Be The Icy Beauty: A Xianxia/Cultivation Tale

Simply based on size and appearance, the Demon should be in the fifth or sixth tier of Qi Condensation. To kill such a creature with only mortals would require dozens of well-armed, well-trained soldiers fighting in unison.

Or a small group of untrained, poorly armed, scattered peasants lead by a former Paragon.

Bing Meilu exhaled lightly as she considered the dilemma. Currently, she was a small peasant girl with little status and no fame. It would be virtually impossible to convince dozens of untrained villagers to follow her orders in a chaotic, life and death battle.

Of course, it was only by listening to her that they would even have a shred of a chance of survival. Bing Meilu's intelligent eyes flashed across the battlefields, rapidly collecting information.

Thirty-four men. All mortal. Likely little to no training.

Seven with spears. Two with swords. Five with maces. Twelve with pitchforks.

The rest had a scattering of random items. Pots and pans, sticks and rakes.

One Demon. Likely between the fifth and sixth tier of Qi Condensation. Thick hide that will block anything more than superficial damage.

As Bing Meilu inspected the battlefield, the Demon, finished with its meal of human flesh, turned its head around to look down at the scattered men. It lowered its head, pointing its curved tusks forward, like lances of bone.

"Ten seconds until it charges!" Bing Meilu shouted loudly.

Her high pitched young voice cut through the air like a whistle, drawing the attention of many of the men. They looked at her confused.

"Who the hell..." one man muttered, only to be interrupted when Bing Meilu continued to speak.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one and zero," Bing Melu said, counting down.

True to her words, the moment the word zero left Bing Meilu's lips, the massive black hide-covered boar burst forward. It lowered its head, pointing its long white tusks straight ahead to where a group of ten men had gathered.

The men's eyes widened as they realized Bing Meilu had been right. Immediately, they began to scatter, running out of the beast's way.

Most of the men had immediately registered Bing Meilu's warning and evaded the Demon's charge.

One did not.

Bing Meilu shook her head in pity as his blood watered the soil. It was a young boy, no older than sixteen, trembling in his boots. A mortal who had no place fighting a Demon. The boar's tusks tore through the boy, shredding his body into pieces and raining blood and bits of torn organs across the grass.

"Life becomes death and death becomes life," Bing Meilu murmured. "Pray you shall have more luck in your next reincarnation."

The Demon's stomach shook, as it let out a deep, rumbling laugh. It was a laugh of disdain, arrogance and pride. Of amusement at the puny humans who held no way of slaying it, who died in vain. It was a laugh that angered Bing Meilu greatly. She glared coldly at the beast.

"Even the deathless can die. In this world there exists nothing that I, Bing Meilu cannot kill," Bing Meilu murmured, narrowing her eyes.

The girl whipped her head around, quickly reassessing the positions of everyone on the battlefield before relaying her next order.

"It will only charge at a large group!" Bing Meilu shouted. "Everyone break apart and surround it, distanced equally!"

The scattered men failed to head her words, running around like chickens with their heads cut off. That made sense. These were not soldiers. They were ordinary peasants. Merchants, farmers and shopkeepers.

The sheer chaos- the tension and ever-present terror of a battlefield were too much for an untrained man to handle. For some the terror would paralyze them, freeing them in place until their inevitable death. Others went into shock, unable to comprehend the world around them, and some simply ran for their lives, ignoring everything but the chaos.

Bing Meilu sighed. Dealing with mortals was far more tiring than she remembered.

Bing Melu strode forward, tearing a cast iron pot from the hand of a frozen, shaking middle-aged man.

"Hey!" the man objected, breaking from his stupor. "What exactly do you think you're-"

Bing Meilu smalled the pan into a rock, a scream of scratching metal filling the air as the pan scraped against the sharp rock. Silence seemed to fill the air, as everyone, from the terrified men to even the Demon-beast turned to look at her.

"Now that I have your attention," Bing Meilu sneered. "All of you listen up! Behind you is Jiang City. Most of you were born there, and most of you will die there. Mortals have such short lives. Most importantly, your children have been born here. What kind of man runs around like a terrified chicken when the lives of his family are at stake? All of you get your acts together! Unless you want to do nothing as your home is torn to the ground by the whims of a raging Demon?!"

