Absolute In/Existence

Hanging high in the air, Jang Jae-Hwa was looking at the large stampede of beasts. They were running at great speed, trampling everything in their path.

She had a Chinese pipe in her hand, large quantities of black smoke wafting out of her mouth. It fell heavily to the floor, dense and heavy.

The demonic beasts arrived before the black smoke in an instant and crashed into the black smoke clouds. Like thick steel walls, all the demonic beasts were instantly stopped in their tracks. Some died from the impact whilst others were lucky to have survived.

Northern Black Ape roared at Jae-Hwa, anger and hunger heavily influencing his every action.

OOGH!

Banging his chest, the Northern Black Ape's body bulged and a thunderous might burst from his muscles as the sound of banging drums rang in the air. As he banged his chest, a mysterious force burst out inside the sound waves, striking Jae-Hwa in the air. 

The air began to shift and Jae-Hwa began to feel unsteady and uncomfortable. She felt the energy in her body falling into disarray.

Frowning, she flew down to the floor and landed.

"How was it?" Northern Black Ape chuckled, his deep voice loud. "My 'Condemning Drum' makes even a fairy fall for me!"

Ooghahahah!

The black furred ape laughed and a couple of the demonic beasts around him laughed as well. Animal noises rang in the air and Jae-Hwa was frowning.

Once she landed on the ground, she felt her energy fall back under her control. She tried jumping back into the air, but had to stop once she felt her energy going chaotic again.

"Us demonic beasts aren't able to control our energies as finely as you humans, so flying in the air is impossible. But we can at least stop you all from flying as well," laughed Northern Black Ape.

Demonic beasts, unlike humans, can only use the natural attributes and techniques/abilities of their bodies and bloodlines. They aren't as versatile as human cultivators who can use a wide range of elements or circulate their energy as they wish.

Only those with powerful cultivation can achieve feats like that. However, in a world like Paradise, it has never been heard of before.

In Paradise, there was a time when even human cultivators couldn't step into the sky, much less fly. Not even those in the Soul Formation realm were able to achieve that.

Even now, human cultivators can't fly in the sky. Instead, they have learnt how to walk in the air and use that to their advantage. Flying beasts that have reigned the skies for so long, were taken down, one by one.

"Despicable…" muttered Jae-Hwa.

She looked at the Northern Black Ape with a look of anger. Raising her hand, she blew gently and out came a torrent of black smoke from her mouth.

"Guh… what are you doing…" Northern Black Ape took one look at the torrent of smoke and knew that it was bad. "Step back!"

At the order of their leader, the demonic beasts moved away from the Northern Black Ape. He was the strongest, so they could only rely on their leader to defend against Jae-Hwa.

The land between the demonic beasts and Jae-Hwa was completely covered in heavy black smoke that lingered in the area.

Standing tall, with an angry expression on his face, he stared at Jae-Hwa and the black clouds of smoke. The Northern Black Ape looked around him before setting his gaze on another demonic beast.

With a smile, he grabbed the small demonic beast and tossed it into the black smoke. It screeched in fear, flailing its small limbs in desperation to not fall on the black smoke.

Thud!

The rabbit hit the floor and remained motionless on the floor, dead. It didn't have a single chance to react to the black smoke before it was already dead.

It had only been in the black smoke for less than a second before it collapsed.

Jae-Hwa smiled as she looked at the ugly expression on the Northern Black Ape.

The black smoke wasn't something normal, especially the way it was created. Even if the materials used were normal, their preparation and utilization weren't.

The Chinese pipe in her hand isn't something normal, made of special materials that had caused it to become a special item with mystical abilities, known as an artifact. This Chinese pipe connected perfectly with her special technique that allowed her to turn her Qi into smoke.

With the Chinese pipe that enhanced the strength and quantity of her smoke, Jae-Hwa turned into a force to be reckoned with.

The smoke itself wasn't poisonous, but instead it was heavy. When inhaled, the heaviness of the smoke damages the lungs and spreads within the body and the other organs.

The organs of the little demonic beast had collapsed the instant it breathed in the smoke.

Northern Black Ape racked it's brain and huffed in anger. He looked at Jae-Hwa in anger before noticing a demonic bird near him.

"Demonic birds! Use your wings to blow away the smoke!"

Northern Black Ape gave out the order and the birds listened to him. They flew to the air and began flapping their wings, causing a strong wind current that blew away the smoke.

Seeing the smoke being blown away, the birds smiled triumphantly and flapped their wings stronger than before.

"Good! You're mine, woman!"

Jumping forward, Northern Black Ape ran towards Jae-Hwa with a cruel smile on it's face. The momentum he carried grew as he ran towards Jae-Hwa.

"Come, you ape," Jae-Hwa smirked, her beauty charming.

Even Northern Black Ape was affected for a second before shaking his head in confusion.

Bang!

Without realizing it, the Jae-Hwa he was running towards was nothing but a smoky figure that had turned solid when he crashed against it. Jae-Hwa was already away from him, more smoke falling at her feet.

