time we return to the city, no one, not the Hidden Sects, not the military, and certainly not the shadows of my past will be able to stand in my way."
He turned to Yasmine, the Beast Core glowing in his palm.
"Prepare yourself, Yasmine. The world is about to find out that the 'Urban God' isn't just a title. It is a warning."