"...If that was meant to be an inspirational speech," one of the spear-wielding men shouted back. "You're not doing a good job!"

"Who the hell said anything about inspirational?" Bin Meilu spat. "Let me make it very simple for you. Either you kill the Demon, or it will kill all of you. And your wives. And your children. And your siblings, and your pets and your parents."

"Well what the hell are we supposed to do?' the man shouted back, desperately. "Do you see how massive that thing is? We stand no chance!"

"So long as you listen to me, you will survive," Bing Meilu responded.

"Oh really? Then what do you suggest we do, little girl?" the man yelled. "It tearing us apart!"

"Surround it and disperse. It will only charge at a crowded group, so if you all keep your distance, the beast will not charge. Then, use the greatest power you have! Stab it. It's not invulnerable or something. Stab it, and then stab it again, and keep going until it dies. The concept is very simple to me," Bing Meilu shouted patronizingly.

As she spoke, the demon began to chuckle once again, the deep rumbling noise echoing out. It once more lowered its head, lowering its tusks towards the humans. Clearly, it was about to charge!

"Now!" Bing Meilu shouted. "Scatter and surround it!"

Perhaps spurred on by desperation, the men abandoned their pride following the orders of a little girl. They broke apart from the small groups, running around the Demon.

Those with spears and pitchforks began to stab the beast, driving metal into its thick muscle. Those with swords ran forward, slashing at the hide of the creature, Thick, dark red blood oozed out of shallow wounds, the syrupy liquid slapping into the ground.

The Demon roared a mighty noise that tore through the air. The prideful disdain had disappeared from the beast's eyes, replaced by a burning, mad rage. The Demon swirled around, its tail slamming out like a hammer and shattering the chest of one of the men. It kicked out with its legs, cracking the skull of another.

"Keep your formation!" Bing Meilu shouted sharply.

At the same time, Bing Bing lifted her hand to her mouth, biting down hard on her unprotected flesh. Blood began to drip out of the wound. Bing Meilu, who had been standing far from the battle, ran forward into the ring of men, whipping her arm. Droplets of blood flew off her injured hand, splashing across the battlefield.

'The blood of Men and Beast enshrined within a circle'

Her plan had finally come to fruition.

In truth, against a Demon of this calibre, these men stood no chance of victory. Untrained farmers were not exactly the best at spear-fighting and their attacks were barely making it past the hide of the beast. Essentially, they were all doomed to die.

Or they would have been if Bing Meilu had not intervened.

Steam began to waft out of the litres of blood that watered the grassy field, rising into the air. Without realizing it, the mortals seemingly grew stronger, their attacks penetrating deeper into the flesh of their foe.

The Blood of Heaven-Earth-Man was a battle formation with little redeeming traits. It required a blood sacrifice to activate and gave a comparatively small power boost to those using it. However, it drew on the innate life force found within the blood of all living beings and thus required no cultivation to initiate. Bing Meilu had never imagined she would find herself in a scenario where such a useless formation could have a purpose, but oftentimes, reality was stranger than fiction.

The villagers let out battle cries, fighting more fiercely than ever before. Stabs that had previously failed to pierce the muscle of the Demon began to tear through flesh. Blows that had been reflected off of the beast's hide began to crush bone.

The maddened Demon let loose a blood-curdling roar. Black fog suddenly erupted from its skin and knocking back all the villagers, sending them sprawling on the dirt.

Bing Meilu ran forward, grabbing a spear from the ground. Then, with form that was beyond perfect, she whipped the spear forward, sending it careening through the air. The metal blade stabbed into the eye of the Demon, piercing through the eye and impaling the brain of the beast. With a final roar of defiance, the Demon collapsed to the ground, dead.

"... Still got it!" Bing Meilu exclaimed.

She walked forward, towards the massive, trembling corpse. Bing Meilu grabbed the spear, tearing it out of the eye of the boar. Immediately fluid began to gush out of the Demon's popped eye.

Bing Meilu turned away, noticing the gazes of the dozens of villagers from where they lay on the ground. The first to stand was Bing Meilu's own grandfather. He walked towards her, using his spear as a cane.

"Granddaughter, I think you have a lot to explain."