The birds worked harder to blow away the smoke, but the closer the smoke was to Jae-Hwa, the harder it was to affect it with their movements.

"You will die today, ape. All these demonic beasts will serve as nutrition for the disciples of my sect," Jae-Hwa said with a charming smile on her face.

Growling, Northern Black Ape turned to look at the demonic beasts and roared at them.

"Go onward! Kill and devour these women! I will hold off this pesky woman!"

"Yes!"

"Onwards!"

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

"Devour!"

The demonic beasts listened to Northern Black Ape as they moved around Northern Black Ape and Jae-Hwa. They marched forward, running and stampeding their way to Yin Desires. The birds state behind, helping Northern Black Ape deal with the black smoke.

With laughter and joy-filled murderous intent, the demonic beasts went forward. All of them are looking forward to the taste of flesh of the cultivators. Their powers rumbled in anticipation.

But their stampede and laughter was cut short.

Before them, many women appeared to stop them. Their auras converged together, forming a wall that was stopping them from moving forward.

"Kill the beasts!"

Elder Wu led the way forward as she commanded the other elders and disciples to commence the attack.

"Defend!"

The demonic beasts and the women all clashed together, their powers shaking the earth. Their attacks clashed and many were getting hurt and dying.

…

"Follow me," leading the way, a tiger and it's cub ran around on the outskirts of the battle. Evading all the other demonic beasts and the women as it rushed forward excitedly.

With a grin, the tiger turned to look at it's cub stumbling behind it. It nodded and continued to lead the way, hiding away from the women of Yin Desires, reeling in it's murderous aura.

It seemed like everything was going great for the tiger. It appeared at the large bridge that led to the sect that was hidden in the walls of the ravine. Cautiously, it moved forward, the tiger looked at the women guarding the gate and revealed it's sharp teeth.

"Haha… look, my cub, they're weaker than me! Looks like we will be enjoying a feast whilst the rest are fighting!" the tiger cackled as it patted it's little cub on the head before stepping out into the open.

Revealing it's murderous aura and strong might, the tiger ran forward and killed the guards that were shocked and scared at the tiger's appearance.

"Come! Let's rush in!"

The tiger opened the door and turned to look at it's cub but was instantly stunned. In a panic, the tiger ran back, searching for it's cub that had disappeared, failing to notice a small orange fur ball stumble into the sect.

Roaring, the tiger tried calling out to it's cub, but it received no response in return. Instead, a figure was standing at the entrance of Yin Desires, a frosty look over their veil covered face.

Cai Ling looked at the corpses on the ground and turned her sights to the tiger before her.

Sha!

With a wave of her hand, her fan opened and her budding power moved within her.

"Despicable," muttered Cai Ling as she stepped forward and waved to her fan. Despite the anger in her, she followed Heaven's advice and kept herself calm and relaxed.

"Where's my cub, you evil cultivator?!" roared the tiger as it pounced on Cai Ling.

Both began an intense fight between each other, their attacks clashing.

The Tiger fell back a step and Cai Ling slid back five steps. It was clear that the tiger had the upper hand, but Cai Ling sliding back only five feet clearly shocked the tiger.

It was already in the Foundation Establishment realm, but Cai Ling still had not taken that step forward. The power of the foundation establishment is on a different level compared to the mortal realms. It's where one truly becomes a cultivator, stepping on the path of immortality.

Their strength will naturally be stronger, yet someone like Cai Ling who had not stepped into it had managed to stop it?

…

Standing before each other, auras clashing, the tiger and Cai Ling brandished their weapons.

The tiger it's claws and fangs, and Cai Ling her strong metallic fan.

Raur!

With a loud roar, the tiger pounced forward at Cai Ling. It's claws brandished and revealed a sharp light under the sun.

As it's claws were about to strike the young cultivator, the tiger saw Cai Ling moved swiftly. Turning her body and moving her fan, Cai Ling took a step to the side, dodging the tiger's attack and sent an attack of her own to the tiger's head.

Pak!

The metal fan is durable and strong. Under not just the strength of her body, but also her technique, caused the lethality of the metal fan to increase.

Even if the tiger is stronger and tougher. Cai Ling was able to keep up with it. With her speed and technique, she eventually subdued the tiger.

"No… my cub…" the tiger groaned before its eyes turned dull.

Cai Ling gave the tiger a brief look before running over to the battle in the distance.

…

Whilst the battle raged on, the small tiger cub had stumbled into the sect. Curiously walking around and managed to avoid the various guards with great luck.

"Mew?"

The cub turned its head to a certain direction, smelling something delicious. Tumbling over, the cub found its way to a backyard of one of many abodes.

It stopped and looked at the well that appeared artistic before turning its head to where the smell came from. A large garden with some many plants and herbs. Some appeared similar and others appeared new to the world. It ignored those plants and turned to look at the fruits hanging on the meter tall saplings.

It's eyes lit up and it sprung forward into action.